James Chapter 3 and we will read from Verses 13 to 18, this text will be our starting point, it will be a kind of trail and I will ask that even after the Reading that you do not close your Bible because in a little while I want to touch James again which is the continuation of this text James 3 from 13 to 18 who among you is wise, intelligent and shows his works in meekness of Wisdom through his good conduct if on the contrary you have in your heart bitter envy and a feeling of rivalry
do not boast about it nor lie against the truth This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, on the contrary, it is earthly, animal and demonic, because where envy and rivalry, there is confusion and all kinds of things, but the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful Gentle friendly full of Mercy of Good Fruits Impartial Without pretense now it is in peace that the fruit of justice is sown for those who promote peace my God we pray that your word will be directed and applied In the depths of each one of us
the environment of that personalized action Of your holy spirit spirit of Truth We pray that the Lord allows us to have, O God, discernment spiritual perception to have the eyes of our understanding enlightened we trust in what you will do through the Power of Your word and for that we thank you in advance We pray that we can leave this place not just with information not just oh God with doctrinal alignment we We pray that there will be a touch from the heavens that there will be a provocation an awakening of the Lord reaching the
hearts of each one of us in the name of Jesus amen good the emphasis of James is placed firstly in wisdom he starts by asking who is wise and intelligent and then he talks about showing through the works of behavior this meekness of wisdom through his good conduct then he intersperses the idea of Wisdom and behavior he not only highlights these two elements but he also speaks of a wisdom that descends from above and the expression from above evidently refers to the heavens, that which comes from God, but he also speaks of another type of
Wisdom that he classifies as earthly, that is, it is not from above, animal and Demonic and he shows that depending on the Type of Wisdom that touches or controls a person's life, it definitely affects their behavior. He talks about those who have Envy, a bitter feeling of rivalry, he says that where this exists, confusion and all kinds of bad things, and by highlighting so much wisdom, as behavior he Defines a specific adjective that I want to pay attention to speaks of wisdom from above he speaks of earthly wisdom evidently when he speaks of earthly he
is not talking about what comes from God but he defines earthly wisdom as that which is related to this world of dimension where we live as animal and Demonic, the understanding of the earthly is easy to understand, it is not from above, it is not Celestial, it is from the earth, it is from our dimension, the definition of Demonic is not difficult to understand, although this wisdom is not necessarily Demonic in the full sense that that enters, controls someone's mind, opens space and influence for certain evil actions, that is, it puts us in that place
that we are warned in Ephesians not to give place to the devil, but I want to focus on the adjective here that appears between the earthly and the Demonic, Which is when he says that this wisdom is animal the theme of my message today is animal behavior because this level of Wisdom will affect our behavior and James uses this animal expression the question is What is the meaning of this word James is using the word in the original Greek coine Ancient Greek is the word psychic according to the lexicon of stron means D oou that
is part of the breath that has the nature and characteristic of that which breathes the main of animal life that human beings have in common with animals governed by breath the nature sensual with its dependence on desires and passions the translations can often opt for other words because the meaning of psychic is that which comes from the psyche, right This word is sometimes translated soul, sometimes it is translated life, it has a comprehensive meaning psyche like that as psychics, who are those who are controlled by this type of life and breath, which here was translated
as animal. In fact, in most versions in Portuguese and in other languages it is translated as animal, some versions translated it as sensual, Other versions translated it as non-spiritual, that is, the contrast of what is spiritual, others opted for a natural synonym, some opted for material and you will still find carnal, all these attempts are to define, right? expression that speaks of man left to his own nature and it is interesting because when we look at the continuation of the text of James that I asked you to leave open, we read James 3 from 13
to 18 in verse 18 we have the end of this Chapter But I I always like to remember that the Bible was not written with this division of chapters and verses, so when chapter 4 begins we have a reasoning being constructed in progress, this division is later, right? First we had one in chapters and the other in Verses just to help us locate the texts but sometimes this can hinder us Hello, the believer thinks like this today I will read the chapter TR and the reasoning is being constructed it is broken it is fragmented so
continuing Tiago So question where the wars and fights that among you come from, where else? of the Pleasures that are in conflict among you you covet and nothing You kill and feel envy But you can get nothing you live to fight and do and make wars you have nothing because you don't ask you ask and don't receive because you ask badly to waste your pleasures faithful people you don't Do you know that the friendship of the world is enmity against God, whoever wants to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God or
do you think that it is in vain that the scripture says it is with jealousy that I long for us the spirit that he made to dwell in us because I'm reading the continuation of these Verses because after talking about wisdom that comes from above and from earthly and talking about behavior James begins to define the impact of the type of Wisdom to which we are inclined and it is evident that here Thago shows us that animal behavior is the wisdom that will then become the way of thinking and understanding that will then translate into
behavior, right? He says be a spiritual animal, this will affect our behavior, but specifically animal behavior, it hinders the relationship with our brothers and sisters, we already see before in James 3 rivalry, envy But now he starts to talk about it, right in chapter 4ro of people who covet who kill who feel envy he talks about wars And fights between brothers so obviously this behavior affects our relationship with brothers affects prayer life he will talk about people who ask but do not receive it affects our intimacy with God he will talk about people who, because
of this wisdom and animal behavior, are connecting to the world instead of developing friendship with God and are in place of enmity with God, so obviously the relationship with God is being disturbed and even gives way to the devil because when it is classified as Demonic in the Perspective that we present, this is clear, in other words, it is not an unimportant subject, it is not a subject to be ignored when we look For the scriptures, I always like to build the perspective of any subject, you know, trying to understand what God presents throughout the
scriptures when systematizing, thinking first in terms of purpose When God creates man Genesis Chapter 1 verse 26 says and God He said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness, he has dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, over the livestock, over all the earth, and Over every animal that moves along the earth, in other words, man was created in the image of God and says Anis does not live like they do, when you look at this, firstly you have the revelation of a purpose, Psalm 8, I
will read from verses 5 to 8, says the same thing but says this, speaking of human beings, the previous verse that I'm not going to read the question, who is man, so that you can take control of him ? sky, the fish of the sea and everything that travels the Paths of the seas, in other words, man was made in the image and likeness of God but evidently smaller than God, similar but cannot reproduce all his attributes Because some of them are incommunicable but despite being below God he has a resemblance to God Animals are
placed under his rule are placed under his government So what does God expect from our behavior from the beginning that we behave like him and not like animals I'm highlighting all this because In December 2021 specifically on December 20th I can remember the date because it was my birthday God gave me a special birthday gift What was the gift I remember a moment when I look in the mirror instead of myself Perspective from the height of vision from the eyes I see myself from above it seemed confusing to my head because I'm looking straight ahead
in the mirror but I see myself from above immediately when I had that vision I understood that it was how God was looking at me it was like the heavens were looking at me inexplicably it was It's difficult to say how you understand something just by looking, but I saw myself as an animal, there was nothing sinful, profane, impure, but I saw myself as an animal from the perspective of someone who often values instinct and suddenly a feeling, a conviction, takes over. me, if you live only seeking this level of animal satisfaction you will never
enter into a deep level of intimacy of relationship with God, think of something that scared me, it almost took me to Noca, I was processing it trying to digest it, I commented, right, only to Kell that something had happened without going into details, I was Literally disturbed by it, but it was my birthday, we had just gotten together with the family, went out to eat, had dinner together, it was a party day, celebration, but the whole family was together at the time, Israel and Priscila lived in São Paulo we had gone there L was single,
she was with us to bring the whole family together, we would stay until Christmas, right? We wanted to spend Christmas with the pastor AB's family, my pastor, who is Priscila's father, because we both had a granddaughter in common She was the only one who was born until then, she had already asked me to stay at the church for the weekend and preach, so I told Kell we are already spending this New Year, this time with the family, so from Monday until Christmas, think about gastronomic week we are in vacation mode and I tell the children,
right? And I tell them each day, one chooses what they want to eat, right? So, those who want Japanese food choose on their day, those who want Italian, choose on their day, those who want Arabic food on their day, but we are going to satisfy everyone's wishes and every day we go out to eat, it's not enough to eat Lan, nothing exaggerated in terms of quantity, but obviously We were valuing that festive time, we arrived on the night of Christmas Eve and we had the seia, so much food was prepared that we didn't manage to
take it down, but almost a third of what was there, so the next day, lunch on the 25th, we took that leftover food and again, everyone together, we couldn't consume it all, but even abusing the quantity we were valuing the moment of pleasure and again now C days later I have the same vision I see myself from above and again I see myself as an animal and I feel that conviction of not hearing any voice if you live only satisfy this you will never enter that place of perception the second blow was harder than the
first and the bruises are inside me to this day I remained quiet again disturbed processing I preached on the 26th and 27th there in São Paulo on the 28th we are returning by car I Kell Alice had a moment on the trip when they fell asleep, I turned down the volume of the praise music but she continued to pray softly and in this Holy Spirit speaks to me clearly about everything you have planned for January and you are going to study about fasting like you have never done, that Was it. the reason why in January
I not only dedicated myself to a period of prolonged fasting but as a result of everything I was studying I wrote the book the culture of fasting but what most people don't know What was the trigger that led me to a place dedicated to fasting like I had never done in January I started preaching about fasting here I made a few promises to you that I have kept, the first of which is that you would see me fast like never before, the second, that on a recurring basis, I would pester you again with teaching and
clarity regarding the subject but when you talk to me there in the car you will study about fasting like never before I can't explain it to you but I saw a connection between the vision and the call to understand fasting so the message itself is not essentially about fasting but I will I'm going to have to finish the subject by talking about this, how Thiago highlights wisdom and behavior and the practical application that he makes wisdom about understanding. I want to first talk a little about animal understanding, then I'm going to talk a little about
animal behavior, and then, thirdly and finally, People present in a practical way what we have to do if we don't want to live in this place so first of all talking about wisdom with this application of understanding human beings are warned about understanding not to behave like animals scripture talks a lot about That's what I always say when you have a recurrence the subject stops being merely training and it gains the category of emphasis Psalm 3289 I will instruct and teach you the path you should follow in my eyes I will give you advice then
tell you what God wants to do verbs instruct teach and give advice are clear he says don't be like a mule horse that has no understanding they are dominated with bridles and halters otherwise they won't obey you God is saying I refuse to treat you like animals I don't expect a lack of understanding from you that an animal has I want to give instruction but you need to move to a different level of understanding to understand absolve and translate this into practice Psalm 73 verses 21 and 22 when my heart was full of bitterness several
times you will notice these Emotional problems and relationship conflicts getting in the way and generating this disorder when my heart was full of bitterness and my innermost being was moved I was brutalized and without understanding I was like an animal before you Job 18:3 for we are considered animals and in your eyes we have passed by short of intelligence Job 35 10 and 11 but no one says where is God who made me who inspires songs of praise in the night who teaches us more than the animals of the earth and makes us wiser than
the birds of the air he not only speaks of the need for us to have a level of understanding above that of animals but that this is the fruit of God's teaching and finally Psalm 4920 so that we do not extend ourselves too much, man clothed with honors but without understanding is rather like the animals that perish in the New Testament that until then I only cited text from the old man we have a statement from Paul Paul says so now the natural person some translations say the natural man the natural person does not accept
the things of the Spirit of God because they are foolishness and cannot understand them because it discerns itself spiritually Paul is talking about the inability To enter into spiritual understanding and he talks about the natural person Do you know which word was translated natural here the same one translated as animal in James 3 the text We read it again we have here the expression psychic man is left to his instincts, as I will say again in a moment, that is, there is always a limitation of understanding in Colossians 2:18 Paul makes mention of A carnal
Mind, that is, a way of thinking that it is associated with the flesh at the same time. animal natural human mode and God wants to take us to another place of understanding which is that of wisdom from above when you begin to understand that there is a different way of thinking and that this way of thinking affects behavior this relationship between wisdom and behavior is clearly presented by James But you take for example Romans 12:2 the apostle Paul says be transformed by the renewing of your mind the transformation of the conduct of behavior depends on
a change of mentality because everything begins from understanding when you Do you understand that, perhaps it will be easier for us to understand the recurring call of the new testament, sobriety, Which is a state of mind , if you are sober, it is different to be Drunk or intoxicated, right? 7 The Bible says the end of all things is near, so be judicious and sober To be able to pray other versions they say for the sake of your prayers they are saying that sobriety will impact prayers and we can understand that the absence of it
will also negatively impact prayers this word here translated as sober is the word nefo it often means also translated as sensible it means to be sober be calm and Serene in spirit be moderate controlled circumspect the New Testament uses other expressions when it talks about being just for example Mark Chapter 5 verse 15 speaking of that ex demonized Gadarene that Jesus freed the Bible says approaching approaching Jesus they saw a possessed, which was previously dominated by the Legion, seated, dressed in IMP, perfect sense and fear, the word translated here, imperfect sense, is the Greek word,
suffer, which means to have a sound mind, to be mentally healthy, to exercise self-control, to think About oneself in a moderate, sober way, to curb one's passions and I I am quoting this man who goes from being a crazy person controlled by demons to, through the touch of Jesus, someone who enters the place of sobriety to show that God's inclination is always to lead us to sobriety while Satan's attempt is to enslave us in the form of think now there are other challenges or calls to sobriety Romans 12:3 Paul says because by the grace given
to me I say to each one of you not to think of yourself more highly than you should, on the contrary Think with moderation according to the measure of faith that God distributed to each one think with moderation again the word used suffer Neu the same one who speaks of the former demoniac imperfect judgment in Titus 26 We read in the same way about the young people exhort them to be moderate in all things the word translates life moderate of new suffer Neu be mentally healthy be sane mind right be sober Paul uses this word
other times in the New Testament according to Corinthians 5:3 if we go crazy it's for God if we keep our senses it's for you right This word could say if we are sober but obviously in Counterpoint with we go crazy he expands the use and application and we have other calls to sobriety all of them are actions of the same word tito Chapter 1 verse 8 talking about the characteristics that those who aspire to the ministry that are Bishop Presbyter must have of this hospitable friend of the good sober righteous pious and self-controlled the word
translated sober again the word sophron the root of the word sophron Titus 22 advice to old men as for old men to be tempers respectable sensible sound in faith in love and in con the word translated sensible sofron something that is always required to be Sadi in faith the same applies not only to men but to elderly women Titus 25 sensible honest good housewives kindly subject to their husbands so that the word of God is not defamed word translated sensible again, right , it's the word suffer, you and I need to understand Starting with a
state of mind of understanding understanding What does it mean in a clear way the impact this has on self-control and second Timothy in chapter 1 in verse 17 The Bible says because God he did not give us A spirit of cowardice but of the power of love and moderation Here we have the word sophronisco control self-control is required of him since the beginning of humanity in Genesis 4:7 when Cain is enraged because God did not accept his offering but he accepted the devil and moved by envy he is planning to kill his brother God warns
him before he sins God tells him sin is at your door and his desire will be against you but the Lord told him but it is up to you to dominate him God warns him before he commits sin he says sin is hanging around you will try to exploit the desire But you are responsible for controlling it self control is required since the beginning of humanity God said to Adam and Eve You can eat from every tree in the Garden except 10 and when you see this guidance from Paul that we mentioned, it means that
even today God expects the same thing from us, but you and I need to understand that this self-control, the way it is applied, always a derivation of sobriety begins with the state of mind that is then translated in behavior, having said that, I want, secondly, to talk about behavior because James, in addition to emphasizing the issue of Wisdom, With practical application of understanding also highlighted the issue of behavior Jude Chapter 1 verse 19 says these are the ones who promote divisions you will almost always see relational problems Associated with these applications they follow their own
instincts and do not have the spirit follow their own tintos is a translation again of psychics the same word translated as animal in James 3 other versions opted for different translations, right some translations opted are sensual others follow the tendency of your own soul follow your natural instincts are dominated by natural desires are controlled by their natural desires, that is, animal behavior because understanding directly affects behavior when I was talking about understanding I mentioned Paul's statement, now the natural psychic person does not understand the things of the Spirit now I wanted to read the previous
verse and some later ones just so we can open up a little understanding if you want to follow me first to Corinthians 2 from 13 to 16 and says about this we also speak not in words taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit checking Spiritual things with spiritual again he is talking there is a wisdom that is of the spirit of God and there is one that is natural then he follows and says look the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God the wisdom from above because they are
foolishness and he cannot understand them because they are discerned spiritually But the spiritual person judges all things but it is not judged by anyone because whoever has known the mind of the Lord so that I can instruct it is a quote from the Book of Isaiah and it says we however have the mind of Christ in other words we do not need to be governed by an animal understanding which God has made available to us wisdom from above, the action of the Holy Spirit in us, which Paul defines here as the mind of Christ, what
I'm reading all these Verses, Paul is working on the issue of understanding, but then we have a division after verse 16 first to Corinthians 2 a chapter division but again we have a subject that is being developed so if you read the continuation which is now first to Corinthians 3 from 1 to 3 it is the sequence Paul says so I, however, brothers, I could not tell you how To spiritual people but to carnal people as to children in Christ I gave you milk to drink I could not feed you with solid food because you
could not yet bear it nor even now can you because you are still carnal because if the jealousy jealousy and fights among you Doesn't this show that you are carnal and walk according to human standards other translations say they walk according to men according to this Nature What is the apostle Paul doing the first batch of Verses He works on the issue of understanding wisdom of the spirit and the natural in the sequence he talks about behavior he says there are people who are spiritual What is the meaning of the expression spiritual spiritual does not
mean a Mystical person Sometimes we think that spiritual that guy has visions revelations experiences that is the definition the counterpoint of spiritual is with carnal spiritual that moves at the level of the spirit of wisdom and understanding of the higher carnal is that which has both wisdom and understanding and the animal behavior of the flesh and then it starts to say look you are limited even in the Understanding of understanding because you are trapped in the carnal way and his way of defending this he says if there is jealousy and fighting between you Does this
not show in a proof that you are carnal and walk according to men because always the behavior that we manifest is the result of the level of understanding and Revelation that we carry that is why we all need to enter a place of deep biblical awareness for this to profoundly affect our behavior but the same relationship happens in James first to the Corinthians in Jude when the Bible speaks of those who are sensual who walk according to their own instinct the Bible says they don't have the spirit this expression doesn't have the spirit for some
they are not spiritual because it can be translated That way they don't have the spirit it doesn't mean they've never been touched they don't have experience but they don't live in this place dominion, you and I need to understand that the two things are in opposition and we need to understand that you are either leaning one way or the other in Galatians in chapter 5 Paul will talk about the works of the flesh versus the fruit of the spirit he makes a List of what are the works of the Flesh he makes a reveal a
relationship with characteristics of this fruit of the spirit but before talking about it he starts with an approach which is what introduces the subject and it is important that we see this to understand the relationship then I want to read Galatians 5 from 13 to 15 Paul says because you brothers were called to freedom but do not use freedom as an occasion for the flesh this is very important do not use freedom as an occasion for the flesh on the contrary be servants of one another for love because every law is fulfilled only one precept
namely love your neighbor as yourself but if you stay if you keep biting and devouring each other Be careful so that you are not mutually destroyed Look at what Paul says do not use your freedom to give occasion the flesh most of us think occasion meat with all types of Sin even less in relational ones but he said you are biting and devouring each other Why does he use this language no one is biting the other's arm in the other's ear in a way literal but he is saying you are behaving like animals the animals
attack each Other by biting and devouring and he shows that this relational disorder is the result of animal behavior and after saying this we are going to have a wonderful extraordinary profound teaching of extreme importance practice for the Christian's life because he follows So from verse 16 I say the following, however, live in the spirit and you will never satisfy the desires of the flesh because the flesh fights against the spirit the spirit fights against the flesh because they are opposites to each other so that you do not do as you please in verse 19
it says now the works of the Flesh are known and are sexual immorality impurity debauchery idolatry sorcery enmities ra jealousies wrath divisions factions envy drunkenness orgies and things like these I declare to you that I would rather warn you than those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God this phrase is also important those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God Paul is talking about the guy who converted us but he will only go to hell if he practices one of these things on the list obviously not all
of us are born destined for eternal damnation because before doing something wrong we already have a Sinful nature we all need salvation and only salvation through Christ Jesus and the recognition of his Redeeming work an expression of God's Grace is received by faith we do not is saved because he stops sinning so what does it mean whoever practices these things will not give the kingdom of God He is saying you who embraced salvation the work of grace through faith if you insist on the old behavior you will abort God's plan and process PR his life
this means animal behavior cannot be tolerated in any way in the Christian's life in counterpoint he says But the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace longsuffering kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such things there is no law and those who are Christ's Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires specifically After talking about self-control he talks about crucifying the flesh he is not talking about something literal but just as the cross was an instrument of execution and death He is saying that our meat with passions and desires needs to die So you
realize that after working on the issue of understanding the Bible will talk about behavior and many times throughout the scripture analogy about animal behavior appears my intention here is not to exhaust the subject but since the old testament Jeremiah 2:24 God says you are like a wild donkey accustomed to the desert and in the heat of heat sniffing the wind who would say to satisfy her desire those who seek her will not have to tire in her month they will find her God is saying It's not about animal behavior like, for example, in c you
have to Reproduce now The sad thing is to see men and women created in the likeness of God moving in the same instinctive way as animals in heat in relation to sex and any other area Why do animals bite, devour and attack is not a mere defense instinct, it is often to ensure that hunger disappears that the desire is satisfied at any cost Not now It's only worth us knowing all this Genesis Chapter 9 verse 5 and 6 is the place where God will repeat After the flood the fact that man was created in the
image of God and he repeats this when he gives the first Clear order in the Bible so that murder is not committed and it says whoever shed man's blood would have his Blood spilled and God ends saying this because man was created in the image of God his entire life I looked at this text thinking no human being has the right to kill the another because this other person that I'm thinking about killing was created in the image of God and we don't need to throw away this understanding but is that just it or is
God also saying you can't kill Because I created you in my image and you had to function like me not like an animal so we really need to realize that the place where God wants to take us has a profound impact on behavior now Christian behavior should not just be the result of a human effort to obey rules we need to understand that it involves embracing the new nature to be empowered by all the resources of heaven but it involves in the middle of the process and you massacre the old nature so the practical question
so that we can conclude and actually find the practical path What to do first we talk about understanding and animal wisdom after behavior third and last place I want to highlight what to do I will present this as if it were a List in case you are taking notes first place understand the issue of inclinations Romans 8 from 5 to 8 says those who live according to the flesh are inclined towards the things of the Flesh But those who live according to the spirit are inclined towards the things of the Spirit because the inclination of
the Flesh is death but that of the spirit is Life and Peace because the inclination of the Flesh is enmity against God as it is not subject to God's law cannot even be so those who are in the flesh cannot please God he is writing to the Christian someone who has already been born again has already received the new nature but you and I need to understand something when Jesus is talking to Nicodemus about new birth in John 36 he says because what is born of Here is flesh What is born of the spirit is
spirit Jesus is not saying that man is one or the other Jesus is saying that man is both one and the other we enter this world in a body of flesh which the bible calls sinful flesh that carries a sinful nature that we love from Adam but when we are born again our spirit is regenerated this second spirit of Peter 1:4 became partaker of the first Divine nature of John 39 says that the seed Of God is in us, the DNA has been communicated to us, now there are believers who think that because they were
born again they received the Divine nature, the old one disappeared, no, this is the spirit, it is living inside a body and from the moment the new nature entered and has another old woman in the flesh, the stick is breaking, that's why Paul talks, right writing to the Galatians, about one fighting against the other and here in Romans he is talking about the inclination, we can choose even after having a new nature or unconsciously we can choose to incline to flesh and when we feed the animal instinct We lose spiritual influence but when we lean
towards the right place we are empowered to dominate to subdue the old nature we will only be fully free from this at the time of the coming of Jesus at the end of Redemption, right when the Bible talks about a complete transformation Redemption of the body but until then we can subdue so first of all understand the issue of inclinations second understand that the Bible talks about everything that is promised in this place the Bible classifies it as deception as deception first and second by Peter Chapter 2 verse 18 because speaking With arrogance words without
content They deceive with libertine desires of a carnal nature those who were in fact moving away from those who live in error Paul is talking about people who begin to break in the spiritual life begin to move away from people who have the same behavior wrong they want to live differently but they fall into a trap of distorted teaching of the scriptures and the Bible says that these people deceived them with libertine desires of a carnal nature then that language comes in, you don't need to worry about so much legalism with so many rules you
need to understand the grace of God and it's ok to follow an Animal Instinct and chasing these gratifications, this is a mistake because no one can take action in this place when they get there in the middle of this process, what we understand is fundamental to escape from everything that weakens self-control and sobriety Ephesians Chapter 5 verse 18 says no get drunk with wine as this leads to debauchery but let yourselves be filled with the Spirit other translations says in the imperative fill yourselves with the Spirit as an order What does it mean do not
get drunk with wine which leads to debauchery the Bible is saying that drunkenness when it removes the State of sobriety it makes us lose faculties it makes us lose control and think about something that has caused misfortune in the history of humanity and it is the issue of alcohol the other day someone said he is a pastor but the Bible does not prohibit drinking it prohibits getting drunk I said It is true but at the same time when it establishes the prohibition of drunkenness it is saying that someone loses control there are many people who
have great difficulty over time defining this so we pastors of the Church choose to walk in the place of abstinence then one day someone said it but it is not It's forbidden to taste, I said, I'm not prohibited from abstaining either because I want to escape everything that can weaken self-control, that's why since the dawn of humanity there hasn't been a party that isn't filled with drink, people, that's not a current thing. The difference is that nowadays we have a world full of recreational drugs that all weaken self-control and we need to understand the biblical
warning now the counterpoint is not only does it not weaken self-control here but supply yourself with the Holy Spirit from the other side fourth place you have noting number one understand the issue of inclinations Two become aware of the lure of carnal desires three escape from everything that weakens self-control four practice mortification of the Flesh Paul speaks of crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires but Romans 12:1 therefore says brothers By the mercies of God I ask that you offer your body as a living sacrifice Holy and pleasing to God this is your rational
worship what does the expression living sacrifice mean it is a paradox because to sacrifice is to kill how is sacrifice alive? then Paul is to kill or not to kill the body literally there is no level of mortification but it is not literal you do not kill the body that I kill Paul and Colossians 3:5 the apostle says therefore put to death everything that belongs to earthly nature sexual immorality impurity passions evil desires and greed which is idolatry interesting that this statement comes in contrast to make earthly nature die with the previous call made in
Colossians 3:2 three Verses before Think about the things above and not about the things here earth tune in to another way of thinking and Change your behavior through Mortification in a little while I will return to the subject of mortification fifth associating the idea of modification we need to understand the need for abstinence in Christian behavior first of Peter 2 11 12 beloved I ask to you as pilgrims and Aliens who are to abstain from the carnal passions that wage war against the soul having conduct among the Gentiles so that when they accuse you of
evildoers observing the good works that you do, glorify God on the day of visitation abstain- if from carnal passions, abstinence is a word so little used in our midst that one day I touched on the subject and someone asked me what abstinence is, now the guidance is clear, the Bible is not saying that we cannot live any form of joy or of pleasure Jesus says in John 15:11 that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete when he distinguishes my joy your joy is saying have spiritual pleasure and delight have natural
pleasure and delight when God creates man and places it there in the Garden Man, even before sinning, is in full communion with God, access to Full source of joy but God allowed access to other sources of pleasure he creates a variety of foods I always say that he could have made a fruit with all the nutrients but he instead created an adversity he gave us Taste He is saying enjoy this God blesses the man by putting into execution the eternal plan of marriage creates the wife and evidently He is saying I am giving you a
source of delight the Bible is not contrary to any form of delight when the Bible talks about passions it is talking about a level of I long for satisfaction and gratification And then the conversation is different because you can stop at the level of permitted delights or you can advance to a place of forbidden ones now what do you and I need to understand when the Bible talks about abstinence it literally means to keep oneself reining in she is talking about self-control and before dealing with this subject again, sixth place, just to close the list
of practical guidelines, develop spiritual sensitivity because the idea is not just to curb animal behavior, enter into this place of a spiritual dimension As you and I can do this and I believe that one of the most practical instructions for living a fruitful Christian life striking deep powerful we understand the impact and power of spiritual disciplines are spiritual disciplines Prayer Life of devotion that includes worship reading the word fasting how important are these things they not TM to do with merit the client does not deserve more from God because he prayed a lot the client
does not deserve more from God because he worshiped more the client does not deserve more from God because he spent time on the word of God and not so little because he fasts but what is the impact of these practices ? in this place of prayer he begins to say it involves a perception of the place where he is touched spiritual sensitivity the same goes for worship in John 4:24 Jesus says God is Spirit it is necessary that his Worshipers worship him in spirit and in truth it is logical that our body will participate with
expressions, right, That are not limited to Dance, raising our hands, we singing, our mind is involved, but that Sublime place where we are touched has to do with his spirit because God is spirit and his Worshipers have to worship him in spirit because it is in this place that we will have communion and connection with him we can say the same thing about the biblical reading Jesus says in John 6:63 the spirit is what vivifies the flesh to no avail so Jesus says the words that I have told you they are Spirit And they are
life if the spirit is what gives life understand that through my word you are touched fed in your spirit when Jesus says Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God He is saying man is not just flesh, he is not just matter, he needs bread to feed this here, yes, but as he is a spiritual being he needs spiritual food What is spiritual food the word of God does this mean that his spirit will be nourished strengthened and I would say more it enters the place
of ever greater perception because through the word in addition to spiritual strengthening our understanding is affected consequently Our behavior is affected in a chain reaction Romans 71 says because we know that the law it is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin, so if I want to break the strength of the Flesh, I need the law of God, the Word of God, which is spiritual, which touches, activates and vivifies my own spirit, now most believers want to live a deep spiritual life with little spiritual practice does not have the slightest chance of
you entering the place of fruitfulness or deep Christianity just by spending time with God once a week in worship and that once a week is relative as most do not have this assiduity D is the same thing as the guy says no every 7 15 days I go to the gym and do a workout I say beauty will make no difference over time we need to understand that these practices are part of a continuous daily conduct and what impact this will have on us now that all this is added together for us to conclude I
want to conclude where fasting comes into all of this fasting is the sum of a directive frontal attack against the carnal nature against animal behavior, right? explicit attitude of Mortification of the flesh that, associated with spiritual disciplines, takes us to a place of deep perception of what God has for us on the spiritual plane. Fasting is an excellent tool for exercising self-control. Self-control is continuous training. it should be something as sporadic or totally absent in our lives as unfortunately happens in the lives of many believers Jesus says in Matthew 6:16 when you fast he never
said if you fast fasting was not treated as an option he made it clear I expect this from you because no one guides how to do something unless he expects the person being guided Do what he is telling us to do why would Jesus guide us how to fast unless he expects us to fast then you see a lot of believers even preachers nowadays attacking fasting because often the best way to justify your negligence is to invent a doctrine for it so The guys say this, fasting is a thing of the law, it's from the
Old Testament, I look at this Tur and say which Bible do you read in Luke 5 from 33 to 35 people they question Jesus the disciples of John the Baptist Of the Pharisees fast frequently and say prayers for theirs do not fast In fact, not only do they ask that theirs do not fast but theirs eat and drink Jesus says as long as the groom is present the wedding guests will not fast but when the bridegroom is taken away they will fast Jesus guaranteed that his disciples would fast when he says after the bridegroom is
taken away What does this mean in all the parables Jesus the Gospels every time he used the allegory of the bridegroom he is talking about Yes, then Jesus is saying from the moment I go to heaven during all the days of my absence until the day of my Glorious Return This is the time you will fast how is the fast for today now what is the meaning of fasting the word fasting in the Greek of the new testament is a compound word ne is a negation prefix style is to eat so to fast inha Essence
means not to eat not to feed only over time the word fasting became synonymous with any type of abstinence there is lend a sports material and see the journalist saying that a certain team is fasting from title championships and in a little while a certain striker Is fasting from goals this idea of general abstinence sometimes affects our Christian life because you will see a lot of believers saying I'm fasting of social networks and I'm not talking against it, but the other forms of abstinence are that they should be complementary and not substitutes for food fasting.
Think about perhaps the most critical point for man since the beginning of humanity, where the first man gave in and was tempted to sin there in Eden food why did Esau sell his birthright because of a plate of food why did the Israelites brought out of slavery there in Egypt with a strong hand from God had greetings from Egypt numbers 11 says because of the food where Satan first attacked Jesus in the desert turns these stones into bread It is logical that the last Adam unlike the first would not fall but think about the delicate
subject where you and I need to learn to exercise self-control I have said this to pastors and leaders in many ministrations out there I borrowed this phrase from another colleague I say Look, there's a pastor and a Leader winning war against the Principality and power losing to a Brigadier I caught the attention of someone at the table the other day Even because I said it I have a history I know about it where I left I know how I've been living I attracted attention no but I can't resist when this person said that I said
so it's okay if your spouse says he can't resist getting involved versus P no way I said what's the difference you don't need If he controls himself in one area, he has to control himself in another. When we start to relativize self-control, we are opening up space for something that is slowly seducing us and that is compromising us in the long term. self-control has to be a permanent discipline and fasting creates a culture of self-control But that's all, it's not an intentional modification of the Flesh, people who fast often witness the same things, the earth's
gravity pulls it down, I say that the center of gravity of the Kingdom of God pulls upwards, thinking about coercion from above, thinking about coercion from above, fasting rids you of the strength of what attracts you to the earth, it begins to make you migrate to another center of gravity, you begin to aspire and desire other things those who fast Frequently and regularly witness the same things material things lose absurdity explained importance the heart is shielded against offense because this thing of biting and devouring each other is animal behavior and suddenly you and I need
to realize that there is a place in this practice, but what God started to draw my attention to at the beginning, I told you what the vision was, I'm not here to preach a vision, we don't live based on other people's experiences, I just told you the vision so you can understand what led me to study this subject deeply for 2 and a half years to So from what the Bible says look and say it makes sense that it does but it was that perception if you live only to satisfy these gratifications and delights you
will never enter into the perception of these other delights almost Years ago, I was in the first half of this process, I was already doing my second prolonged fast and a spiritual giant from this nation who I respect and admire a lot said to me, you are one of the people I know who fasts the most and I wanted to ask you a question. what has driven you with this passion dedication recurrence Frequency to this place respond to something that I already said here but I won't get tired of repeating it, I said, Pastor Zão,
if you asked me that at 18 years old, when I was already three days old, fasting on water almost every month I would answer that it was hunger for the Supernatural I didn't want a ministry resulting only from arm strength I wanted to see the finger of God and I can't deny you that fasting gave me access to the Supernatural but today I I look at it as a side effect, a mere consequence , a good side effect, but a mere side effect, he said what moves you today, I said today, understanding has changed, I
told him what moves me. Tell me, tell me more about this I said pastorzão so I could explain this to you, I'm going to give you a natural illustration of what fasting does to the body, you go through a cleanse, a deep detoxification, now I'm talking about prolonged fasting and the very lack of that flood of so much flavor. different makes your Taste very accurate, such as accurate, for example, people say that water has no taste, those who Fast for a long time disagree with the Dr who accompanies me all this fasting always bothers me,
stay hydrated, drink plenty of water and preferably a pH high alkaline water The problem is that the higher the PH of the water, the more brackish the taste and sometimes there are times when it is difficult to deal with that bad taste to have good water quality. On the other hand, when you get water with a pH low which is not so good for the body because it is not alkaline it may not even have a bad taste but something is missing with the measure that those who fast for a long time use to solve
both things, put lemon in the water in this low pH water, the lemon will alkalinizing water with a high PH will mask the flavor, which is difficult to drink. So I said, I'm saying this because a few days ago during the same fast, I was at another event, the pastors left the conference, they went to lunch and even though I didn't eat, I went along because I wanted the time at the table I wanted communion the relationship where of He said Ah, we are uncomfortable with you coming with us fasting fal I said it's your
problem I'm not going to give up this time of communion but to play with him I said so but today is a feast day like banquet, I'm confused, are you fasting or not? I said it's not that today I'm going to drink sparkling water with a squeeze of lemon, so for those who are fasting, it's a banquet today, it's the reward, so we laughed, we got there, I asked for the lemon, I told the waiter I want one sparkling water I want lemon expressed in a little while he'll bring it a glass and bring that
tiny glass of drip that they give you when you order the expressed lemon that comes with half Or at most one lemon and I brought a bigger glass full when I saw that I thought I don't think he understood me I've never seen anyone bring so much Lemon I thought he must have thought I wanted a lemonade so I took it and before complaining I tried it when I tasted it I took a sip I felt it was sweet I said thank you come here I think I didn't explain myself properly you didn't understand I
don't know what happened but no I wanted a lemonade I just wanted the lemon juice he said but that's the lemon juice it's not lemonade I said impossible it's sweet He looks at me with an impressed face he says impossible I say I saw the guy in the kitchen squeeze a bunch of lemons There's only lemon there I thought I'm crazy I took it and tasted it the second time I said it's sweet and said no it Can't the pastor in front of me curiously steals the glass from me let me taste it and when
he tastes it a sour face says for the love of God, climbing, there's nothing sweet about it I thought I'm crazy I take it again and taste it the third time I say it's sweet he takes it to taste it the second time thinking it's crazy he says it's sour everyone at the table joined in the tir I almost was without lemon because everyone wanted to try it but everyone looked sour they were saying You're crazy Luciano and then it was only at this point that I remembered I said fasting I could perceive the fructose
the natural sugar in the lemon which no one could perceive because the taste was too I figured out where I want to go with this, many times I'm there with the open mind, I get into the mode that I keep saying, my God, it's always been sweet like this and I'm the one who didn't realize it, sometimes during these periods of fasting, during the time of prayer and worship, I I say, Lord, I've been searching for you all my life, but Iso was always sweet like that and I was the one who didn't understand Psalm
16 11 says in your presence fullness of joy at his perpetual right hand, he doesn't say that this full joy is an ethereal thing, the feeling Vaguely , he translates this in the form of treats into something practical and then you need to understand the application of this . It's sweet, imagine the other fruits But I see the creature turn a can of condensed milk on top of me and I start to brood I want to fly on his neck across the table and shout at him saying there's no need, the fruit is already sweet,
the first one I remember when I consumed sugar and had lost the ability to feel the sweetness of the second I remember that there was no point in others talking until I took it out and saw the difference and I think there's no point in fighting with him here but I'm simply looking at it and thinking There are many believers enjoying condensed milk and have lost the ability to enjoy sweets the way God made them and cannot find it worth it what path do you and I need to enter into this understanding fasting has a
didactic power Jesus quotes in Matthew 44 at the end of the fast Man will not live by bread alone He is quoting Deuteronomy 83 What does God say there the Lord did humiliate You made you hungry so that indicative of purpose you would understand that he will not live by bread alone man, but from every word that comes out of the mouth of God there are afflictions of the Soul from that place of satisfaction. There are certain deprivations that have a didactic power to generate perception of something spiritual that we are not accessing. Then you
will understand first from Corinthians 7: 5 when Paul is saying that a husband and wife cannot deny themselves if they deny each other, he is basically talking about sexual intimacy. He is saying that in this area the Christian couple has to be in Revival too, but he says it like this except for the pause The only thing that justifies it and makes an exception is it says unless the two agree, this is important, they decide to dedicate themselves for a period of time to prayer, which is what Paul is saying And when the couple is
in this Revival, they cannot pray, that's not what he's talking he's saying here is prayer is average now you want to enter the deep place Deep Waters pause the boiled milk to rescue the perception of we are trying to live the Christian life on autopilot in a sense It's definitely wrong, but we're not living Pleasures, delights, in August last year I was at the end of one of those periods of fasting. God visits me in my room in the early hours of the morning in a way that I had never experienced before . I've never
felt so much joy in my life because I'm saying this at the same time I was 50 years old I want to tell myself how it is after turning fifty I told her I'm in crisis she said crisis of my age I said how none I said I'm happy with everything I've experienced with everything God has given us in all areas I'm deeply grateful to God she said what's the crisis I said love we spent years of our lives wanting a lot of things we couldn't OK, it's true Fi, now that we can do those
things we wanted, I don't want them anymore, she said, but this is some sign of maturity. It must be good, I said, I'm not going to argue if it's good, the only thing that hurts me, I told her because we waste so much time wanting these things giving them more Importance than they should have when you start to enter a place of satiety in God that the rest doesn't matter Then you look at Apostles who were arrested tortured threatened defamed because of the Gospel were full of joy and today the clients have no idea of
the problem they had and are depressed all the time because they were connected to a source that we are not connecting as we should, whoever understands, let's stand up to make it look like it's ending [Music] me I can tell you that this understanding, God led me to delve into the word to seek the answers that came as a consequence of that vision and have profoundly affected and changed my life, honestly speaking of a practical impact, I would say without a doubt that understanding and application practicing this principle is in the top cin of all
the things that most affected my life and my desire is my prayer I know that we have believers at all levels of maturity here are people who have just converted and it doesn't mean that you no longer can be taught about These things, there are others who have already spent more time walking and have the ability to digest something better. I remember things that I saw at the beginning of the walk that were indigestible and that I later understood their importance But even taking that risk every time that we touch on something deeper you have
people who are on different diets to those who are on milk like children who are already on solid food I believe that at any level of maturity we are hungry for God I need to be provoked to passion for the Lord we don't want to be a people that adopts religious behavior we want to be a people that communes with God on deep levels and there is nothing so necessary How to break animal behavior I'm not talking about living in that sinful way of works of the flesh God showed this all my gratifications were only
within the permitted limit of what was legal, but somehow the overvaluation of these things prevented us from understanding what awaits us on this side when Jesus said Go into your room, close your door, talk to your father in secret and says He will reward you most of us I think the reward is the answer to a prayer request Is this the reward of the secret God is saying close your door just saying turn off others forget the rest he is saying come if he loses himself in my presence, the reward is him, what he will
do in light of what we are asking is of much lesser importance, the reward is him, if I could go back to the beginning of the Christian journey that I am sharing with you today, I would like it to be one of the first things that I could have understood and I hope that in some way it helps you I didn't see you pointing the finger, I didn't see you throwing stones at you and I believe that not even God brought us here to simply tell you animal that you're not acting right with me I
believe that his love I think you can [Music] perceive the sweetness of his presence in this place his love is in us [Music] calling one of the things that moved me in that experience when the glory of God entered my room it was Thanking God for the time of fasting, my wife My two children had decided to Accompany me, several of the brothers here from the church, I told God, I said, God, having people doing 40 days is not common, but having a whole family, this bunch of people, I remember that I told God This
is history and I told God I didn't even call anyone I said I didn't even call anyone You spoke to me who called it was me I have realized that there is a call there is a summons from God for this time so that we can get lost in this place of his presence Someone has to take this microphone from me the meeting ends but I want to say a brief prayer father We ask that what you started here now does not end with this meeting I want to bless each one of my brothers and
sisters in this place those who give us accompany them through transmission or even a subsequent recording we We pray that this environment also touches them, that your presence also touches them and that there is not only perception but the capacity to respond To Your Call let none of us leave here with only information to process or digest but may we leave Under an awakening from the heavens we cry out in the name of Jesus amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music ] [Music] n
