Dominion Over The Flesh (sin) - Part 2 by Pastor David Ogbueli: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

What Is the Flesh?

The Bible has many names for the flesh — it is called the old man, the sinful nature, the carnal mind. The flesh is not the human body, but it walks through the body. It walks through the emotions. It walks through the mind. It also functions through the will. It is the fallen nature — the root of sinful self-interest in us that is at war with the free spirit.

These two ways of life are antithetical — you cannot live at times one way and at times another according to how you feel.

Any Christian who follows their emotion will not learn to please God. Any Christian who follows their natural appetite will not please God.

The Works of the Flesh

In Galatians 5:19-21, the works of the flesh are listed:

• Adultery, fornication, uncleanness — adultery involves married people; fornication, the unmarried; uncleanness covers the thought life, including things like pornography that defile within.
• Lewdness — expressed in dressing and conduct that provokes lust.
• Stubbornness and rebellion — not about the body but the will; doing what you like regardless of what God is saying.
• Idolatry and sorcery — sometimes driven by greed or desperation for touch and hold.
• Hatred, contention, strife, jealousy, anger — emotional works of the flesh that are not less serious because they involve no physical act.
• Selfish ambition, dissension, class consciousness — using God's blessing as an opportunity to despise others instead of as empowerment to help more.
• Wild parties, drunkenness, drug use — and everything similar.

Those who practise these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God — this same statement is made throughout the New Testament. Practise, not stumble once.

Three People Involved in Dominion Over Sin

1. Jesus — he took your old nature and crucified it on the cross. His work is finished and settled.
2. The Holy Spirit — his role is to cause what Jesus has already done to manifest in your life. Healing was finished 2,000 years ago; the Holy Spirit enforces the work of the cross in response to faith.
3. The Believer — you must believe, speak, and enforce your rights.

The Holy Spirit only moves in response to faith. Whenever you command and speak what Jesus has already done for you, the power of the Holy Spirit moves into action to bring it to pass.

The finished work of Christ requires revelation to activate it in your life. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. You do not struggle when you know the thing has been settled.

Consider how darkness operates: a native doctor's charm does not go out and do damage until they speak it. The supernatural is activated by words — they know what they are talking about and they believe it. If the kingdom of darkness understands the power of the spoken word, how much more should we?

Faith That Stands Its Ground

I had pneumonia growing up. I spent time in hospital, and throughout secondary school, anytime the weather changed, I would struggle with breathing. After giving my life to Christ, the problem persisted.

One day, someone was teaching on this subject and said: when you command something by faith and then check — if you do not feel any change, do not say it did not work. Stand your ground.

He brought a branch of a tree and said: once you cut this branch from its life source, it is dead. But the leaves are still green. Depending on the tree, it might take one day, three days, or longer for the withering to show. A palm frond might come back looking green on the second day — but it is dead. Come back on the third day and the signs are there.

That is how spiritual things work. When you cut anything off by faith, you have killed it from the root. The manifestation will show up.

Everything on earth was created by words. The power of the Holy Spirit is activated by words based on conviction — the finished work of Christ.

From that day, I spoke to the pneumonia that had been there for years. I commanded it to stop, to leave my body. I declared my body a no-go area as the temple of God. The thing tried to choke me when I breathed. I left and came to fellowship the next day. The teacher said the same thing: stand your ground. Within a short time, it was gone. I have never had it again.

How to Activate Dominion

• Learn to bind and break the power of the devil — use God's word to command the works of the flesh and their demonic companions to stop.
• Activate the power of the Holy Spirit — say: Holy Spirit, help me; give me the ability to conquer this. When you face temptation that looks too tough, do not rely on your own ability. The arm of the flesh fails. Rest in the Holy Spirit.
• Close the doors — keep yourself accountable. Discipline your system. Set boundaries. Remove the triggers — software that blocks harmful content, disconnecting from ungodly relationships. If you are always struggling, close the door permanently through marriage.

We declare you free. We break the power of gossip. We bind the spirit of worldliness and command it to loose God's people. We bind the spirit of vanity. We are going to have a victorious church — a glorious church, a bride for Jesus Christ in these last days.

In the name of Jesus Christ, God's holy Son, I confer the spirit of holiness upon your life. By the operation of the spirit of holiness, it will drive out every spirit of corruption, every spirit of immorality, every spirit of the world from your life. May the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hunger for righteousness — you will have this insatiable desire for righteousness. May your hunger to please God overcome every other hunger in your life. May the beauty of your redemption be made manifest. God will work out in your life everything Jesus died to give you.