Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. What I want to do is to take
our scripture reading this morning and incorporate the scripture
reading into this message I'd like to share. begin in verse 18 of Romans chapter
7. Romans 7, 18, For I know that
in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good
that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not,
that I do. If I do that I would not, it's
no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then
a law, that is a principle that's given. I find then a law that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight
in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in
my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then with
the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the
law of sin. Let's pray. Our Father, we've read your word. Lord, we've established by the
reading of your word the very truth upon which we will consider this
morning concerning the glory of our Lord. Would you bless
the word again to our hearts for Christ's sake? Amen. You know, I will say of all the
experiences shared by a believer, all the things that that might
be found in common. I would venture to say that the
word from the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul, in these verses
of Scripture right here, probably best describes the most common
experience between believers. That what I mean is this, a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ finds himself with a desire, with a
hunger, with a longing to be honorable before God Almighty. And in the same breath, he finds
himself warring frustrated with himself. But in this last verse that we
read, and I picked that song out that we just sang, Thank
You, Lord. I was thinking about this message that I was going
to preach. I've entitled this, The Reason for Thanking God. But in this last verse of Scripture,
the Apostle Paul had been making setting forth what he saw in
himself, what he saw concerning what God had done for him, what
he saw just in his very being as a regenerated sinner. And he made this statement at
the last verse, ìI thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.î In the midst of the battles within,
Paul said, I'm thankful. Thankful. 1 Thessalonians 5.18
says, In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Ephesians 5.20, Giving thanks
always for all things. God and the Father in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whatsoever ye do, in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God and the Father by him." So here we are. Upon our comfort and hope and
joy this morning is what God has to say. That's the only,
what does God have to say? Whenever we approach the Lord,
I would encourage myself, let me tell you this for myself.
Try to pray. Don't approach him cold turkey. See what he has to say first.
Approach him on his word, according to his scriptures. Here we are viewing what the
Apostle Paul had to say, struggling with the very things that we
struggle with. I'll tell you this. I read those
verses of Scripture, and I think to myself, I think I know what
he's talking about. I think I do. If you've found struggles
within, as the Apostle Paul has described, I pray that the Lord
give us all some comfort today. and cause us to be thankful. As I was just reading these Scriptures,
I was thinking about the four points that I'm going to bring
out in just a second, Lord willing. And I was thinking about those
four points as I was reading these Scriptures. In everything,
give thanks. Everything, give thanks. Ephesians 5, 20, giving thanks
always. for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ. All things. Now, in light of
that, I want to look at four things that Paul was thankful
for. And I pray that God speak to our hearts this morning. In
that last verse, verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord, I want you to look at the last
phrase of that 25th verse. But with the flesh the law of
sin. So you break it down like this.
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that with the mind
I myself serve the law of God. And you could say I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord, but with the flesh the law of
sin. Paul thanked God through Jesus
Christ, our Lord, that he had a heart to know that his corrupted
nature was his problem. I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord, that with the flesh I serve of all Now, let me ask you this. Did
Paul rejoice in that? Absolutely not! I mean, was that an excuse for
sin? Absolutely not! He had just said in verse 24,
O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this devil? You remember me telling you a
couple of weeks ago that there was a guy that I knew in Franklin
that had just told me one day, he said, I hope the Lord never
tries me by taking away my money. Remember that? The same guy made
this statement to me. He said, you know, we're all
just sinners. So it doesn't matter. You don't know him. You don't
know him. If you have that attitude, well,
we're just sinners. It just, it doesn't matter. No,
we are just sinners. And yes, it matters. Paul said, Oh, wretched man that
I am. What he thanked God through Christ
Jesus for was that he knew that he was a possessor of the body
of that death, that he knew it. He loathed himself. What Job
said, I loathed myself. Oh, wretched It's by the grace of God that
God Almighty would show anybody what they are. Do you know why
this building this morning is just not packed? Do you know
why it's just not filled to capacity, standing room only? Do you know
why it's not? Because Almighty God has been
pleased to leave many to themselves in their fault. I'm not that bad before God. You have Almighty God show a
man or show a woman what they are. You have the Spirit of God show
a man Show a woman their true need. And you know what they're
going to do? They're going to go to the physician. When they really realize, I need
the physician. A couple of years ago, I walked
into a doctor's office. He wanted to just kind of check
out the situation. And he told me, he said, you've got a malignant
tumor in your bladder. We need to try to get it out
within a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks. I want it
out now. I wanted out today. You see, I need a doctor now. Did you know up until that point,
it didn't really matter to me if I showed up there or not.
I really didn't care. I had no need whatsoever. I thought to myself, What if
I wouldn't have gone in? What if I wouldn't have had a
need to go in? What if Paul said, I thank God
that he has shown me that with the flesh I serve the law of
sin. Oh, he didn't glory in it. He
know better than that. Blessing of Almighty God that
He would reveal to me my need of Him. Man by nature doesn't
need it. Man needs everything else. Everything else that's important.
That's what he wants. But you let him come to a point
where he realizes, I'm a sinner. Job 15-16, how much more abominable
and filthy is man who drinketh iniquity like water. The very presence of sin within
the believer. See, Paul was speaking as a believer
right here. I thank God that God has shown
me my need of Him. Not that He gloried in it, as
I said, He hated it. He grieved over it. But I was
glad that the doctor told me I was sick. I'm thankful. What if I wouldn't have known? See what I'm saying? I'm glad
I knew it. Job said, Job 42, 5 and 6, I've
heard of thee by the hearing of the ears. Now mine eyes see
of thee, wherefore I am poor of myself, and repent in dust
and ashes. Isaiah said in Isaiah 6, 1, in
the year the king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon
a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
And he said, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of
unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. Mine eyes have seen the king,
the Lord of hosts. Again, I listen to myself right
now, and I think to myself, I don't know how bad in myself I really
am. I don't know. I don't know. But I'm glad you've
shown me something. If I did know how evil I really
am in myself, I'd probably go insane. I'm sure I would. But I know something about it. If your sin grieves you, if your
sin, if it grieves you, if it grieves you, thank God for that. But if our sin doesn't grieve
us, if it doesn't bother us, may the Lord have mercy on our
souls. Paul said, I thank God with the flesh I serve the Lord.
I thank the Lord for showing me that. Paul thanked God for
it through Christ Jesus. And though that sin was present
with him, he wasn't conquered by it. I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord so that with the mind I myself serve the law
of God. Paul was not saying that he or
any other regenerated sinner could keep the law of God. But through Jesus Christ our
Lord, Paul found the holiness of God's law to be fulfilled
totally by Christ. God's holiness through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Don't ever take that part out of me. So then with the mind,
I myself serve the law of God in Him. With my new mind. In regeneration, a new will is
imparted. Every man is born, every woman
is born with a depraved will, a fallen will, a governing will
that will do one thing. It will rebel against God. Paul said in verse 18, he said, that in me, that is in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing. But here's another part that
has now been imparted in regenerating grace, for to will is present
with me. My preference, my preference,
my will, perform that which is good, I
perceive not. A believer would readily admit,
I would desire to honor him as
I know one day by the grace of God I shall. When this body of death has been
put off, When this mortality shall put on immortality, when
this weak flesh is put on, raised in Christ, when I see Him as
He is, and know Him, and be like Him, in that day I'll worship Him
as He's worthy to be worshipped. Those 420 elders back there in
Revelation 4, casting their crowns before Him, said, You are worthy,
You are worthy to receive all honor and glory. You have redeemed
us. The will is present with me. He said in verse 22, I delight
in the law of God after the end with man. I rejoice Paul said,
in that which Christ has fulfilled. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. I rejoice in what Christ has
fulfilled, in that He has perfectly obeyed and completely answered
every demand for righteousness and justice before God's law. What did God's law require? Christ
forbidden. The soul that sinned is going
to die. He made himself of sand and died under the justice
and the wrath of Almighty God in our standing. Laying down
his life in front of the sheep. Paul said, I thank God that He
showed me what I am by nature. I'm thankful. Not rejoicing in
it, not glorying in it, but I thank God that He showed me that in
my flesh, what I am by nature, I've served the law of sin. Somebody
come up to an unbeliever and you tell them, you know, you're
just a rotten, no good, good for nothing, scum sucking, just
God hating. Don't talk to me like that. No, I'm not. I believe in the
Savior. Right there. That's me. That's
me. And you didn't really touch it.
You didn't even touch it. You know what's pitiful about
that, what I just said? It was him. In that first message,
it made him said, he said, I'm a warner. Here I am, here I am,
reading something that he said about me right there. With the
flesh I serve the law of sin and thankful that he made himself
the least. I thank God. The law was in his
hands and he held it forth as his walking. Always, only those things. Every
dot, every teeth, every thought, every word, every deed, every
emotion, everything. And the Father said, this is
my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. And He earned a righteousness. He earned a righteousness as
a man. A man! A man! A man! The God-man. Totally God. Totally man. And there He is, the Mediator,
the One that God Almighty is honored by, being God Himself,
and totally manned, He made Himself, likened to His brethren. There He is, the High Priest, the One that honored God's law.
Paul said, I thank God through Christ Jesus, our Lord. the mind, I myself serve the
law of God. How? In Him. In Him. Well done, my good faithful servant. How? How? How? Through Christ Jesus. Here again,
I think about that scripture and I think, I want to say I thank God that
he's shown me something of my corruption. And with the flesh
I serve the law of sin. I see it. I see my need. I don't
have the ability. How do I have the ability to
be able to obey God? How can I, with my little fickle,
fleeting thoughts, exercise my free will, walk down, shake somebody's
hand, pray a sinner's prayer. Let me ask you something. Do
you know what it's going to take to be reconciled to God? Do you think by just walking
down an aisle and You know, letting a tear fall, you know, or something
like that. You think by getting some water,
that that physical water is going to wash away the filth of your
sin. Do you think that there's anything
that a man can do or a woman can do to reconcile themselves
back to God? With men, this is impossible.
With God, all things are possible. I'm telling you what it's going
to take before God Almighty to be reconciled to Him is absolute
holiness. Holiness. Not a little fleeting
moment in a point in time where you say, no! Come on! I thank God. Paul said, God Almighty
showed me what I am by nature. And I thank Him. that He has
shown me that in His blessed Son, in His Lamb, in the Lord
Jesus Christ, in my new man, I bow to His law in Christ. In myself, I cannot. The law is weak in the flesh. Whenever somebody talks about
keeping the law of God, I think to myself, oh, if God Almighty
ever shows you what you are by nature, you'll never say that
again. Thirdly, Paul thanked the Lord
for a sure deliverance. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall, shall, deliver me from the body of this death. This old putrefying corruption,
scripture says it's going to be changed. Paul said we won't
all sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye. There's an earthly body, body. Almighty God has set forth that
he shall deliver. Knowing something about the struggles,
the doubts and the fears, warring within, Do you know when the
scripture sets forth, when Paul said, so then with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of
sin, I can start to see that last part. I start to see the
last part of it. But for the life of me, I can't
see the first part. That which is born of God sinneth
not. I just don't see it. I don't see it. But Lord, it's Your Word. It's
Your Word. Boy, I tell you, grace starts
to look wonderfully wonderful when you start realizing, I don't see anything in me. Knowing something of what I am
by nature and what He said concerning His faithfulness to shall deliver
me from the body of this dead. I know this, this struggle is
not going to go on forever. There's been some that's been
taken out of our presence in the last couple of years. And you know, when it happens,
it just, it's just, oh, I'm going to miss them. Boy, you start
thinking about it, and you know what we believe, by faith, you
think, it's all over for them. They're in the very presence
of God, I'm convinced of that. Just beholding the wonder. The Queen of Sheba told Solomon,
she said, I heard about you. I heard about you. But I never even imagined I'd
have to. I never even started to. I have
not seen, heard, neither have entered into the heart of man.
I've never been able to even enter into it. But God has prepared
for those that love Him. I thank God. Paul says that the
Lord is going to deliver. Who shall deliver? Our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal way to glory. Our Lord at Calvary cried, was
finished, the completion of that which
He prayed for in John 17, 24. Father, I will that they also,
from Thou hast given me, be with me where I am. That prayer is
going to be answered. You know, I think, I just try
to mull it. Sometimes it seems like I do
just for a moment. I've said it before, but I mull
over the thought. being in His presence. I just
wonder about that. I pray, Lord, have mercy on me. I know that this death is something
that we struggle with. I know that. I heard Brother
Scott say, or had said, we were created to live forever in this
old flesh. He fights against that. But I do know this, death is
the means by which God's going to usher His people into His
presence. I know that. The sting of it, the victory
of the grave. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. Listen to these words in closing.
John 14.2, In my Father's house are many mansions. Now if it were not so, I would
have told you. Isn't that kind? How kind. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it wasn't so, I would have told you. I go to prepare
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That
where I am, there you may be also. Paul thanked God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. that God had revealed his need
because of a corrupted nature. He thanked God through Jesus
Christ his Lord that though corrupted in the fall, he wasn't conquered
by that corruption. God Almighty had given him in
regenerating grace a new heart. a new man, a new will, born again,
gave him a new nature that does not sin. He serves the law of
God in Christ. He thanked the Lord that deliverance
from the presence of this struggle was sure, it's going to be over
soon. Not many more setting suns, it's
going to be over. And then lastly, he thanked God
for the person of his deliverance. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Put everything else aside. Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? Cast away by God's
grace every other fault except this. through Jesus Christ our
Lord, by the grace of God. Don't let one other thing enter
your mind. By God's grace, through Jesus
Christ our Lord, He in whom we were chosen, He who came into
this world and knew His own and lived for His own and died for
his own and calls him by grace? How do you know? How do you know? If you're one of his, here it
is, here it is. You believe this report. Isn't
that amazing? God gives a man, a woman, a heart
to believe this. And they cast aside everything
else. What hope do you have? My hope
is built on nothing less than the blood of Christ. He put away
my guilt and His righteousness. He robed me in Himself. I have
no guilt to answer for. He answered. And I stand in Him
holy. Holy. He hath chosen us in Him,
predestinated us, that we should be holy without blame before
Him in God. Paul thanked God. He thanked
God for what He showed him to be in himself. He thanked God
for what he saw himself to be in Christ in regenerating grace. He thanked the Lord that he knew
that it won't be long. He thanked God that he saw that
all of his hope was in Christ. That's a sympathetic God point. May the Lord bless these words
in our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen.