All righty, you're going to need
your Bibles tonight. I suggest that you keep them
close and handy to you. We're going to begin, and as
you can see right there at the top of your handout, we're going
to begin reading right away with the Proverbs, Proverbs chapter
3, and I want to read the first eight verses. Chapter 3, titled
tonight's study, Trust in the Lord with All Thine Heart, and
as we read here in Proverbs 3, beginning at verse 1, My son,
forget not my law. These are very important words.
I want you to remember this as we go through our study tonight.
Forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments."
Now notice that he says, thine heart. That is a very important
phrase as well. Let thine heart keep my commandments
for length of days and long life. and peace shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake
thee, bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table of
thine heart, so shalt thou find favor and good. understanding
in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart, and lead not unto thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes,
fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy
navel, and morrow to thy bones. Now if you would turn into your
handout here, and let's begin at the top of page one. To lead us into our text tonight,
I first want to make this point. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart, and lean not unto thy own understanding. In the understanding,
the wisdom of the flesh, the natural man thinks if I follow
God's law, I will be all right with God. If I do the best I
can, God will reward me with salvation. That's the way we
think naturally. Now, when I talk about this,
I'm talking about us now. We tend to fall into that very
trap this very day, just as much as we do. I was bringing this
out in Wednesday night service. For those of you in San Diego,
I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm repeating it, but I brought
this out. Folks, I have enough trouble
in my life with the things that I will not do. Did you catch
what I said? I will not do them. I know I
should. I know I could. I could very
easily stop getting mad at people who cut me off, but I don't.
I could very easily put the things of this flesh out of my mind
and not think the things I shouldn't think, but I don't. The wisdom
of the flesh, the natural and the man thinks that if I follow
God's law, I will be all right with God. There's a phrase that
we use in this generation, second paragraph, page one, that goes
like this, practical godliness. This is a phrase to describe
our walk in this flesh before God, our obedience to the laws
of the master. The world of works religion love
this subject, for in it they do trust. Because the true people
of God put no confidence in our actions, our thoughts, our feelings,
the works religionists believe we have no law. Baloney. Hogwash. This proverb that we
just read proves just the opposite. It says, Be not wise in thine
own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel,
and morrow to their bones. Verse 7 and 8. It should be good
for us. The law of God is good for us.
It shall be health to thy navel and morrow to thy bones. We never
want to ignore the instructions that God gives us in our walk
on this earth. It's healthy, it's not healthy
to ignore it. Sin brings trouble and tribulation. The Apostle Paul, given to us
an example of the flesh, gives us a clear picture of this battle
between the flesh and the spirit. Turn over to Romans chapter 7
with me if you would please. Romans chapter 7. And I want
to read just a couple of verses through 7 and then on into chapter
8. So if we would, I'll give you
a moment to turn. Romans chapter 7. Join me at
verse 1 if you would. Romans 7 verse 1. Know ye not brethren, for I speak
to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion over
a man as long as he liveth. As long as we live in this world,
this flesh, in the dominion, the law hath dominion over the
man as long as he liveth. Now skip verses 2 and 3 because
that gives us an example. That's just an example God uses
of a woman and how she is relieved of the law. Look here at verse
4. It very well explains how we are relieved of the law. Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ. Speaking of how the woman is
free from the law of marriage when her husband dies. Well,
our husband died. The difference is that our husband
has raised again. Look what it says. Look what
it goes on. That ye should be married to another, even to whom
Him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit
unto God so here we see Let's go on shall we five and six for
when we were in the flesh the motions of sin which were by
the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death
and But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead
wherein ye were held, that we should serve a newness of spirit. Now, I want to take you back
to what we talked about there in Proverbs. Let me just remind
you what we read there real quick. Remember what it said there.
Let thine heart, this is our spirit. That's what the spirit
is. It's talking not about that muscle
that pumps the blood. We're talking about our innermost
being, our spirit. Let thine heart keep my commandments. And then in verse, trust in the
Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine understanding.
So we see how this is a heart thing. For when we were in the
flesh, the motions of the sin were by the law, did work in
our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered
from the law, that being dead, wherein we are held, that we
should serve in the newness of spirit, and not in the oldness
of the letter. Now, jump over to Verse 14 of
Romans chapter 7, For we know that the law is spiritual, but
I am carnal, sold under sin, speaking of Paul, saying of himself,
For that which I do I allow not, for what I would That do I not,
but what I hate, that do I. Paul is very much describing
to us here of the very sin that I spoke of a moment ago that
I know I could turn away from, but I don't. I don't. Now, if you don't have that problem,
then this study is probably not for you. But if you have the
same kind of problem, our example here is describing this very
thing to you and I. Right here, let's go on. If then
I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that is
good. Now then, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me
that is in my flesh 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." Again, Paul
declaring here. The very good that he should
be doing, he does not. And the very evil that he shouldn't
be doing, he does. Verse 20, now if I do that what
I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find then, says Paul, a law
that when I would do good, Evil is present with me now. I want
you to remember that because this is going to be a key verse
This is going to be the key to our verses that we're going to
that we have in Matthew chapter 18 19 and half of 20 I'll get back
to that We'll come back to that in a moment verse 22 for I delight
in the law of God after the inward man but I see another law in
my members and warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity of the law of sin, which is in my members,
in his body. 24. O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? 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. Therefore, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Remember what I said
is going to be the key there. I find in a law that when I do
good, evil is present with me, but after the spirit. For the
law of the spirit, verse 2 of chapter 8, for the law, a spirit
of life in Christ Jesus that made me free from the law of
sin and death, for what the law could not do, in that it was
weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of
central flesh, and for sin Condemned sin and the flesh now, let's
go back to our text or our handout last two paragraphs of page one
even though Even the good that I do is full of Sin now I find
that a law writes Paul that when I would do good evil is present
with me verse 21 This is why God's ministers. This is why
the preachers of God must teach Practical godliness Yet not and
I want to emphasize not without the gospel folks we can preach
practical godliness all day long and all it is is works and All
that comes out is works, unless you preach the gospel with it.
Those who cannot, those who do not understand that even our
good works are mixed with evil. That's what Paul is saying there.
I find in a law that when I would do good, Notice what he's talking
about. He's not talking about just his
thoughts. He's talking about his good acts,
his good deeds, the deeds that he may do in the name of the
Lord. He's talking about all that he considers goodness that
he might do, even then, evil is present. with me. We must
teach practical godliness, yet not without the gospel, Christ
and Him crucified. All your practical godliness
is tainted with the sin of our flesh, is what Paul is saying
there. Now, go to page two, if you would, of your handout. So
with that in mind, setting the table is what we just did. We
set the table for our text in Matthew 18 verse 15 through chapter
20 verse 16. And I want you to read all of
that in your own time. The reason for that is The instructions
the Lord gives are very clear. In fact, he gives us parables
to express each and every point that he's making in all of those
verses. Now, we looked a little bit at
this last week about how we must be as babes. That's a very important
part, because being as babes in Christ, we trust in the Lord.
Just like I brought out in service last week, there was a young
baby, a year and a half old baby. That young girl, she puts all
of her faith in her parents to take care of her. She trusts
her parents in a childlike way. That's what it means to be a
babe in Christ. Mike Loveless, he wrote a poem.
If you haven't seen it on Facebook yet, it'll be in this week's
Bulletin. Gray-haired babies. Gray-haired babes. He thought
that was pretty good, so I asked him to go home and write a poem.
He did. back into our subject matter here. These verses, from
Matthew 18, 15, all the way through Matthew 20, verse 16, are instructions
on how we should walk in this world. We should be forgiving. We should be forgiving as God
forgave us. He forgave us of so much. How
can we not be forgiving? I'll tell you how. I forget. I know I should be doing it,
but I don't. I know that I should do this,
but I don't do it. Well, this is what the gospel
is for. This is for those who know that
very thing. I know what is good, but I find
evil in what I do. Even what I do is good. That's
why I need the gospel. That's what the gospel is all
about. The instructions of our Savior, given in those verses
mentioned, he brings it back to this. And I want you to turn
to Matthew chapter 20 and look with me, if you would, at text. And I said all that because I'm
going to skip all those other verses. And we're going to go
right to these verses in chapter 20. All of this instructions
our Lord has brought His disciples through. Remember what it said
back there in 18 as you're turning to verse 20? At the same time
came the disciples unto Jesus saying, who is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called the little child
unto Him. All of those words between there
and chapter 20 of Matthew are words of instructions on how
we should walk in this world, how we should be forgiving, how
we should deal with divorce, how we should deal with the love
of the saints, how we should deal with riches. And here, when
he gets to verse 17, we read this. And Jesus, going up to
Jerusalem, took the 12 disciples apart in the way and said unto
them, Behold, grab a hold of this. Consider this. We go up to Jerusalem, and the
Son of Man shall be betrayed under the chief priests and under
the scribes. And they shall condemn him to
death and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge
and to crucify him. And the third day he shall rise
again, Christ and him crucified. the gospel. So after all of those
instructions, what does our Lord conclude everything up with?
He concludes it with the gospel. Notice that He took His disciples. In all of those instructions,
the Lord had a large crowd around Him. He was teaching His disciples,
and many heard how He was teaching. Yet at this time, He takes His
disciples aside. He takes them apart in the way
and says unto them, We go up to Jerusalem. They're going to
mock me. They're going to turn me over
to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles are going to crucify me. And
then he says this, and on the third day, I shall rise again. Back in our handout, second paragraph
of page two. Clearly we can see in this passage
that the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died at Calvary
by his own choice and determination. His own choice and determination. By his own voluntary will. Listen to Hebrews 10, verse 7.
Then said I, lo, I come, and the volume of the book is written
of me, to do thy will, O God. Could it not be said, he shall
see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied, as we read
in Isaiah 53.11? We should never fail to realize,
folks, our Savior's delight in speaking of his approaching death. Why? Why should we never forget,
folks, Christ came to save sinners. He came to save sinners from
their sin. He died for the ungodly. He died
for the sheep. Yet he was raised the third day
for their justification. God accepted the sacrifice of
his son, and he looks upon us as though we had never sinned.
This is the third time our Lord told his disciples how that he
must suffer and die at Jerusalem. We read about that in Matthew
16, 21, and also in Matthew 17, 22 to 23. Though he told them
frequently and plainly how he must be betrayed, delivered by
the Jews into the hands of the Romans, and condemned to die,
as a common criminal Luke tells us, they understood none of these
things in Luke 18, verse 34. He told them plainly that he
must go to Jerusalem to be betrayed, condemned, and crucified, that
he must rise again from the dead on the third day. These are not
bare possibilities, but absolute certainties that they had to
be done, that they would come to pass. The death of our blessed Savior
at Calvary was a matter of divine predestination. Indeed, Christ's
death at the cross was the focal point of God's purpose. His purpose
from eternity is the focal point of all of God's works in time. Listen to these words. Now is
my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto
this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then
came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified
it and will glorify it again." Page three. The people, therefore,
that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said
an angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the
judgments of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying
what death he should die. That's John 12, verse 27 through
33. Another verse confirming this
very point. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain." We're talking about the Lord
coming to this earth willingly. He saw what he had to do before
the world began And he agreed in the covenant of God, the eternal
covenant, to come to this world to occupy a body that was prepared
specifically for him, a body that was born of a virgin, and
do the will of God the Father. And that is to save his people.
Listen to these words. That was Acts 2, verse 23 that
we read there about by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of
God. Listen to these words from 1 Peter 1, 18 through 21. For
as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by the tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ. as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
who by him do believe in God." In other words, we believe in
God by him and him alone, that raised him from the dead and
gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. Folks, don't take any stock in
yourself. You know, if you're thinking,
oh, I love the Lord, don't take any stock in that. Here's what
you can take stock in. Christ loved you. I just love
the Lord more than anything in the world. No, you don't. That's
not what you have any confidence in. Our confidence is that Christ
has loved us from the beginning of the world. Take no stock in
what you do, in what you think, in what you feel. God's people
put all of our confidence in our Savior and what He has done.
Oh, we give Him all the glory. We come to know that our faith
and our hope might be in God and God alone. Listen to what
Robert Hawker wrote here, second to the last paragraph, page three.
Every act of Jesus testified his promptness or his desire
to the work as though he longed for it. Listen to these words. Lo, I come, said Jesus, to do
thy will, O God. I delight to do it. Yea, thy
law is in the midst of my bowels. Robert Hawker goes on to say
this, and when Peter, out of love, though a mistaken love
for his master, wished it to be otherwise, Jesus rebuked him. Yea, he called him Satan for
what he had said. Never did the meek and loving
Savior ever drop such an expression before. So very intent was He
on finishing the work His Father gave Him to do, and so much displeased
was He with anyone who wished it to be otherwise. Precious
Lord Jesus, was this thine ardent love to thy spouse, the church,
as one longing to bring her out of the prison house of sin and
Satan, though all the cataracts of divine wrath for sin were
broken up to be poured on thy sacred head? End of quote. Our Lord Jesus Christ died as
a voluntary victim of horrible cruelty. and a divine wrath as
our substitute. He knew from the beginning all
that he must suffer. Judas' betrayal, he knew that.
Peter's denials, he knew that. The beatings and the humiliation,
he knew that. He being made sin, he knew that. The wrath of God, he knew that. And his curse of death upon the
tree, he knew that as well. Do you realize that he created
the very tree that they carved the wood out of to build the
cross? What great aggravation to his
soul the foreknowledge of his sufferings must have been. Yet
none of these things moved him from his gracious purpose. The
Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, saith
the Lord, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting." Isaiah 50, verse 55 through 56. J.C. Ryle wrote this. He said, he
saw Calvary in the distance all his life through and yet walked
calmly up to it without turning to the right hand or to the left. As no sorrow can be compared
with the sorrow our Lord anticipated and finally endured as our substitute,
is it nothing to you, he says, all ye that pass by? Behold,
and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. Can we even
imagine? You know, we can go through some
pretty sinful times, especially when we're in times of excess
pride or times of disparity that bring us so low. There may be times where we don't
even think God hears us. He doesn't even hear us anymore.
I had a brother who was so distraught over some things of this world,
he felt like the Lord was not hearing him anymore. He knew
the truths of God, yet he just didn't feel the hearing of God
with him. Folks, when we're in that situation,
we can look to Christ and what He has done. We can turn away
from what we think and what we feel of this flesh and turn to
Him. Have we ever experienced what
He has experienced for us? Do we understand the sorrow like
unto His sorrow? The sorrow which was done unto
me, He says, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day
of His fierce anger. That's Christ crying out in Lamentations
1 verse 12. No love can be compared with
His love for His sheep. A new commandment, He says, I
give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another. Folks, these are great commandments. Just like all of the instructions
that you're going to read about there in Matthew 18 through 20,
there's wonderful things there that we should desire in our
hearts to walk as the Lord has instructed us to. Love one another, just as He has loved us. But
when we don't, when we purposely turn away from the love of others
for our own sakes, Remember this in John 15, 13, greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. See how we turn what we can't
do, what we won't do, around to what our Christ has done?
Great love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends. John 15, 13. Last paragraph, page four. Why
did the Son of God voluntarily lay down his life for us at Calvary? First and foremost, he knew that
it was his Father's will. Other sheep I have, saith the
Lord, which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring. Do you think there's any possibility
that what God says He must do, it won't be done? There are those
who teach that you can lose your salvation. Isn't that what they
say? Isn't that what they're saying? They're saying what God
has purposed. What God says he must do could
be thwarted, could be turned by the decisions of men. He says,
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. He doesn't say, they might, or
I offer to them. He says, they shall hear my voice. When I came into this church
that day with a broken heart, a heart that the Lord broke,
a heart that the Lord sent trouble upon and drew me to this place
where the gospel was preached, I heard because God commanded
John, come forth. I heard because the Holy Spirit
gave me ears to hear the first time of his truths. My sheep
shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my father love
me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my father." That's from John chapter 10,
verse 16 through 18. And listen to these words. Wherefore,
when he cometh into the world, he sayeth, sacrifice an offering
thou wouldest not, but a body. thou hast prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come in the
volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said, sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and the offering for sin thou
wouldest not, neither has pleasure therein, which are offered by
the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body. of Jesus Christ wants for all,
Hebrews 10, 5-10, page 5. Our Lord knew that God's divine
justice must be satisfied. Do you realize the Lord in giving
all of these instructions knew that his people would struggle
with those very things? That's why he comes to the end
of that teaching, why he comes to the end of that section of
instructions. And he closes with these very
words. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed
unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn
him to death. and shall deliver him to the
Gentiles, and mock, and discourage, and to crucify him. And the third
day he shall rise again." That's why the Lord brings them to that
point in the end, to let you know, to share with you the good
news that Christ came to save sinners. He knew that he was
the Lamb of God, back in our handout. He knew that he was
the lamb of God who must be sacrificed for the very sins of his people.
Listen to Revelation 13, verse 8. And all that dwell upon the
earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the
book of life and the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He knew that without his death, his life, though perfect, holy,
and gracious, would be useless to his people had he not delivered
himself on the cross. He knew that the whole of God's
law, the whole book of the writings of God's prophets, and all the
whole revelation of God's glory could be fulfilled and revealed
only by his death as the sinner's substitute. Blessed is everyone
to whom God the Holy Spirit has revealed these things. Blessed
are those eyes that see and the hearts that understand the meaning
and the necessity of Christ's sufferings and death. Folks,
as the holy word of God wisely and lovingly instructs us in
our walk before him, he also brings hope that points us to
him. Listen to these words, and I'll
close with several verses of scripture with you. 2 Corinthians
12, verse 9. And he said unto me, my grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. If you just go through those
words of instruction that the Lord has here in Matthew 18 through
Matthew 20, if you just go through there without this knowledge,
that the Lord's strength is made perfect in weakness. If you don't
have that knowledge and you go through those words, you're going
to come out of there thinking, I can do that. I can do those
things. I know I can do them, I just
don't. Oh, I do sometimes. I do partially. I just don't
do it as good as I would like to, and that is perfect. My Savior,
though, has done it perfect for me. As my substitute, He not
only stood in my death, He stands as my righteousness. His perfect
walk on this world is the only righteousness I have. I don't
want to deter you. I don't want to turn you away
from not reading those words. But you can understand these
words as well as anybody else can, as well as I can. I can't
add anything to what God's instructing for us here. You can read them
and understand good from evil. Now, that's the one thing that
I told the folks here at Rescue. I'm not coming here to tell you
how to live. God does that perfectly well
with His word. These words, between 18 and 20,
is exactly that. God's telling us how to walk
through this world, and it's perfectly understandable. No
mistake about it. Don't put your riches above God. Come to God as a child. Love
your neighbor as you would love yourself. Listen to these words from 1
John chapter 2 verse 1 through 6. My little children, these
things write I unto you, that ye sin not. Turn away from sin,
folks, be holy, for our God is holy. But when you're like Paul,
and you see in your members evil, even in the good that you do,
and if you don't see evil in the good that you do, You need
to get on your knees and pray to the Lord to show you. Lord,
don't let me take any confidence in my flesh. Lord, help me not
to take any stock in these good works that I do in this world.
Help me, Lord, to hide what my left hand does from my right
so that I won't have the pride of the flesh swell up in me.
Sin not. John says, and if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father. You could take that very
part right there and apply that to the whole section of scripture
that we just read in Matthew. All of the scripture that we
didn't read there, all of the instructions of how to walk,
and right there at the very end, what do we see? We see the advocate
who sits with the Father, the very one in verse 19, who shall
rise again. Oh, Christ the righteous, and
he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but for those, also for the sins of the whole world, all of his
people throughout the whole world. And hereby, we do know that we
know him if we keep his commandments. Folks, when did we keep his commandments?
John reads, says, never. When the Lord says, keep his
commandments, you know that the Lord declares all things to be
perfect, all things. His commandments are not something
to be taken part of this and part of that. It's to be perfected. And there's only one place that
we can have the perfection of following God's commandments,
and that is following Him and our Savior, the Lord Jesus. He
that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments is a liar,
and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word in
him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that
we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him
ought himself if also so to walk even as he walked." Now turn
over to page six. How? How can I walk? in the Lord's way, as so instructed
that we just read. How can I do this? And yet I
see, as Paul saw, in the good that I do, I see evil. Look at Romans 8 verse 3 through
4, for what the law could not do in that it was weak through
the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. My weaknesses of this flesh cannot
separate me from the love of God and his Son, Christ Jesus. But that does not give me card
block to willy-nilly sin. as I wish. My desire in spirit
is to walk upright before my Savior because He has loved me
and gave Himself for me. I did not have that love for
God before He shined His love in my heart. I desire to love
my Lord with all my heart. I did not have that love in me
before the Lord shined His love in my heart. I desire to love
my neighbor as I love myself. I did not have that desire before
the Lord shined his love in my heart. I desire to be kind and
gracious to others. I did not have that desire before
the Lord shined his love in my heart. And in my substitute,
I have and do. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors
not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after
the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Romans
8, 12 through 14. Now I want to just verify one
thing here. We are debtors not to the flesh
to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh,
When you read these instructions that God has given us, His people,
in Matthew 18 through Matthew 20, verse 16, remember these
words. For if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many are
as led of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Amen.