If you will, turn back in your
Bibles to the Book of Romans, Chapter 7. You can also follow
me in your outline that's in your bulletin. And as we prepare
to set our eyes upon our text, I do want to also say Happy Father's
Day to those of you who are blessed who have been fathers. As many
of us, as our elder stated it this morning, Fathers are very
important in this world, no matter what our present culture would
say. They are just as important as
mothers. And we need them both. And you
make sure you read my commentary on it in the bulletin. Okay. And we'll leave it like that
for time's sake. We also want to congratulate all of our students.
I think that we had an opportunity to put them in the bulletin.
They might've been floating on the screen too during preparation
for worship. We are so glad to see our children
making advancements in education. In this world, you do need somewhat
of an education to get by. If anything, you need to be able
to read so you can read your Bibles and get your head right
with God. The title of today's message
is The Triumph, or rather The Triumphant Battle of the believer
through the spirit. The triumphant battle of the
believer through the spirit we have been addressing in chapter
7 and 8 of the book of Romans. The grounds or standing and the
virtue or power and the goal of our freedom in Christ. The
Apostle Paul has been working on helping his auditors understand
the grounds upon which we have been liberated by Jesus Christ. And then he's also seeking to
help us grasp the power that's inherent in what liberation in
Christ has done for us. And ultimately, he wants us to
know that the goal of liberation, the goal of freedom in Christ,
which is the The central work of the gospel is to emancipate
the soul from sin, death, and hell. The central objective of
the gospel and the proclamation of the gospel is that of emancipation
of the soul from sin, death, and hell. That's what Christ
came to do, to deliver us from our sins. He came to liberate
us. He is the quintessential liberator. Whomsoever the Son shall set
free shall be free indeed. Liberation, therefore, is the
process and work of this great redemption that Christ has accomplished
for us. And it's total and complete in
Him so that your position before God is as a person. If you are
a believer, your position before God is one of total freedom from
anything that could ever threaten your soul in terms of your destruction
again. You are totally free in God. Free from the curse of sin. Free
from the bondage of sin. Free from the tyranny of the
devil. Free from the curse of the law. Every person chosen
in Christ before God the Father is totally free from all forms
of condemnation. That's the way Romans 8 opens
up in verse 1. There is therefore now what? No condemnation. Literally in
the original language, the language goes like this. There is therefore
right now for every believer, no kind of condemnation. There is no kind of condemnation
that can be successfully yielded towards or placed upon the believer. He or she that's in Christ are
completely free from every form of potential condemnation there
can ever be. That's good news, isn't it? And
yet he goes on to qualify that emancipatory statement with the
last line, those who walk not after the flesh, but what? After the spirit. And so what
Paul is doing now is helping his auditors understand that
there is a very clear declaration, a final state of reality for
all of those whom Christ has died for. The magnificence of
the redemption of our souls in Christ is actually a truth that
we cannot fully comprehend or fully understand. Who we are
in Christ is magnificent. And I think it brings joy to
our soul when we hear it over and over again who we are in
Christ. Is that not so? And the Bible sets forth the
enormous benefits and blessings of those who are in Christ in
terms of their eternal redemption and eternal life and all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And the litany
of blessings that are yours in Christ are designed for you to
give glory to God every day of your life. For those of you who
know something of justification by faith, apart from the works
of the law, because the Spirit has come near to you and brought
you near to God in Christ and has revealed to you your total
redemption in Christ and has liberated you in your conscious
from the guilt of sin, the power of sin, the presence of sin,
the defilement of sin, and all that comes with the grace package.
For those of you who know this blessed, blessed freedom of grace,
your job every day is to give God glory. Your job every day
is to glorify God with your bodies, which are His. Your job, Him
having bought you with His own precious blood, is to glorify
God with the totality of your life. Now, if you were in Sunday
school this morning, you will hear a number of points that
emerged out of the Sunday school class popping up again through
this message. So don't think that you're back
in Sunday school. Just understand that's just the
way it goes, okay? And if you didn't get to Sunday
school today, make sure you get the lesson. It was one of those
classes that I had hoped that the clock would just slow down,
just slow down so much there. But you're gonna hear it again
in part. Today, because the aspect of Paul's exhortation to the
church at Rome now, around the grounds of justification, is
still dealing with a fundamental question that he knows they are
struggling through, and you and I do too. The apostle is still
treating the subject or question, how does the believer remain
devoted to God since the external restraint system of the law is
removed? That's a real valid question.
See, you and I know that positionally we are not under the law. But
there's a problem with that understanding if we don't realize that freedom
from the law does not mean freedom to be lawless. And so what Paul
is doing as he works through the potential dangers of absolute
freedom in the minds of Christians who don't understand why they
are free, listen, let me say it like this. If somebody delivers
your soul from hell, lets you out of the prison house of sin
and just opens the door and lets you out, the first thing you
better ask them is, why did you let me out? Don't just shake
their hand and say thank you and then go about your merry
business. Because I guarantee you the price that was paid to
liberate your soul from hell has with it a subsequent purpose
by which you are to live Somebody comes along and sees you worth
redeeming and delivering. They have a purpose for you and
In gratitude you better figure out what that purpose is in a
hurry and pay that person back What do you mean preacher you
are indeed a debtor? I? That's verse 13. We'll get
there in a moment. Don't think you're free to do
whatever you want to do. You are a debtor to the grace
of God. You and I owe grace for the rest
of eternity. We'll never be able to pay it
back, but we owe grace for the rest of our eternity. This must
be the driving motive of your life. And so the question is
raised, what does the believer do who is free from the law,
free from the curse of the law, free from the bondage of the
law, the tyranny of the law, and even the rule of the law
in terms of the grounds by which we can merit favor with God?
We are certainly free because the apostle made that clear in
verse two. Listen to it. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath what? Made me free. made me free from
the law of sin and death. And he's not talking about the
law of God, but what he's talking about is the means by which the
law of God has a right to condemn you and me. And that's sin. Sin
working in our members, as we had already learned, would lead
every man to death. if it wasn't for the intervention
of God. Sin working in your members and
mine would lead every one of us to death if it wasn't for
the intervention of God. The only reason you and I are
not nailed now is because somebody stood in your way. Somebody got
in your way. I ain't going nowhere. I don't want to break. I don't
want to segue from my message to tell you who I'm fighting
right now. But I'm not going anywhere. I just need some air.
a little bit more than we got going on here. The point is that
the Apostle Paul is trying to help the believer understand
the privilege and the dignity and the manner in which you and
I are to remain free. If you're gonna walk in your
liberty, which is in Christ Jesus, if you're gonna enjoy God, you're
gonna have to know whose side you are on. And you're gonna
have to know that God has called you to wage war every day against
everything that would take your freedom away. I want you to get
this now because we're going to be going into some texts of
scripture that's going to be very difficult for some of you. Because
a lot of people don't really like to fight. But God has called
us to a battle. And this battle was for the glory
of God. And quite frankly, it's for the enjoyment of the freedom
that you have in Christ. But you and I don't live in a
vacuum. Like we don't live in a world where we don't have adversaries,
or troubles, or temptations and trials. We don't live in a context
where we can just kind of sit around with our feet up and not
worry about somebody robbing us, or costing us, or harming
us. You and I don't live in a body,
a physical body, that doesn't have within it passions and drives,
goals and objectives, longings that would betray God if we let
it. We have a body that would do that. And so God is calling
you and I in this context of freedom to make sure that we
do what we're called to do to maintain our freedom. You guys
know that there's no way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust
and obey. You do know that, right? I mean,
some of us have tried to do what we want to do and have discovered
that it doesn't work. Isn't that right? And so the
maturity that is required for enjoying the fullness of the
grace of God that's in Christ is a fullness that says, you
know what? There's times in my walk where I get to rest in God
and rejoice in God and reflect upon God's mercy and goodness
and thank God. But there are times when I've
got to fight for that. Is that true? I've got to fight to keep my
mind right. I've got to fight to keep my focus right. I've
got to fight to avoid things that want to distract me from
what God has called me to do. I've got to fight. And that's
where we're going in our text. It's critical for you to understand
that. But the way the apostle opens up Romans chapter 8 is
important for us to comprehend under point number one, the work
of the liberating spirit within. The work of the liberating spirit
within. Some of these things you will have heard before, but
I do want to establish them fundamentally again as we make our way to our
main point, which will be verse 13. What are we doing when we
contemplate this proposition of the work of the liberating
spirit within? We talked about it last week. What? does the
Spirit of God do when he enters into the believer upon conversion,
which is a consequence of the preaching of the gospel. He liberates
the believer from within. So under point number one, there
are three sub points. The first is the Spirit of God
is the gift of righteousness given. You guys got that? The
Spirit of God is the gift of righteousness given. When you
look at verse 4, part A, The Apostle Paul says after verse
3, I better read verse 3 to establish verse 4 part 8. 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. It's a mouthful. But what it
says is the law could not make you right, but God could. And
then he says, God made you right through the work of his son Jesus
Christ. And because of the merits of Christ's righteousness and
blood, he is able to send the Spirit of God to reveal in you
what Christ did for you. And the goal of the Spirit of
God is to speak to the soul of the redeemed sinner and let him
know the realities of all that Christ has done for them. When
you and I experience the indwelling of the Spirit of God, He speaks
to our soul freedom and peace. He speaks to our soul, our sonship
in Christ, and he quite frankly begins a process of liberating
us from the tyranny of sin to which we are held so that we
can begin to by and by live for the glory of God. Is that true?
That's part of the liberating process of the work of the spirit
of God. I didn't get missed response.
I don't know, pastor, I don't know if that's true at all. Whomsoever
the son shall set free will be made free indeed. When a man
or woman is truly born again, there is liberation in the conscious
from guilt. When a man or woman is truly
born again, there is liberation within from the deceptive powers
of sin, which trapped us all our life long. When the spirit
of God is operating within, because of the new nature, follow this
now, because this is where we're going, because of the new nature
and the spirit of God working upon that new nature, the believer
now walks contrary to the old course that he used to live.
Because of the new nature, because of the Spirit of God working
within and upon that new nature, the Spirit of God assists the
new nature to walk contrary to his old pattern of life. Are
y'all following me? You are not born again if you
are not walking contrary to the old pattern of life. because
of a new nature being born again, having a quickened spirit and
the Spirit of God abiding upon the believer, the believer now
is in a trajectory opposite of the course he used to go. You
guys understand that logic? And as such, you are constantly
averting, avoiding and opposing the things you used to do. And
you and I learned something about this over the last couple of
weeks concerning the tension between the carnal nature of
the fallen nature and the new nature in Christ. They're both
right there, aren't they? And when you understand what
we've said over and over again, that in our present state under
grace, but not yet glorified, we are simultaneously righteous
and what? Sinful at the same time. That
therefore sets the context for a conflict that we will be engaging
all our life until we die. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? That conflict is necessary to affirm the nature of the new
believer. And that is this, if you're truly
born again, you have a new nature, but your new nature is not mature,
nor is it omnipotent. Your new nature all by itself
cannot overcome sin. It may not like sin. It may have
a natural aversion to it because of its DNA. But your new nature
doesn't have the ability to overcome your sin nature without the work
of the Spirit of God. Are y'all following what I'm
saying? It's one thing to say no to sin. It's another thing
to successfully oppose its agenda. therefore we hear the echoing
words again without me you can what do nothing so now when the
Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 8 verse 4 that the righteousness
of God as a consequence of the Spirit being sent that the righteousness
of that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in
us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit, Paul is
now describing the impact of the grace of God in your life
when once the spirit of God is given. Mark what he says. And the reason for which God
sent his son and condemned sin in the flesh is in order that
the righteousness of the law might be what? Fulfilled in us. Now under that first line, the
spirit is the gift of righteousness given, I want to clarify what
I think are critically two points with regards to the statement
the Apostle Paul is making. Here's what I believe the Apostle
Paul is saying. that when you and I receive the
Spirit of God, you and I actually receive righteousness from God
that's intrinsic to the nature of the Spirit of God and is a
consequence of the obedience of Christ. So follow this now.
If you have the Spirit of God, what you actually have is a reward
of obedience already accomplished by Jesus Christ. If you and I
have the Spirit of God in us, what we are experiencing is the
post-product of a successful obedience on the part of Jesus
Christ, whose righteousness is imputed to us by the presence
of the Spirit of God. So stay with me for a moment,
because what I don't want you to think is that the Spirit of
God is given to you in order to produce a righteousness by
which you are accepted with God. I don't want you to think that.
The Spirit of God was not given to you to produce a righteousness
by which you are accepted with God. It is given to you in order
to manifest a righteousness which God has already accepted in the
person of Jesus Christ. So I want to drive this home
so that we will understand this pivotal point that Paul is pressing.
When it says that Christ condemned sin in the flesh by his work
at Calvary, In order that the righteousness of the law might
be fulfilled in us, the apostle was saying, the spirit of God
takes Christ's righteousness, imputes it to you, and then also
imparts to you the blessed consequences of perfect and total obedience,
which means if God has viewed Christ as having perfectly kept
his law, Do you guys know what the result or the reward or the
blessings or the benefit of perfect obedience is? The answer is this. It's life. I want you to follow
the argument because this is going to help you understand
why it is impossible for the believer to ever be condemned
before God. If a man or woman has experienced
the new birth, if they have experienced the impartation of the Spirit
of God, it is as if you have obeyed all of God's law perfectly
and have received the reward of eternal life. Because what
the law demands is perfect obedience, and upon perfect obedience, it
must reward you with life. Every believer, therefore, that's
born of God is already walking in the reward of perfect obedience. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? So when I say that I'm born again,
what I am stating is I'm experiencing the reward of perfect obedience.
When I say I have eternal life, I am saying that I am experiencing
the benefits and blessings of having kept all of God's law
from the beginning to the end. When I say that I know the Lord
Jesus and I know the father and the spirit of God is in me I'm
living as a consequence of perfect obedience already fulfilled That'll
come home in a second and it's critical too Because when you
and I think about the work of the third person in our soul
what I want you to understand is he is operating as a reward
for you and through you to demonstrate to everyone else what it means
to be perfect in the eyes of God. What does it mean to be
perfect in the eyes of God? It means that before God, you
have kept all his law. Before God, you have obeyed him
fully and totally in terms of every precept that God has required
of you. It also means this, Having kept
God's law, you now are in a state of eternal life that can never,
ever, ever be revoked. Eternal life is the net consequence
of perfect obedience. I know I'm being repetitive,
but I want to drive it home. See, the believer is kind of
living in a sort of backwards way. If I'm saved, I am saved
as a consequence of a finished work. Not a work that I have
to finish. And if I'm saved and born again,
then I'm actually living out that eternal life that will never
not be eternal life. The only thing is that eternal
life that I have will simply grow and abound and perfect itself
in not only my soul, but one day my body. Am I making some
sense? It is for this reason that Christ uses the analogy
in John chapter 7 verse 37 when he says, if any man thirst, let
him come after me and drink. Out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living waters. They shall spring up into eternal
life. And so the man or the woman that's
born again has eternal life and they can never perish, but it
will grow. It will abound. Pastor what does
that eternal life look like? What does that blessed reward
look like in the life of the believer three things and I shared
them with you last week The first thing they look like is life
The second thing they look like is love The third thing they
look like is what faith? When a man or woman has the Spirit
of God, they are alive The first thing the Spirit of God does
in your life is to quicken you from the dead. I The only way
you can think God's thoughts after Him is for God to open
your eyes and open your mind. The only way you can have a passion
for God is for God to change your heart. Give your heart a
flesh and write his laws on your heart in your mind so that you
can think God's thoughts after the only way you can desire God
is to be alive just like God is am I making some sense and
so on the Foundational work of the Spirit of God raising you
from the dead We were dead in trespasses and sins worry not
and he has quicken us together with Christ by grace. Are you
saved? Is that true? upon that new life given one
of the obvious and necessary manifestations of that new life
is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts that's Romans chapter
5 verse 3 and 4 remember the Spirit of God has shed abroad
the love of God in our heart the man or woman that's born
again has the love of God abiding in them this is what John says
in 1st John chapter 4 the man that says he knows God but does
not do what God tells him to do, how is it that the love of
God is abiding in him? It's a foregone conclusion that
when you and I are alive, love is flowing. First thing that
happens when a sinner comes to know God in Christ is a sinner
falls in love with Him. That's how you know you've been
brought to life. The second thing that follows with this love developing
in your heart for Jesus, having done what He's done for you,
is a desire to serve Him. So we call that faith, right?
Faith then is the evidence of the believers longing to know
God better and then to live for his glory. But faith works by
what? I'm gonna say it one more time.
Make sure this group over here gets it. Faith works by what? That's right. In your Bible is
Galatians chapter 5 verses 5 and 6. Please understand, true saving
faith operates, it has its motive, it has its drive on the premise
of love. You and I can do nothing for
God unless first the love of God is evident in our heart.
So stay with me now. Remember what Jesus says? If
you love me, then what? See, because he's going to be
married to a woman that actually loves him for him, not for his
money. That'll come home in a second,
too, because there are a lot of church folk who kick it with
Jesus in order for Jesus to do something for them. But see,
you never ever get into God's glory if all you want Jesus to
do is be a sugar daddy. So follow the argument. The way
this works is this. He demands the very thing that
he gives. He loved us and he gave his life
for us. And he demands that his wife
love him back. And the evidence that we love
him is that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We trust him
and we pursue him. Faith works by what? Love. Please understand that. If your
faith is not driven by a love for God in Christ, on the basis
of a knowledge of the redemptive work in Christ, your faith is
defective. So what does the spirit of God
work in you and me? Life, love, and what? Faith. Life, love, and faith. And then faith becomes that gargantuan
concept that everywhere in the scriptures God says, I'm pleased
with those people. Faith becomes that magnificent
sort of badge and Magna Carta of every believer in Christ by
which God says, I'm pleased with him. I'm pleased with her. I'm
pleased with them. See, without faith, it's impossible
to what? And so faith drives us towards God He that believes
that he is he that cometh to God must believe that he is and
is a rewarder of them that what? Diligently seek them Don't ever
get tired of those verses Those become the key verses that separate
the believer from the non-believer You meet a professing Christian
who is not committed to the glory of God. They're not born again
I'm just gonna set it right down there right there You meet a
professing Christian that's not excited about the glory of God
in Christ, not born again. You meet a professing Christian
who doesn't have a deep intrinsic drive to know God because to
know him is to love him. You're not born again. You meet
a professing Christian that could take or leave the fellowship
of the saints, the worship of the true and the living God,
sound expository preaching that reveals Christ to you, you're
not born again. See, when you love somebody,
you want to be with them all the time. You're not born again. I'm here to tell you, you're
just going to church. Here's the other manifestation
of faith that we're about to get into. as Paul says that the
requirements of the law are the righteousness of the law being
fulfilled in us is the life that God gives us through the merits
of Christ by which we affirm our new life in love and faith
in Christ but also when a man or woman is committed to another
man or woman and remember I just said men and women right I just
want to make sure in the 21st century we right so when a man
when a man loves a woman All right, so that's what I'm saying.
That's what I'm saying right there, sis. When a man loves
a woman and vice versa, not only are we interested in them, not
only are we committed to them, not only are we driven to make
them the primary subject of our discourse, but we are willing
to fight for the relationship. Is that right? I heard him way
over there. That's right. If you're not willing to fight
for Christ, you're still dead in trespasses and sins. You're
still dead. And this is the work that we're
gonna do today. The aspect of faith to which Paul is calling
us is an aspect of faith that underscores the idea of fighting
for the relationship for which we are told in verse 13, which
is gonna move us into our next concept, is this, for if you
live, after the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall what? The Apostle Paul
made it clear to the saints in Rome, you and I are not debtors
to the flesh. Isn't that what he says? Look
at verse 12. Therefore, brethren, we are not
what? Not to the flesh to live after the flesh. And what he
was saying there is that you and I now have to understand
this thing called the flesh, because it's a big problem in
your life. Is it so? It's a huge problem in your life. And the
purpose for which the Spirit of God was given was to help
us negate the powers of sin in your members. The purpose for
which the Spirit of God is given is to help negate the powers
of sin that are in your members. That's the second sub-point under
our first point. You guys see that, right? The
spirit of life in you negates the power of sin. Is that true?
It negates. It doesn't get rid of it. It
doesn't obliterate it. But the spirit of God operating
in you and me is designed to negate its power to overrule
us and bring us into captivity and have us do what it wants
to do. Is that true? Right. And so Galatians chapter
5 verse 17 says the flesh lusts against the spirit. It pushes
against it. It doesn't like anything spiritual,
but also the spirit pushes against the flesh. It doesn't like anything
carnal. See so that those two cancel
each other out now follow the logic follow the logic what this
means is when God gave you the third person the resident Lord
Jesus along with the father because both of them are in you when
the Spirit of God is in you as Jesus said in John 14 I will
send another comforter to you and he will be with you and in
you and I will make my bow with you and my father will make his
abode with you by the Spirit of God you have all three persons
in you and guess what they don't like ugly and And every time ugly shows up,
they say no. Is that what's going on in your
soul? And so because the new nature says no, there is invariably
a warfare that takes place. And I'm gonna pull up today several
examples in the scripture to underscore how important it is
for you to hear the words in Romans 8-12, you are not a debtor
to the flesh. If you've been born of God, if
Christ has died for your sins, if He's redeemed you by His blood,
you've been liberated from the power of sin. You've been liberated
from the mastery of sin. That's Romans 6. Remember? You
have been set free from sin so that sin no longer has any what
over you? Dominion. Dominion. But you're going to have to fight
for that reality in your life. I've been a Christian for 37
years. Every day of my life, I have to fight for the reality
of who I am in Christ. Because I don't live in a vacuum.
I wake up in the morning and before I get out of the bed,
I have to tell my heavenly father, help me because the war is on
today. What I want to be able to do
today is to love you and serve you and fight against everything
that would claim allegiance over my soul. When I know only you
paid a precious price to redeem me from hell. See, I'm laying
a foundation because you got to get this. If you actually
have another authority telling you that it has dominion over
you, rather than the grace of God, you don't know God. Because
Romans 6 clearly says we're not under law, we're under what?
Grace. And to be under grace means that we have been liberated
from the power and bondage of sin. Sin used to be your master. Sin used to rule over you. It
tyrannically governed you. It told you, you owe me every
day of your life. And you were therefore compelled,
because of its rule in your life, to do what it says. because you
didn't have an identity anywhere else. Remember, when we talk
about being Christians, we are talking about a new identity,
are we not? I've been talking about this for the last several
weeks because of our present cultural shifts. Our elder talked
about it this morning. It's a concept that's not going
to go away for a long time because the goal of this Babylonian system
in which you and I live is to deny God his glory at every point. The goal of this Babylonian system
is to oppose a biblical worldview to challenge every professing
Christian as to whose allegiance you lie with. This is why a couple
of weeks ago our message was what? I pledge allegiance to
Jesus Christ. Every time sin rises up and says,
you owe me, you're supposed to sin your soul. I pledge allegiance
to Jesus Christ. That's the battle that you and
I are called to wage and in that battle God is glorified I'm going
to show you this here in a moment say pastor Why did you bring
up first samuel chapter 15 and then run all the way over to
romans chapter 8 because the old? points to the new and the
new affirms the old There was an account in that text that
extracts for us a principle of conflict and warfare to which
every believer is called. Do you guys understand where
I'm going? King Saul was the first king of Israel and he was
called upon by God to kill God's enemies. Now one of God's chief
enemies were the Amalekites. Now the Amalekites go way, way,
way back to the days of Abraham and the days of Isaac and the
days of Jacob. They go way, way back to the
time of Lot. The Amalekites represent the
flesh. It represents everything carnal.
It represents everything that's opposite of the ways of God.
And in the book of Exodus, around chapter 17, verse 16, Moses had
to fight with the Amalekites. You guys remember that? And this
was right after they had come out of the wilderness, right
after the rock was smitten and the water came out. In the book
of Exodus chapter 17, Moses was told by God to send Joshua out
to fight with the Amalekites. While Moses stood upon a rock
and Aaron and Ur held up Moses' arms so that the rod of the Lord
could be seen while they waged battle against the Amalekites.
Are y'all following me? I'm talking about a warfare right
now, am I not? And I've told this to the saints before, when
you are on God's team, God's enemies are your enemies. But
when you're on God's team, your enemies are also God's enemies.
That means you're in good shape with your enemies. Because God's
enemies are your enemies and your enemies are God's enemies.
But now follow this now, any way it go, whoever team you're
on, whoever team you're on, their enemies become your enemies.
So when the people of God are living in this world for God,
guess what? God's enemies are your enemies.
Israel got brought out of Egypt, didn't they? Dragged into the
wilderness. In a few months into the wilderness,
guess what they're doing? They're fighting God's enemies.
And I want you to see Exodus chapter 17, verse 16. This is
going to lay the principle. Exodus 17, verse 16. Look at
verse 16 for a moment and then I think it'll be verse 16 and
17. Here's what God says in Exodus 17, verse 16. He said because the Lord has
sworn. This is what the Lord said that
the Lord will have what war with Amalek from generation to generation
that means forever You know what that means as long as you are
the Lord's Every time the Amalekites rise up you got to go to war
against them. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? Follow the logic
Then when we jump now some 500 years further down the line and
land in 1st Samuel chapter 15, guess who Agag is? He's an Amalekite. And guess what Saul was tested
with? Whether or not his allegiance
was with God or with the flesh. His first battle was to destroy
the Amalekites and destroy Agag. And do you know what the text
said he did? He saved Agag alive. Now Samuel is an old man. He's
about 800 years old. And he comes in late because
he's old. He's just taking his time, brother, taking his time.
Because you remember Saul was waiting on him. So Samuel comes
in and when Samuel looks and sees that Saul has not done what
Samuel told him to do, which the Lord told him to do, Samuel
was exceedingly grieved with Saul. This is a lesson for you
and I to learn. That historical narrative points
to spiritual principles. Now when God says a thing is
wrong, you and I are to agree with God. When God calls a thing
bad, you and I are to agree with God. If God says the Amalekites
are your enemies, then they better be your enemies. Because if they're
your friends, God is your enemy. And you are God's enemy. Are
you following the logic right now? It was for this reason that
this one campaign cost Saul the whole kingdom. See, God exposed
Saul for being a man not after God, but after the flesh. He exposed Saul for not loving
God and having an allegiance towards Christ, but loving the
flesh. If you recall, the text says
that Saul kept Agag alive and kept the sheep and cattle alive,
but killed all the people. When God said, kill everything.
And the point is, The flesh is always enmity against God The
carnal mind is always enmity against God the things of the
world never ever never ever are in allegiance with God And what
you and I are called to do upon? discovering that which is Contrary
to God we must understand that it's our enemy as well as God's
enemy With Saul, he failed to do what God had told him to do. And do you know what Samuel did?
Y'all remember what Samuel did? Samuel said, bring Agag here.
Samuel, 800 years old, bent over and tired. But guess what? On
that day, because Samuel paid allegiance to God, the Holy Ghost
came on Samuel. Samuel said, bring Agag here.
You guys remember the text? And he hacked Agag to pieces. Did he not? Hacked him to pieces.
Now some of y'all that's a little timid about war, understand these
are spiritual principles we're talking about here. What you
saw before your eyes were two men. You saw Samuel, who was
a man after the Spirit, and you saw Saul, who was a man after
the what? Flesh. You saw Samuel, who was
a man who pleased God, and you saw Saul, whom a man, who was
a man whom God had to what? Reject. And this becomes the
pattern in Romans 8 for you and me. See, Romans 8 is teaching
you and I something serious about what it means to truly be a believer.
Let's go back to Romans chapter 8 and let's deal with point number
2 to underscore this. I want to just make my way because
many of the sub-points I'll be dealing with as we continue through
Romans chapter 8. Point number 2 in your outline,
the flesh and spirit, what? Definitively delineated. You
remember last week when I told you that more than 20 times in
the book of Romans chapter 8, just chapter 8, more than 20
times the word spirit is used? And I share with you from chapters
1 to chapters 8, the word spirit is only used about 4 or 5 times.
And only 2 or 3 times concerning the spirit of God. But in chapter
8, guess what the primary subject of chapter 8 is all about? The
spirit of God. But in chapter 8, 8 times, does the Apostle Paul set down
the delineating factors, the definite delineating factors
of that which constitutes the flesh and the spirit. And I want
you to hear it and I want you to see it so that we can begin
to work through the importance of determining where you and
I stand in relationship to these two ways of life. Chapter 8,
verse 1, part B, When the Apostle Paul says in chapter 8 verse
1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, he then gives the delineating factors. Those
who what? Walk not after the flesh, but
after the what? The first time he brings that
up and then he addresses the flesh again over in verse 3 that
the Son of God in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemn
sin in the what? Flesh. And then he addresses
it again in verse 4. Watch this. That the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us. Then he qualifies the
us by who walk not after the what? but after the spirit then
look at verse 5 for they that are after the flesh do mind the
things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the
things of the spirit and then he says in verse 6 for to be
carnally minded is what But to be spiritually minded is life
and peace and then he says in verse 7 because the carnal mind
is enmity against God It cannot be subject to the law of God
neither indeed can be verse 7 describes Saul to a tee King Saul is clearly
described as a man who was not subject to God's law wouldn't
obey God's law He was given over to the flesh. Is that true? Now
look at the concluding statement that he makes in verse 8 so then
they that are in the what? Cannot please God. Is this a commentary on 1 Samuel
15? Is this a commentary on Saul? Could Saul please God? He couldn't
please God because he walked after the what? Flesh. Instead
of walking after the what? Which means when you and I walk
after the Spirit, you and I are walking by what? Faith. Because
without faith, it's impossible to what? See, it required faith
in Saul to take the sword and cut up the very thing that he
was enamored with. It required the Spirit of God
to give Saul faith to chop up the very thing that he was enamored
with. Now, I got to bring it home. Got to bring it home. Can
I do that? See, because like right now, you don't have any
idea what Agag looks like. Especially you young people in
the house. You Gen Xers and you Millennials, what in the world
is pastor talking about Agag? Well, let me see if I can help
you with Agag right quick. Agag, for you sisters, is Beyonce. And for you brothers, Jay-Z and
all of the cats that allure you, all of the kingpins to which
you stick your face in their mirror image and are constantly
conformed to. For you sisters, every alluring,
image, an icon of a woman of this present culture to which
you secretly aspire. That's Agag for you. For you
women who are constantly fixated on the concept of womanhood that's
contrary to the Word of God, that's Agag. For you brothers
that are secretly aspiring to be like some idol in this world
system, that's Agag. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? Agag for you is the thing that your fallen nature most
draws to, most likes, most is inclined to spend all your time
towards, though the Spirit of God every day of your life is
saying to you, that's wrong. It's coming home now. So agag
is on your cell phones, agag is on your iPod, Agag is on your
television. Agag is at school. Agag is at
church. Yeah, Agag is at church too.
It's terrible. Agag goes to church. Agag goes
to church and he's sitting right next to you right now. Don't
turn your head. Don't turn your head. Agag is sitting right next
to some of you right now. Agag is a female and Agag is
a male. Agag is the thing that's going
to send you to hell. is right next to you, right next
to you. So the spirit of God is working
right now. Because if you're going to be right with God, you
have to hear from God. You can play church and go to
hell if you want to. But you're going to go to hell
with your eyes open in this church. Okay, so now follow the logic,
follow the logic. It's very important for you to know, very important
for you to know. I've been warning people for the longest. Listen,
the doors of the church are the closest to hell that you get. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. There are three things in under
point number two that I'm quickly affirmed. First of all, the carnal
minded person is not saved. Do you guys see that? The carnal
minded person is not saved. You will say that you're saved.
But the reality is, is you spend little or no time with God. Your
heart does not beat after God. You do not delight in his law.
You just want to be saved. But you have no passion to live
for his glory, to pay allegiance to Jesus, or to devote the totality
of your time serving Him. Your mind is filled with your
own agenda and you are governed by earthly temporal material
objectives that have nothing to do with eternity or the goals
of Christ in your life as a man or woman that's supposed to be
born of God. Are you guys hearing me? Agag is right there in the
form that most appeals to you. and it's tempting you to keep
him alive. Do you remember what Agag said
when Samuel said, bring that knucklehead here? Do you remember
what he said? Agag said, now you know it's been a long time.
Surely the bitterness is gone by now, Samuel. He was hoping
that by now Samuel would have cooled down. Samuel was hotter
than ever. There wasn't a drop of patience
or mercy in Samuel. When Agag looked in Samuel's
eyes, Agag saw God. Because in order to deal with
the carnal nature, God has to have dominion over your heart. Because you will not kill the
flesh on your own. Am I making some sense? So there
are three things in the point number two that we have to grasp.
We'll move to point number three. since I've got your attention.
And this is so critical to determining whether or not you are an authentic
Christian or not. The flesh and the spirit definitively
delineated. The major warning is that eight
times is stated. The carnal minded person is not
saved. The carnal minded person is indebted
to what? Sin rules. So I'm going to give
you three examples. The first one I'm going to give
you right now in relationship to sin ruling is in Genesis chapter
4 verse 7. We went here a couple of weeks
ago. Remember Cain, the brother of Abel? And remember how God
had come to Cain? Pull up Genesis 4 verse 7. Remember
how God had come to Cain and said, Cain, I know you're upset
because I have accepted your brother Abel's sacrifice and
I have rejected yours. And that is a telltale warning
to religious folk who are trying to get right with God by their
own good words. Because the reason for which God accepted Abel's
sacrifice is because it was the sacrifice that God had given
to Abel. In other words, the only thing that God accepts of
you and me is that which he gives to us to give back to him. And
the acceptable sacrifice that God receives is the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. See, Abel knew he was a sinner.
Abel knew that he needed an atonement Abel knew that he needed a substitute
Abel knew that when he had heard the gospel from his mom and daddy
and by the way daddies If you don't teach your children the
gospel, you're not your way. You're not worth your weight
in salt Adam taught Abel and Cain the gospel. You know what
Abel did Abel said daddy. I believe you You know why he
believed him because the Spirit of God worked in Abel to help
Abel understand He was a sinner just like his daddy On that day,
Abel stopped blaming his daddy for all his problems and started
realizing that he too was in need of prayer. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? Because now watch this, the carnal
mind will blame everybody else for their problems and not see
that the core problem is their own sin nature. See, now Cain
was upset. Remember, his countenance had
fallen. He was upset with his brother Abel, upset with Mama
Eve, upset with Daddy Adam, and upset with God. And remember
what God says, why is your continence fallen? If you do the right thing,
will you not also be accepted? Didn't we work that through?
Let me affirm it again. For God, the right thing was
for Cain to believe the method by which God accepts sacrifice.
And that's the atoning work of Jesus Christ represented in the
lamb, not the good works of his vegetables and his garlics and
all the stuff he brought from the field. See, what Cain wanted
God to do was to say, my, my, look how hard he's working. I'm
going to let him into the kingdom. I'm going to accept his worship.
But you and I have learned long ago, it's not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but by his mercy, he saves us. So when God
comes to you and says, I reject your works, What God is saying,
the only thing that's left is for you to accept my son's work
and to bring to me my son's work. And when you bring to me my son's
work, then I accept you. That's what he was telling Cain.
Now, follow this now. If Cain was born of God, he would have
admitted that he was a sinner in need of a sacrifice that was
perfect, of which he couldn't bring. But because he was not
born of God, he did not accept this proposition. Watch what
God said. He said, now, if you don't, if
you don't do what I say, sin is lying at the door. Isn't that
what the text says? Follow this then, because in
Romans chapter 7, that's what Paul says. He says, I find a
law that whenever I would do good, sin is present with me. Sin is always lying at the door.
Same construction. Sin is right up against my heart
to stop me from doing what's right. Does anybody know what
I'm talking about? Now watch what Paul says. Paul
says, every time I would do good, sin is lying right there. And
you say, Pastor, I never really thought that through. Every time?
Every time. So now this is how sin works. Sin is not gonna prance
on you to bring you into its captivity unless of course you
see it there. But a lot of times it's right
there and you don't see it. In fact, it's always there. But
it will prance once you allow yourself to be tempted by it.
See, what God had told Cain was, if you do right, everything will
be fine, but sin is lying at your door. And unto you shall
be as what? You know what that means? Sin
wants to rule over Cain. And did sin rule over Cain? Yes,
it did. Now watch what it says. And you
shall rule over him. Isn't that what the scriptures
are saying in the book of Romans? That sin shall not have dominion
over you. You're not under the law, you're
under grace. You therefore have dominion over sin. Is that what
it's saying? Yes, it is. What it means then
to have dominion over sin is to understand that sin is no
longer your ruler. That's point number one. This
is so important. How do I have dominion over sin?
It's to know that sin is no longer my ruler. Christ is my ruler. And that knowledge of Him being
my ruler immediately breaks any assumed allegiance to sin that
I used to have. Watch this now. When sin was
your ruler, you gave total allegiance to it. When once Christ becomes
your ruler, now sin is your adversary. Now He's still there to have
dominion over you, And he keeps telling you, you owe him. Every day sin says to you, you
owe me. And the flesh comes along with
sin and says, yeah, you owe us, man. You owe us, dude. You owe us the pleasures of this
life. You owe us materialism. You owe
us carnal blessings. You owe us time, man. You know,
this is about us. That's the flesh talking. that
sin seeking to have dominion over. Are you guys understanding
what I'm saying? You owe yourself. Now he's trying to make you identify
with sin. You owe yourself. You owe yourself
that nice car, that nice house, those nice things. You earned
it. I never will forget this one time. This is going to be
a good analogy. This never happened after it happened one time. Once
on me, twice on you. Watch this now. Years ago when
I was ignorant, And the proposition came to buy
a timeshare. Anybody in the house know what
I'm talking about? So I want you to hear me now, this is back
in my ignorance. When I didn't have a dime, I was broke as a skunk trying
to raise eight kids, robbing Peter to pay Paul, making a quarter
out of 15 cents, and someone told me I deserve a timeshare. You know what we call that? Sin.
The lust of the flesh. And the reason I bit is because
I didn't have a clear understanding of my identity in Christ. And
I bit into the proposition that I was a debtor to that thing. Are you guys hearing me? That's
the allurement, the power of it. When you are not clear of
whose you are, who you are, and what your goals are in life.
Fortunately, God delivered me from that thing. But I know a
lot of people still trapped by that particular sin right now.
They ain't even went one time to go to their timeshare. Too
busy trying to pay it off. That's how sin is. Sin will promise
you pleasure, promise you liberty, promise you blessing, and bring
nothing but bondage to you. I'm telling you the truth. I'm
telling you the truth. And what Paul is saying in Romans
chapter 8, as he deals with this guy Cain, watch this guy Cain,
his desire is to rule over you, Cain, and you shall rule over
him. But you and I know what Cain did. What did he do? He
killed his brother. Didn't he kill him? And 1 John
chapter 4 tells us he did it because he was of that wicked
one, the devil. Why did Cain go head on after
God had told him don't do it and do it? Because his identity
was with his sin and not with Christ. And the power of sin
told him this is who we are. This is the problem with our
present culture. Once you allow sin to define who you are, you
will do sin. And then you will try to cover
it up by calling it something else other than sin. And what
Paul is teaching us in Romans chapter 8 is that we must understand
that we're not debtors to sin. We don't owe sin anything. We
owe God. We owe Christ. I'll give you
another example. in Genesis chapter 38. Let's look at a faithful one
now. This is with regards to Joseph. I talked about him last
week, but I want you to see it. Genesis chapter 38 verse 9. Let's
watch how Joseph handles this same temptation. Because you
and I are talking about sin. And we're talking about temptation.
And we're talking about the carnality of our fallen nature seeking
to bring us into captivity to sin to do its bidding. Now mark
this, this is a marked contrast with Cain. Joseph is tempted
just like Cain is, is he not? Joseph been kicking it in Potiphar's
house. Let me see, no, this must be
verse, chapter 39, chapter 39, verse nine. Joseph been kicking
it in Potiphar's house, Potiphar's house, and go back to verse seven. And he's being tempted by Potiphar's
wife. You guys know that, right? And it came to pass after these
things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon who? That's
a market right there. I love the way our elder began
to explain this morning the temptation that occurred in Dinah's life.
Sister Dinah at some point got bored with God. And this is how
you get in trouble. She decided to go check out the
sisters in Canaan. Boy, that's a whole series of
messages just in that one little clause there. She went to hang
out with the sisters in Canaan. Now, you're a believer, but you're
gonna go check out the sisters in Canaan. Now, y'all know what
y'all mean when y'all gonna go check them out. You're going
to go see what kind of shoes they wear, what kind of dress
they wear, what kind of car they roll up in, what they swag is
like, what kind of gossip is going on. You're going deep into
sisterhood land in Canaan. Am I telling the truth? That's
what Dinah wanted to do. But God had called her by his
grace. And she was a child of the living
God. But for a season, she lost her mind. See, this is what happens
when you are not clear on your identity in Christ. Am I telling
the truth? So right now I'm speaking to
my young daughters because you guys are looking very earnestly
and longingly out at the daughters of Canaan right now. You want
to be just like them but you want Jesus. Now the problem with
Dinah is she ended up flirting too much with those sisters and
a brother came along. And I don't even have to say
any more to the story because y'all know what happened because
it happens every day. in the life of so-called church
girls in our community. A brother came along, a brother
came along. Joseph is in a situation where
he's being tempted by Potiphar's wife. She cast her eyes on Joseph
and she said, sleep with me. Now boys, some of you young men
in here right now listening to me, you're so jacked up. that
if any woman ever just tell you, sleep with me, you gone before
she can get the last word out. I have to say that in order to
cut the lights on. And the reason why it's so is
because the young men have gone out to check out the sisters
in Canaan too. And the whole conversation and
dialogue in Canaan is about tempting you within the ranks of your
flesh and bringing you right up on the borderline of transgressing
against God. And the disposition of the hearts
of many young men is right now you're ready to fall. Am I making
some sense? You're ready to fall. You young
ladies, you're ready to fall. You young men, you have fallen.
You ladies, you have fallen! You have fallen. Joseph has not
fallen. Watch what the text says. Verse
38. Verse 38. Watch it. But he what? Stopped
right there. What do you mean he refused?
He fought. He fought. Did he not fight?
See, listen to me, ladies and gentlemen. If you don't fight,
you will fall. If you don't fight, you will
fall. Are you guys following me? If
you don't refuse, if you don't fight, you will fall. Now watch what happens. But he
refused, and he said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master
does not even know what's going on with me. He weathered not
what is with me in the house. That is, he has given me so much
liberty, so much freedom, so much control, he trusts me implicitly
with everything in his house. He trusts me implicitly with
everything in his house. In other words, his master saw
Joseph as a believer. And I'm not talking about one
of those California believers or 21st century believers. You
know where believers today have such a bad reputation for ripping
their bosses off, for lying, for not paying on time, not getting
to work on time. I'm not talking about 21st century
Christians. I'm talking about those Christians
who used to have character connected to their name. Am I making some
sense? So my boss has given me freedom in all of his house,
and he has committed all that he had into my hands. That's
trusting you, isn't it? You've earned that trust, have
you not? You have earned that trust, and you have put the glory
of God at stake by your conduct, have you not? See, ladies and
gentlemen, I'll stop here shortly, but I'm pressing home something
that I think this present culture needs to get. You can't just
talk Christianity. You can't just say I'm a believer. It doesn't do any good to simply
say I'm a Christian, because the world has already understood
that doesn't mean a thing with most Christians. And certainly
the devil will test you every time you say you are to demonstrate
that you're not. And even if you are, but you
don't daily pay allegiance to Jesus, it's gonna get you. Y'all
know what I'm saying is true. It's gonna get you. Listen to
what he says in verse 39. Here it is. Here it is. Here
it is. Watch this. There is none greater in the house than me.
Neither hath he kept back anything from me but you. And that's because
you're his wife. How then can I do this great
wickedness and sin against my master? I intentionally usurp the word
master. in the place of God, did not?
Do you know why I did that? Because if your allegiance is
to any other thing but God, you will never have the power to
overcome the kind of temptation that Joseph experienced. See,
what Joseph did not do, he did not attribute his ability to
stop short of taking Potiphar's wife to his fear of Potiphar,
but to his fear of God and his allegiance to God. See, he understood
that God had actually supervised and oversaw all these blessings
that had come into his life. He understood that God had set
him up to be in Potiphar's house to favor him with Potiphar. He
understood that God had given him the grace, smiled on him
with all these blessings, and he owed God allegiance to God. Did he not? And allegiance to
God gives you the virtue to say no to everything that would steal
God's glory and cause you to fall into sin. Are you guys following
me so far? Are you following me? So we have two stark contrasts. One who fell, right? And one
who stood. The one who fell was lost. He was carnal. He didn't know
God from the man on the moon, though he went to church. Cain
went to church. The man who stood, stood because
his identity was in Jesus Christ. And he heard the words in Romans
chapter 8, verse 12. I'm not a debtor to you. Miss
Potiphar, I don't owe you anything. Yes, I work for your husband
and I work for you and I see you. You're a beautiful woman,
but, and yes, I'm a handsome young man and strong, strappling
young man, but I don't owe you nothing. I owe grace. for everything I got. Are you
guys hearing me? I'm reasoning through with you how you understand
how to deal with this warfare. And here's what Paul says in
verse 13. Pull verse 13 up of Romans chapter 8. I'll stop here
for time sake. Here's what Paul says. You and I have to understand
that the Spirit of God is given to us, given to us, given to
us to stop sin in its tracks. Are you hearing me? the Spirit
of God is given to us. So when he says in verse 12,
you're not a debtor to the law, you're a debtor to grace. You're
not a debtor to sin, you're a debtor to God. And then he says in verse
13, for if you live after the what? This is what we call in
the technical language a present continuous act. If you are living
after the flesh, if that's your lifestyle, if that's the pattern
of life that you live, if If the totality or the essence of
who you are is circumscribed by all that you have, all that
you do, all that you're pursuing, you're still carnal. Now the
next line says this, you shall what? If you are living after
the flesh, pursuing the flesh, if that's your identity, you
shall die. Literally, it's you are already
dying. So I want to bring that home.
What we do demonstrates what we are. If we are living after those
things, it's because we are dead. We're dead to God. We're not
alive. We're spiritually dead. And the
only thing operating in us are the passions of the flesh. Are
you guys hearing me? And God calls that a life of
death. Because it's separate from God. This is how you know. When you are living after the
flesh, you absolutely have no time for spiritual things. I really am thankful that I got
you this moment. Because I really want you to
understand how dangerous a season we are in, in this culture. Around the whole idea of the
world mocking sin, belittling sin, in fact glorifying sin. In fact, redefining sin as acceptable
with God. You old school people who have
grown up in church, you've heard the prophets say, woe unto you
that call evil good and good evil. That's where you are today.
And what I want for parents who are raising young children to
do is teach your children right and help them swim against the
tide of this culture that tells them if you don't do it the way
they do it, you can't have a life. That's really what I want? Because
it's a mass delusion draping itself over the minds and hearts
of men and women. Now, I have no problem with the
world going to hell with its fist over against God's face.
I'm just saying. What I have concern about are
professing Christians whom I see hallmarked by the same trends
and who are blinded to biblical truth that's explicitly set forth
in the Word of God and still doing the same things. And somehow
thinking you're all right with God. I want you to get it. According to Romans 8, you're
not. You are not all right with God.
In all likelihood, you are still lost. Well, pastor, I think I'm
saved. I think I'm a believer in Christ.
In fact, I know I'm a believer in Christ. OK? You ain't got
to argue with me. If you are. If you're a believer
in Christ, your love for God is more than words because his
love for you is more than words. Your love for God is a commitment
to God's word. It's a commitment to walk with
God. We're in your time, your talents, and your everything
is committed to the glory of God. This is the only authentic
evidence that you truly know God. And if you're God's, In
this hell-bound world we're living in right now, every day you are
fighting. Are you hearing me? Every day
you are fighting. I'm gonna close it like this,
because I know this is bothering some of you. Every day you are
fighting to obey verse 13. Do you see it? The last part. But if you threw the what? You
can't do this in your own strength. It requires the Spirit of God.
Are you hearing me? You cannot do this in your own
strength. You cannot do this in your own strength. You will
fool yourself if you think you can say no to sin in your body,
in your members, or in the world, in your own strength. You can't
do it. I can't do it. We can't do it.
We need God. Do you hear me? We need God.
He says, but if you through the Spirit do what? Mortify. I got to bring this up next week
because I don't think most people understand what the word mortification
means. So we have to take, my little brother said, no, I love
it. Eight years old said, I don't know pastor what mortification
is. I love it. So I'm coming back
next week and deal with mortification. But what mortification has to
do with is that aspect of putting to death. That's what it literally
means to put to death. Practices in our life. that impede
our view of Christ, that impede our walk with Christ, that impede
our testimony to Christ. Are you guys hearing me right
now? So I'm gonna close here with a basic caveat. The difference between Cain and
Joseph is that Joseph had a vision of the glory of God and Cain
didn't. When Joseph was tempted by sin,
Joseph saw the glory of God, the beauty of God, the splendor
of God, the purity of God, the righteousness of God, the honor
of God. Stay with me now. The thing that's
going to give you grace to say no to the temptations of sin
is a revelation of God's holiness, his glory, His splendor, His
beauty, His righteousness, His purity. The thing that has me
saying that sin is my knowledge of the beauty of God. Because
when the beauty and splendor and glory of God, the effulgence
of all that He is, is not before my eyes, sin looks beautiful
to me. I'm deceived. I'm deceived. What's going to keep you from
falling into sin is something that captivates you far more
beautiful and glorious than the temptations of sin. And that
is why you and I must behold His glory again and again and
again and again. I have set my eyes upon Him. I've set my face before Him.
Therefore, I shall not be moved, says David. The thing that keeps
you from sin is a constant vision of the glory of Christ. And where
the glory of Christ is absent, you have already fallen. You
have already fallen. Amen.