Romans chapter 5, we've tried
to be looking at the last couple of weeks on salvation. We looked
at salvation from the pleasure of sin, the penalty of sin, the
wrath of God is upon the ungodly. He that believeth not is condemned
already. Today I want us to look at the salvation from the power
of sin. better known as sanctification.
We have regeneration, justification, sanctification, glorification.
All these are parts, works of salvation and salvation. Let
me remind you once again is a person. It's not a dead doctrine. It's
a person. It is Christ. He is salvation. The word sanctification means
that God has set something apart for his own use. He said, remember
the Sabbath day and keep it holy. When he made everything, when
he come to the seventh day, he sanctified it, he set it apart. And God set us apart in Christ
before the world was made. And let me tell you this, when
God set something apart, he declared something that was common, something
that was ordinary, he made it, he declared it to be holy. The Sabbath day was just what
made a difference from it in any other day. Of the other six
days, God sanctified it. God said it's holy. God said
the sanctuary was sanctified. God made it holy. As we said in Bible class, that
means it's holy. It's complete. Sanctification. God's saving us from the power,
the dominion, the clutches of sin. Of sin. If you're a believer, God has
taught you what sin is. He's taught you who sin is. It's
you. Am I sin as ever before me? Sin. You know what it is. You can't get free from it. But
God saves his people. Saves them. Boy, that's a term
that's taken lightly. Saves. He saves His people from
the power of sin. You shall call His name Jesus.
For He shall save His people. Save them. He delivers them.
Did He bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? He did.
You know what He did? He delivered them. Did He bring them through
the Red Sea? Yes. He delivered them. And God
delivers His people. You deal with sin every day. Even when you sleep, your dreams
still are active. You say, why do I dream that? I wish I had never dreamed that.
That's sin. That's your old man who never
sleeps. He never sleeps. Never. Never. So what is our comfort? I want to give some comfort to
God's people. I know that if you're a believer that you deal
with sin. Well, where's your comfort? He
saves us from the power, the dominion, the reign, the rule
of sin. In Romans 5 beginning in verse
19, For as by one man's disobedience, home at Adam's, many were made
sinners. They were made what? Sinners.
Listen to me. You were actually in Adam when
Adam sinned. And you sinned in Adam. A man
don't go to hell because of Adam's sin. A man goes to hell because
of his own sin. But you were in Adam. Wherefore, by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. So what's the opposite of a sinner? Righteousness. Something that's
right. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, where
sin abounded, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Which one rules? I'll ask you
that question, which rules, sin or grace? Which rules, sin or
grace? Where sin did abound, grace did
much more abound. But as sin hath reigned unto
death, do you not see that? He's referring to sin as like
a monarch that's sitting on a throne and it rules and it reigns. Reigns. It's a sovereign. Man cannot,
he doesn't want to, he cannot and he will not resist sin. He can't. It is a sovereign. It rules over him and it reigns
over him. The Bible says that they are
taken captive by Satan at his will. Does that sound like free
will to you? Sin reigns. Even so, thank goodness,
my grace reigned. How does grace reign? Through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Verse
1 of chapter 6, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in
sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
his death. Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. For if we had been planted together
in the likeness of his death, If we've been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness
of his resurrection. It's a new life. Knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. And if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall
also live with Him. Knowing that Christ being raised
from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over
Him. He doesn't have what? Dominion.
When something reigns, you know what it has? Dominion. Look up
the word dominion. You know what it means? It means
sovereign. It means one that controls or takes control. Christ bowed Himself. and became obedient unto death. He allowed sin and death to reign
on him because it reigned on us. But he rose from the grave
and death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise
reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign
in your mortal body. that you should obey it in the
lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments
of righteousness unto God. Now watch this, verse 14. For
sin shall not have dominion over you. You know why? You are not under the law. but
you are under grace. The strength of sin is the law. Paul says, I was alive without
the law once, but when the law came, sin revived and I died. We're not under the law as a
means of justification. We're not under the law as a
means of sanctification. We're not under the law as a
means of acceptance before God. You that know the law, do you
not hear what the law says? The law demands perfect, now
listen to me, perfect holiness. Holiness. And something is either holy
or it's unholy. There's no in between. There is so much confusion on
this topic right here. People spend months and years
trying to debate this. Why don't they just look at the
scriptures? It's of grace. Either it's words or it's grace. How does God save a sinner? He
saves them by grace. Who makes a man holy? God does. If God sets something apart,
He declares it to be holy. And what God sees and how God
sees something is how it really is. But here's what the world
thinks about sanctification and saving themselves from the power
of sin. They think they save themselves.
Because all they do is they look at it from a legalistic standpoint. Because all they think about
is performance. What can I do? They think they
save themselves. They took the first step. And
they think they keep themselves in a relationship with God. And
you ask them, this is what they believe. They actually believe
that they make themselves holy or holier by something they do. If God says it's holy, what is
it? It's holy. Holy. That He may present us
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. And if it's not
holy, God can't have anything to do with it. Nothing. If you ain't holy, God can't
have anything to do with you. You say, well, what's my hope?
It's in Christ who is the holiness of God, who is the righteousness
of God. Holy. You tell me. People say, well, I want to be
closer to God. How close is the Son of God?
Sitting at the right hand of the Father. Can you be any nearer?
Can you be any closer? Say when I get to heaven I'm
going to be holier. No you're not. When Macy was born, that baby
has everything that it will ever need. He won't grow any more
fingers. He won't grow any more toes.
It's a perfect human being. Now it's going to mature. It's
going to grow. If it's alive, it will. Unless
something's wrong with her, she'll grow. You come back ten years
from now, you go, oh my goodness, boy, ain't she growed. It's life. God gives us inner
life. He delivers them. It's His work. It's not up to you. It's not
up to you. Paul told, I think it was the
Galatians, he said, did you begin in the Spirit? And are you now
made perfect by the flesh? Paul said, I'm not perfect, I've
not arrived, I've not attained. I forget those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto that which is before me. But
listen to me, God's people in God's sight are looked at as
justified, accepted, righteous, and holy. That's what the book says. You
say, well I don't feel that way. No, we don't. And if you ever
feel holy, you're not holy. Did you get that? If you ever
feel holy, you're not. If you ever feel worthy, you're
not worthy. You say, that's such a paradox.
That's so confusing. That's just how it is. We are
a paradox. Paul said, the things I want
to do, I don't do. And the things I don't want to do are the things
I do. Well, that's a paradox. In me I have a man of sin. But
in me, if I'm a believer, Jesus Christ reigns. Grace reigns. How does He reign? Through righteousness. How does sin reign? Through death?
Death reigns. Can you imagine death sitting
on a throne? Grace reigns. Let me tell you this, where you
find justification, you're going to find sanctification. Where
God justifies a sinner, that sinner is sanctified. Declared
righteous. Listen, not only declared righteous,
they are made righteous. Whom He did foreknow, He did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. He that
begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus
Christ. Who does the work? He does. Where
at? Inside a believer. It's a heart work. Listen, when a person genuinely
puts their trust in the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior
and commits their life to Him, they come to realize very early
that that old sinful nature is still there. No matter how hard
we try, you ever messed up and say, boy, I won't do that again?
Oh yes you will. Oh yes you will. The harder you
try, I say, the worse you get. You ever feel that way? And I tell you what, till we
come to the point where we very seriously doubt that we are saved
at all. Remember the song of John Newton,
he said, "'Tis a point I long to know, am I is or am I not?"
How can a person that's saved think these things? How can a
person that's saved feel this way? How can a person saved dream
these things? How can he? That's the question. In Galatians
it says, for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit
against the flesh and these are contrary to one to another so
that you cannot do the things that you would. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. The old carnal
nature remains in a believer. He's still a sinner, though a
safe sinner. He's still a sinner. Prone to
wonder, Lord I feel it. False and full of sin I am. Oh
wretched man that I am. But religion talks like this.
Oh that must be talking about somebody else in Romans 7 because
I don't feel that way. I've arrived. If you would just
do what I've done then you may be as holy as I am. You know what religion says?
Religion is the self righteous pharisee that stands up and says
Lord I thank you that I'm not like other men. How could he
make such a stupid statement and say I'm not like other men?
I give tithes of what I possess. I say my prayers, I go to church,
I read my Bible, I do all these things I witness, I do all these
things. And I'm not like this old publican
over there. You know what the publican said? God be merciful
to me, thee sinner. He begged for mercy. And the
book says that man went down to his house justified. Religion puffs up. We're filled with it. I don't
care what brand, I don't care what brand it takes. I don't
care whether it's Baptist, I don't care whether it's Grace, Reformed
Baptist, Pentecost, I don't care what brand it is. You cannot
mix grace and works. It's either grace or it's works. There's not a mixture. It's not
by something you do. I remember when we was in religion
and if we was able to work and get the money to pay our tithes,
we thought, man, we're special now. And then when we didn't
have a dime, two nickels to rub together, we felt like a dirty
dog. Because we hadn't paid them.
And we was always looking over our shoulder. I guess God's going
to get me now. We're not under the law. And when you're under the law,
listen to me, everybody listening, when you're under the law, sin
reigns over you. But when you're under grace,
grace sets you free. Do you see the difference? If
you're trying to appease God, if you're trying to earn God's
favor, if you're trying to remove something, I don't care what
it is, quit trying. You keep trying and you're under
the law, you're going to feel guilty and condemned and condemned. Grace says it's done. It says, how can that be true? That's
grace. You know what religion says?
Oh, if you preach that, that just opens the floodgates for
sin. No, it restrains it. Paul said,
the love of God constrains me. I like picking on Erica. You
know why? Because she used to give me a hard time when she was such
a little girl. Why does she do anything for
Macy? Because she has a handbook that she reads every day. She
says, well I better feed her. I better take care of her. I better make
sure that everything's okay. Now I believe somewhere inside
there she loves that little girl. Don't you? She's not half to
made to. She wants to. That's grace. We do what we do or don't do
because of grace. Grace. Grace that chose me. Grace that called me. Grace that
keeps me. Grace that preserves me. Not
law. Not bondage. Not bondage. I don't have the ability to remove
one sin. Not one. Not one. I can't get myself in God's favor.
I can't get God to look my way. It's grace. But the book says
I am accepted in the beloved. I was chosen in Him. And when
I was chosen in Him, I was set apart before the world was made
and was made holy. You know what He told Jeremiah?
He said, Before I formed you, I knew thee, and I ordained thee,
and I sanctified thee a prophet. You know what God said? That man's mine. And if God singles
you out and makes you His, you're His. You're His. You're His. We have an O'Connell nature still
remains. We have two natures. Which one
rules the believer? When Christ sets up His rule
and His throne, He doesn't try to reign, He reigns. He drives
out the strong man. And He spoils his goods. He sets
up rule in that man's heart. Where does He rule? In a man's
heart. He don't need the Ten Commandments
written on the wall. It's in his heart. He says, A
new heart will I give thee. That's what controls you. Your heart. Your heart. He must give you what you don't
have by nature. And now that he gives you, now
listen, he don't totally take away the old nature. There are
some who actually believe that God is trying to improve or you
are improving your old man. You can't do it. Let me give
you an illustration in the scriptures. Abraham had two sons, Ishmael
and Isaac. Ishmael was a product of the
flesh. His mama was a slave. Now you
listen to me. His mama was not a free woman.
She was a slave. And Ishmael was born. And Ishmael
thought, man it's all mine. Everything that Abraham has is
mine. And everything was happy in that
house. And what I understand, Ishmael was probably 12 or 13
years old. And God had told Abraham and Sarah that they're going
to have a son. And you know what happens? God tells Sarah, Sarah, you're
going to have a baby. And she laughs. He said, that's
crazy. That can't happen. He said, why
did you laugh? She said, I didn't laugh. He
said, oh, yes, you did laugh. You know what happened? He said,
a year from now, she's going to have a child. And Abraham
and Sarah. who were in their nineties and
Abraham was almost a hundred, had a baby. You say that's impossible. What's impossible with men is
possible with God. Everything's been okay in the
house for years. Ishmael's got free reign. He
thinks he's the heir. But wait till Isaac's born. Isaac is the heir. Everything
Abraham has is Isaac's. The seed will come through Isaac
because he's the miracle child. He's the product of the promise. But when Ishmael's born, when
Isaac's born, Ishmael persecutes Isaac. Why did you say all that
preacher? To show you Ishmael's your old
man. That's the man you were born
with first. That's the nature you got from your mother and
your father. And if God ever works a miracle of grace in Isaac,
who's a picture of Christ, is born in your heart, Ishmael can't
stand it. And if you'll read, when Abraham
died, both Ishmael and Isaac both buried their daddy. You
ain't getting rid of the old Ishmael. You ain't getting rid
of the old man. Not in this world. I don't care what anybody says.
You're not improving him. He's not going to get any better.
It seems like he gets worse because he gets a little wiser. So what are you to do with him?
Isaac rains. They can't both be the heirs.
They both can't be the heirs. Your flesh can't be the heir
of something it does. It can't be. It's a product of
the flesh. And that which is born of the
flesh is flesh. Ishmael will always be a slave. Your old man, listen to me, is
always going to be a slave to sin. Isn't that right? He can't resist sin. But let me tell you another paradox.
Your new nature cannot, cannot sin. You know what I'm saying? Just define that picture. I can, I just believe it. And
let me tell you this. When I sin, you say, who sins?
I do. But if there is any righteousness
ever done, Christ does it in me and through me. If I believe,
and without faith, it's impossible for a man to please God. God
gives you faith, and you know what you do? You believe. God
won't believe for you. Nobody else can't believe for
you. And you believe, which is the grace of God. But you believe.
Abraham believed God. It says, we know we read Where
it says, Sarah laughed, but read the book of Romans. You know
what it says about Sarah? It said, she staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief, but she was strong in faith,
giving glory to God. She believed that what God promised,
He was able to perform. That's the new man. The old man
cannot believe that. And he won't believe it. And
he'll keep on trying to earn salvation by his good works. And he will keep on, listen to
me, being nothing more than a slave. Our Lord says, stand fast therefore
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Anytime you try of
your own ability, of your own strength, to try to earn acceptance
or favor or anything with God, you put yourself back up under
the law. And where the law is, sin reigns. Sin reigns. I want grace to reign. Grace. What kind of grace? Free grace.
Sovereign grace. I hope everybody read the article
there about Maurice Montgomery talking about holding the hand.
That's such a pretty illustration. That little child thinks it's
holding on to the Father's hand, which it is. But the main thing
is that Father's grasping that child's hand. We may think we're holding on
to Him, But he's holding on to us. He said he's graving you in the
palms of his hands. He will not let you go. He will not let you go. Use Erica again. Little Macy, she's
a little over 13 months old. If she don't get her way, she'll
let you know it. Ain't that right, Erica? In a
heartbeat. She said, why would that child just a baby? I've
seen her smacking Emily. I've seen her say, no, you know
why? That's an old nature. Let me tell you this, her mama
don't let it go on. You think, you say, well her
mama enjoys seeing her cry. No, she don't. I know she don't.
But that's her child. And she will not let her go.
And let me tell you, if you're his, he will not. let you act just any way. You're
his. When she acts up, that don't
change her relationship. That's still her baby and she
loves her, but she's going to correct her. Leave that youngin'
alone. You see what happens. In two
or three years, you won't be able to do anything with it.
You ever seen them in the supermarket just screaming? Somebody's wired
their honey in out. You know what that sets up in
nature? Don't tell me I can't have it. I won it yesterday. That nature is a slave to sin. It wants it, it's got to have
it. But the Bible says as newborn
babies, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow
thereby. We don't believe that we're getting,
making ourself holier, but listen to me. I do believe, because
this Bible teaches, it does teach a growth in grace. It said about
Macy, that baby is not going to stay that size. If that baby
is alive and I think she is, she's going to grow. She's just
now starting to walk. Erica said, well she walked a
little bit more this week. You wait about six months, she'll
be running all over the house. She's growing. God's children grow. You know what? There's life. Me and Zandy tried to plant us
a little vegetable garden. We'd go down there every few
days and look at it and make sure everything's coming up.
Boy, in about a week or two, you couldn't even hardly see
the beans and the potatoes and the corn and the tomatoes for
the weeds. You know what I had to do? I
had to plow it. I had to hoe it. If I had just let that garden
go, it would have been in a mess. And by the end of the season,
you couldn't even saw the corn stalks for the weeds. Nature
would take over. We went down there one day, you
know, we've had so much rain, we went down there and every
bit of our corn was just blowed over. What was I to do? There
wasn't nothing I could do about it. And Sandy's mom would say,
just wait, the sun will draw it up. You know what we do? We go toward the Son. The Son
of Righteousness. And about every bit of that corn
stood right back up. We're God's garden. We're God's
planting. If God just said, OK, He saved
us. OK, now just leave me alone.
You know what would happen? Just like that garden. Weeds
would control it. Weeds would cover it. It's His
garden. We're His children. He will not
leave us alone. It's His work. It's His work. It's His work. Let me give you
a couple things. How does God deliver us from
the power of sin? We've tried to say that we know,
if you're a believer, you know what sin is. If you're an unbeliever,
I can't convince you. Only God can. Only God can convince
anybody of sin, what sin really is. But how does God deliver
us? That's what I want to know. How
does God deliver us from the power of sin? First He does it
by giving us a clearer view of who we are. It says in I think it's in Proverbs,
let me find my verse. It says the sun, I can't find
the verse right now, but it shines more and more until the perfect
day. You get up in the morning and you see and it's just beginning
to be twilight. And then the sun comes up, the
more it comes up, the brighter it gets. And you think your house
is so clean, you just swept it and you dusted it and you spent
all day on Saturday cleaning it. Well, about that time, you
see the sunlight coming through the front door. And in that sunlight,
what do you see? Dust particles filled the air. Now listen, the sunlight didn't
put the dust particles there. If they were already there, it
just revealed them. That's what grace does. When
Christ shines his light into your soul, you see who you are. Not who you think you are, but
who you are. And that's how he delivers us
from ourself. We don't put any confidence in
the flesh. Is that not what Peter did? Peter said, everybody else
might deny you but not me. Now listen to me, everybody listening,
I want you to get this. You say, well, I won't never
fall. Somebody else may do that, but boy, I won't. God will teach
you something. How will God deliver you from
that? He'll deliver you. Did He deliver Peter? Did He
save him? It seemed like the power of sin
was controlling Peter. And God delivered him. To be saved from the power of
sin is to have our eyes open so that we see things in God's
light. We see it in God's light, not
what we think. It's not our understanding. His
ways are not our ways. And then we cry out with Job. As we've already mentioned this
morning, Paul said, O wretched man that I am. You know why he
said that? He saw himself. in the holiness
and in the light of God Almighty. How does God deliver us from
the power of sin? Secondly, by chastening us as
I've already illustrated. By Erica, correcting Macy. You
know what she's doing? She's teaching her. She's training
her. This is what it says in Hebrews
12. Furthermore, we've had fathers
of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence.
We've had parents that corrected us, we gave them reverence, we
respected them. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of Spirits and lives? For our parents
verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. But God did it. Your parents
did it for their pleasure. Because they're human. Nobody
wanted to do it the best you wanted to do it. You wanted to
do it right. But sometimes you're just aggravated. Isn't that right? Do it for our pleasure. We just
want them to be quiet. But He does it for our profit. For they were only for a few
days chasing us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit.
Now listen to this. I want you to get this. That
we might be partakers of His holiness. What does that mean? What does
this mean we're partakers of His holiness? This is not talking
about God's holiness that refer to His moral character. God is
holy. It doesn't talk about the holiness which Christ gives us
in sanctification. Here the word simply implies
separation. Listen, by the loving exercise
of God's rod, Our Heavenly Father separates our hearts from this
world. He separates the weak from the
chaff, the precious from the vile. That's what He's doing. He's separating us from this
world. Sometimes these chastisements
are external. Sometimes they're internal. Sometimes
they go on for a long time. Sometimes they're over just in
a little while. But it says, no chastening for the present
seems to be joyous, but grievous, but afterwards it yieldeth the
peaceable fruit of righteousness in them which are exercised thereby. Sometimes God corrects us for
our faults, and we have a lot of them. But understand, this
is a rod of love, not a rod of justice. Did you hear that? When you were under the law. But I don't want that rod. I
don't want that rod. Sometimes God sends these things
to prevent us from sinning. God gives Paul a thorn in the
flesh. Sometimes they're sent for spiritual education. Sometimes
they're sent to strengthen our graces. And sometimes God sends
these things to do what? To wean us from this world. Does
this world have an attraction on you? Do you see the things
of the world and does it not draw you? You say, boy, I love
to have those things. I love to be that way. And that's
the world. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. But it does have an attraction.
And how does God deliver you from that power? Does it have
a power? Is it a temptation? You know
it is. He's going to wean you from it. It would just be like, say, Macy. She was on a bottle. But eventually
that child will be weaned from a bottle. I think she already
is. But when she's weaned, she can't go on until she's five
and six years old. And what would kids do when she
went to school if she was sucking on a pacifier? They have to be weaned. And we have to be weaned. God
has to wean us. He has to wean us. You know what
they say they do to little eagles? You know what the mother eagle
does? That mother eagle has to teach them little eaglets to
fly. And she teaches them and she'll carry them on her wings
and she'll actually dump them off and then she'll fly down
right under them and catch them. But them little eaglets don't
want to leave the nest. So you know what she does? She'll
get some thorns and some needles and she'll put in that nest.
And when them little eagles come back, they don't like the nest
anymore. They've got to leave. God will
put thorns in your nest to wean you from this world. That's how
God saves you from the power of sin. He does it. Those that are His, He don't
leave alone. Thank God He doesn't. Sometimes God, how does He deliver
us from this? Sometimes by bitter disappointment. Have you ever been disappointed?
Has your heart ever been broken? Here's what Pink said. The winds
of adversities compels us to leave the bed of carnal ease
like the little eaglets. God allowed persecution to come
to those early Christians. They all wanted to stay right
there in Jerusalem. God said, no, you're going to leave. So
what happened? Everybody turned against them.
God may let everybody, your friends and everybody else, turn against
you to wing you from this world. Come out from this world and
be you separate, saith the Lord. That's not the unclean thing.
Pink said also sometimes God allows the family circle which
had so long sheltered us and where our peace and happiness
was to be broken by the hand of death. That's a bitter disappointment. But God does it. God wins us. God saves us from the power of
sin. And I'm glad he does. He's the
only one that can. I can't deliver you, but God
can. I see people going after the
things of the world and my heart breaks, but what am I to do?
Only God can wean them. Only God can save those people.
They can't save themselves. They're in bondage to sin. Let
me tell you this. The clothes on your back, the
home you live in, the car you drive, everything is marked for
the burning. It's going to perish. You know
what it said about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? They were sojourners.
They lived in a tent. Would you want to live in a tent
all your life? Say, no, I like somewhere comfortable. I don't
like having to pull up stakes every few days and leave. They
did. And by nature, I'm being honest,
and let's all be honest that we ain't getting nowhere with
God. We all want everything easy. We don't like any disappointments.
We like everything going smooth. Everything just all settled.
No problem with children or families or jobs or anybody, anything.
Isn't that what we want? And God allows things to wean
us. To wean us. Just like Erica. She will not
let that baby just do anything. She loves her. She wants her
to grow up. And God will mature his children. That's right. All that is in this world is
nothing but broken cisterns who cannot satisfy. Nothing. It can't. Say, boy, if I had
that job, boy, I'd be sad. No, you wouldn't. No, you wouldn't. If I had this, if I had that,
I'd be satisfied. No, you wouldn't. There's only one. If you're a
believer, there's only one that will satisfy your heart. And that's Him. And that's Him. You'll go on struggling in bondage
to sin. But let me tell you this, when
you see grace, Nothing else matters. How does He deliver us from the
power of sin? By the gift of His Spirit. It's
a gift. It is by the Spirit that faith, hope, prayer, all these
things, all these graces are kept alive. You ever tried to
pray and couldn't pray? We should pray, shouldn't we?
We should pray. We should read God's Word. And
we should read it not out of duty. Well, I need to read it.
Well, I read my three chapters today. We should come to this book because
I tell you, I need Him. I need Him to speak to my heart. And the only way that is kept
alive is by God's Spirit. If God left you alone, you would
never pick that book up again. You would never utter another
prayer. The Bible says we don't even know how to pray as we ought.
But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings which can't
even be uttered. And we come to God as a sinner
begging for mercy and grace. Say, God, I need mercy. I can't
remove this sin. Oh, wretched man that I am. I am so prone to wonder. Prone to wonder. We're like a
wandering sheep. The Spirit uses the means of
grace that God has appointed for our preservation and our
growth. We that believe in grace, we
that believe in this book, believe in a God of perseverance, of
preservation. That God keeps you. It's not you keeping yourself.
It's not you hanging on to God. Somebody had that little saying,
when you get to the end of your rope, hang on! You have no strength. Put no
confidence in your flesh. You are kept by the power of
God through faith. If God didn't keep you, I know
where you'd be. I'd never see you again. That's
exactly right. God's people are... Oh, the Baptists,
oh, they believe in once saved, always saved. That ain't what
I'm talking about. I'm talking about God preserving. God keeping. God keeping them
in His love. God keeping them in His grace.
And they look to Him. They must have Him. This world
won't satisfy you and you know it. You've got to have Him. That's exactly right. Exactly right. Exactly right. The salvation from the power
of indwelling sin is not the taking out of the evil nature
from the believer in this life, nor by improving it. But it is
the inward working of the Spirit of God conforming us into the
very image of Christ, bringing us every day to see, to see every
day that Christ is our salvation, He is our sanctification, and
that our holiness comes from being united to Him and Him alone. That is my holiness. Say for
instance this morning we were going to do, partake of the Lord's
table. Does anybody in here feel worthy?
Anybody here feel worthy? Anybody in here feel worthy?
No. If you did, you ain't worthy. Our worthiness is in Him. He is my sacrifice. He is my
atonement. He is my righteousness. He's
the one that keeps me and I know it. And why? He teaches me. He'll teach you. You'll be taught. Who holds who? He'll teach you.
You think you're holding yourself? He'll show you. He'll show you. I'm glad he does. He will not. This is grace. He will not let
you go. But so far. He says, Peter, before the cock
crows, you're going to deny me. But the cock crowed, and God
restored him. Let's stand. I'll have Sandy
to come, and I want us to stand and turn to page 204.