1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now, come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,840 If you have your Bibles, turn there with me to Romans chapter six. 10 00:00:28,810 --> 00:00:33,090 We have gone now through five chapters in the book of Romans, and 11 00:00:33,090 --> 00:00:35,890 if you're just joining us or you missed a little bit of time, 12 00:00:35,890 --> 00:00:36,730 that's okay. 13 00:00:36,890 --> 00:00:39,690 We're gonna have a little bit of a recap here this morning before 14 00:00:39,690 --> 00:00:43,610 we jump right into our thoughts here in Romans chapter six. 15 00:00:43,610 --> 00:00:46,890 You ever watch a TV show and they said, last time on whatever 16 00:00:46,890 --> 00:00:48,570 show, okay, they do a recap. 17 00:00:48,890 --> 00:00:51,410 Well, last time when we were here in the book of Romans, Romans 18 00:00:51,410 --> 00:00:56,550 chapter 5, we ended in verse 20 and 21 with the thought of grace. 19 00:00:56,950 --> 00:00:57,990 What is grace? 20 00:00:58,710 --> 00:01:00,950 What type of grace does God extend to us? 21 00:01:01,350 --> 00:01:03,910 And what does that mean for us as believers? 22 00:01:03,990 --> 00:01:06,790 So verse number 20 says this in chapter five. 23 00:01:06,790 --> 00:01:09,190 So if you're in chapter six, just go back a couple verses. 24 00:01:09,350 --> 00:01:12,590 It says, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, 25 00:01:12,590 --> 00:01:16,950 Meaning this God gave a law to teach us that we are all going to 26 00:01:16,950 --> 00:01:17,910 be sinners. 27 00:01:17,910 --> 00:01:19,830 All of us fall short of the glory of God. 28 00:01:19,830 --> 00:01:21,110 None of us can be perfect. 29 00:01:21,950 --> 00:01:23,710 But then he says this, which is so interesting. 30 00:01:23,710 --> 00:01:26,430 He says, but where sin abounded, meaning this, that word 31 00:01:26,430 --> 00:01:30,350 abounded means just overwhelmingly comes into our life, 32 00:01:30,350 --> 00:01:34,630 pervades our life, gets in every aspect of our life, sin abounds 33 00:01:34,630 --> 00:01:35,190 in our life. 34 00:01:35,190 --> 00:01:38,590 But then it goes on to say this, which is the amazing truth 35 00:01:38,590 --> 00:01:39,230 about this. 36 00:01:39,470 --> 00:01:41,990 Grace did much more abound. 37 00:01:41,990 --> 00:01:45,390 Meaning, though our lives could be characterized by sin before 38 00:01:45,390 --> 00:01:48,550 we came to Christ, when we come to Christ, our lives are not 39 00:01:48,550 --> 00:01:51,720 characterized by the sin that we committed before or even the sins 40 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:52,760 that we commit now. 41 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,520 But our life is now covered in grace, abounding in grace. 42 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,760 So you could say, you know what, Pastor, you might not know 43 00:01:59,760 --> 00:01:59,920 me. 44 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:01,080 You don't know my past. 45 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:03,280 You don't know the sins that I committed. 46 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,440 You still don't maybe even know the things that I'm dealing 47 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:06,120 with right now. 48 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,960 And that might be true, but the Bible says that God knows and 49 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,520 still extends that grace because of his love. 50 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,320 And so the sins of our past don't define us. 51 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,160 If we are believers in Jesus Christ here this morning, the sins 52 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,760 of our past do not define us, which is an amazing truth because 53 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,040 none of us want to be defined by our past in, in the. 54 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:27,400 In the failures that we've had. 55 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,880 But also the beauty is, is that if you are a believer here this 56 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,440 morning, the sins that you commit today aren't what define you. 57 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,960 The sins that you commit tomorrow don't define you. 58 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:41,400 What you are defined by as a child of God is the action of God's 59 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:42,960 gift of grace upon our lives. 60 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:47,090 And so it says in verse 21 that as sin hath reign unto death, 61 00:02:47,090 --> 00:02:52,170 meaning if our lives are characterized by sin and sin is our 62 00:02:52,170 --> 00:02:52,810 identity. 63 00:02:53,770 --> 00:02:56,210 This morning, if I asked you what's your identity, some of you 64 00:02:56,210 --> 00:02:58,410 might say, well, it's my job, whatever I do. 65 00:02:58,890 --> 00:03:02,490 Or maybe for some people, they might identify themselves as their 66 00:03:02,490 --> 00:03:02,770 family. 67 00:03:02,770 --> 00:03:05,690 You know, I'm the father or the mother of these children. 68 00:03:06,170 --> 00:03:11,130 But specifically speaking in the context of the Bible of spirituality, 69 00:03:11,250 --> 00:03:11,410 we. 70 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,080 We are either in our identity in sin or our identity is in Christ. 71 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:20,040 And so the Bible says, before our identity was in Christ, sin reigned 72 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:20,440 in our life. 73 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:21,960 And what does sin, sin bring? 74 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,680 It says there in verse 21, sin brings death. 75 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,600 But then it goes a little bit further and says, even so might grace. 76 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,960 If we are believers in our identities in Christ, even so might 77 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,240 grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by 78 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:37,400 Jesus Christ our Lord. 79 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:39,840 So essentially what Paul was saying is this. 80 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,480 If we are living outside of faith in Jesus Christ, our life is 81 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:44,560 characterized by sin. 82 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,840 Sin brings brokenness, sin brings separation. 83 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:50,000 Ultimately, sin brings forth death. 84 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,560 But then he goes on to say that if your life is in Christ, you 85 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,920 are a recipient of God's grace. 86 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:58,640 And again, what are we talking about with grace? 87 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,200 Grace is a gift that's given that is not earned. 88 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:05,830 And in the context of salvation, it's this grace extended 89 00:04:05,830 --> 00:04:08,790 to us means that God paid the price for our sins. 90 00:04:09,190 --> 00:04:11,390 The Bible says, for the wages of sin is death. 91 00:04:11,390 --> 00:04:13,510 We're going to see that later on in Romans, chapter six. 92 00:04:13,750 --> 00:04:16,870 But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 93 00:04:16,870 --> 00:04:17,430 So there was. 94 00:04:17,430 --> 00:04:18,870 There was a punishment for sins. 95 00:04:18,870 --> 00:04:20,790 The punishment for sin is this death. 96 00:04:21,110 --> 00:04:24,150 But Jesus came, as we know, in the Gospel. 97 00:04:24,150 --> 00:04:27,110 He came and gave his life for us so that we might have life. 98 00:04:27,190 --> 00:04:28,670 He paid the price for our sin. 99 00:04:28,670 --> 00:04:32,020 And so it says that when we are his child, when we are a child, 100 00:04:32,020 --> 00:04:35,540 when we're a child of the King, even so my grace reign through 101 00:04:35,540 --> 00:04:36,140 righteousness. 102 00:04:36,140 --> 00:04:39,860 And so grace brings righteousness, it brings salvation, 103 00:04:40,020 --> 00:04:42,980 it brings eternal life through Jesus Christ. 104 00:04:43,700 --> 00:04:46,980 And so if you understand those last two verses, it essentially says 105 00:04:46,980 --> 00:04:47,300 this. 106 00:04:47,460 --> 00:04:52,700 If you are a believer, In Jesus Christ, your sin does not define 107 00:04:52,700 --> 00:04:53,220 you anymore. 108 00:04:53,220 --> 00:04:54,980 You are defined by the grace of God. 109 00:04:55,450 --> 00:04:57,050 If you sin, it is forgiven. 110 00:04:58,330 --> 00:05:01,170 And so we're going to transition to Romans chapter 6, because 111 00:05:01,170 --> 00:05:04,090 Paul understands the way the human mind thinks. 112 00:05:04,410 --> 00:05:05,930 He understands our flesh. 113 00:05:06,730 --> 00:05:09,770 And I think maybe some of us might even be getting ahead of ourselves 114 00:05:09,770 --> 00:05:11,449 to know where he's going to go with this. 115 00:05:11,850 --> 00:05:15,730 Basically, some people might say, well, if God forgives me of 116 00:05:15,730 --> 00:05:20,250 my sin, and the more that I sin, the more I experience his forgiveness, 117 00:05:20,330 --> 00:05:23,220 the more more I experience his grace, well, why don't I just keep 118 00:05:23,220 --> 00:05:25,300 sinning so that God's grace just keeps coming? 119 00:05:26,020 --> 00:05:29,580 There actually was a, a what, what he called himself as a theologian 120 00:05:29,580 --> 00:05:34,540 many, many centuries ago that actually taught, hey, as believers, 121 00:05:34,540 --> 00:05:39,220 we should just sin more, sin as much as we can so that we can 122 00:05:39,220 --> 00:05:42,460 experience God's forgiveness, so that we can understand him more 123 00:05:42,460 --> 00:05:43,780 and rest in his love more. 124 00:05:43,940 --> 00:05:46,140 But that's what Paul is actually going to talk about right 125 00:05:46,140 --> 00:05:46,420 now. 126 00:05:47,130 --> 00:05:50,330 So let's look at verse number one, because he's going to address 127 00:05:50,330 --> 00:05:53,530 this issue of abusing the grace of God. 128 00:05:54,090 --> 00:05:55,730 Abusing the grace of God. 129 00:05:55,730 --> 00:05:58,090 So it says in verse one, what shall we say then? 130 00:05:58,090 --> 00:06:01,130 So he says, okay, so are we going to have this question now? 131 00:06:01,370 --> 00:06:02,490 Let's address this question. 132 00:06:03,050 --> 00:06:05,210 Shall we continue in sin? 133 00:06:06,570 --> 00:06:09,330 Now, this does not mean, by the way, this does not mean that, 134 00:06:09,330 --> 00:06:11,970 hey, I commit a sin, I'm repentant, I'm getting right with 135 00:06:11,970 --> 00:06:12,330 God. 136 00:06:12,830 --> 00:06:15,350 First John, chapter one, verse nine, says, if we confess our sins, 137 00:06:15,350 --> 00:06:17,990 he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us 138 00:06:17,990 --> 00:06:18,990 from all unrighteousness. 139 00:06:18,990 --> 00:06:21,950 Paul's not about to teach that you're perfect after salvation. 140 00:06:22,270 --> 00:06:26,070 This phrase here, continue in sin, means to live a life of habitual, 141 00:06:26,070 --> 00:06:27,230 unrepentant sin. 142 00:06:27,630 --> 00:06:30,350 To continue on in something that God has said is wrong. 143 00:06:30,670 --> 00:06:32,910 He says, what shall we say then? 144 00:06:32,910 --> 00:06:35,230 Shall we continue in a life of sin? 145 00:06:35,230 --> 00:06:37,950 Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 146 00:06:37,950 --> 00:06:39,790 Remember he just said, grace abounds. 147 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,160 Where sin is, grace abounds much more. 148 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:44,560 So what does that mean? 149 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:46,840 Do I just keep doing what I want to do in my life so that God 150 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:47,760 just keeps forgiving me? 151 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:49,320 So that grace just keeps abounding? 152 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:50,880 He's going to have some strong words. 153 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:55,320 He says in verse number two, God forbid, or how could this be? 154 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:57,360 Basically, no way. 155 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:58,600 You're missing the point. 156 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,960 You're missing the point of what God's grace is all about. 157 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,440 God's grace is not about just continuing on in sin and living our 158 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,960 life in an unrepentant fashion, just saying, lord, I don't 159 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:08,720 care what you say. 160 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:10,200 I just want to do what I want to do. 161 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:11,920 No, he says, no, God forbid. 162 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,360 And then he asks another question, which this question make 163 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:16,160 us think this morning. 164 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,800 He says, how shall we, talking about believers, talking about those 165 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,000 who have trusted in Jesus Christ and experienced his forgiveness, 166 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,800 experienced his grace, have a life of transformation as the Bible 167 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,240 says in Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, that we are new creations 168 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,120 in Christ, new creatures, old things are passed away. 169 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:34,680 Behold, all things become new. 170 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:36,600 There's a transition in salvation. 171 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:37,600 And so what does he say? 172 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:44,520 He says, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? 173 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:45,800 Meaning this. 174 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,480 How can we that have been saved from the bondage of sin go 175 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:51,000 back to that same bondage? 176 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:52,880 He says, why would we do that? 177 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:53,880 How could we do that? 178 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,640 If we understand what God has saved us from, why would we go back 179 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,000 to the thing that he saved us from? 180 00:08:00,770 --> 00:08:01,770 The idea would be this. 181 00:08:01,770 --> 00:08:07,050 Before you come to Christ in faith, you are dead in sin. 182 00:08:07,050 --> 00:08:09,970 The Bible says that In Ephesians, chapter 2, Dead in Sin, 183 00:08:09,970 --> 00:08:13,410 meaning I have a sentence on my life, and that is a death sentence. 184 00:08:14,210 --> 00:08:16,729 Say, whoa, I wasn't coming to church this morning to hear about 185 00:08:16,729 --> 00:08:17,490 a death sentence. 186 00:08:17,890 --> 00:08:18,850 Well, now you did. 187 00:08:18,850 --> 00:08:21,490 Okay, so you're responsible now. 188 00:08:21,970 --> 00:08:25,130 But then the Bible says that when we recognize that we have a 189 00:08:25,130 --> 00:08:29,420 death sentence in our sin, we come to Christ and say, I. I can't 190 00:08:29,420 --> 00:08:29,940 pay this. 191 00:08:31,140 --> 00:08:32,620 I. I can't serve enough time. 192 00:08:32,620 --> 00:08:33,700 I can't do enough good. 193 00:08:33,700 --> 00:08:36,180 Because by the way, our world system is this. 194 00:08:36,340 --> 00:08:38,100 Just do good and you'll be okay. 195 00:08:39,380 --> 00:08:41,380 Just have your good outweigh your bad. 196 00:08:42,340 --> 00:08:45,540 But the truth of that would be, how do we know we've done enough? 197 00:08:47,300 --> 00:08:51,860 How could I know that my scale is higher or lower in each side? 198 00:08:51,940 --> 00:08:52,980 We don't know for sure. 199 00:08:52,980 --> 00:08:55,120 The Bible says that, that we can never do enough. 200 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:56,120 And so the. 201 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,080 The person comes to Christ and says, lord, I can't do it myself. 202 00:08:59,080 --> 00:08:59,720 I need you. 203 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:01,520 And Jesus says, I've got the payment. 204 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:02,680 I've done the work. 205 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:03,800 Here's the gift. 206 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,840 So before we were saved, before we came to Christ, we were 207 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:09,960 dead in sin. 208 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,520 But then the Bible says there's something that happens after 209 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:13,160 salvation. 210 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:18,040 Now we are what's called dead to sin, meaning we don't have to 211 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,440 go back to that, because that's not our identity anymore. 212 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:22,960 It doesn't mean that we'll be sinless, because he's going to talk 213 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,000 here in a moment about that wrestling between the Flesh and the 214 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:26,440 spirit. 215 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:28,840 But it says here that you don't have to go back. 216 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:30,360 It's no longer your identity. 217 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:32,240 It should not be your hunger. 218 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:33,480 It should not be your thirst. 219 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,600 It should not be something that you're longing for in your life. 220 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:39,320 I think about it this way. 221 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,080 Yesterday, some of you know that there's a peach festival in 222 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:42,480 Middletown. 223 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:44,160 And by the way, thank you for coming on out for that. 224 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:45,880 A lot of you came out and supported that. 225 00:09:46,290 --> 00:09:48,930 But prior to the peach festival itself, there's a. 226 00:09:48,930 --> 00:09:51,450 There's a race, okay, a 5k race. 227 00:09:51,450 --> 00:09:54,490 And we had a really good representation of Middletown Baptist 228 00:09:54,490 --> 00:09:56,130 folks there running in the race yesterday. 229 00:09:56,130 --> 00:09:58,250 I won't call everybody out because I don't want to embarrass 230 00:09:58,250 --> 00:09:59,530 anybody, but one. 231 00:09:59,530 --> 00:10:02,249 One person in this church, not me, but one person in the church 232 00:10:02,249 --> 00:10:05,370 got third overall in all of Middletown Peach Festival. 233 00:10:05,370 --> 00:10:07,010 There's like 300 people there running. 234 00:10:07,410 --> 00:10:07,690 So. 235 00:10:07,690 --> 00:10:08,810 Victor, you did a good job. 236 00:10:08,810 --> 00:10:09,730 Good job, Victor. 237 00:10:11,170 --> 00:10:12,410 Victor Lagunas was there. 238 00:10:12,410 --> 00:10:13,010 He was running. 239 00:10:13,470 --> 00:10:14,590 Some of us are running, too. 240 00:10:14,910 --> 00:10:17,230 But the point I'm trying to make is yesterday when I was running, 241 00:10:18,190 --> 00:10:19,270 I saw these people running. 242 00:10:19,270 --> 00:10:20,790 They looked like they weren't having any problems. 243 00:10:20,790 --> 00:10:22,270 I was out there running the race myself. 244 00:10:22,830 --> 00:10:25,950 About mile two, I was thirsty. 245 00:10:26,430 --> 00:10:27,310 I was tired. 246 00:10:27,870 --> 00:10:29,310 All I wanted was some water. 247 00:10:30,270 --> 00:10:31,590 And the truth is, is that if. 248 00:10:31,590 --> 00:10:33,950 And when I got around, there was this one turn that I came around 249 00:10:33,950 --> 00:10:36,430 and there was this, like, teenager and. 250 00:10:36,430 --> 00:10:38,110 And she held the water out, and I was like. 251 00:10:38,190 --> 00:10:39,430 As fast as I could get to her. 252 00:10:39,430 --> 00:10:40,950 I wanted that water because I was thirsty. 253 00:10:40,950 --> 00:10:41,790 I took that water. 254 00:10:42,450 --> 00:10:42,650 That. 255 00:10:42,650 --> 00:10:44,050 That's what it's talking about here. 256 00:10:44,290 --> 00:10:47,170 When it comes to hungering after something, okay, hungering 257 00:10:47,170 --> 00:10:47,930 and thirsting. 258 00:10:47,930 --> 00:10:50,450 We all understand what it means to desire something that we 259 00:10:50,450 --> 00:10:50,770 need. 260 00:10:51,970 --> 00:10:52,290 And. 261 00:10:52,290 --> 00:10:56,490 And so when we come to Christ, the hunger and the thirst should 262 00:10:56,490 --> 00:10:57,610 be after the things of him. 263 00:10:57,610 --> 00:11:00,250 The righteousness, his grace, His. 264 00:11:00,250 --> 00:11:03,330 His truth, that that's what we should long for. 265 00:11:03,570 --> 00:11:07,090 But the Bible says before we come to Christ, we long for sin. 266 00:11:07,660 --> 00:11:11,020 We long for the flesh to be satisfied. 267 00:11:11,580 --> 00:11:14,060 But the problem that Paul is talking about here is that those 268 00:11:14,060 --> 00:11:18,420 that are saved to a life of righteousness should no longer want 269 00:11:18,420 --> 00:11:20,620 to hunger and thirst after those things. 270 00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:23,060 If we're hungering and thirsting after those things and 271 00:11:23,060 --> 00:11:27,340 wanting to dwell in those, there's a real issue in our understanding 272 00:11:27,340 --> 00:11:27,900 of grace. 273 00:11:27,900 --> 00:11:32,340 Because all human beings must come into reconciliation with the 274 00:11:32,340 --> 00:11:33,020 grace of God. 275 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,320 If there's an unsaved person, someone who is not trusted in God 276 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:41,400 alone, for salvation through Jesus Christ, he or she must come 277 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,440 to the grace of God and realize that that's a gift for salvation 278 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:45,520 to everlasting life. 279 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,720 But those that have trusted in that gift of grace which many of 280 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,600 us in this room have, the Bible says that there's a moment 281 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,760 in time where we have to be reminded about what we've been saved 282 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:59,680 from so that we no longer hunger after the things that dictated 283 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:01,860 or our truths before we came to Christ. 284 00:12:01,940 --> 00:12:07,340 And so what does he say here in verse two, God forbid, reject 285 00:12:07,340 --> 00:12:08,460 that the, the. 286 00:12:08,460 --> 00:12:13,780 The principle of going back to that emptiness, going back to that 287 00:12:13,780 --> 00:12:14,500 brokenness. 288 00:12:15,780 --> 00:12:16,099 He. 289 00:12:16,099 --> 00:12:18,980 He says that how can we that are dead to sin? 290 00:12:19,060 --> 00:12:19,540 We're not. 291 00:12:19,540 --> 00:12:24,340 We're not dead in sin anymore, but dead to sin, live any longer 292 00:12:24,340 --> 00:12:26,660 therein, meaning feeling comfortable with that way. 293 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,600 Now again, I know that the Christian life is a spiritual growth 294 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:31,080 process. 295 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,080 We talk about the word sanctification. 296 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:36,680 Sanctification is just a fancy way to say that we are becoming more 297 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:37,360 and more like him. 298 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:38,680 If we are walking in him. 299 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,960 And many people are in that process in this world today, and 300 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,120 nobody's at that same exact point. 301 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,360 There might be someone that just is starting that journey. 302 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:50,440 There might be people that have been on that journey for many, 303 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:51,080 many years. 304 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:54,320 And so I understand the principle of knowing things and maturing 305 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:55,210 in areas, but. 306 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:57,320 And so he's not saying here that everyone should be a perfect 307 00:12:57,320 --> 00:12:58,800 Christian right off the bat. 308 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:01,840 He's not saying that everyone can be sinless. 309 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:03,600 He's saying that no one can be sinless. 310 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,240 But there is a point in our life where we need to realize what 311 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,520 that sin is all about and how that sin is seen by the one who died 312 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:11,760 on the cross for our sins. 313 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,160 We just looked in Romans, chapter 5, verse 8. 314 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,520 But God commendeth or demonstrated his love toward us in 315 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,200 that while we were yet sinners, as God saw us as sinners, 316 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:21,520 he died for us, which means this. 317 00:13:21,820 --> 00:13:25,700 It's our sin that nailed him to the cross, but he did it anyway 318 00:13:25,700 --> 00:13:26,380 because of his love. 319 00:13:26,380 --> 00:13:28,980 And then in Romans, chapter six, we need to see that that sin 320 00:13:28,980 --> 00:13:34,820 that we are desiring is what exactly what Jesus died for in our 321 00:13:34,820 --> 00:13:35,100 life. 322 00:13:35,180 --> 00:13:37,180 How can we live any longer therein? 323 00:13:37,420 --> 00:13:39,740 And then he's going to give us a picture in verse number three, 324 00:13:40,620 --> 00:13:44,220 he's actually going to describe to us the picture of baptism. 325 00:13:45,020 --> 00:13:49,120 Now we are in a Baptist church, but there are a lot of different 326 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,000 people in this world that have views of baptism, a lot of different 327 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:52,960 views of baptism. 328 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,760 We believe that baptism does not save you. 329 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,240 At least the baptism of the water does not save You. 330 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,920 We believe it's the baptism of the Holy Spirit that's described 331 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:01,360 right here. 332 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:04,440 What we do in the water back here is a picture of what already 333 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,840 happens in the life of the individual who is a believer. 334 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:08,640 So. 335 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,440 So we believe that the moment of salvation, the moment of faith, 336 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:12,400 we are baptized. 337 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:13,810 As it's going to describe here, we. 338 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,160 What we're doing in the water back here is just saying, hey, this 339 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:18,920 is a public profession of what has already happened in my life. 340 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:20,680 So. 341 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,640 So what we're seeing here is him describing what is happening 342 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:25,080 on the spiritual side of things. 343 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:29,080 And when we show this up here in the baptismal, when people join 344 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,000 the church or when people get saved, it's not saying, hey, we got 345 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:33,800 to keep doing something new or something different. 346 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:36,440 It's just describing what he's describing right here. 347 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:41,740 So verse three says, know ye not that so many of us as were baptized 348 00:14:41,900 --> 00:14:43,420 into Jesus Christ. 349 00:14:44,140 --> 00:14:45,060 Now let's stop right there. 350 00:14:45,060 --> 00:14:46,460 What is he talking about, baptized? 351 00:14:46,460 --> 00:14:49,780 The word baptize itself is actually a word that we just take 352 00:14:49,780 --> 00:14:51,500 a Greek word called baptizo. 353 00:14:52,140 --> 00:14:54,580 And they didn't have a word for in English, so they just took 354 00:14:54,580 --> 00:14:56,460 the word baptizo and made it baptized. 355 00:14:56,700 --> 00:14:58,780 Okay, what does that word mean? 356 00:14:58,860 --> 00:15:04,140 It literally means to immerse, to cover, to put over someone, like 357 00:15:04,140 --> 00:15:05,340 to totally engulf. 358 00:15:06,020 --> 00:15:06,860 So what is he saying here? 359 00:15:06,860 --> 00:15:07,540 He says this. 360 00:15:07,620 --> 00:15:08,500 Know ye not. 361 00:15:08,980 --> 00:15:12,900 He's like, don't you know that all of us that are saved are baptized, 362 00:15:12,900 --> 00:15:17,060 engulfed into Jesus Christ, Meaning we're lumped in to his family. 363 00:15:17,220 --> 00:15:19,140 We are covered by Jesus. 364 00:15:19,860 --> 00:15:23,540 We were baptized in Jesus is what he's saying when we're saved. 365 00:15:24,500 --> 00:15:27,140 But then he says something interesting because as we identify 366 00:15:27,140 --> 00:15:31,300 with Christ in salvation, we are identified into. 367 00:15:31,300 --> 00:15:32,660 What does it say here in verse 3? 368 00:15:32,660 --> 00:15:33,430 Into his death. 369 00:15:33,580 --> 00:15:33,820 Death. 370 00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:37,340 Now some of us are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, I thought we were saved 371 00:15:37,340 --> 00:15:37,740 from death. 372 00:15:37,740 --> 00:15:39,340 He's not talking about spiritual death. 373 00:15:39,340 --> 00:15:42,940 He's talking about identifying that we're dying to something. 374 00:15:43,900 --> 00:15:48,460 Jesus died on the cross, but we as Christians are dying to sin. 375 00:15:48,700 --> 00:15:51,700 Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, but we know that he 376 00:15:51,700 --> 00:15:52,700 didn't stay dead. 377 00:15:52,700 --> 00:15:54,980 We know that he conquered death through the resurrection, which 378 00:15:54,980 --> 00:15:55,980 we're going to talk about here. 379 00:15:56,140 --> 00:15:59,620 So what does the Christian, when we identify in Christ, when 380 00:15:59,620 --> 00:16:03,140 we are engulfed in Christ, when we are lumped in together with 381 00:16:03,140 --> 00:16:04,860 Christ, what does it mean for us to die? 382 00:16:04,860 --> 00:16:07,020 It means that we are dead to the old ways. 383 00:16:07,340 --> 00:16:09,260 We are dead to our sin. 384 00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:09,820 We. 385 00:16:09,820 --> 00:16:10,100 We. 386 00:16:10,100 --> 00:16:11,660 We are dead to our past. 387 00:16:13,020 --> 00:16:13,740 Verse 4. 388 00:16:14,380 --> 00:16:18,740 Therefore, we are Buried with him by baptism into death. 389 00:16:18,740 --> 00:16:22,980 Meaning we are lumped together with him just as he was, just as 390 00:16:22,980 --> 00:16:23,820 he died on the cross. 391 00:16:23,820 --> 00:16:25,020 So we are dead to him. 392 00:16:25,190 --> 00:16:29,070 And it says that, like as Christ also was raised up from the 393 00:16:29,070 --> 00:16:32,830 dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk 394 00:16:32,830 --> 00:16:33,790 in newness of life. 395 00:16:33,790 --> 00:16:34,390 Meaning this. 396 00:16:34,470 --> 00:16:37,590 Yes, we are dead to our old ways, but we don't just stay in the 397 00:16:37,590 --> 00:16:37,910 grave. 398 00:16:38,390 --> 00:16:38,710 We. 399 00:16:38,710 --> 00:16:41,830 We are risen to walk in a new life. 400 00:16:42,390 --> 00:16:45,110 So, so just as Jesus died on the cross, he. 401 00:16:45,110 --> 00:16:47,230 You know, some of you know the story, some of you might not know 402 00:16:47,230 --> 00:16:47,590 the story. 403 00:16:47,670 --> 00:16:49,110 Jesus Christ dies on the cross. 404 00:16:49,110 --> 00:16:50,470 He's taken down from the cross. 405 00:16:50,750 --> 00:16:53,550 Some of his followers take him and put him in a tomb, the tomb of 406 00:16:53,550 --> 00:16:53,950 Joseph. 407 00:16:53,950 --> 00:16:54,510 Okay? 408 00:16:55,150 --> 00:16:58,270 Jesus stays there Sunday morning, though, he doesn't stay 409 00:16:58,270 --> 00:16:58,990 in the tomb. 410 00:16:59,790 --> 00:17:00,910 He resurrects from the dead. 411 00:17:00,910 --> 00:17:02,590 He conquers death through the power of God. 412 00:17:02,990 --> 00:17:04,910 So we know that Jesus didn't stay dead. 413 00:17:05,310 --> 00:17:09,270 So we as Christians, when we die to something in our life, specifically 414 00:17:09,270 --> 00:17:11,510 in this case, we're dying to our old ways, we're dying to our 415 00:17:11,510 --> 00:17:11,870 sin. 416 00:17:12,030 --> 00:17:15,150 We don't just stay there immobile and just lay in the tomb. 417 00:17:15,790 --> 00:17:19,670 The Bible says that God replaces that old life with a new 418 00:17:19,670 --> 00:17:20,030 life. 419 00:17:20,300 --> 00:17:21,900 That's what it says there in verse number four. 420 00:17:22,620 --> 00:17:26,700 Even so, we also should walk in newness of life. 421 00:17:26,780 --> 00:17:29,180 We're raised up by the power of God. 422 00:17:30,220 --> 00:17:32,780 If we had more time, I would take you to Ephesians 4. 423 00:17:32,860 --> 00:17:36,419 If you like to write down references and, and refer back to 424 00:17:36,419 --> 00:17:38,860 something later, go to Ephesians chapter four. 425 00:17:38,860 --> 00:17:42,140 Because Ephesians, chapter four talks about the idea of not 426 00:17:42,140 --> 00:17:43,820 just putting off the old man. 427 00:17:44,140 --> 00:17:46,740 Because yes, there should be a principle in our life that we are 428 00:17:46,740 --> 00:17:47,980 dead to the old ways. 429 00:17:47,980 --> 00:17:49,860 We, we stop doing those things. 430 00:17:49,860 --> 00:17:53,080 We don't want to become the people that we used to be or stay 431 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:54,840 the person that we are in our sin. 432 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,400 But it does say in Ephesians chapter four that it's not just putting 433 00:17:58,400 --> 00:17:58,760 off. 434 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,880 So, so, you know, I could take the jacket off and it's off, right? 435 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:02,520 But then I could. 436 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:03,520 I need to put something on. 437 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,080 The Bible says in Ephesians chapter four to put on something 438 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,600 that is the new man, that is the new way, that is the Spirit of 439 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:09,960 God. 440 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,920 And so the Bible says here in Romans chapter six, we don't just 441 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:14,200 stop doing bad things. 442 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:14,960 We, we. 443 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:17,840 We don't just avoid all the people in our life that caused us 444 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:18,440 problems before. 445 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,280 No, it's a complete transformation that starts on the 446 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:21,800 inside. 447 00:18:21,870 --> 00:18:23,620 And, and that's manifested on the outside. 448 00:18:24,100 --> 00:18:26,420 It's new life, my new identity. 449 00:18:26,420 --> 00:18:28,580 I don't want the things that I wanted before. 450 00:18:28,820 --> 00:18:31,220 I don't hunger after the things that I hungered before. 451 00:18:31,380 --> 00:18:34,140 So, so essentially what Paul is saying through the inspiration 452 00:18:34,140 --> 00:18:35,140 of the Spirit is this. 453 00:18:35,460 --> 00:18:39,300 If there is a person who claims to be a Christian but says, 454 00:18:39,300 --> 00:18:39,740 you know what? 455 00:18:39,740 --> 00:18:43,420 I hunger after those things that I used to have completely, it's 456 00:18:43,420 --> 00:18:44,700 my life, it's what I need. 457 00:18:44,700 --> 00:18:47,220 It's what I, what I, what I long for. 458 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:50,640 He says, there's a problem with understanding what God has done 459 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:51,080 for you. 460 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,200 There's a problem with understanding who you are now in 461 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:54,520 Christ. 462 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:56,840 Not saying that that person isn't a Christian. 463 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,400 What I am saying is that here, in this case, the Bible says that 464 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,320 a Christian is called to walk in newness of life. 465 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,560 That's why when many of you have witnessed the baptism here at 466 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,240 the church, many of you have been baptized either here at this 467 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:09,240 church or other churches. 468 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,400 When I baptize someone, that's why I say bury in the likeness of 469 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:16,190 his death, raised to walk in newness of life, because it's a picture 470 00:19:16,270 --> 00:19:18,030 of that new life that we are now to. 471 00:19:18,030 --> 00:19:18,830 To walk in Christ. 472 00:19:18,830 --> 00:19:21,990 So it's not just putting off bad things, but as the Bible says 473 00:19:21,990 --> 00:19:25,750 in Ephesians 4, it's putting on the new replacing. 474 00:19:25,750 --> 00:19:28,750 It's a principle of putting off and putting on replacing in our 475 00:19:28,750 --> 00:19:30,750 life those bad things with the things of God. 476 00:19:31,150 --> 00:19:31,950 So what does it say? 477 00:19:31,950 --> 00:19:35,830 It doesn't just say to stop lying, stop lying and now begin to 478 00:19:35,830 --> 00:19:36,390 tell the truth. 479 00:19:36,390 --> 00:19:38,110 It doesn't say, just stop stealing. 480 00:19:38,110 --> 00:19:41,100 In Ephesians 4, it says this, stop stealing, then go get a job 481 00:19:41,100 --> 00:19:43,220 and make money and give money to people that need the money. 482 00:19:43,220 --> 00:19:46,620 So it's, it's inserting into our life the things of God proactively 483 00:19:46,700 --> 00:19:49,100 doing those things that God has called us to do. 484 00:19:49,660 --> 00:19:53,020 The Christian life is not a life of being passive and sitting 485 00:19:53,020 --> 00:19:55,180 back and just letting evil attack us. 486 00:19:55,180 --> 00:19:58,140 The Bible actually says that we are to go out on the offensive 487 00:19:58,300 --> 00:20:01,060 and that we are to be proactively serving God and loving 488 00:20:01,060 --> 00:20:02,780 him and following him in righteousness. 489 00:20:03,500 --> 00:20:04,700 The Bible puts it this way. 490 00:20:04,700 --> 00:20:10,320 Later on in the New Testament, the apostle Peter says to grow in 491 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:10,960 grace. 492 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:12,880 Growing in grace. 493 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,000 Now, sometimes people think of growing in grace like this. 494 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,320 Well, the more I serve God, the more I go to church, the more 495 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:20,240 I read my Bible. 496 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:23,000 God just has like this big bucket of grace up there in heaven. 497 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,320 And he's like, okay, here's a little bit more grace for you. 498 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:26,200 Because you're a good guy. 499 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:26,720 Okay? 500 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:27,800 No, that's. 501 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,000 I, I don't believe principles in Scripture teach that God has a, 502 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,440 has this grace up there that he's doling out like that. 503 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,720 No, I believe the Bible says at the moment of salvation, all of 504 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,480 us are abundantly gifted with infinite grace. 505 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,720 It's a matter of understanding that grace and tapping into that 506 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,280 grace and accessing it in the understanding of experience and saying, 507 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:48,640 no, I know that God is going to be there with me through it. 508 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,800 So growing in God doesn't mean I just become a good, better person. 509 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:53,560 I'm a good person now, I'm a better person. 510 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:57,080 No, it's just experiencing what God has done for us and experiencing 511 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:01,160 who he is and knowing him and resting in him and walking with Him. 512 00:21:01,310 --> 00:21:05,870 And so he says, walk in newness of life, folks. 513 00:21:05,870 --> 00:21:10,670 If people see us today, they should see a marked difference in 514 00:21:10,670 --> 00:21:11,230 my life. 515 00:21:11,230 --> 00:21:14,510 If I'm a believer and they should see a difference tomorrow, 516 00:21:14,510 --> 00:21:17,230 they should see a difference in 20 years if God allows. 517 00:21:17,309 --> 00:21:19,630 And so the Bible says that Christians should be walking and 518 00:21:19,630 --> 00:21:21,070 moving forward in newness of life. 519 00:21:21,150 --> 00:21:24,150 It doesn't mean perfection, but it does mean this idea that we 520 00:21:24,150 --> 00:21:26,590 are to walk in him in a different path. 521 00:21:26,590 --> 00:21:27,230 Verse 5. 522 00:21:27,580 --> 00:21:30,900 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, 523 00:21:30,900 --> 00:21:36,260 meaning if you're identified in his death, we shall also in the 524 00:21:36,260 --> 00:21:39,460 likeness of his resurrection, meaning if you're identified with 525 00:21:39,460 --> 00:21:41,860 his death, you're identified in his resurrection. 526 00:21:41,860 --> 00:21:43,340 And we have a new life in Christ. 527 00:21:43,580 --> 00:21:46,580 Now there's more implication to this because just as we have a 528 00:21:46,580 --> 00:21:49,220 new life in Christ, the Bible says that this is not the end. 529 00:21:49,220 --> 00:21:52,340 This hundred to 120 years. 530 00:21:52,340 --> 00:21:54,640 Some of you might be the oldest person in the world and live 531 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:56,280 to be 120 something years old. 532 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,840 But this period of time that we have on this earth is not the 533 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:00,840 end for a believer. 534 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,000 Now we get the taste of the grace of God, we get to understand 535 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,720 what it means to walk in newness of life. 536 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,920 But the Bible says that though we're identifying Christ in His death, 537 00:22:09,079 --> 00:22:10,960 we're also identified in his resurrection. 538 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,240 And we know that we will have everlasting life. 539 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:15,160 And so we live for the eternal. 540 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,530 We live for the understanding that just as God re raised up Jesus 541 00:22:19,530 --> 00:22:23,890 from the dead and put him in a glorified body, so also we understand 542 00:22:23,970 --> 00:22:26,530 that we will be that way as well. 543 00:22:26,930 --> 00:22:33,730 And so knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, our 544 00:22:33,730 --> 00:22:37,690 old path, that's gone now, do we still struggle with the old ways? 545 00:22:37,690 --> 00:22:38,850 Of course that's our flesh. 546 00:22:39,410 --> 00:22:42,290 But he says it no longer has to be the struggle anymore. 547 00:22:42,610 --> 00:22:45,650 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body, 548 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:47,280 the body of sin. 549 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,720 He's trying to paint a word picture here, that this sacrifice 550 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,560 of sin, the body of sin, our life of sin, might be destroyed, 551 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,440 that henceforth we should not serve sin. 552 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,520 So he's really talking about this idea of who is our master? 553 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:03,840 Who is our master? 554 00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:07,640 The Bible says that God is Lord. 555 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,000 Now, a lot of times we don't know what that word Lord means. 556 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:11,760 That word Lord literally just means master. 557 00:23:13,030 --> 00:23:15,030 And the question that I would have for all of us here this morning 558 00:23:15,030 --> 00:23:16,150 is, who is our master? 559 00:23:16,550 --> 00:23:17,510 Who is our Lord? 560 00:23:18,470 --> 00:23:19,910 Well, for some people, they, they. 561 00:23:19,910 --> 00:23:21,510 They would say, well, it's God. 562 00:23:21,510 --> 00:23:23,670 Other people, your master might be your. 563 00:23:23,670 --> 00:23:24,070 Your job. 564 00:23:24,070 --> 00:23:25,990 It dictates everything in your life. 565 00:23:26,390 --> 00:23:28,870 May, maybe your master is yourself. 566 00:23:28,870 --> 00:23:30,310 Maybe you are your own Lord. 567 00:23:30,310 --> 00:23:31,590 Whatever you want, you do. 568 00:23:31,990 --> 00:23:36,110 The Bible says here that ultimately we can only serve one 569 00:23:36,110 --> 00:23:36,630 master. 570 00:23:36,950 --> 00:23:39,570 The Bible says you can only serve one master, because if you 571 00:23:39,730 --> 00:23:41,930 serve more than one master, you're gonna either love one and 572 00:23:41,930 --> 00:23:42,530 hate the other. 573 00:23:42,610 --> 00:23:45,450 And the idea for, for what Paul is trying to get across here 574 00:23:45,450 --> 00:23:46,930 is, are we gonna serve the Lord? 575 00:23:47,810 --> 00:23:50,370 Are we gonna serve him in his new path that he has given us? 576 00:23:50,370 --> 00:23:52,130 Are we gonna go back and serve sin? 577 00:23:52,930 --> 00:23:54,130 Is the, the. 578 00:23:54,130 --> 00:23:56,610 The picture that I, I have in my mind is this. 579 00:23:57,730 --> 00:24:01,890 I'm never served time in jail or prison, but. 580 00:24:01,890 --> 00:24:03,810 But I watched it on tv, okay? 581 00:24:03,810 --> 00:24:04,690 So there, There, there. 582 00:24:04,690 --> 00:24:06,450 There would be someone that, let's say they're in. 583 00:24:06,450 --> 00:24:10,810 In a jail cell, prison cell, that the old times, they would be 584 00:24:10,810 --> 00:24:13,010 in, you know, chains, and maybe even today they would be that 585 00:24:13,010 --> 00:24:13,290 way. 586 00:24:14,090 --> 00:24:17,410 And let's say whatever happens, maybe someone comes in and 587 00:24:17,410 --> 00:24:20,930 buys you out or whatever, they, they take you out, you're gone, 588 00:24:20,930 --> 00:24:23,370 the doors open, the chains are broken. 589 00:24:23,850 --> 00:24:25,610 But what he's explaining is this. 590 00:24:25,930 --> 00:24:29,970 For a Christian to go back to that life of sin, for a Christian 591 00:24:29,970 --> 00:24:33,290 to go back and love those things that before they were defined 592 00:24:33,290 --> 00:24:36,570 by, is like a Christian leaving that's free and coming back 593 00:24:36,570 --> 00:24:38,970 into the jail cell, closing the door and saying, you know what? 594 00:24:38,970 --> 00:24:40,130 I like that life better. 595 00:24:41,250 --> 00:24:43,530 And that's ultimately what he's explaining here is like, why 596 00:24:43,530 --> 00:24:45,570 would you want to go back and be a servant to sin? 597 00:24:46,290 --> 00:24:48,290 You were freed from that bondage. 598 00:24:49,090 --> 00:24:52,530 You are freed from the inevitability that you will choose 599 00:24:52,530 --> 00:24:52,890 sin. 600 00:24:52,890 --> 00:24:56,850 And now why would we want to go back and have that chaining us 601 00:24:56,850 --> 00:24:57,410 down again? 602 00:24:58,290 --> 00:25:01,090 For he that is Dead is freed from sin. 603 00:25:03,070 --> 00:25:05,430 You're freed from the action of sin, you're freed from the power 604 00:25:05,430 --> 00:25:09,590 of sin, and you're freed from the bondage of sin and you're freed 605 00:25:09,590 --> 00:25:10,630 from the effects of sin. 606 00:25:10,630 --> 00:25:15,110 Folks, the Bible says that sin has an ultimate penalty for the wages 607 00:25:15,110 --> 00:25:16,270 of sin is death. 608 00:25:17,309 --> 00:25:19,670 Now, again, I mentioned this last weekend and there was a little 609 00:25:19,670 --> 00:25:20,510 bit of confusion. 610 00:25:20,750 --> 00:25:26,150 What I am saying as a believer is that if we sin, either our past 611 00:25:26,150 --> 00:25:29,240 or present or our future or there are going to be in some cases 612 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,640 earthly consequences to decisions that we make. 613 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:34,880 I'm not saying that, hey, you can just keep sinning as a Christian 614 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:36,920 and there's not going to be any problems. 615 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,680 No, the Bible actually says that if I'm a Christian, I'm living 616 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:40,040 in sin. 617 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,120 There will be hardships, there will be problems because they're 618 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:42,720 bad decisions. 619 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:45,120 Now, the grace of God is abundant and he can forgive us of 620 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:45,400 that. 621 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,960 He can even overcome the penalty of sin in some ways here 622 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:49,880 on this side of heaven. 623 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,040 But what we're talking about is a bigger thing. 624 00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:55,710 The idea would be is this, no matter what I do, past, present or 625 00:25:55,710 --> 00:25:58,630 future, the grace of God is upon me and I am no longer bound 626 00:25:58,870 --> 00:26:01,630 by the punishment in the future of sin, the death sentence 627 00:26:01,630 --> 00:26:02,310 of sin. 628 00:26:02,870 --> 00:26:04,470 For if verse 8. 629 00:26:05,030 --> 00:26:10,430 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we also shall live 630 00:26:10,430 --> 00:26:13,830 with him, meaning we understand the principle of dying 631 00:26:13,830 --> 00:26:14,790 to our old ways. 632 00:26:15,030 --> 00:26:17,670 Living in Christ, we are, we are alive in him. 633 00:26:18,470 --> 00:26:19,190 Verse 9. 634 00:26:19,270 --> 00:26:22,310 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more 635 00:26:23,030 --> 00:26:24,870 death, hath no more dominion over him. 636 00:26:24,870 --> 00:26:27,110 Jesus doesn't have to keep going back to the cross. 637 00:26:28,070 --> 00:26:31,390 When he was on the cross, he said a statement which is a powerful 638 00:26:31,390 --> 00:26:33,750 statement, had a lot of meaning to it. 639 00:26:34,150 --> 00:26:36,390 He says, it is finished. 640 00:26:36,870 --> 00:26:38,230 It doesn't have to keep going back. 641 00:26:38,549 --> 00:26:40,110 God doesn't have to keep dying for us. 642 00:26:40,110 --> 00:26:42,310 And really, essentially what we're seeing here is that we don't 643 00:26:42,310 --> 00:26:45,750 have to keep going back and getting saved over and over and over 644 00:26:45,750 --> 00:26:46,070 again. 645 00:26:46,390 --> 00:26:51,380 Just as God's payment for our sin was finally, so is his salvation 646 00:26:51,380 --> 00:26:52,140 for us final. 647 00:26:52,140 --> 00:26:55,300 We are sealed with him until the day of redemption. 648 00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:58,140 He says now if we be dead in Christ, we believe that we should 649 00:26:58,140 --> 00:26:58,820 also live with him. 650 00:26:58,820 --> 00:27:01,220 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth, no more 651 00:27:01,380 --> 00:27:03,820 death, hath no more dominion over him. 652 00:27:03,820 --> 00:27:07,100 There's no more power of death over the Lord, and there's no more 653 00:27:07,100 --> 00:27:09,220 power of death over us that are in him, in Christ. 654 00:27:09,540 --> 00:27:10,340 So verse 10. 655 00:27:10,580 --> 00:27:13,540 For in that he died, he died unto sin. 656 00:27:13,540 --> 00:27:17,510 Once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God, meaning the death 657 00:27:17,510 --> 00:27:21,670 is over, but life is continuing on forever and ever and 658 00:27:21,670 --> 00:27:21,910 ever. 659 00:27:21,910 --> 00:27:25,430 And so what we can see here this morning is the challenge for 660 00:27:25,430 --> 00:27:30,350 the believer to understand what he or she has in Christ in that 661 00:27:30,350 --> 00:27:30,750 grace. 662 00:27:31,230 --> 00:27:34,710 And then the challenge on the other side is that if I am somebody 663 00:27:34,710 --> 00:27:37,870 who has not trusted in Jesus Christ as my Savior, and I'm still 664 00:27:37,870 --> 00:27:41,310 here today, it's not too late to trust in the gift of grace so 665 00:27:41,310 --> 00:27:43,950 that I can understand what it means to have this type of freedom. 666 00:27:45,670 --> 00:27:50,350 A lot of times, what people will teach is this, that God wants 667 00:27:50,350 --> 00:27:53,030 to control you so that you don't have freedom. 668 00:27:54,070 --> 00:27:55,950 There's a lot of people that will say, you know what? 669 00:27:55,950 --> 00:27:58,230 I don't want to come to Christ to give my life to him because I'm 670 00:27:58,230 --> 00:28:01,190 afraid that I'm going to miss out on something in my life. 671 00:28:02,390 --> 00:28:03,390 I want to be free. 672 00:28:03,390 --> 00:28:04,710 I want to be, I want to be me. 673 00:28:04,710 --> 00:28:06,470 I want to make my own decisions. 674 00:28:06,470 --> 00:28:08,830 I'm going to tell you folks that's the strongest bondage that 675 00:28:08,830 --> 00:28:11,360 you could ever face, the bondage of sin. 676 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,360 I'm free to choose what I want, but I'm going to tell you that 677 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:18,240 if you choose what your flesh wants, that brings you to bondage. 678 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,520 That brings you to the least amount of freedom that you can ever 679 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:21,920 find. 680 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,240 When I was a young person, I would hear a preacher preach about 681 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:26,160 the freedom of God. 682 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,720 I, I, I heard a preacher one time preaching at our school, and 683 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:33,080 he was like, you can find freedom in Christ, you can find liberty 684 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:33,520 in Christ. 685 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,320 And I'm going like, well, no, I find freedom in going out on the 686 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:37,840 weekends and doing what I want to do. 687 00:28:38,690 --> 00:28:41,410 I feel like when I come to Christ, it's all about limiting me 688 00:28:41,410 --> 00:28:44,770 from having fun, limiting me from experiencing this world. 689 00:28:44,930 --> 00:28:47,770 But as I grew and matured and understand what he was saying, he 690 00:28:47,770 --> 00:28:49,210 wasn't saying, hey, you know what? 691 00:28:49,210 --> 00:28:51,010 When you come to Christ, you can do whatever you want. 692 00:28:51,090 --> 00:28:54,410 What he was saying is, hey, now that you come to Christ, there's 693 00:28:54,410 --> 00:28:55,650 a freedom to serve Him. 694 00:28:55,650 --> 00:28:58,090 Before that, we're, we're, we're chained. 695 00:28:58,090 --> 00:29:01,210 We are in bondage so that we can't serve Christ before we come 696 00:29:01,210 --> 00:29:01,610 to Him. 697 00:29:01,610 --> 00:29:05,070 There's no possible way that we can have freedom because sin grips 698 00:29:05,070 --> 00:29:05,710 us so much. 699 00:29:06,270 --> 00:29:09,990 But when we are saved, we are relinquished of that bondage and 700 00:29:09,990 --> 00:29:11,630 we are free to serve Him. 701 00:29:11,710 --> 00:29:13,430 We are free to minister for Him. 702 00:29:13,430 --> 00:29:16,710 We are free to live a life that is beyond description. 703 00:29:16,710 --> 00:29:19,390 I'm going to tell you when the Bible says that there is a peace 704 00:29:19,549 --> 00:29:22,510 that passeth all understanding in Philippians, chapter four, I'm 705 00:29:22,510 --> 00:29:26,350 going to tell you that it is a peace that passes all understanding. 706 00:29:26,430 --> 00:29:29,630 The world cannot understand the freedom of a believer, the joy 707 00:29:29,730 --> 00:29:30,840 of that a believer has. 708 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,720 In the midst of difficulty, I'm going to tell you, being a Christian 709 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:36,120 doesn't mean your life is easy. 710 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,320 Being a Christian doesn't mean that your life is going to have just 711 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:41,000 perfect circumstances. 712 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,360 But what the Bible does say is that even though you can have all 713 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,560 these things going on around you, even though there could be people 714 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,120 persecuting you as much as Paul was being persecuted, you can 715 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:54,200 have joy and freedom in knowing that you can live for him. 716 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,210 And that's the type of freedom that nothing in this world can bring. 717 00:29:57,530 --> 00:30:01,850 The world's gonna say this, do this substance, enjoy this relationship, 718 00:30:01,930 --> 00:30:04,770 do these types of things, and that will bring you amazing freedom. 719 00:30:04,770 --> 00:30:09,010 But only that brings bondage, that only brings sin, that only brings 720 00:30:09,010 --> 00:30:10,890 punishment and eventually destruction. 721 00:30:11,210 --> 00:30:13,250 If sin wasn't attractive, no one would do it. 722 00:30:13,250 --> 00:30:16,610 But the Bible says that sin is attractive and that many people believe 723 00:30:16,610 --> 00:30:19,770 the lie of the enemy, saying that this is gonna bring me satisfaction. 724 00:30:19,850 --> 00:30:22,060 I'm gonna tell you here this morning that no sin will. 725 00:30:22,130 --> 00:30:24,690 Will ever bring lasting satisfaction in your life. 726 00:30:25,170 --> 00:30:28,850 No, no evil, no, no, no, no emptiness will bring you that type 727 00:30:28,850 --> 00:30:29,690 of satisfaction. 728 00:30:29,690 --> 00:30:32,690 The only thing that the Bible says that will bring true satisfaction 729 00:30:32,770 --> 00:30:34,530 is a relationship with Jesus Christ. 730 00:30:34,530 --> 00:30:37,090 He is sufficient for everything that we need. 731 00:30:37,170 --> 00:30:39,250 Now, why do we go down these paths of sin? 732 00:30:39,250 --> 00:30:42,490 A lot of times it's maybe loneliness or maybe it's. 733 00:30:42,490 --> 00:30:42,730 It's. 734 00:30:42,730 --> 00:30:45,090 It's because of something that was done to us in the past. 735 00:30:45,170 --> 00:30:48,130 Or maybe it's because we feel like that's going to bring me something 736 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:49,800 that I've never experienced before. 737 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:50,240 Or. 738 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,760 Or maybe we think that's going to bring me substance. 739 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:54,200 Maybe people will respect me. 740 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:58,280 Folks, these are all faulty reasons to go down the path of sin. 741 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,120 To go down the path of sin means to go down the path of bondage 742 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:02,840 and destruction, as the Bible says that. 743 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:06,520 That pride leads to destruction and pride leads to death. 744 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:09,480 And as we read this morning in James chapter four, which we're going 745 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,440 to turn to now, James chapter four says that what brings life, 746 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:16,120 what brings salvation, that's humility saying, I can't do this 747 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:16,720 on my own. 748 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:18,520 So we're in Romans chapter six. 749 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:19,840 Go with me to James chapter four. 750 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:22,480 We'll touch on what we read this morning in James chapter four. 751 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:24,720 Then we'll hit Romans chapter six and Then we'll be done. 752 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,880 Just in way of conclusion here, James, chapter four. 753 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,080 This should be our testimony of the Lord. 754 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,560 If you are a Christian this morning, if you are a believer in 755 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,520 Jesus Christ, if you've tasted in the grace of God, we don't say, 756 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:40,240 well, now I get to do whatever I want to do. 757 00:31:40,810 --> 00:31:42,730 We say verse number six in James chapter four. 758 00:31:42,730 --> 00:31:45,930 But he giveth more grace, man. 759 00:31:45,930 --> 00:31:47,010 That should be our testimony, man. 760 00:31:47,010 --> 00:31:49,090 He just keeps giving me grace, even though I don't deserve it. 761 00:31:49,090 --> 00:31:50,330 He just keeps giving me grace. 762 00:31:50,490 --> 00:31:54,530 Wherefore, he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace 763 00:31:54,530 --> 00:31:55,170 to the humble. 764 00:31:55,170 --> 00:31:56,170 What does God resist? 765 00:31:56,170 --> 00:31:58,170 He resists pride and selfishness. 766 00:31:58,330 --> 00:32:00,650 What does God embrace and extend in grace? 767 00:32:00,730 --> 00:32:02,770 He extends that to those that are humble. 768 00:32:02,770 --> 00:32:04,730 Folks, we have to come to a place of humility. 769 00:32:04,730 --> 00:32:07,880 Knowing that I can't save myself, knowing that my decisions 770 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:11,520 are the wrong thing, knowing that ultimately in my flesh, in the 771 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,120 old man, that's only going to lead me back to the life of the cycle 772 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:16,520 of sin and bondage. 773 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:18,440 So what does he say to do? 774 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,720 He says, submit yourselves, therefore, to God. 775 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:24,600 Give your life up to God. 776 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:26,080 Say, God, you are in control. 777 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:27,720 I don't know how you're going to work this out. 778 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:30,360 I don't know how you're going to get me victory over this. 779 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:35,050 But the same God that parted the Red Sea, the same God that. 780 00:32:35,610 --> 00:32:39,210 That protected and allowed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in 781 00:32:39,210 --> 00:32:45,210 the fiery furnace to be unharmed, the same God that rose 782 00:32:45,210 --> 00:32:48,770 Jesus from the dead, the same God that provided and did all these 783 00:32:48,770 --> 00:32:51,890 miracles in Scripture, is the same God that can give you victory 784 00:32:51,890 --> 00:32:53,930 over the issues that you are having in your life. 785 00:32:54,250 --> 00:32:57,890 The Bible even says in Romans that the same power that rose Jesus 786 00:32:57,890 --> 00:32:59,690 from the dead is the one that's living within you. 787 00:33:00,350 --> 00:33:02,470 And so therefore, if you think, man, this sin that's gripping 788 00:33:02,470 --> 00:33:06,030 me right now that maybe even nobody knows about, maybe it's a 789 00:33:06,110 --> 00:33:07,150 sin of my mind. 790 00:33:09,710 --> 00:33:11,470 I can never get victory over that. 791 00:33:12,030 --> 00:33:14,750 The Bible says that God is still a miracle worker. 792 00:33:15,709 --> 00:33:17,470 God can still transform your life. 793 00:33:17,550 --> 00:33:19,630 You might say, well, you don't know the kind of relationships that 794 00:33:19,630 --> 00:33:19,990 I have. 795 00:33:19,990 --> 00:33:22,190 You don't know the kind of problems that I have in my work. 796 00:33:22,190 --> 00:33:25,860 The Bible says that, no, he giveth more grace, but he gives those 797 00:33:25,860 --> 00:33:30,100 grace, those people grace that are willing to come to him and submit 798 00:33:30,100 --> 00:33:31,980 to him and say, lord, I don't know how you're going to do this, 799 00:33:32,060 --> 00:33:33,260 but I believe that you will. 800 00:33:33,260 --> 00:33:34,140 It takes faith. 801 00:33:34,300 --> 00:33:35,340 It takes humility. 802 00:33:36,460 --> 00:33:37,340 And so he says, There. 803 00:33:37,340 --> 00:33:38,940 Submit yourselves therefore to God. 804 00:33:39,020 --> 00:33:42,140 Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 805 00:33:43,020 --> 00:33:46,900 He doesn't just say, resist the devil on your own strength, because 806 00:33:46,900 --> 00:33:47,940 that's sometimes what we're taught. 807 00:33:47,940 --> 00:33:49,780 Hey, just, just, you know, get strong. 808 00:33:49,780 --> 00:33:51,220 Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. 809 00:33:51,220 --> 00:33:52,940 You can fight this temptation on your own. 810 00:33:53,180 --> 00:33:56,140 No, he starts in verse seven with, submit yourselves therefore 811 00:33:56,140 --> 00:33:56,860 to God. 812 00:33:56,940 --> 00:33:59,020 Lord, I need you to get me through this. 813 00:33:59,340 --> 00:34:01,740 I need you to help me resist the enemy. 814 00:34:01,980 --> 00:34:03,820 So he says, submit to God. 815 00:34:04,060 --> 00:34:05,180 Rely on God. 816 00:34:05,340 --> 00:34:05,700 Be. 817 00:34:05,700 --> 00:34:07,740 Be engulfed by the power of God. 818 00:34:07,980 --> 00:34:11,180 Then resist the devil and his strength, and he will flee from you. 819 00:34:11,180 --> 00:34:13,980 And then it says in verse eight, draw nigh or draw near to 820 00:34:13,980 --> 00:34:14,380 God. 821 00:34:14,460 --> 00:34:15,900 Get closer to him. 822 00:34:16,540 --> 00:34:19,900 Draw nigh to God and what he will draw nigh to you. 823 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:23,160 You want a close relationship with God, Pursue him. 824 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:25,000 He's pursuing you. 825 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:27,480 Ultimately, this passage is not saying this. 826 00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:30,200 Again, similar to God up there doling out grace. 827 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:32,640 It's not like God's up in heaven trying to hide from us, and 828 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:34,880 we got to chase him down and say, God, I want to be close to you. 829 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,200 And he's like, no, no, you got to really pursue me. 830 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:41,640 No, it's not saying that God will draw only close to us when we 831 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:42,200 find Him. 832 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,160 But what it's saying is that God is always there. 833 00:34:45,970 --> 00:34:49,090 And when you draw close to him, you will experience his nearness 834 00:34:49,170 --> 00:34:52,850 and his and his perfect nature and his personal love for you. 835 00:34:54,050 --> 00:34:54,370 So. 836 00:34:54,370 --> 00:34:55,370 So he's not running out there. 837 00:34:55,370 --> 00:34:56,210 He's not hidden. 838 00:34:56,450 --> 00:34:57,890 God's not hiding somewhere. 839 00:34:58,050 --> 00:35:01,330 My kids love to play hide and seek in the dark, and they love that 840 00:35:01,330 --> 00:35:01,969 kind of stuff. 841 00:35:02,370 --> 00:35:04,850 I don't like that as much because I trip on things and it's 842 00:35:04,850 --> 00:35:05,250 not fun. 843 00:35:05,250 --> 00:35:06,730 But the idea would be this. 844 00:35:06,730 --> 00:35:08,370 God's not hiding in the dark somewhere. 845 00:35:08,610 --> 00:35:14,380 God is evidently open and in the light, saying, come to me, draw 846 00:35:14,380 --> 00:35:16,500 near to me, and you're going to experience what it means to have 847 00:35:16,500 --> 00:35:18,060 a close relationship with God. 848 00:35:18,620 --> 00:35:21,540 He goes on to talk more about how we should be broken over our 849 00:35:21,540 --> 00:35:21,900 sins. 850 00:35:22,140 --> 00:35:23,660 Cleanse your hands, ye sinners. 851 00:35:23,740 --> 00:35:25,740 Purify your hearts, ye double minded. 852 00:35:25,900 --> 00:35:27,700 Be afflicted and mourn and weep. 853 00:35:27,700 --> 00:35:30,220 Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. 854 00:35:30,220 --> 00:35:30,740 You say what? 855 00:35:30,740 --> 00:35:33,420 I thought you said you can have joy as a Christian. 856 00:35:33,580 --> 00:35:35,740 He says, here, in this case, these are people that are living 857 00:35:35,740 --> 00:35:36,300 in sin. 858 00:35:37,110 --> 00:35:38,430 Don't have joy in your sin. 859 00:35:38,430 --> 00:35:39,990 Come to a place of brokenness. 860 00:35:40,230 --> 00:35:42,550 Come to a place of saying, I can't do this anymore. 861 00:35:43,430 --> 00:35:46,590 Come to a place where you have to be heavy Hearted, because that's 862 00:35:46,590 --> 00:35:47,430 where God will meet you. 863 00:35:47,430 --> 00:35:50,070 And it says in verse 10, humble yourselves in the sight of 864 00:35:50,070 --> 00:35:52,230 the Lord and He shall lift you up. 865 00:35:52,230 --> 00:35:55,430 It's him who lifts us up, not ourselves. 866 00:35:56,390 --> 00:35:58,990 And so we go to Romans, chapter six, and we're going to be 867 00:35:58,990 --> 00:35:59,270 done. 868 00:36:00,550 --> 00:36:05,040 He ends here with this principle that if you are in Christ, 869 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:07,760 if you have been baptized into Christ, meaning you're. 870 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:08,560 You're in. 871 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,280 You experience the grace of God, you've experienced the power 872 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:14,280 of God ultimately here, then you know what your life is all about. 873 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:17,800 Your life is about dying to the old ways, knowing what it means 874 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:19,680 to walk in the truth of Jesus Christ. 875 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,120 Not a life of perfection, though that's what we should strive 876 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:22,880 for, by the way. 877 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:26,480 We should always strive to be like him the best that we can. 878 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:29,120 But ultimately says that you are dead to that. 879 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:29,280 You. 880 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:30,600 You have been saved from that. 881 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:33,540 You have been pulled out of the fire. 882 00:36:33,700 --> 00:36:35,700 You have been pulled out of darkness. 883 00:36:36,340 --> 00:36:39,140 I don't know if anyone in your life has ever saved you from a situation. 884 00:36:40,340 --> 00:36:42,820 I know there was a time, a few times in my life that I was. 885 00:36:42,820 --> 00:36:45,340 It was out of my control and someone stepped in and helped me 886 00:36:45,340 --> 00:36:46,180 and pulled me out. 887 00:36:47,299 --> 00:36:50,660 And that's amazing to have in our life as a human experience. 888 00:36:51,220 --> 00:36:54,620 But I'm gonna tell you, the most amazing gift is that God is 889 00:36:54,620 --> 00:36:56,700 willing to save us from punishment. 890 00:36:56,700 --> 00:36:59,140 God is willing to save us from a life of brokenness. 891 00:36:59,390 --> 00:37:02,790 And it's not just, hey, you get a ticket to heaven and now you're 892 00:37:02,790 --> 00:37:04,630 going to live your life struggling and not know that he's 893 00:37:04,630 --> 00:37:04,910 there. 894 00:37:04,910 --> 00:37:09,030 No, the Bible says, yes, he gives you eternal life, but also 895 00:37:09,030 --> 00:37:11,270 he's there with you now through the ups and the downs. 896 00:37:11,270 --> 00:37:12,590 He's supposed to be there with us. 897 00:37:12,590 --> 00:37:13,790 He will be there with us. 898 00:37:13,790 --> 00:37:15,310 He's promised that he'll be there with us. 899 00:37:15,389 --> 00:37:18,430 It's just a matter of tapping in and understanding that he is there 900 00:37:18,430 --> 00:37:20,590 and not rejecting his voice in our life. 901 00:37:20,990 --> 00:37:22,990 Not rejecting the conviction of the Spirit. 902 00:37:22,990 --> 00:37:25,710 Folks, the conviction of the Spirit sometimes is something that 903 00:37:25,710 --> 00:37:26,670 we want to fight away. 904 00:37:28,140 --> 00:37:30,860 And if we fight the conviction of the Spirit away long enough, it'll 905 00:37:30,860 --> 00:37:32,100 eventually become the norm. 906 00:37:32,100 --> 00:37:34,420 And we will not be sensitive to the call of the Spirit in our 907 00:37:34,420 --> 00:37:34,700 life. 908 00:37:35,180 --> 00:37:38,340 What I would say to you is be sensitive to the conviction of the 909 00:37:38,340 --> 00:37:38,940 Holy Spirit. 910 00:37:39,820 --> 00:37:41,860 I've had a lot of people come up to me and say, hey, Pastor, am 911 00:37:41,860 --> 00:37:43,820 I supposed to do this or am I supposed to do that? 912 00:37:43,820 --> 00:37:46,700 There's things in scripture that are very clearly, it says, hey, 913 00:37:46,700 --> 00:37:48,060 this is a Sin, don't do it. 914 00:37:48,060 --> 00:37:49,260 I can point you to that. 915 00:37:49,260 --> 00:37:49,820 Okay? 916 00:37:49,900 --> 00:37:51,580 Husbands, be faithful to your wives. 917 00:37:51,980 --> 00:37:53,100 That's the will of God. 918 00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:54,360 You don't have to pray about that. 919 00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:55,360 Just, it is what it is. 920 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:56,560 Pray that it'll give you the strength to do it. 921 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:58,000 But you don't have to sit there and think like, well, should 922 00:37:58,000 --> 00:37:58,720 I be faithful? 923 00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:00,160 The Bible says be faithful. 924 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:00,560 Okay? 925 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,040 That's very, very clear. 926 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,040 But there's other aspects within our life that sometimes are 927 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:06,040 more difficult to understand. 928 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:08,280 Should I have this relationship with this person? 929 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:09,720 Should I respond this way? 930 00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:10,760 Should I take this job? 931 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:12,600 Folks, the idea would be this. 932 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:14,520 What is the Spirit guiding you to do? 933 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:15,280 How? 934 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:18,320 How, if he's convinced, if you say, well, should I be going to this 935 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:18,600 place? 936 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,000 Well, if you're feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit, don't 937 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:21,400 go there. 938 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,720 The conviction of the Spirit is the most important thing because 939 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:25,880 it brings you discernment. 940 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:27,400 Okay? 941 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:29,920 So for me, I'm not going to sit here and tell you all the answers 942 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:31,480 that you can have in every step of your life. 943 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:32,440 I can't know that. 944 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:36,280 But all I can tell you is that the Spirit does know what you need. 945 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,480 The Spirit does know where the will of God is in your life, in every 946 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:39,960 aspect. 947 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:41,120 And so seek that. 948 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:42,840 Seek the Spirit's guidance in your life. 949 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:45,330 Say, well, what does that look like? 950 00:38:45,490 --> 00:38:48,050 I'll give you just a brief example of what that looks like. 951 00:38:48,050 --> 00:38:48,970 Let's say you. 952 00:38:48,970 --> 00:38:53,930 You move into the Middletown area, go to Middletown Baptist Church. 953 00:38:53,930 --> 00:38:56,490 You saw the sign or you looked it up on the website and you came 954 00:38:56,490 --> 00:38:57,170 into the church. 955 00:38:57,570 --> 00:39:04,050 I can't say that every single person in the world's will in their 956 00:39:04,050 --> 00:39:07,170 life from God is to be a member of Middletown Baptist Church. 957 00:39:07,170 --> 00:39:08,770 That would be ridiculous. 958 00:39:09,330 --> 00:39:11,490 So if someone came in here and they walked through our doors and 959 00:39:11,490 --> 00:39:14,620 they said, hey, is it God's will for me, for me to be at Middletown 960 00:39:14,620 --> 00:39:15,100 Baptist Church? 961 00:39:15,100 --> 00:39:15,980 We would ask some questions. 962 00:39:15,980 --> 00:39:17,620 We would say, okay, what are you looking for? 963 00:39:17,860 --> 00:39:18,980 Where's your walk with Christ? 964 00:39:19,060 --> 00:39:20,620 What type of church are you looking for? 965 00:39:20,620 --> 00:39:23,260 But then at the same time, I can't say that it's everyone's will 966 00:39:23,260 --> 00:39:25,620 to be here at Middletown Baptist Church. 967 00:39:26,180 --> 00:39:28,660 It doesn't mean that you go somewhere else and it's a sin. 968 00:39:28,820 --> 00:39:32,020 But what it means is that if you do reject that God's calling 969 00:39:32,020 --> 00:39:34,460 you to Middletown Baptist Church, then I would say, hey, here 970 00:39:34,460 --> 00:39:34,900 it is. 971 00:39:34,980 --> 00:39:35,980 You are in sin. 972 00:39:35,980 --> 00:39:38,140 If the Holy Spirit's leading you somewhere and you reject that 973 00:39:38,140 --> 00:39:38,420 will. 974 00:39:39,290 --> 00:39:39,490 So. 975 00:39:39,490 --> 00:39:41,970 So do you understand the point that I'm trying to Say, so if God 976 00:39:41,970 --> 00:39:44,810 is firmly moving someone, if they're praying and they're saying, 977 00:39:44,810 --> 00:39:47,130 okay, Lord, should I go to Middletown Baptist Church? 978 00:39:47,130 --> 00:39:49,210 And God keeps making it evident for them, evident for them, 979 00:39:49,210 --> 00:39:49,810 evident for them. 980 00:39:49,810 --> 00:39:51,130 And then eventually they say, you know what? 981 00:39:51,130 --> 00:39:52,130 I don't want to go there, actually. 982 00:39:52,130 --> 00:39:53,210 I don't want to go to church in general. 983 00:39:53,930 --> 00:39:56,250 That's a point where someone's rejected the Holy Spirit in their 984 00:39:56,250 --> 00:39:56,370 life. 985 00:39:56,370 --> 00:39:57,130 And they're not being. 986 00:39:57,130 --> 00:39:59,170 Walking, they're not walking in the Spirit, they're not walking 987 00:39:59,170 --> 00:39:59,730 in guidance. 988 00:39:59,730 --> 00:40:00,970 And that could be for anything. 989 00:40:01,450 --> 00:40:01,730 So. 990 00:40:01,730 --> 00:40:04,090 So the point that I'm trying to make is this, this morning, there 991 00:40:04,090 --> 00:40:06,490 are some things laid out in scripture that are very clearly sin. 992 00:40:06,490 --> 00:40:07,050 Not sin. 993 00:40:07,190 --> 00:40:09,550 There's other things in scripture that are very clearly not 994 00:40:09,550 --> 00:40:10,590 laid out in scripture. 995 00:40:10,590 --> 00:40:12,950 And that you have to just basically say, lord, where do you 996 00:40:12,950 --> 00:40:13,470 want me to go? 997 00:40:13,470 --> 00:40:13,750 Here. 998 00:40:13,830 --> 00:40:14,830 But then he will speak. 999 00:40:14,830 --> 00:40:17,270 If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, he will guide you through 1000 00:40:17,270 --> 00:40:18,230 various circumstances. 1001 00:40:18,230 --> 00:40:20,270 He'll guide you through comfort, he'll guide you through 1002 00:40:20,270 --> 00:40:20,870 discomfort. 1003 00:40:20,870 --> 00:40:22,030 He'll guide you through open doors. 1004 00:40:22,030 --> 00:40:23,270 He'll guide you through closed doors. 1005 00:40:23,270 --> 00:40:26,430 And folks, that's how we as Christians can make decisions that 1006 00:40:26,430 --> 00:40:28,150 are in the will of God for our lives. 1007 00:40:28,310 --> 00:40:30,510 Because there's going to be some things that are, that are in 1008 00:40:30,510 --> 00:40:32,310 and of themselves on the outside, aren't sin. 1009 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:34,720 Like, should I take a job here or here? 1010 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,840 Okay, well, this job over here could be a fine job. 1011 00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:39,200 This job over here could be a fine job. 1012 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:42,080 Nothing is going to make me against the word of God on either 1013 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:42,840 one of these jobs. 1014 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:45,160 But God still might have a will for us to pick a place because 1015 00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:46,560 he might lead us to a place there. 1016 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:49,840 But then if God clearly opens a door somewhere and I say, well, 1017 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:50,280 know what? 1018 00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:52,000 Now I want to do my own thing, because this is more. 1019 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:53,000 This is better over here. 1020 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:54,400 This is more reasonable over here. 1021 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,120 Then now I have broken his will. 1022 00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:59,520 Not listen to the conviction of the Spirit or the guidance of 1023 00:40:59,520 --> 00:40:59,960 the Spirit. 1024 00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:03,490 And now I'm in a place where I'm in open rebellion to him now. 1025 00:41:03,490 --> 00:41:04,810 Doesn't mean that I can't get that right. 1026 00:41:04,970 --> 00:41:06,090 What I'm saying is this. 1027 00:41:06,170 --> 00:41:08,610 Be sensitive to God's path for your life. 1028 00:41:08,610 --> 00:41:09,930 Walk in newness of life. 1029 00:41:10,570 --> 00:41:13,490 And as we see there at the very end In Romans, chapter 6, verse 1030 00:41:13,490 --> 00:41:14,970 10, we're going to pick it up next week. 1031 00:41:15,050 --> 00:41:19,450 It says, for in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that 1032 00:41:19,450 --> 00:41:21,130 he liveth, he liveth unto God. 1033 00:41:21,130 --> 00:41:24,890 So when we live in Christ, we're Living a life in obedience 1034 00:41:24,890 --> 00:41:25,450 to God. 1035 00:41:25,450 --> 00:41:27,490 We're living a life obedience to His Word. 1036 00:41:27,490 --> 00:41:30,130 We're living a life in obedience to his, to his plan for 1037 00:41:30,130 --> 00:41:30,570 our life. 1038 00:41:30,810 --> 00:41:33,930 Next, next week we'll look more at the practical application 1039 00:41:34,410 --> 00:41:37,290 of this principle because we have to put it to practice. 1040 00:41:37,370 --> 00:41:39,570 Because, because sometimes if we take things and we just make them 1041 00:41:39,570 --> 00:41:43,810 theoretical, we can, we can stay there in our minds, but eventually 1042 00:41:43,810 --> 00:41:46,810 what we believe in our minds and our heart have to be put to our 1043 00:41:46,810 --> 00:41:47,690 hands and our feet. 1044 00:41:47,850 --> 00:41:50,130 And next week we're going to look at more about how we can trust 1045 00:41:50,130 --> 00:41:53,410 in God and guidance and walk in that newness of life when it comes 1046 00:41:53,410 --> 00:41:55,370 to practical things of avoiding sin. 1047 00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,320 Because we've talked a lot about sin here today, but some, someone 1048 00:41:58,320 --> 00:41:59,760 in this room might say, well, you know what? 1049 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:03,240 I recognize that the sin is not something that I want to do, 1050 00:42:03,240 --> 00:42:04,880 but I don't know how to have victory over it. 1051 00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:08,040 We'll come back next week, we'll talk more about how we can 1052 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:11,160 apply these truths to our life so that we can walk a life of obedience 1053 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:12,000 in Jesus Christ. 1054 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:16,960 But here this morning, there is really just one thought that I'd 1055 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:19,800 like to bring to you this morning is how do we. 1056 00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:21,200 It's the same thought we had last week. 1057 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:22,760 How do I view grace? 1058 00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:25,160 What does grace mean for me? 1059 00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:26,840 I'm a Christian here this morning. 1060 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:28,680 What does grace mean for me in my daily walk? 1061 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:31,560 What does God's grace mean for me when I mess up? 1062 00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:34,240 What does God's grace mean for me when I'm making decisions in my 1063 00:42:34,240 --> 00:42:34,520 life? 1064 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:35,840 That's the beauty of God's grace. 1065 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:38,120 Let's say something that is amazing thing, folks. 1066 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:40,200 There's nothing else in life that matters. 1067 00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:45,240 I don't care if we take hours to talk. 1068 00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:46,760 It's what it's about. 1069 00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,520 So if you need Jesus Christ as your Savior here today or you're 1070 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:51,360 wrestling with that, don't hesitate. 1071 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:51,800 It's not. 1072 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:54,760 The invitation is not limited to a 10 minute time that we have 1073 00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:55,520 here in the service. 1074 00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:58,320 Worship doesn't stop on Sunday mornings. 1075 00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:00,120 The church doesn't stop on Sunday mornings. 1076 00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:04,080 Folks, this is our lives we're talking about. 1077 00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:06,080 Our eternal destination at stake here. 1078 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:09,960 So if you want to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, follow 1079 00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:10,480 him today. 1080 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:13,480 Find someone, find me, find Pastor John, find Pastor Carlos. 1081 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:15,830 Find someone that you trust here in the church and go to them 1082 00:43:15,830 --> 00:43:18,550 and see what it means to know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. 1083 00:43:18,550 --> 00:43:21,350 I'm going to ask everyone to stand, every head bowed, every eye 1084 00:43:21,350 --> 00:43:21,870 closed. 1085 00:43:22,510 --> 00:43:24,790 I don't want anyone to look around because I don't want anyone 1086 00:43:24,790 --> 00:43:27,310 to be influenced by decisions that are being made by other people 1087 00:43:27,310 --> 00:43:27,870 here today. 1088 00:43:28,830 --> 00:43:31,550 But what I do want to challenge everybody with is just 1089 00:43:31,550 --> 00:43:35,710 really that question is how do I view God's grace? 1090 00:43:36,830 --> 00:43:39,310 How am I responding to God's grace? 1091 00:43:41,080 --> 00:43:44,520 Is God's grace something for me to use as a tool for just living 1092 00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:45,960 in sin and in rebellion? 1093 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:48,040 I'm missing the point on God's grace. 1094 00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:50,840 God's grace should bring me to repentance. 1095 00:43:51,240 --> 00:43:54,680 God's grace should bring me to a place of realization that I, I, 1096 00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:58,360 I offend him daily and that I need his grace and I should not walk 1097 00:43:58,360 --> 00:43:59,400 in rebellion to him. 1098 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:01,160 I should walk in newness of life. 1099 00:44:01,720 --> 00:44:04,520 Maybe for some of us as Christians here today, we need to 1100 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:08,680 be renewed in our call and our challenge to walk in newness of life, 1101 00:44:09,940 --> 00:44:12,020 to walk distinctly different from the world. 1102 00:44:13,300 --> 00:44:15,860 Maybe there's someone here that needs Jesus Christ as Savior. 1103 00:44:17,380 --> 00:44:22,340 I can't emphasize it enough how much it matters to make decisions 1104 00:44:22,420 --> 00:44:23,860 that will impact eternity. 1105 00:44:24,420 --> 00:44:26,100 Folks, tomorrow's not guaranteed. 1106 00:44:27,380 --> 00:44:28,980 I wish it was, but it's not. 1107 00:44:29,300 --> 00:44:34,620 The only guarantee is that one day the Bible says it's appointed 1108 00:44:34,620 --> 00:44:38,930 unto man are humans once to die and after that the judgment. 1109 00:44:39,730 --> 00:44:42,450 The only guarantee is that we will be judged for what we do in 1110 00:44:42,450 --> 00:44:42,730 our life. 1111 00:44:42,730 --> 00:44:45,090 And I'm going to tell you here this morning, none of us want to 1112 00:44:45,090 --> 00:44:46,210 be judged by what we do. 1113 00:44:46,930 --> 00:44:50,130 The only thing that we want to be judged by is the perfection and 1114 00:44:50,130 --> 00:44:54,530 the grace and the extension of the gospel from Jesus Christ. 1115 00:44:55,250 --> 00:44:57,690 And so here this morning, trust in his grace and his grace 1116 00:44:57,690 --> 00:44:58,090 alone. 1117 00:44:58,090 --> 00:45:00,290 Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation working hearts 1118 00:45:00,290 --> 00:45:01,210 and lives in Jesus name. 1119 00:45:01,210 --> 00:45:01,650 Amen. 1120 00:45:01,870 --> 00:45:03,310 As the music plays follows the Lord lead. 1121 00:45:03,310 --> 00:45:06,470 Some have already come here up front to respond to the grace of 1122 00:45:06,470 --> 00:45:06,830 God. 1123 00:45:07,070 --> 00:46:21,420 If you need to do that here this morning, come forth it thank 1124 00:46:21,420 --> 00:46:24,300 you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast. 1125 00:46:24,540 --> 00:46:26,940 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1126 00:46:27,580 --> 00:46:29,860 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1127 00:46:29,860 --> 00:46:33,340 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1128 00:46:33,580 --> 00:46:36,140 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1129 00:46:36,940 --> 00:46:41,380 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 1130 00:46:41,380 --> 00:46:45,810 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1131 00:46:45,810 --> 00:46:48,650 along for future podcast and updates. 1132 00:46:49,290 --> 00:46:50,250 Thank you so much. 1133 00:46:50,490 --> 00:46:51,210 God Bless. 1134 00:46:51,450 --> 00:46:52,730 Have a wonderful day.