1 00:00:00,049 --> 00:00:03,585 Speaker: All right, we are, um, kind of covering some of the same. 2 00:00:04,234 --> 00:00:06,604 Verses that we talked about last week we're in Romans six. 3 00:00:06,604 --> 00:00:08,344 So turn there in your Bibles, Romans six. 4 00:00:08,674 --> 00:00:14,014 We're gonna be zooming in on four verses 11 to 14. 5 00:00:14,554 --> 00:00:20,944 Um, if you don't remember, last week we talked about how Christians are connected 6 00:00:20,944 --> 00:00:22,654 to Jesus and that changes everything. 7 00:00:22,954 --> 00:00:27,634 So when someone becomes a Christian, they get connected to Jesus, or, um, the fancy 8 00:00:27,634 --> 00:00:29,494 word for that was they get baptized. 9 00:00:29,900 --> 00:00:32,960 With Christ, they get united to Jesus. 10 00:00:33,050 --> 00:00:35,330 And we saw that right in Romans six. 11 00:00:35,330 --> 00:00:36,889 We saw that in verses five through seven. 12 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,570 Uh, Paul, the author of Romans, Paul, a real bible name is saying, if we've been 13 00:00:41,570 --> 00:00:44,630 united with Jesus in his death, right? 14 00:00:44,630 --> 00:00:48,050 That means that, that we've died to sin. 15 00:00:48,139 --> 00:00:48,350 Right? 16 00:00:48,350 --> 00:00:52,225 If you're a Christian, you the old self, the the sinful you is dead. 17 00:00:52,894 --> 00:00:54,124 Crucified, right? 18 00:00:54,154 --> 00:00:54,874 Jesus died. 19 00:00:55,025 --> 00:00:56,135 You're connected to Jesus. 20 00:00:56,254 --> 00:00:58,114 You died with Jesus. 21 00:00:58,144 --> 00:01:01,924 If you are a Christian, right, and that means you're free from sin. 22 00:01:02,044 --> 00:01:05,614 We talked about remember how, um, sin is, we talked about how 23 00:01:05,614 --> 00:01:07,234 our life is like a castle, right? 24 00:01:07,384 --> 00:01:08,554 And there's someone on the throne. 25 00:01:08,584 --> 00:01:11,299 Either God is on the throne or sin is on the throne. 26 00:01:11,674 --> 00:01:14,554 And so for a Christian, sin is no longer on the throne. 27 00:01:14,554 --> 00:01:16,655 Everyone starts out with sin on the throne. 28 00:01:17,070 --> 00:01:18,780 We talked about how sin is raining. 29 00:01:18,780 --> 00:01:19,919 Remember that from Romans five. 30 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:25,020 And so sin is in control of your life until you get united to Jesus. 31 00:01:25,020 --> 00:01:28,590 Jesus comes in and he takes control of the throne. 32 00:01:29,060 --> 00:01:32,059 Of your life, and that's why they don't keep on sitting. 33 00:01:32,059 --> 00:01:33,259 That's why Christians don't keep on sitting. 34 00:01:33,259 --> 00:01:37,100 That's how this chapter started with, well, if we're saved by grace, 35 00:01:37,100 --> 00:01:39,709 if God's gonna forgive everything, why don't we just keep sitting? 36 00:01:39,709 --> 00:01:40,489 Why is it a big deal? 37 00:01:40,489 --> 00:01:42,380 If God already loves me, God already forgives me. 38 00:01:42,530 --> 00:01:43,489 Why don't I keep sinning? 39 00:01:43,729 --> 00:01:45,829 Well, it's because we're dead to sin. 40 00:01:45,829 --> 00:01:49,160 See that in verse two, we and sin don't get along anymore. 41 00:01:49,190 --> 00:01:49,970 We used to love sin. 42 00:01:49,970 --> 00:01:50,299 We used to. 43 00:01:50,299 --> 00:01:51,380 Sin used to be our boss. 44 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,509 Sin used to be our master, but now we're free. 45 00:01:53,539 --> 00:01:54,739 We don't wanna do that anymore. 46 00:01:54,739 --> 00:01:58,280 If you are connected to Jesus. 47 00:01:59,225 --> 00:02:03,965 But sin is still trying to take back the castle of Christians. 48 00:02:04,114 --> 00:02:09,035 Sin is trying to come back and, um, take, take over once again. 49 00:02:09,304 --> 00:02:13,804 And that's what we saw at the end of this, this chapter or this passage right here, 50 00:02:14,045 --> 00:02:16,144 is that sin is trying to have dominion. 51 00:02:16,144 --> 00:02:17,465 Sin is trying to dominate. 52 00:02:17,644 --> 00:02:18,095 Christians. 53 00:02:18,095 --> 00:02:22,025 Sin is already dominating unbelievers, sin is in control of them, right? 54 00:02:22,084 --> 00:02:25,744 If you're not a Christian here, you're only doing what your 55 00:02:25,744 --> 00:02:27,334 sinful desires want to do. 56 00:02:27,605 --> 00:02:30,724 You're almost like, you know, see, remember, uh, you ever see 57 00:02:30,724 --> 00:02:33,784 someone who's walking a dog that's way too big for them, right? 58 00:02:33,844 --> 00:02:36,154 And their dog is really walking them, right? 59 00:02:36,394 --> 00:02:37,114 That's you. 60 00:02:37,114 --> 00:02:40,325 If you're not a Christian, your sinful desires are like that giant dog. 61 00:02:40,534 --> 00:02:44,404 And the dog is just dragging you around wherever it wants to go. 62 00:02:44,734 --> 00:02:46,624 Your sinful desires are in control of you. 63 00:02:46,894 --> 00:02:48,575 They're dominating you, they're your master. 64 00:02:49,234 --> 00:02:50,494 And, um. 65 00:02:51,260 --> 00:02:54,140 You're a Christian, you're that, that's not true anymore. 66 00:02:54,260 --> 00:02:57,320 Sin iss not your master, but sin is still trying to take 67 00:02:57,650 --> 00:03:00,470 back what used to belong to it. 68 00:03:01,220 --> 00:03:06,500 And so Christians are battling sin for the rest of their life because 69 00:03:06,590 --> 00:03:09,680 we're stuck in this sinful world and we're stuck in our sinful flesh. 70 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:09,920 Right? 71 00:03:10,100 --> 00:03:12,350 Our, our body is still. 72 00:03:12,755 --> 00:03:13,654 Um, broken. 73 00:03:13,684 --> 00:03:16,415 Our body's still messed up, so we still have these sinful desires. 74 00:03:16,415 --> 00:03:20,975 It's kind of like, um, everyone folds your hands like, like you're praying, right? 75 00:03:20,975 --> 00:03:21,515 Folds your hands. 76 00:03:22,475 --> 00:03:24,994 Now fold 'em the other way where your other thumb's on top. 77 00:03:26,915 --> 00:03:27,695 Does that feel weird? 78 00:03:29,554 --> 00:03:29,975 Yeah, right. 79 00:03:30,004 --> 00:03:30,994 Try to put 'em together. 80 00:03:31,024 --> 00:03:32,674 Just that, that same way you have 'em right now. 81 00:03:33,814 --> 00:03:36,364 Naturally you want to put 'em the, the way you always do it, right. 82 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:37,310 Right. 83 00:03:37,310 --> 00:03:38,840 I'm always, I'm a right hand on top guy. 84 00:03:38,929 --> 00:03:42,260 I, I'm always, if I, if I'm folding my hands, I, I'm doing it one way, right? 85 00:03:42,530 --> 00:03:48,380 For you to do it, for me to do it like this feels weird, right? 86 00:03:48,619 --> 00:03:51,350 Because my body has just, has, has these habits. 87 00:03:51,350 --> 00:03:54,619 It's just the way my, my body is, my body wants me to do that, right? 88 00:03:55,130 --> 00:03:58,400 If you're a Christian, that's kind of like what, it's, what you're, 89 00:03:58,429 --> 00:03:59,480 what you're struggling against. 90 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,549 You're struggling against your, your sinful flesh. 91 00:04:01,549 --> 00:04:04,970 You naturally, you're still gonna want to, to do it the old way. 92 00:04:06,170 --> 00:04:09,260 You're, if you're a Christian, you're naturally gonna wanna do it the old way. 93 00:04:09,260 --> 00:04:13,790 Still, you're still gonna naturally wanna be prideful or selfish or anxious. 94 00:04:13,790 --> 00:04:14,179 Right? 95 00:04:14,660 --> 00:04:16,820 But you're free now to do it. 96 00:04:16,820 --> 00:04:19,730 The new way to put your other hand on top, right? 97 00:04:19,820 --> 00:04:21,980 You're, you're free to do it the other way. 98 00:04:21,980 --> 00:04:23,870 It's like if you weren't a Christian, you're stuck. 99 00:04:23,930 --> 00:04:28,580 You, you can never, I could never put my left hand on top, but when 100 00:04:28,580 --> 00:04:30,050 I became a Christian, now I can. 101 00:04:30,050 --> 00:04:31,760 Now I can do that, but I have to think about it. 102 00:04:32,060 --> 00:04:32,659 I have to try. 103 00:04:33,230 --> 00:04:36,230 It doesn't just happen automatically if I just didn't do anything and I put my hands 104 00:04:36,230 --> 00:04:40,550 together right hand on top, but if I think about it left hand on top, I can do it. 105 00:04:40,730 --> 00:04:41,210 I'm free. 106 00:04:41,330 --> 00:04:41,630 Right? 107 00:04:41,870 --> 00:04:43,070 That's what we're talking about here. 108 00:04:43,130 --> 00:04:45,980 If you're a Christian, it's not that it's gonna be easy, but now 109 00:04:45,980 --> 00:04:48,560 you have the ability to defeat sin. 110 00:04:49,130 --> 00:04:50,900 Sin doesn't have to dominate you anymore. 111 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:54,650 You can win, and that's what we're gonna talk about is how to do that. 112 00:04:55,295 --> 00:04:57,635 Christians are always fighting a war against sin. 113 00:04:57,635 --> 00:05:02,135 And in today's sermon, we're gonna look at almost three battlefields for that war. 114 00:05:02,195 --> 00:05:02,495 Okay? 115 00:05:02,615 --> 00:05:04,594 So Christians are always fighting a war against sin. 116 00:05:04,594 --> 00:05:08,615 I want you to see there's three battlefields for that war, okay? 117 00:05:08,615 --> 00:05:11,615 And the first battlefield, we're gonna call it the battle of belief. 118 00:05:11,765 --> 00:05:12,094 Okay? 119 00:05:12,185 --> 00:05:12,905 Battle of belief. 120 00:05:12,905 --> 00:05:15,755 So first point tonight, fight to believe truth. 121 00:05:16,835 --> 00:05:19,325 Fight to believe truth. 122 00:05:20,435 --> 00:05:21,844 All of your points are gonna start with fight. 123 00:05:21,875 --> 00:05:22,955 'cause that's what I want you to feel. 124 00:05:22,955 --> 00:05:24,320 I want you to feel that there's a war going on. 125 00:05:25,355 --> 00:05:28,295 There's a fight happening, um, and you're either winning or losing. 126 00:05:29,375 --> 00:05:32,555 Um, you're in this, if you're a Christian, you are in this fight 127 00:05:33,635 --> 00:05:34,985 whether you wanted to be or not. 128 00:05:35,255 --> 00:05:36,605 If you're a Christian, you are fighting. 129 00:05:36,905 --> 00:05:39,545 If there's no fighting going on, it should scare you. 130 00:05:39,635 --> 00:05:41,795 It should worry you because it probably means you're not a Christian. 131 00:05:42,275 --> 00:05:45,395 If you don't see any fight in your life, that means sin is 132 00:05:45,395 --> 00:05:46,805 just dragging you around, right? 133 00:05:46,865 --> 00:05:49,085 That that big dog is just walking you around. 134 00:05:49,565 --> 00:05:50,255 There's no fight. 135 00:05:51,425 --> 00:05:53,945 But if you're fighting that dog, if you're pulling on the leash. 136 00:05:55,115 --> 00:05:55,835 That's a good sign. 137 00:05:56,045 --> 00:05:57,005 There is a fight happening. 138 00:05:58,505 --> 00:06:03,605 So the first battle is the battle to believe what God says, and that's where 139 00:06:03,605 --> 00:06:06,034 we see this in Romans six, chapter 11. 140 00:06:06,065 --> 00:06:09,275 So we're gonna start at verse 11 here, and this is the first command 141 00:06:09,275 --> 00:06:10,895 in the whole book of Romans. 142 00:06:10,925 --> 00:06:15,215 The first time that Paul, the author of Romans, has said, do this The 143 00:06:15,215 --> 00:06:19,235 first time in the whole book, he says, you Christians must consider 144 00:06:19,235 --> 00:06:21,215 yourself dead to sin and alive to God. 145 00:06:21,844 --> 00:06:23,010 Believe all the things we just said. 146 00:06:23,810 --> 00:06:25,490 If you're a Christian, you're, you're united to Jesus. 147 00:06:25,490 --> 00:06:27,860 You're connected to Jesus, and so because of that, you're dead to sin. 148 00:06:27,980 --> 00:06:28,670 You're alive to God. 149 00:06:28,700 --> 00:06:29,390 You're a new person. 150 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:31,340 Old you is dead. 151 00:06:31,460 --> 00:06:32,990 New you is alive. 152 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:34,550 You get to believe it. 153 00:06:34,670 --> 00:06:35,390 That's really all he's saying. 154 00:06:35,540 --> 00:06:35,900 Believe it. 155 00:06:35,900 --> 00:06:36,560 Consider yourself. 156 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:37,820 Think about yourself that way. 157 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:39,409 Don't think about yourself the old way. 158 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:44,990 Think about yourself the way you really are after what God has done to you. 159 00:06:44,990 --> 00:06:45,890 And that's because right? 160 00:06:45,890 --> 00:06:47,690 It's easy to, to forget that. 161 00:06:48,365 --> 00:06:51,935 He says it because it's easy to feel like you're still stuck in sin or think any 162 00:06:51,935 --> 00:06:56,075 Christian would feel that, they would say, man, sometimes I feel like I, I 163 00:06:56,075 --> 00:07:00,425 just keep sinning and I don't want to, but it feels like that's all I can do. 164 00:07:00,425 --> 00:07:00,995 Sometimes 165 00:07:03,605 --> 00:07:06,995 sin wants to make you believe that you are a slave still. 166 00:07:07,085 --> 00:07:10,980 Even if you are a Christian, sin wants to make you think, well, you, 167 00:07:10,985 --> 00:07:12,965 you just, you just can't help it. 168 00:07:13,265 --> 00:07:14,285 You're just an anxious person. 169 00:07:14,344 --> 00:07:14,715 That's who you are. 170 00:07:15,485 --> 00:07:19,145 You're just an angry person, or, you know, that's just the way your, your body works. 171 00:07:19,235 --> 00:07:22,175 You're always gonna feel those impure desires. 172 00:07:22,325 --> 00:07:22,925 That's just who you are. 173 00:07:22,925 --> 00:07:23,585 You can't get rid of it. 174 00:07:24,725 --> 00:07:28,445 That's just the way, it's, I can't resist that temptation. 175 00:07:28,445 --> 00:07:29,105 It's too strong. 176 00:07:29,585 --> 00:07:30,845 I just, I, I just have to do it. 177 00:07:30,875 --> 00:07:36,005 I have to get upset at the person I, I, I can't make myself enjoy the Bible. 178 00:07:36,155 --> 00:07:36,935 It's so boring. 179 00:07:36,935 --> 00:07:37,565 It's so hard to read. 180 00:07:37,565 --> 00:07:38,195 I can't do it. 181 00:07:38,675 --> 00:07:43,025 Sin wants to make you feel like you are unable to live for God. 182 00:07:46,730 --> 00:07:49,640 It's one thing to know that, and it's another thing to believe it. 183 00:07:49,670 --> 00:07:52,790 That's why it's the battle of belief, not the battle of knowledge. 184 00:07:53,659 --> 00:07:56,330 You need to believe truth, not just know truth. 185 00:07:57,109 --> 00:08:00,800 It's a lot of, a lot of people in hell who know all the right things. 186 00:08:01,310 --> 00:08:05,090 It's a lot of people in hell who know really good theology, who know the right 187 00:08:05,090 --> 00:08:10,129 thing about God, who've memorized Bible verses, but they don't believe them. 188 00:08:10,310 --> 00:08:10,910 They just. 189 00:08:11,495 --> 00:08:11,974 Know them. 190 00:08:13,594 --> 00:08:19,984 It's almost like truth is bullets and belief is a gun. 191 00:08:21,335 --> 00:08:22,175 The bullets don't help you. 192 00:08:22,205 --> 00:08:23,344 You can throw bullets at people. 193 00:08:23,375 --> 00:08:24,575 They don't do anything, right? 194 00:08:24,635 --> 00:08:25,775 You can know a lot of Bible. 195 00:08:25,775 --> 00:08:26,765 You can know a lot about God. 196 00:08:26,765 --> 00:08:30,245 You can know a lot of things you should do, but until you believe 197 00:08:30,245 --> 00:08:33,125 them, until you load those truths into your belief, gun and shoot them 198 00:08:35,164 --> 00:08:35,914 is useless. 199 00:08:37,354 --> 00:08:40,505 You have to, if you're a Christian, you can know all these right things. 200 00:08:41,510 --> 00:08:44,120 Sign off on the, the church doctrinal statement, if you will. 201 00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:49,520 But if unless you, you put those truths or those promises from God into your 202 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,920 faith, belief, gun, and start shooting, 203 00:08:54,290 --> 00:08:56,000 you're, you're, you're not fighting. 204 00:08:56,839 --> 00:08:58,280 You're just sitting there holding bullets. 205 00:09:00,020 --> 00:09:02,689 And so maybe if you're a Christian and you grew up, you had good parents 206 00:09:02,689 --> 00:09:04,430 who taught you the Bible and you. 207 00:09:04,954 --> 00:09:05,915 Or maybe you're not a Christian. 208 00:09:05,974 --> 00:09:08,614 You had good parents who taught to you the Bible and you know all these right 209 00:09:08,614 --> 00:09:11,555 things about God, and you know how to answer the questions in small groups and, 210 00:09:11,795 --> 00:09:15,785 and all that, but you're just sitting there with a bunch of bullets and no gun. 211 00:09:15,904 --> 00:09:19,204 It's, it's because you're not a Christian and you don't trust God. 212 00:09:19,234 --> 00:09:22,535 You don't believe, you just know, or maybe you are a Christian and you, 213 00:09:22,535 --> 00:09:25,744 and you know the right things, but you don't do anything about them. 214 00:09:26,344 --> 00:09:28,594 If you are a Christian, you're like, I know I shouldn't sin this 215 00:09:28,594 --> 00:09:29,764 way, but I just keep doing it. 216 00:09:30,425 --> 00:09:32,104 I know I shouldn't be anxious, but I keep doing it. 217 00:09:32,314 --> 00:09:33,154 I know I shouldn't. 218 00:09:33,469 --> 00:09:35,540 I have those impure thoughts, but I keep doing them. 219 00:09:35,540 --> 00:09:37,910 I know I shouldn't be selfish, but I just happen to, I just 220 00:09:37,910 --> 00:09:39,050 get so upset at my siblings. 221 00:09:39,709 --> 00:09:40,310 It just happens. 222 00:09:40,939 --> 00:09:42,230 You're just sitting there with a bunch of bullets. 223 00:09:42,860 --> 00:09:44,209 You gotta load 'em in your gun and shoot 'em. 224 00:09:45,980 --> 00:09:47,810 Bullets don't save lives, right? 225 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,230 Bullets don't hit people on their own. 226 00:09:51,439 --> 00:09:51,680 Right? 227 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,189 The things you know about God aren't gonna do anything for you unless you put 228 00:09:55,189 --> 00:09:57,620 'em into action and believe them, right? 229 00:09:57,620 --> 00:09:59,089 You gotta pick 'em up and fire 'em. 230 00:10:01,055 --> 00:10:03,725 The thing though is that just believing something really hard 231 00:10:03,755 --> 00:10:05,135 doesn't change anything either, right? 232 00:10:05,165 --> 00:10:06,305 That's a gun with no bullets. 233 00:10:07,565 --> 00:10:09,035 Some people say, well, you just need faith. 234 00:10:09,785 --> 00:10:10,415 Faith in what? 235 00:10:10,535 --> 00:10:10,865 Right? 236 00:10:10,925 --> 00:10:13,955 Your, your gun doesn't work unless you've got bullets in it, right? 237 00:10:14,165 --> 00:10:16,955 Don't put your faith in your faith Sometimes I think 238 00:10:17,045 --> 00:10:18,065 we're tempted to do that too. 239 00:10:18,665 --> 00:10:22,025 Oh, if I just believe really hard, it'll, it'll work well. 240 00:10:22,025 --> 00:10:23,435 You're putting your faith in your faith. 241 00:10:23,435 --> 00:10:27,305 You're not putting your faith in God, or maybe you're worried. 242 00:10:27,305 --> 00:10:28,295 I don't know if I have enough faith. 243 00:10:30,215 --> 00:10:31,505 Well, what's the problem? 244 00:10:31,505 --> 00:10:35,135 Your faith or God, if you have a little faith that connects 245 00:10:35,135 --> 00:10:36,275 you to a big God, guess what? 246 00:10:36,935 --> 00:10:40,355 That's a better spot to be in than someone who has a lot of faith in a fake God. 247 00:10:42,935 --> 00:10:46,895 A lot of people with a lot of faith in the wrong things, right? 248 00:10:47,105 --> 00:10:52,355 And those people don't trust Jesus because they've got a gun and no bullets, right? 249 00:10:55,084 --> 00:10:57,694 So this battle of believing truth, right? 250 00:10:57,694 --> 00:10:59,435 Not just knowing truth, but believing truth 251 00:11:01,834 --> 00:11:07,444 is so crucial because faith is also just how you see the world. 252 00:11:07,654 --> 00:11:08,884 And that's why it's so important. 253 00:11:08,884 --> 00:11:13,594 That's why Paul starts here, is you're, how you see yourself, right? 254 00:11:13,594 --> 00:11:17,074 How you see God, how you see the things that that he's made, how you see sin 255 00:11:17,824 --> 00:11:20,104 that's gonna change everything about you. 256 00:11:20,675 --> 00:11:25,475 Faith is a way of seeing reality for what it really is, right? 257 00:11:25,475 --> 00:11:28,535 If you see yourself as stuck in sin, if you're a real Christian 258 00:11:28,655 --> 00:11:31,025 and you see yourself as stuck, oh, I'm just, that's just who I am. 259 00:11:31,595 --> 00:11:33,335 That's just the way, that's just my personality. 260 00:11:33,905 --> 00:11:36,605 I, I'm not, I, I don't, I'm never gonna be able to share the gospel with people 261 00:11:36,605 --> 00:11:38,330 because I'm not an outgoing person, right? 262 00:11:39,725 --> 00:11:43,235 You're in, you're looking at yourself as a slave to sin. 263 00:11:44,195 --> 00:11:47,825 You're looking at yourself as a slave to fear, and so your 264 00:11:47,825 --> 00:11:49,835 faith, right, is informing. 265 00:11:50,255 --> 00:11:52,805 Your how you, how you live. 266 00:11:53,645 --> 00:11:55,625 'cause of the way you're looking at yourself, the way you're 267 00:11:55,625 --> 00:11:57,875 looking at God is changing. 268 00:11:59,615 --> 00:12:02,135 Sin is kind of like, you know, those mirrors that mess 269 00:12:02,135 --> 00:12:04,085 up how, how you look, right? 270 00:12:04,085 --> 00:12:04,595 You ever seen those? 271 00:12:04,595 --> 00:12:05,944 They're like carnival mirrors is what they call 'em. 272 00:12:06,064 --> 00:12:06,155 Mm-hmm. 273 00:12:06,454 --> 00:12:08,345 Those mirrors that, that make you look really weird, right? 274 00:12:08,345 --> 00:12:09,365 This is what sin does. 275 00:12:11,225 --> 00:12:15,785 Sin takes the way things really are and changes it, so it looks different. 276 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:20,239 It tells you things that aren't true. 277 00:12:20,569 --> 00:12:23,780 There's a, there's a great book about, um, anxiety. 278 00:12:23,780 --> 00:12:27,920 It's called when people are Big and God is small, and that's the point here. 279 00:12:29,150 --> 00:12:33,619 Sin makes people really big and scary, and it makes God really small and unimportant. 280 00:12:34,369 --> 00:12:35,749 So you're scared of what people think. 281 00:12:36,319 --> 00:12:37,670 Well, what's your sin is doing? 282 00:12:37,670 --> 00:12:42,619 You're, you're anxious Desires are doing right, is they're making the people really 283 00:12:42,619 --> 00:12:45,020 big and they're making God really small. 284 00:12:45,079 --> 00:12:48,560 You're way more scared of the people than you are of God, right? 285 00:12:48,650 --> 00:12:51,290 So your sin is changing the way you see the world. 286 00:12:52,639 --> 00:12:54,439 Faith is a real mirror. 287 00:12:54,499 --> 00:12:56,089 Faith shows you the way things really are. 288 00:12:56,599 --> 00:12:58,129 God is big and people are small. 289 00:12:58,579 --> 00:13:02,869 God is important, and people don't really matter that much compared to God, right? 290 00:13:03,410 --> 00:13:05,509 That's the way faith sees the world. 291 00:13:06,139 --> 00:13:09,509 Faith sees that God's promises are sure you can take 'em to the bank. 292 00:13:10,370 --> 00:13:12,680 God's or faith sees God's promises as good. 293 00:13:12,740 --> 00:13:14,120 What God says is good for me. 294 00:13:15,050 --> 00:13:17,990 Sin says God doesn't really want you to be happy, right? 295 00:13:17,990 --> 00:13:19,610 People who live that way, they're, they're boring. 296 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:22,100 That's what sin says. 297 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:23,360 It changes the way you see the world. 298 00:13:23,390 --> 00:13:24,110 Faith says, no. 299 00:13:24,110 --> 00:13:28,370 God got what God says is so good for me, and he's so wise and he loves me, and so 300 00:13:28,370 --> 00:13:32,390 if I trust him, it's gonna go really well for me and it's always gonna be worth it. 301 00:13:33,170 --> 00:13:36,410 Even if it doesn't feel worth it, my sin might tell me it's not worth it. 302 00:13:37,535 --> 00:13:38,974 My faith will tell me it is. 303 00:13:38,974 --> 00:13:40,714 And that's the way things really are. 304 00:13:42,035 --> 00:13:43,865 Faith is seeing things the way they really are. 305 00:13:44,495 --> 00:13:48,094 Sin is looking at this, right? 306 00:13:48,094 --> 00:13:50,885 When, when you're looking at the world through the lens of your sinful 307 00:13:50,885 --> 00:13:53,495 desires, this is what you see, right? 308 00:13:53,495 --> 00:13:59,015 You see God is not important, or, um, God's word is boring and can't help 309 00:13:59,015 --> 00:14:00,785 me, or a prayer doesn't do anything. 310 00:14:01,535 --> 00:14:04,204 Or that that person, they're not worth loving. 311 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,100 For God could never save me. 312 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:08,390 Right? 313 00:14:08,390 --> 00:14:09,230 That's what sin tells you. 314 00:14:09,770 --> 00:14:14,180 Faith tells you, if I confess my sins, God is faithful and just to 315 00:14:14,180 --> 00:14:15,470 cleanse me of all unrighteousness. 316 00:14:15,500 --> 00:14:16,340 That's what faith tells me. 317 00:14:18,590 --> 00:14:20,150 And so you're fighting for faith. 318 00:14:20,150 --> 00:14:23,360 You're fighting to see the world, the right way, to see God the right way. 319 00:14:23,685 --> 00:14:23,905 And 320 00:14:26,180 --> 00:14:28,100 it's one thing to know those things, right? 321 00:14:28,100 --> 00:14:31,040 It's one thing to know the Bible verse I just quoted to you, but it's 322 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,800 another thing to believe it and right. 323 00:14:34,189 --> 00:14:35,569 Put the bullet in the gun and shoot it. 324 00:14:35,930 --> 00:14:36,199 Right? 325 00:14:36,410 --> 00:14:37,520 Two very different things. 326 00:14:40,489 --> 00:14:43,849 I think a good example, anxiety is a great example of this, right? 327 00:14:44,089 --> 00:14:46,189 Because let's say you're anxious about something, right? 328 00:14:46,189 --> 00:14:49,339 You're, you're anxious about, um, you've got a test coming up and you're really 329 00:14:49,339 --> 00:14:51,589 anxious and you're, you're like, oh, I don't know how this is gonna work. 330 00:14:51,589 --> 00:14:53,239 I don't know if I'm gonna pass whatever. 331 00:14:53,270 --> 00:14:53,569 Right? 332 00:14:54,319 --> 00:15:01,069 Um, what anxiety says is, well, if I fail my test, I'm, I'm worthless. 333 00:15:01,879 --> 00:15:04,189 Or if I fail my test, my parents are gonna kill me. 334 00:15:04,849 --> 00:15:07,910 Uh, or if I fail my test, everyone's gonna make fun of me. 335 00:15:07,969 --> 00:15:09,020 Or, um, whatever. 336 00:15:11,060 --> 00:15:15,260 What faith says is, you know what, um, what's more important than my 337 00:15:15,260 --> 00:15:22,099 grade is whether I'm glorifying God by studying hard and trusting him, right? 338 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,959 That the grade isn't as important as my worship, right? 339 00:15:26,959 --> 00:15:28,579 Me worshiping God is way more important. 340 00:15:28,819 --> 00:15:32,420 Me trusting him, me honoring him by, by working hard. 341 00:15:33,170 --> 00:15:38,449 That's way more important than whether I get a 65, a 75, an 85 or a 95. 342 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:44,060 And so what you do right is you, you say, okay, you, you, 343 00:15:44,064 --> 00:15:45,410 you take what you know, right? 344 00:15:45,410 --> 00:15:46,189 You have to know things. 345 00:15:46,339 --> 00:15:47,660 Hey God, God is so good. 346 00:15:48,770 --> 00:15:52,670 God, what God says about me is way more true than what I say about me. 347 00:15:52,849 --> 00:15:54,109 Even if I say I'm dumb. 348 00:15:54,635 --> 00:15:55,685 That doesn't define my worth. 349 00:15:55,745 --> 00:15:57,875 Even if my friends make fun of me for failing a test, even if I don't 350 00:15:57,875 --> 00:16:00,214 get into the get the GPI want, I don't get into the college I 351 00:16:00,214 --> 00:16:02,824 want, or I failed the SAT, right? 352 00:16:03,995 --> 00:16:08,675 The, that doesn't matter as much as what God says. 353 00:16:08,675 --> 00:16:13,115 So you take your, your, your bullets, you put 'em in your belief gun, right? 354 00:16:13,115 --> 00:16:17,405 Your faith gun, and you shoot and you say you, you talk to yourself and, and 355 00:16:17,405 --> 00:16:22,055 you tell yourself to believe the way things really are of, you know, studying 356 00:16:22,055 --> 00:16:23,495 for this test is gonna be worth it. 357 00:16:23,975 --> 00:16:29,555 Because God sees every second I study and he loves hard work for his glory, right? 358 00:16:30,094 --> 00:16:31,955 God wants to take care of me. 359 00:16:31,955 --> 00:16:37,445 God has promises for me that are better than the, the promises that sin makes me. 360 00:16:38,675 --> 00:16:43,324 And you, you tell yourself that and you believe them, and then you live. 361 00:16:43,715 --> 00:16:44,104 Right? 362 00:16:44,525 --> 00:16:46,475 And maybe you're saying, well, I tried that. 363 00:16:46,475 --> 00:16:47,645 It didn't work right. 364 00:16:47,735 --> 00:16:48,844 I tried to believe it didn't work. 365 00:16:50,495 --> 00:16:51,305 You keep shooting. 366 00:16:52,174 --> 00:16:52,594 Right. 367 00:16:52,834 --> 00:16:54,545 If you shoot and you miss, you keep shooting, right? 368 00:16:54,545 --> 00:16:57,275 You, you keep putting your, your what, you know, you put, you keep 369 00:16:57,275 --> 00:17:00,604 putting God's promises into your gun and you keep firing, right? 370 00:17:00,604 --> 00:17:05,015 I think, you know, in kung Fu Panda when, um, Poe Kungfu Panda two right 371 00:17:05,255 --> 00:17:07,204 PO is standing in the, in the ocean. 372 00:17:07,415 --> 00:17:10,115 And, um, the peacock guys on the ships, they're trying to shoot 373 00:17:10,115 --> 00:17:12,723 him and he keeps, like catching the cannonballs and throwing them. 374 00:17:12,964 --> 00:17:16,865 And so the peacock shen right, he shoots the cannon at him, and Po 375 00:17:16,865 --> 00:17:18,365 like catches it and like blocks it. 376 00:17:19,115 --> 00:17:20,015 And then what does Shen do? 377 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,640 They shoots him again, and then they're like, he's blocking all of them. 378 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:27,319 He's like, keep firing. 379 00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:28,580 You know, you, you know what I'm talking about. 380 00:17:28,580 --> 00:17:28,850 Right? 381 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:33,110 Uh, that's, that's gotta be your mindset as a Christian. 382 00:17:33,110 --> 00:17:34,850 If you're a Christian, you gotta keep firing. 383 00:17:36,290 --> 00:17:39,350 You keep, you keep shooting until you believe God's promises. 384 00:17:40,430 --> 00:17:40,640 Right. 385 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,340 You don't just sit there, all I missed didn't work. 386 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:44,060 I give up. 387 00:17:44,180 --> 00:17:44,420 Right. 388 00:17:44,420 --> 00:17:45,860 That's, that's weak faith. 389 00:17:47,375 --> 00:17:51,785 You, you keep firing until you've killed your sin with faith. 390 00:17:54,695 --> 00:17:56,524 That's what Paul says in Galatians two. 391 00:17:57,274 --> 00:17:58,865 I've similar language to what we're talking about, I've 392 00:17:58,865 --> 00:17:59,945 been crucified with Christ. 393 00:17:59,945 --> 00:18:03,035 It's not I who live but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live. 394 00:18:03,035 --> 00:18:04,024 I live in the flesh, right? 395 00:18:04,055 --> 00:18:06,785 I'm still in my sinful flesh, but I live by faith. 396 00:18:07,325 --> 00:18:08,315 That's how I survive. 397 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:10,400 I don't survive by knowing things. 398 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:11,720 I don't survive by doing things. 399 00:18:11,900 --> 00:18:13,700 I don't survive because of who I'm related to. 400 00:18:13,700 --> 00:18:15,530 I don't survive because of how much I read my Bible. 401 00:18:15,620 --> 00:18:17,810 I survive because I trust Jesus. 402 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:19,580 Moment by moment, day by day. 403 00:18:19,580 --> 00:18:20,540 Promise by promise. 404 00:18:20,540 --> 00:18:21,710 Temptation by temptation. 405 00:18:22,580 --> 00:18:27,080 That's how you live and you believe these things about God and you keep 406 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,120 shooting them and you don't give up. 407 00:18:29,630 --> 00:18:30,770 That's what faith does. 408 00:18:34,790 --> 00:18:38,540 That's what Paul cares so much about, that you consider yourself dead to sin. 409 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:39,620 Right? 410 00:18:39,620 --> 00:18:43,460 If you, if you feel like that sin is dominating your life, right? 411 00:18:43,465 --> 00:18:47,750 You, you load this verse into your gun and you shoot it and you say, that's not me. 412 00:18:48,470 --> 00:18:49,280 That's not who I am. 413 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:50,720 I don't have to be anxious anymore. 414 00:18:51,260 --> 00:18:52,225 Anxious me is dead. 415 00:18:54,620 --> 00:18:58,490 Just as sure as Jesus died, anxious, me is dead and I am alive. 416 00:18:59,030 --> 00:19:00,170 I don't have to do that anymore. 417 00:19:01,190 --> 00:19:01,370 Right? 418 00:19:01,370 --> 00:19:02,095 And, and you keep shooting. 419 00:19:03,575 --> 00:19:07,235 Then tomorrow you're anxious again and you keep shooting and 420 00:19:07,235 --> 00:19:08,795 you also keep reloading, right? 421 00:19:08,795 --> 00:19:10,865 That's why you care about you reading the Bible. 422 00:19:12,515 --> 00:19:16,175 You believe these things, and that's why it's a fight, right? 423 00:19:16,175 --> 00:19:17,225 It's not a one time event. 424 00:19:17,285 --> 00:19:19,265 Oh, I believed and now my sins gone. 425 00:19:20,525 --> 00:19:20,645 Right? 426 00:19:20,645 --> 00:19:25,055 You keep on doing it because that's how you live as a Christian. 427 00:19:25,265 --> 00:19:27,755 And so if, if that is you, right? 428 00:19:27,755 --> 00:19:29,225 Some of you're probably like, yes, that's me. 429 00:19:29,225 --> 00:19:31,295 I trust Jesus and that's how I live. 430 00:19:32,450 --> 00:19:34,730 And some of you are like, that's not my Christian experience. 431 00:19:36,020 --> 00:19:37,790 So ask yourself, is that me? 432 00:19:37,790 --> 00:19:40,070 Am I really fighting or do I just give up? 433 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,260 Because that says a lot about the type of Christian or maybe not even Christian. 434 00:19:45,290 --> 00:19:45,710 You are. 435 00:19:48,350 --> 00:19:48,770 And these. 436 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,070 The desire for this doesn't come from you trying really hard. 437 00:19:52,070 --> 00:19:53,540 It comes from the Holy Spirit, right? 438 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,240 You're united to Christ and God does something to you. 439 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:57,110 He gives you a new heart. 440 00:19:57,140 --> 00:20:00,470 We talked about how all you want before you're saved is to sin. 441 00:20:00,500 --> 00:20:03,650 Your main priority is you, and then God does something to you. 442 00:20:03,710 --> 00:20:06,170 The fancy word is regeneration, and he changes your heart. 443 00:20:06,170 --> 00:20:06,980 He gives you a new heart. 444 00:20:07,220 --> 00:20:10,610 He gives you the Holy Spirit, and now you want these these good things. 445 00:20:10,670 --> 00:20:14,510 You want these things that come from God, right? 446 00:20:14,660 --> 00:20:18,710 That the problem is, is you have some influence over those desires. 447 00:20:19,415 --> 00:20:23,015 You can strengthen or weaken what you want. 448 00:20:24,455 --> 00:20:29,555 And so the second battlefield that we're gonna talk about is the battle of desire. 449 00:20:29,555 --> 00:20:32,525 So we talk about battle of belief and now the battle of desire. 450 00:20:32,525 --> 00:20:33,515 So 0.2 451 00:20:33,515 --> 00:20:36,665 is to fight, to want the right things, 452 00:20:42,305 --> 00:20:44,435 fight to want the right things. 453 00:20:49,085 --> 00:20:51,635 We talked about, we're still stuck in our sinful flesh, right? 454 00:20:51,635 --> 00:20:55,775 Our tendency, we still have that it takes work for us, right? 455 00:20:55,775 --> 00:20:59,525 To, to put the other hand on top when we're folding our hands, right? 456 00:20:59,975 --> 00:21:05,495 It takes effort, um, to want the right things, which might 457 00:21:05,495 --> 00:21:06,845 feel weird to you, right? 458 00:21:07,264 --> 00:21:09,365 But what's happening is if you're a Christian, you have 459 00:21:09,485 --> 00:21:11,495 competing sources of desires. 460 00:21:12,004 --> 00:21:15,485 You have your new heart from the Holy Spirit, and you have your sinful flesh, 461 00:21:15,545 --> 00:21:18,155 and they're both pumping in desires. 462 00:21:18,575 --> 00:21:19,565 Into who you are. 463 00:21:20,765 --> 00:21:23,345 And so you have some really good ones from God, and you have some really 464 00:21:23,345 --> 00:21:25,445 bad ones from your flesh, right? 465 00:21:25,445 --> 00:21:29,645 If you're not a Christian, you only have one pump sinful desires. 466 00:21:30,305 --> 00:21:31,355 That's the only pump you've got. 467 00:21:31,565 --> 00:21:34,775 That's the only desires you get if you are a Christian. 468 00:21:34,895 --> 00:21:37,505 Now there's two pumps, right? 469 00:21:37,505 --> 00:21:41,465 There's good desires from the Holy Spirit, but you're still in your sinful flesh, so 470 00:21:41,465 --> 00:21:44,075 you still have some sinful desires, right? 471 00:21:45,125 --> 00:21:47,375 And then in heaven, there's one pump. 472 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,660 Good desires from God 'cause your sinful flesh is gone. 473 00:21:51,650 --> 00:21:56,300 So what's happening is sin is trying to take control of your desires. 474 00:21:56,330 --> 00:22:00,290 It's trying to smother that or clog, if you will, that good pump. 475 00:22:01,850 --> 00:22:02,930 That's what we see in verse 12. 476 00:22:03,110 --> 00:22:06,920 Don't let sin reign in your mortal body, in your, your body 477 00:22:07,430 --> 00:22:09,320 to make you obey its passion. 478 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,740 Sin is trying to, to give you these desires and, and take control 479 00:22:12,740 --> 00:22:16,250 of your, your neutral desires and bring you back into slavery. 480 00:22:16,805 --> 00:22:19,025 There's a, there's a desire war going on here. 481 00:22:20,915 --> 00:22:24,065 Sin is trying to take back your desires if you're a Christian. 482 00:22:24,245 --> 00:22:26,495 If you're not a Christian, sin already has control of your desires. 483 00:22:27,395 --> 00:22:32,435 Everything you do is not about God, and that's why it's sinful, right? 484 00:22:32,465 --> 00:22:34,145 How do I know when a desire is sinful? 485 00:22:34,355 --> 00:22:40,535 Well, when it's independent from God, when you have a desire that has nothing 486 00:22:40,535 --> 00:22:43,565 to do with God, not a good sign, right? 487 00:22:44,495 --> 00:22:46,805 Sin says, I don't need God to make me happy. 488 00:22:46,895 --> 00:22:48,965 I could live a perfectly happy life without God. 489 00:22:49,085 --> 00:22:50,524 And some of you wish you could do that. 490 00:22:51,155 --> 00:22:52,865 Some of you wish your parents didn't take you to church. 491 00:22:52,865 --> 00:22:56,195 You wish you didn't have to hear more sermons and you wish you could 492 00:22:56,195 --> 00:22:57,395 just live as though God didn't exist. 493 00:22:57,395 --> 00:23:00,185 And you probably do live as though God doesn't exist, and that's you. 494 00:23:00,490 --> 00:23:04,475 And that's that's because sin is in control of you. 495 00:23:07,985 --> 00:23:10,805 Sin also says, I can be happier my way than God's way. 496 00:23:11,465 --> 00:23:11,645 Right. 497 00:23:11,645 --> 00:23:12,845 That's when a desire becomes sinful. 498 00:23:12,845 --> 00:23:17,945 If it's saying, I need this my way, not God's way, that thing that you want is 499 00:23:17,945 --> 00:23:20,075 probably an idol in your life, right? 500 00:23:20,195 --> 00:23:23,195 I need, you know, to look like that. 501 00:23:24,485 --> 00:23:27,185 I need to feel like that I need to love this person. 502 00:23:27,755 --> 00:23:29,945 I need to, to be this smart. 503 00:23:29,945 --> 00:23:33,185 I, that's, if you're saying I need that, or I won't be happy, 504 00:23:34,175 --> 00:23:35,765 that's, uh, not a good sign, right? 505 00:23:35,765 --> 00:23:39,545 That, that, that desire has probably been taken over by sin. 506 00:23:40,745 --> 00:23:42,695 It's more important to you than God. 507 00:23:42,785 --> 00:23:45,095 Getting that thing is more important to you than God, right? 508 00:23:45,095 --> 00:23:46,895 If you're willing to sin to get it. 509 00:23:47,405 --> 00:23:50,555 If you're willing to sin because you don't have it, those are two 510 00:23:50,555 --> 00:23:53,915 good signs that it's probably not a good desire for you, right? 511 00:23:53,915 --> 00:23:59,345 That thing is probably an idol in your life, and so your desires and 512 00:23:59,345 --> 00:24:00,665 your motives like the things you want. 513 00:24:00,845 --> 00:24:06,095 They're either for God or they're against God, and so you need to train 514 00:24:06,095 --> 00:24:09,575 or influence your desires to be for. 515 00:24:10,085 --> 00:24:10,475 God. 516 00:24:11,105 --> 00:24:13,925 And this is also related to faith because it takes faith to 517 00:24:13,925 --> 00:24:17,555 believe and want the right things. 518 00:24:18,185 --> 00:24:21,275 'cause the only way you want something is if you think that it's worth it. 519 00:24:22,295 --> 00:24:27,005 You have to see, okay, this is gonna be worth it, and then you want it, right? 520 00:24:27,275 --> 00:24:30,725 That's how, that's, that's how people work out or don't work out, right? 521 00:24:30,725 --> 00:24:33,215 I believe that it's worth it, so I'm gonna do it, or you don't believe it's 522 00:24:33,215 --> 00:24:34,895 worth it, so you don't do it right. 523 00:24:34,895 --> 00:24:36,335 It's whether you think it's worth it or not. 524 00:24:36,395 --> 00:24:37,545 That determines what you do. 525 00:24:38,420 --> 00:24:39,500 That takes faith, right? 526 00:24:39,500 --> 00:24:43,070 You put your faith in the exercise or the trainer or the gym or 527 00:24:43,070 --> 00:24:44,930 whatever to make it worth it. 528 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:46,280 That takes faith. 529 00:24:47,990 --> 00:24:50,270 That's how Christian life works too. 530 00:24:50,930 --> 00:24:54,110 You put your faith in God to make obeying him worth it or not. 531 00:24:54,860 --> 00:24:57,080 If you think obeying him is worth it, if you trust him, you 532 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,990 obey, and that's a desire issue. 533 00:25:00,620 --> 00:25:03,680 'cause you only do what you think is worth it because you want to. 534 00:25:04,850 --> 00:25:07,160 If you don't think it's worth it, you're not gonna wanna do it right. 535 00:25:08,315 --> 00:25:12,905 Like, um, the, you know, like the fake coffees at McDonald's, like the, they're, 536 00:25:12,965 --> 00:25:14,255 they're like a frappuccino basically. 537 00:25:14,945 --> 00:25:15,185 Right? 538 00:25:15,185 --> 00:25:16,595 Those things are not worth it. 539 00:25:17,075 --> 00:25:17,315 Right? 540 00:25:17,315 --> 00:25:19,955 Because the, because later in the day you're gonna feel it, right. 541 00:25:20,705 --> 00:25:21,335 Not worth it. 542 00:25:21,605 --> 00:25:22,445 Even though they're good. 543 00:25:22,475 --> 00:25:25,295 I can look at them and say, yeah, that would be fun, but not worth it. 544 00:25:26,405 --> 00:25:26,615 Right? 545 00:25:26,615 --> 00:25:30,665 That's, that's the value judgment of faith. 546 00:25:30,845 --> 00:25:31,175 Right? 547 00:25:31,535 --> 00:25:34,355 I'm trusting that drinking water is better than drinking that. 548 00:25:34,475 --> 00:25:34,775 Right. 549 00:25:35,345 --> 00:25:36,465 Um, there's a. 550 00:25:38,780 --> 00:25:39,050 Let's see. 551 00:25:39,050 --> 00:25:39,830 I probably don't have time for that. 552 00:25:40,220 --> 00:25:41,360 Um, let's just use an example here. 553 00:25:41,629 --> 00:25:44,840 Um, let's say you don't wanna do homework. 554 00:25:45,379 --> 00:25:46,879 That's a relatable situation, right? 555 00:25:47,060 --> 00:25:48,440 That you're probably facing tonight. 556 00:25:48,470 --> 00:25:49,730 Maybe you have homework to do right after this. 557 00:25:50,330 --> 00:25:53,000 Um, hang on. 558 00:25:53,330 --> 00:25:54,050 Where am I here? 559 00:25:55,970 --> 00:25:58,670 Yeah, let's say you, you, let's say you don't wanna do homework, okay? 560 00:25:59,180 --> 00:26:00,290 We'll get to this verse in a minute. 561 00:26:00,590 --> 00:26:02,120 Let's say you don't wanna do homework, okay? 562 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:03,110 That's a desire you have. 563 00:26:03,410 --> 00:26:04,430 You have a desire to be lazy. 564 00:26:04,430 --> 00:26:06,800 You have a desire to play video games, you have a desire to do whatever, right? 565 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:07,910 You don't want anything but homework. 566 00:26:07,910 --> 00:26:08,210 Right? 567 00:26:08,870 --> 00:26:12,380 Um, how do you change that desire? 568 00:26:13,460 --> 00:26:17,390 Well, if you're a Christian, you can use faith to change your desire. 569 00:26:17,870 --> 00:26:21,860 So kinda like we talked about before, is you take your bullets, what you know, you 570 00:26:21,860 --> 00:26:23,090 say, well, I don't wanna do my homework. 571 00:26:23,390 --> 00:26:28,430 Well, I know that God is glorified when I'm working hard and that 572 00:26:28,430 --> 00:26:31,010 Jesus died because of my laziness. 573 00:26:31,970 --> 00:26:34,040 My laziness is a sin that put Jesus on the cross. 574 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,320 And you think you believe those things you don't know, know those things. 575 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:44,030 You believe those things and you say, wow, laziness is gross. 576 00:26:45,020 --> 00:26:48,470 Jesus died for laziness and you believe it and you think about man, Jesus was 577 00:26:48,530 --> 00:26:50,240 like nailed, physically nailed to across. 578 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,570 They, they put nails through his wrist because I was lazy. 579 00:26:54,260 --> 00:26:55,160 And you say, that's horrible. 580 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:56,960 I don't wanna do that 'cause I love Jesus. 581 00:26:57,050 --> 00:26:58,460 I don't wanna do something that Jesus died for. 582 00:26:59,300 --> 00:27:01,730 You say, man, it's so good when people work hard for God's glory. 583 00:27:01,730 --> 00:27:02,690 This is the way I can worship God. 584 00:27:02,690 --> 00:27:05,450 I can show that God is worth it by doing this super lame thing 585 00:27:05,450 --> 00:27:07,070 called homework for God's glory. 586 00:27:07,250 --> 00:27:09,110 'cause it's that God is that important to me. 587 00:27:09,170 --> 00:27:13,370 And I can show people that and you, you put those bullets in your gun and you 588 00:27:13,370 --> 00:27:17,420 shoot 'em and you say that's worth it. 589 00:27:18,290 --> 00:27:21,950 And you convince yourself by faith that doing my homework that 590 00:27:21,950 --> 00:27:24,080 I don't wanna do is worth it. 591 00:27:24,290 --> 00:27:25,310 'cause it's for God's glory. 592 00:27:25,790 --> 00:27:26,540 And that's what I want. 593 00:27:27,665 --> 00:27:28,895 It took some work to get there. 594 00:27:29,045 --> 00:27:29,435 Right. 595 00:27:30,335 --> 00:27:31,265 But you fight for it. 596 00:27:31,325 --> 00:27:32,975 That's why, that's why all these points are fight. 597 00:27:33,695 --> 00:27:34,475 You fight for it. 598 00:27:34,895 --> 00:27:40,535 You, you put some effort in and you, you talk to yourself and you, you either 599 00:27:40,535 --> 00:27:45,695 strengthen or weaken your desires because, for example, if you're sitting there just 600 00:27:45,695 --> 00:27:47,405 thinking about, oh, my homework stinks. 601 00:27:47,435 --> 00:27:48,215 I hate homework. 602 00:27:48,425 --> 00:27:49,745 My teacher's not even gonna look at it anyway. 603 00:27:49,955 --> 00:27:50,735 This is horrible. 604 00:27:50,915 --> 00:27:52,595 I could be doing so many better things right now. 605 00:27:52,745 --> 00:27:53,105 Right. 606 00:27:53,585 --> 00:27:56,240 Is that strengthening or weakening your desire to do your homework? 607 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,260 Weakening it right now. 608 00:28:00,260 --> 00:28:02,840 If you think about the things we talked about earlier, Hey, God hates laziness. 609 00:28:02,870 --> 00:28:03,860 Laziness is so bad for me. 610 00:28:03,860 --> 00:28:04,820 I don't wanna be a lazy person. 611 00:28:04,820 --> 00:28:10,280 If I'm a lazy person, I'm, I'm gonna be unloving towards people, right? 612 00:28:10,610 --> 00:28:14,330 If I'm being lazy, that's actually me being unloving towards my friends, 613 00:28:14,330 --> 00:28:17,870 towards my parents, towards my family, towards my future spouse, right? 614 00:28:18,140 --> 00:28:22,580 Um, also, God sees me and God knows, and he loves hard work, right? 615 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,160 And so you think about those things, maybe that helps you. 616 00:28:26,525 --> 00:28:33,455 That fuels, it feeds your desire to do your homework for God's glory, right? 617 00:28:33,635 --> 00:28:35,705 That's what we're talking about here in this verse, Roman. 618 00:28:35,705 --> 00:28:37,055 This is Romans 1314. 619 00:28:37,325 --> 00:28:39,125 It says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 620 00:28:39,515 --> 00:28:40,535 And I wanna focus on this part. 621 00:28:40,535 --> 00:28:44,075 Make no provision for the flesh to gratify or satisfy. 622 00:28:44,285 --> 00:28:44,870 It's the desire. 623 00:28:44,870 --> 00:28:47,465 So what I think about here, I heard someone explain this like 624 00:28:47,465 --> 00:28:48,515 this to me a few years ago. 625 00:28:48,965 --> 00:28:52,175 Um, you know, provisions, right? 626 00:28:52,180 --> 00:28:52,460 Like food. 627 00:28:53,375 --> 00:28:55,385 Um, I always think of like packing a lunch. 628 00:28:55,595 --> 00:28:59,135 You know, don't pack a lunch for your flesh. 629 00:29:00,215 --> 00:29:02,825 Don't feed it, right? 630 00:29:03,005 --> 00:29:06,695 Your, your flesh, if you're a Christian, you've got those competing desires, right? 631 00:29:06,695 --> 00:29:08,915 You've got your flesh and your spirit, right? 632 00:29:08,915 --> 00:29:11,615 The Holy Spirit, and they're competing, they're fighting each other. 633 00:29:13,505 --> 00:29:17,165 The one you feed is gonna get stronger and then when you starve is gonna get weaker. 634 00:29:17,825 --> 00:29:18,005 Right? 635 00:29:18,005 --> 00:29:19,865 That's what this verse is saying, right? 636 00:29:19,895 --> 00:29:20,315 Um. 637 00:29:21,035 --> 00:29:22,715 It's almost like I've heard someone explain it this way too. 638 00:29:22,715 --> 00:29:26,165 You've got two dogs and they're fighting each other, right? 639 00:29:26,165 --> 00:29:27,575 The dog you feed is gonna win. 640 00:29:27,755 --> 00:29:29,045 The dog you starve is gonna lose. 641 00:29:29,375 --> 00:29:29,675 Right? 642 00:29:29,885 --> 00:29:31,595 Or another way you could put it, imagine every day you 643 00:29:31,595 --> 00:29:33,095 have to fight a giant, right? 644 00:29:33,095 --> 00:29:33,995 And you could name that giant. 645 00:29:33,995 --> 00:29:35,855 You could say that giant is anxiety, or that giant is 646 00:29:35,855 --> 00:29:37,325 anger, or that giant is lust. 647 00:29:38,345 --> 00:29:40,955 And you can say, I get to control what that giant eats. 648 00:29:43,475 --> 00:29:44,465 That's what we're talking about here. 649 00:29:45,305 --> 00:29:50,375 You can control what your sin eats, you can feed it or starve it. 650 00:29:52,774 --> 00:29:57,365 So are you, are you feeding it or are you trying to hold onto your sin? 651 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:00,965 If there's a really interesting book, I probably wouldn't recommend it 652 00:30:00,965 --> 00:30:03,754 'cause I think it's about purgatory, but it's got a really good picture. 653 00:30:04,145 --> 00:30:07,565 There's this story of this guy, okay, so this guy, and he wants 654 00:30:07,565 --> 00:30:08,795 to get into heaven, right? 655 00:30:08,855 --> 00:30:12,365 There's angel and he wants to get into heaven, but he has this 656 00:30:12,365 --> 00:30:17,405 red lizard and this is like his lizard represents his sin and the 657 00:30:17,405 --> 00:30:19,385 lizard is like kind of killing him. 658 00:30:20,300 --> 00:30:22,250 But he loves the lizard and he wants to keep it. 659 00:30:23,390 --> 00:30:26,120 And the angel is like, I, you, if you're gonna come into heaven, 660 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:27,080 I have to kill the lizard. 661 00:30:28,250 --> 00:30:30,200 And the lizard is talking to him like, no, no, no, no. 662 00:30:30,260 --> 00:30:31,070 You don't want that. 663 00:30:31,130 --> 00:30:31,850 Don't kill me. 664 00:30:32,450 --> 00:30:33,080 I love you. 665 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:34,070 I care about you. 666 00:30:34,550 --> 00:30:36,110 Um, you should keep me alive. 667 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:37,850 I'm good for you. 668 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:39,290 That's what the lizard's saying to this dude. 669 00:30:39,740 --> 00:30:40,980 And the angel is like, no, no, no. 670 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,610 Like the, if I kill the lizard, you'll be so much happier. 671 00:30:43,910 --> 00:30:44,690 You'll be so much better. 672 00:30:45,650 --> 00:30:48,290 You'll get to be with God if I kill this lizard. 673 00:30:49,430 --> 00:30:53,210 The, this dude is like so unwilling to get rid of the lizard. 674 00:30:55,399 --> 00:30:56,480 That's what we do with our sin. 675 00:30:56,899 --> 00:30:59,030 If you're a Christian and you've got sin in your life, that's 676 00:30:59,030 --> 00:31:02,810 unconfessed unrepentant, and you don't wanna get rid of it, that's you. 677 00:31:02,810 --> 00:31:03,710 You're holding onto the lizard. 678 00:31:03,710 --> 00:31:06,320 You're saying, God, please don't let me give this up. 679 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:07,940 Please don't take this away from me. 680 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,149 Or maybe you're not a Christian and that's why you're not a Christian, 681 00:31:11,330 --> 00:31:15,050 because you're holding onto this sin in your life and you're saying, God, I, I 682 00:31:15,050 --> 00:31:17,210 would follow you, but I can't do that. 683 00:31:17,615 --> 00:31:18,995 Don't ask me to stop doing this. 684 00:31:19,505 --> 00:31:20,765 I need this to be happy. 685 00:31:22,445 --> 00:31:25,955 You're holding onto this lizard and the lizard's killing you, but you 686 00:31:25,955 --> 00:31:29,795 put it on life support and you wanna keep it around 'cause you're buying 687 00:31:29,795 --> 00:31:31,805 the lie that it makes you happy. 688 00:31:32,375 --> 00:31:34,415 'cause the lizard, your sin is telling you, you need me. 689 00:31:34,775 --> 00:31:37,415 You'll be miserable without me, you're not gonna make it. 690 00:31:37,595 --> 00:31:39,905 No one's gonna love you or whatever, right? 691 00:31:39,905 --> 00:31:43,985 Different lies that your sin tells you and you have to kill 692 00:31:43,985 --> 00:31:46,505 it, but you keep it alive. 693 00:31:47,450 --> 00:31:48,710 And there's different ways we do that, right? 694 00:31:48,710 --> 00:31:50,930 Maybe it's the influences that you take in, whether it's 695 00:31:50,930 --> 00:31:52,610 on, on media or your friends. 696 00:31:52,910 --> 00:31:55,730 Maybe you're around people that that feed your desire to sin. 697 00:31:56,030 --> 00:31:58,310 You're around people that love to gossip, so you gossip. 698 00:31:58,550 --> 00:32:01,220 You're around people that are really anxious, so it makes you more anxious. 699 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,520 You're around people that are really angry or really worldly or, or talk about 700 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:09,440 really bad things or listen to really bad music, and so you're feeding your flesh. 701 00:32:10,250 --> 00:32:12,200 That's why your Instagram feed is called a feed. 702 00:32:12,605 --> 00:32:14,345 Because it feeds something, right? 703 00:32:14,435 --> 00:32:17,045 It either feeds your sin or it feeds your godliness. 704 00:32:17,315 --> 00:32:18,365 It's doing one or the other. 705 00:32:22,355 --> 00:32:24,065 You can also do that with godly desires. 706 00:32:24,065 --> 00:32:26,885 You can fuel your godly desires and you can starve your godly 707 00:32:26,885 --> 00:32:29,525 desires too, and you'll talk about that more in small groups. 708 00:32:29,525 --> 00:32:33,335 But the point that I, I want you to see here is that you have to fight for this. 709 00:32:34,355 --> 00:32:37,625 You have control over what you're feeding, your desires. 710 00:32:39,125 --> 00:32:39,785 That's up to you. 711 00:32:41,690 --> 00:32:44,090 What you want is under your control. 712 00:32:44,390 --> 00:32:47,180 The things you like, the things you enjoy, the things that you get 713 00:32:47,180 --> 00:32:49,040 excited about are under your control. 714 00:32:49,670 --> 00:32:50,720 It's not just who you are. 715 00:32:50,870 --> 00:32:51,800 It's not just how you're wired. 716 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,700 Those are influences, but some of the other influences are you, what 717 00:32:55,700 --> 00:32:56,630 do you put yourself in front of? 718 00:32:56,630 --> 00:32:57,350 What do you take in? 719 00:32:57,350 --> 00:32:58,130 What do you talk about? 720 00:32:58,130 --> 00:32:59,150 What do you tell yourself? 721 00:33:04,700 --> 00:33:05,810 And so all of these. 722 00:33:07,130 --> 00:33:11,090 Things can cause you to want God more or want God less, or to love 723 00:33:11,090 --> 00:33:13,340 sin more, or to love sin less. 724 00:33:14,390 --> 00:33:19,940 And a lot of this comes down to your effort because your 725 00:33:19,940 --> 00:33:22,130 effort comes from your faith. 726 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:24,800 If you really trust God, you think it's worth it, you'll do it. 727 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:27,860 And that's our, our third battlefield is the battle of will. 728 00:33:28,130 --> 00:33:28,310 Right? 729 00:33:28,310 --> 00:33:30,290 The battle of your decisions. 730 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:31,250 So 0.3, 731 00:33:31,340 --> 00:33:33,200 fight to make good decisions. 732 00:33:34,855 --> 00:33:38,720 And by good I mean, right God honoring God, glorifying decisions. 733 00:33:41,510 --> 00:33:43,610 And those are because of your priorities, right? 734 00:33:43,610 --> 00:33:48,920 What you think is important becomes and shows up in your decisions. 735 00:33:49,730 --> 00:33:51,949 What you think is important is gonna show up and what you decide to do, 736 00:33:51,980 --> 00:33:56,900 how you spend your time, what you talk about, the people you talk to, that's 737 00:33:56,900 --> 00:34:03,080 gonna show up in your decisions, your priorities show up in your decisions. 738 00:34:04,610 --> 00:34:04,760 Right. 739 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:09,380 We talked about this verse a little bit last week, that you're either 740 00:34:09,380 --> 00:34:13,610 presenting yourself to sin or you're presenting yourself to God, right? 741 00:34:13,610 --> 00:34:16,250 You're, you're either offering yourself to sin and saying, here's sin. 742 00:34:16,820 --> 00:34:17,449 Use me. 743 00:34:19,940 --> 00:34:20,480 Use me. 744 00:34:20,659 --> 00:34:21,380 I wanna sin. 745 00:34:21,620 --> 00:34:22,130 Here you go. 746 00:34:22,130 --> 00:34:22,699 Here I am. 747 00:34:23,150 --> 00:34:26,750 Your decisions are either doing that or they're saying, God, use me. 748 00:34:27,050 --> 00:34:27,860 I want to serve you. 749 00:34:27,860 --> 00:34:28,370 I wanna love you. 750 00:34:28,370 --> 00:34:29,060 I wanna live for you. 751 00:34:29,780 --> 00:34:33,199 You're, you're either doing one or the other, and that that's. 752 00:34:33,949 --> 00:34:36,770 Every decision you make is is offering yourself to God 753 00:34:36,770 --> 00:34:38,330 or to sin one or the other. 754 00:34:40,909 --> 00:34:45,350 And if you're a Christian, you have the ability to give yourself 755 00:34:45,350 --> 00:34:47,120 to God and say, God, I'm yours. 756 00:34:47,150 --> 00:34:47,870 I wanna live for you. 757 00:34:49,010 --> 00:34:51,830 If you're not a Christian, you can't do that, right? 758 00:34:51,830 --> 00:34:53,540 The the dog of sin is walking you 759 00:34:57,170 --> 00:35:00,230 and all this stuff we're talking about doesn't happen on its own right? 760 00:35:00,230 --> 00:35:01,070 You have to do it. 761 00:35:01,745 --> 00:35:03,575 You really have to believe it for yourself. 762 00:35:03,785 --> 00:35:05,585 You really have to feel it for yourself. 763 00:35:06,095 --> 00:35:09,365 You really have to decide it for yourself and do it right. 764 00:35:09,365 --> 00:35:10,685 Your, your parents can't do it for you. 765 00:35:10,685 --> 00:35:11,885 Your leaders can't do it for you. 766 00:35:12,035 --> 00:35:14,045 We do it if we could, right? 767 00:35:14,045 --> 00:35:18,785 If it, that wasn't me, you all would, would do the things I'm talking about 768 00:35:18,785 --> 00:35:21,635 and feel the things I'm talking about and love Jesus the way that, that I 769 00:35:21,635 --> 00:35:23,225 want you to, but I can't do it for you. 770 00:35:23,225 --> 00:35:23,775 You have to do it. 771 00:35:28,820 --> 00:35:31,610 Your sin is trying to kill you. 772 00:35:33,020 --> 00:35:33,200 Right? 773 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:34,790 It's not just there. 774 00:35:35,180 --> 00:35:36,350 It's not just there to have fun. 775 00:35:37,070 --> 00:35:40,010 It's not just there with you, right? 776 00:35:40,010 --> 00:35:45,290 It's trying to kill you and how you see it is gonna change a lot 777 00:35:45,290 --> 00:35:47,720 of, a lot of how you feel about it. 778 00:35:48,410 --> 00:35:52,580 Do you see it the right way with faith, or do you see it as. 779 00:35:53,150 --> 00:35:55,100 Not that important or not that big of a deal. 780 00:35:59,990 --> 00:36:03,680 Recently I was, um, I was teaching some friends how to play pickleball, 781 00:36:04,700 --> 00:36:07,640 um, and it was their first time playing and they weren't very good. 782 00:36:08,270 --> 00:36:13,279 Um, but the Daniels were also there and so I, I was used to playing with 783 00:36:13,279 --> 00:36:14,390 these people that weren't very good. 784 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:14,960 Right. 785 00:36:15,500 --> 00:36:19,440 And then Matt comes in and he's across from me and just. 786 00:36:20,180 --> 00:36:23,090 Rips this serve, and we've been playing, like we've been playing with 787 00:36:23,090 --> 00:36:24,080 people who don't know how to play. 788 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:25,010 You know, we're just like hitting it. 789 00:36:25,130 --> 00:36:28,760 And then Matt just like rips this serve at me and I no chance 790 00:36:28,790 --> 00:36:31,040 was not ready for it, right? 791 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:37,190 Because I wasn't ready for someone trying to kill me with their serve. 792 00:36:37,850 --> 00:36:38,240 Right? 793 00:36:38,270 --> 00:36:42,020 I was just there walking around, having fun, teaching 794 00:36:42,020 --> 00:36:43,010 people how to play pickleball. 795 00:36:43,010 --> 00:36:44,330 Hey, don't step in the kitchen. 796 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:46,310 You know, make sure he bounces on each side, right? 797 00:36:46,370 --> 00:36:47,990 I'm in that mindset, right? 798 00:36:47,990 --> 00:36:48,500 I'm in. 799 00:36:48,890 --> 00:36:54,350 I'm in just rally mindset and then Matt comes in and just rips this serve right? 800 00:36:54,830 --> 00:36:56,060 Which there's nothing wrong with that. 801 00:36:56,060 --> 00:36:56,330 Right? 802 00:36:56,420 --> 00:36:57,320 I'm glad he did it. 803 00:36:57,500 --> 00:36:58,730 'cause now I can tell you about it. 804 00:36:59,150 --> 00:36:59,509 Um, 805 00:37:01,610 --> 00:37:05,540 I think a lot of you approach your life, like I approached that pickleball game. 806 00:37:06,590 --> 00:37:10,820 You're walking around expecting life to just be a walk in the 807 00:37:10,820 --> 00:37:17,090 park, but your sin is trying to kill you and you keep it around. 808 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:20,210 You say, I, it's not that big of a deal. 809 00:37:20,210 --> 00:37:21,080 God will forgive me anyway. 810 00:37:21,259 --> 00:37:22,250 Or, uh, it's okay. 811 00:37:22,250 --> 00:37:24,410 I can just waste some time like this. 812 00:37:24,500 --> 00:37:26,029 Or it's, everyone does it. 813 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:30,470 Your sin is trying to kill you. 814 00:37:30,950 --> 00:37:32,930 Your lust is trying to kill you. 815 00:37:33,140 --> 00:37:39,319 It's not trying to make you happy, and it's not trying to, to just let you exist. 816 00:37:39,350 --> 00:37:40,730 It's trying to kill you, right? 817 00:37:40,910 --> 00:37:42,650 Your anxiety is trying to kill you. 818 00:37:42,830 --> 00:37:45,259 Your anger, your discontent, your laziness. 819 00:37:46,430 --> 00:37:47,029 They're trying. 820 00:37:47,750 --> 00:37:50,240 To ruin your life and you need to see it that way. 821 00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:53,030 'cause otherwise you're, you're gonna get run over. 822 00:37:54,620 --> 00:37:58,820 And so I hope that you take it seriously and you fight, right? 823 00:37:58,820 --> 00:38:03,320 You, you learn God's word and you believe who he is and you 824 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:06,410 believe his promises and you fight. 825 00:38:06,740 --> 00:38:10,160 You load him in your gun and you shoot and you keep shooting 826 00:38:11,150 --> 00:38:13,430 because your life depends on it. 827 00:38:14,270 --> 00:38:15,770 So let's pray and we'll go to small groups. 828 00:38:19,745 --> 00:38:23,765 God, we are so thankful that the commands you give us are for our good. 829 00:38:24,365 --> 00:38:31,025 Um, we often don't recognize that you are, for us. 830 00:38:31,025 --> 00:38:36,965 We think that your rules are bad for us, that they're not fun, that they're boring. 831 00:38:38,375 --> 00:38:40,475 But I pray that you help us to see it the right way. 832 00:38:40,895 --> 00:38:43,415 Help us with eyes of faith to see that. 833 00:38:43,970 --> 00:38:48,830 Your commands for us are not because you don't like certain people 834 00:38:48,830 --> 00:38:52,220 or because you, you have a bunch of rules you want us to follow. 835 00:38:52,820 --> 00:38:58,850 Um, but your commands for us are for our good because we really need to live 836 00:38:58,850 --> 00:39:01,280 your way if we're gonna really be happy. 837 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:02,870 Everything else is just a. 838 00:39:03,905 --> 00:39:07,025 A poisonous trap that will kill us. 839 00:39:07,025 --> 00:39:09,125 And so I pray that you help us to see our sin that way. 840 00:39:09,125 --> 00:39:12,035 Help us see you that way, and we pray this all in Jesus name. 841 00:39:12,215 --> 00:39:12,575 Amen.