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 --> 00:00:17,560
Now, come along.

8
00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440
Let's look into the Bible and
see what God has for us here today.

9
00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:25,200
We're going to go to the book
of Romans.

10
00:00:25,770 --> 00:00:27,130
Romans, chapter six.

11
00:00:28,490 --> 00:00:29,690
Romans, chapter six.

12
00:00:29,690 --> 00:00:33,890
We're going to continue on in
our sermon series looking at why

13
00:00:33,890 --> 00:00:35,050
theology matters.

14
00:00:36,090 --> 00:00:37,610
Why does it matter what we believe?

15
00:00:37,610 --> 00:00:41,250
Because what we believe
affects where we're going one day

16
00:00:41,250 --> 00:00:42,170
for eternity.

17
00:00:42,490 --> 00:00:46,330
What we believe matters today
and how we live for our Savior.

18
00:00:46,570 --> 00:00:49,810
In Romans chapter 6, Paul
started out the whole chapter with

19
00:00:49,810 --> 00:00:50,250
a question.

20
00:00:51,140 --> 00:00:52,100
The question was this.

21
00:00:52,900 --> 00:00:58,580
If God is completely gracious,
if God has forgiven me from my sin,

22
00:00:59,780 --> 00:01:03,340
should I just continue to live
in sin so that God just keeps forgiving

23
00:01:03,340 --> 00:01:03,620
me?

24
00:01:04,020 --> 00:01:06,780
And then obviously, the answer
to that question, Paul says, God

25
00:01:06,780 --> 00:01:07,980
forbid in verse 2.

26
00:01:07,980 --> 00:01:08,820
God forbid.

27
00:01:08,980 --> 00:01:12,980
How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein?

28
00:01:12,980 --> 00:01:17,460
Meaning if you have been saved
from this sin and you recognize what

29
00:01:17,460 --> 00:01:20,220
you have been saved from, why
would you want to go back to the

30
00:01:20,220 --> 00:01:23,350
bondage of that sin that held
you for all of those years?

31
00:01:24,470 --> 00:01:28,150
And so he answers that
question, and he explains that answer

32
00:01:28,870 --> 00:01:31,670
throughout that whole chapter
in Romans chapter six.

33
00:01:31,670 --> 00:01:33,430
Today we're going to pick up
in verse number 19.

34
00:01:33,430 --> 00:01:37,590
But last week we looked at the
understanding that even though sometimes

35
00:01:37,590 --> 00:01:41,670
people in their minds believe
a certain thing, they don't allow

36
00:01:41,670 --> 00:01:44,310
what they believe in their
mind to affect the way that they

37
00:01:44,310 --> 00:01:46,230
live when it comes to their flesh.

38
00:01:46,230 --> 00:01:47,030
Meaning this.

39
00:01:47,430 --> 00:01:51,070
The Bible says that our body,
our members, are like instruments.

40
00:01:51,070 --> 00:01:56,470
And those instruments can be
used for bad, into sin and into punishment,

41
00:01:56,470 --> 00:01:59,830
and into death, or our
instruments can be used for good

42
00:01:59,830 --> 00:02:03,790
and righteousness and faith
and ultimately glorifying God in

43
00:02:03,790 --> 00:02:04,390
every way.

44
00:02:04,390 --> 00:02:06,510
And so we had the analogy of
the hammer, right?

45
00:02:06,510 --> 00:02:08,390
The hammer I could use for
something good.

46
00:02:08,390 --> 00:02:09,230
I could build a house.

47
00:02:09,230 --> 00:02:10,310
I could help somebody.

48
00:02:10,390 --> 00:02:13,710
But that hammer also could be
used for pain and suffering and hurting

49
00:02:13,710 --> 00:02:14,310
somebody.

50
00:02:14,790 --> 00:02:17,430
And so the idea is that Paul
says, you.

51
00:02:17,690 --> 00:02:18,810
You believe in God, you.

52
00:02:18,810 --> 00:02:19,970
You trust in God.

53
00:02:19,970 --> 00:02:24,250
And that transformation that
happens in salvation should change

54
00:02:24,250 --> 00:02:26,250
not only what we think about and.

55
00:02:26,250 --> 00:02:30,010
And what we spend our time in,
but also what our body does.

56
00:02:30,490 --> 00:02:30,810
In.

57
00:02:30,810 --> 00:02:34,170
In the book of Romans, Romans
chapter 12, it says that we are to

58
00:02:34,170 --> 00:02:36,970
present our bodies a living sacrifice.

59
00:02:37,850 --> 00:02:39,530
So the way that we can
summarize it is this.

60
00:02:39,850 --> 00:02:43,890
God has given us the greatest
sacrifice the least that we can do

61
00:02:43,890 --> 00:02:46,890
is sacrifice ourselves to him,
give ourselves over to Him.

62
00:02:46,890 --> 00:02:50,960
And, and he doesn't ask us to
give our lives when it comes to being

63
00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:51,640
sacrificed.

64
00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:51,800
We.

65
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:52,000
We.

66
00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:53,360
We don't have to die for Him.

67
00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:54,400
He died for us.

68
00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,720
All he does is he calls us to
live for him, to.

69
00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:01,520
To serve him, to call Him
Master, not just by what we say,

70
00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:03,040
but also by what we do.

71
00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:06,680
Another passage of Scripture
that I thought would be appropriate

72
00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:10,560
to stick on that topic is
First Corinthians, chapter six.

73
00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:12,280
First Corinthians, chapter six.

74
00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,500
If you're in Romans chapter
six, you can turn over to First Corinthians

75
00:03:15,500 --> 00:03:16,420
chapter six with me.

76
00:03:16,420 --> 00:03:19,380
And this is the classic
passage of scripture that speaks

77
00:03:19,380 --> 00:03:22,620
of our bodies being the temple
of the Holy Ghost.

78
00:03:24,460 --> 00:03:25,020
So there.

79
00:03:25,020 --> 00:03:27,740
There's a lot of teaching in
the world today that teaches this.

80
00:03:27,740 --> 00:03:31,020
As long as you theoretically
believe the right thing and you're

81
00:03:31,020 --> 00:03:33,420
a religious person, you can
just do whatever you want to do,

82
00:03:33,420 --> 00:03:35,820
and God will just keep
perpetually forgiving you.

83
00:03:35,980 --> 00:03:38,820
But the Bible says, no, that's
not the way that we should live our

84
00:03:38,820 --> 00:03:39,100
lives.

85
00:03:39,180 --> 00:03:40,780
We should be cognizant of.

86
00:03:41,090 --> 00:03:43,170
Of the fact that our bodies matter.

87
00:03:43,490 --> 00:03:46,690
What we do with our bodies
matters because God cares not only

88
00:03:46,690 --> 00:03:48,290
just for our soul, but for our everything.

89
00:03:48,370 --> 00:03:51,770
Because one day, it's not just
our soul that is redeemed.

90
00:03:51,770 --> 00:03:53,650
The Bible says that we will be glorified.

91
00:03:53,650 --> 00:03:55,090
We will have glorified bodies.

92
00:03:55,090 --> 00:03:58,330
And so ultimately, God is
concerned with every element of our

93
00:03:58,330 --> 00:03:58,610
life.

94
00:03:58,690 --> 00:04:02,050
But in First Corinthians,
chapter 6, verse 19, in the context

95
00:04:02,050 --> 00:04:05,170
of First Corinthians, chapter
6, this is talking about sexual sin,

96
00:04:05,490 --> 00:04:08,340
fornication, which was
prevailing in the church there at

97
00:04:08,340 --> 00:04:08,780
Corinth.

98
00:04:08,780 --> 00:04:13,860
But he says here in verse 19,
what know ye not that your body is

99
00:04:14,180 --> 00:04:17,220
the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you?

100
00:04:17,700 --> 00:04:19,660
So there's a lot that we could
dig into there.

101
00:04:19,660 --> 00:04:21,980
But essentially what he's
saying is, is if you are a believer

102
00:04:21,980 --> 00:04:25,220
in Jesus Christ, the Holy
Spirit indwells you.

103
00:04:25,300 --> 00:04:26,820
He's not just around you.

104
00:04:26,980 --> 00:04:28,740
He's not just inspiring you.

105
00:04:29,300 --> 00:04:29,700
It.

106
00:04:29,700 --> 00:04:33,100
It's the simple fact that the
Holy Spirit lives within us.

107
00:04:33,100 --> 00:04:36,270
And so he says here, the Holy
Ghost, which is in you, which ye

108
00:04:36,270 --> 00:04:39,110
have of God, meaning this only
comes through a relationship with

109
00:04:39,110 --> 00:04:41,990
God, and ye are not your own.

110
00:04:43,430 --> 00:04:44,310
You said what?

111
00:04:44,630 --> 00:04:45,630
What did he just say there?

112
00:04:45,630 --> 00:04:47,350
He said, Paul said this.

113
00:04:48,390 --> 00:04:51,750
When you are a believer in
Jesus Christ, when the Holy Spirit

114
00:04:51,750 --> 00:04:53,750
indwells you, you are not your
own anymore.

115
00:04:54,870 --> 00:04:58,790
The decisions that we make in
our body are not for my Agenda.

116
00:04:58,790 --> 00:05:00,940
They're not for my ways, my
will, my.

117
00:05:01,010 --> 00:05:03,850
The Bible says that now that I
am in Christ, my decisions are to

118
00:05:03,850 --> 00:05:05,170
honor and glorify him.

119
00:05:05,650 --> 00:05:07,130
I am not my own anymore.

120
00:05:07,130 --> 00:05:10,810
And you say, well, how could
God ask us to give everything to

121
00:05:10,810 --> 00:05:11,010
him?

122
00:05:11,010 --> 00:05:15,330
It says in verse 20, for ye
are bought with a price.

123
00:05:16,930 --> 00:05:17,770
You'll hear this.

124
00:05:17,770 --> 00:05:19,330
Well, my salvation is free.

125
00:05:19,410 --> 00:05:21,890
And we're going to talk about
that free gift of grace here in a

126
00:05:21,890 --> 00:05:23,330
few moments in Romans chapter six.

127
00:05:23,570 --> 00:05:25,010
And for us, it is free.

128
00:05:25,170 --> 00:05:28,890
The gift of grace, the gift of
salvation is given to us in a way

129
00:05:28,890 --> 00:05:29,970
that we did not earn.

130
00:05:30,660 --> 00:05:31,580
We did not pay for it.

131
00:05:31,580 --> 00:05:32,820
We could not pay for it.

132
00:05:33,380 --> 00:05:36,500
But the Bible says that
someone did pay the price.

133
00:05:37,220 --> 00:05:41,460
That's Jesus Christ, our
Savior says we are bought with a

134
00:05:41,460 --> 00:05:41,780
price.

135
00:05:42,020 --> 00:05:44,580
The Bible says in other places
that it is the blood of Jesus Christ

136
00:05:44,580 --> 00:05:45,780
that's on our account.

137
00:05:45,780 --> 00:05:47,660
It was bought with the blood
of Jesus Christ.

138
00:05:47,660 --> 00:05:51,180
And so for ye are bought with
a price, therefore glorify God in

139
00:05:51,180 --> 00:05:55,500
your body and in your spirit,
which are God's.

140
00:05:55,500 --> 00:05:55,720
The.

141
00:05:55,790 --> 00:05:59,110
The Bible speaks of a
wholesale sanctification, meaning

142
00:05:59,110 --> 00:05:59,390
this.

143
00:05:59,550 --> 00:05:59,870
The.

144
00:05:59,870 --> 00:06:02,790
The spiritual growth in my
life is not just a theoretical thing

145
00:06:02,790 --> 00:06:03,390
on paper.

146
00:06:03,390 --> 00:06:06,350
The spiritual growth in my
life is what I believe, what I think,

147
00:06:06,350 --> 00:06:08,270
what I do, how I respond.

148
00:06:08,510 --> 00:06:09,590
He says this, this is.

149
00:06:09,590 --> 00:06:10,670
You are not your own.

150
00:06:10,670 --> 00:06:12,109
You are a bought with a price.

151
00:06:12,110 --> 00:06:15,510
And so many times we cheapen
the grace of God by saying, yes,

152
00:06:15,510 --> 00:06:17,910
he's given me salvation, now I
can just do what I want.

153
00:06:17,910 --> 00:06:20,390
No, the Bible says that we
are, we are saved.

154
00:06:20,390 --> 00:06:23,150
We are changed because of the
payment that was given for us.

155
00:06:23,150 --> 00:06:26,310
And so we all know that there
is a problem in this world.

156
00:06:26,790 --> 00:06:28,550
And some of you say it's not
just one problem.

157
00:06:28,550 --> 00:06:30,750
There's a lot of problems in
this world, and I can identify with

158
00:06:30,750 --> 00:06:31,030
that.

159
00:06:31,350 --> 00:06:34,750
But the biggest problem, the,
the overarching problem that has

160
00:06:34,750 --> 00:06:37,270
caused all the other problems
in the world is sin.

161
00:06:37,750 --> 00:06:40,310
The Bible says that there is a
problem, and that is sin.

162
00:06:40,470 --> 00:06:42,350
And we're going to look in
Romans chapter six.

163
00:06:42,350 --> 00:06:44,270
If you go back to Romans
chapter six, there is a.

164
00:06:44,270 --> 00:06:46,230
There is a penalty to sin.

165
00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,440
Bible's going to say here at
the end of chapter six, for the wages

166
00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,960
or the payment of sin is death.

167
00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,000
We're talking more than just
physical death.

168
00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,840
We're talking about spiritual
death, spiritual separation, spiritual

169
00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:06,280
punishment that falls upon us
if we are living and dying in our

170
00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:06,640
sin.

171
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,160
For the wages of sin is death.

172
00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:15,490
But going to see here today
that there is also a payment that

173
00:07:15,490 --> 00:07:18,970
was given for us and that's
what we're going to talk about here.

174
00:07:18,970 --> 00:07:19,810
Romans, chapter six.

175
00:07:19,810 --> 00:07:21,290
Look at verse number 19 with me.

176
00:07:21,930 --> 00:07:25,170
Paul addresses the people that
he's talking to when it comes to

177
00:07:25,170 --> 00:07:28,650
this idea of living in
righteousness, living in obedience,

178
00:07:28,970 --> 00:07:32,730
living in accordance to being
a servant of God and not servant

179
00:07:32,730 --> 00:07:33,250
to sin.

180
00:07:33,250 --> 00:07:35,930
And he says, I speak after the
manner of men.

181
00:07:37,130 --> 00:07:39,500
He says, what is he saying here?

182
00:07:39,500 --> 00:07:41,140
He says, I'm going to speak to
you as a man.

183
00:07:41,140 --> 00:07:44,300
I'm going to speak to you in
man's ways because of the infirmity

184
00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:45,300
of your flesh.

185
00:07:46,660 --> 00:07:48,420
The idea here would be this.

186
00:07:49,220 --> 00:07:53,100
He's going to speak to them in
a way that they can understand in

187
00:07:53,100 --> 00:07:53,780
human terms.

188
00:07:53,940 --> 00:07:54,339
Why?

189
00:07:54,820 --> 00:07:57,380
Because of our human limitations.

190
00:07:58,260 --> 00:08:03,300
Ultimately we can't explain or
understand completely the grandeur

191
00:08:03,300 --> 00:08:05,670
of God, the power of God, the
grace of God.

192
00:08:05,670 --> 00:08:09,830
But Paul says, I'm going to
speak to you in human terms so that

193
00:08:09,830 --> 00:08:11,830
you can understand in your limitations.

194
00:08:13,030 --> 00:08:14,390
And then he goes further here.

195
00:08:15,190 --> 00:08:19,070
He says, for as ye have
yielded your members, remember what

196
00:08:19,070 --> 00:08:20,109
the Bible says is members.

197
00:08:20,109 --> 00:08:23,750
The members is our body, our
parts of our body says, as you have

198
00:08:23,750 --> 00:08:26,630
yielded your members, servants
to uncleanness and to iniquity.

199
00:08:26,630 --> 00:08:30,430
Unto iniquity, meaning this is
how you were before we yielded or

200
00:08:30,430 --> 00:08:34,589
gave over our bodies to see
sin uncleanness.

201
00:08:34,669 --> 00:08:36,749
That idea of iniquity would be the.

202
00:08:36,749 --> 00:08:38,589
The understanding of lawlessness.

203
00:08:38,669 --> 00:08:40,429
And so what he's basically
saying is this.

204
00:08:40,669 --> 00:08:44,029
When you lived in lawlessness,
all it brought was lawlessness.

205
00:08:44,749 --> 00:08:46,909
Evil just always is going to
bring evil.

206
00:08:47,069 --> 00:08:50,709
It's the classic idea of what
we sow is what we're going to reap.

207
00:08:50,709 --> 00:08:53,589
And he says, before, when you
lived in iniquity, all you got was

208
00:08:53,589 --> 00:08:54,189
iniquity.

209
00:08:54,429 --> 00:08:56,989
When you lived in that
emptiness, all you got was emptiness.

210
00:08:57,709 --> 00:09:01,149
And so it's that idea of
lawlessness will always bring lawlessness.

211
00:09:01,149 --> 00:09:02,109
But then he goes on further.

212
00:09:02,109 --> 00:09:06,470
He says, even so now, now that
you are saved, now that you are changed,

213
00:09:06,470 --> 00:09:07,550
even so now yield.

214
00:09:07,710 --> 00:09:09,150
Now remember that word yield means.

215
00:09:09,150 --> 00:09:11,470
Yield means to submit, to give
over, to.

216
00:09:11,470 --> 00:09:13,430
To allow someone else to guide us.

217
00:09:13,430 --> 00:09:17,310
He says, now so yield your
members, servants to righteousness,

218
00:09:17,310 --> 00:09:18,430
unto holiness.

219
00:09:19,710 --> 00:09:21,070
So before we're saved, all.

220
00:09:21,070 --> 00:09:24,710
All we can do is go to sin lawlessness.

221
00:09:24,710 --> 00:09:25,710
And what does that bring?

222
00:09:25,790 --> 00:09:28,850
It brings forth death, it
brings forth punishment, it brings

223
00:09:28,850 --> 00:09:32,050
forth emptiness, it brings
forth more sin, more lawlessness.

224
00:09:32,050 --> 00:09:34,050
But he says, now what do you
yield to?

225
00:09:34,210 --> 00:09:38,730
You yield your members as
servants to righteousness, God's

226
00:09:38,730 --> 00:09:41,970
righteousness, and therefore
God's righteousness is important

227
00:09:41,970 --> 00:09:42,450
to us.

228
00:09:42,450 --> 00:09:44,290
And what does that bring that
brings holiness?

229
00:09:44,770 --> 00:09:48,770
That Brings sanctification,
that brings spiritual growth, brings

230
00:09:48,770 --> 00:09:50,690
the opposite of what sin
brought us.

231
00:09:51,250 --> 00:09:53,810
And so here in our Christian
life, I want you to understand that

232
00:09:53,810 --> 00:09:57,010
as we trust in God,
positionally we are saved.

233
00:09:57,010 --> 00:10:01,410
And that word sanctified means
to be set apart, to be set apart

234
00:10:01,410 --> 00:10:02,450
for a specific use.

235
00:10:02,450 --> 00:10:06,130
And so at the moment of our
salvation, we are positionally changed.

236
00:10:06,690 --> 00:10:09,090
But that doesn't mean that our
spiritual life is over.

237
00:10:09,410 --> 00:10:11,170
That's actually when it first begins.

238
00:10:11,490 --> 00:10:15,170
And so now we are on a process
of becoming more and more like Christ

239
00:10:15,330 --> 00:10:17,330
in the more that we submit to Him.

240
00:10:17,970 --> 00:10:22,020
And so if we were to pull
every single person here today, most

241
00:10:22,020 --> 00:10:24,900
likely all of us are at a
different point in our spiritual

242
00:10:24,900 --> 00:10:25,460
growth process.

243
00:10:25,460 --> 00:10:28,420
If you're a believer today,
you are on that spiritual growth

244
00:10:28,420 --> 00:10:28,780
process.

245
00:10:29,020 --> 00:10:31,740
Some of you might have just
gotten on that process, right on

246
00:10:31,740 --> 00:10:32,060
that.

247
00:10:32,060 --> 00:10:33,580
You just jumped on the bus, right?

248
00:10:33,820 --> 00:10:37,020
You're on for maybe a few
days, a few years.

249
00:10:37,339 --> 00:10:39,860
Some of you, you've been on
that train for a long time in that

250
00:10:39,860 --> 00:10:40,860
spiritual growth process.

251
00:10:41,340 --> 00:10:42,620
But the idea would be this.

252
00:10:43,180 --> 00:10:48,300
When we submit ourselves over
to be used by God in his righteousness,

253
00:10:48,550 --> 00:10:50,550
that brings us to a place of
spiritual growth.

254
00:10:50,870 --> 00:10:52,670
We are dying to those old ways.

255
00:10:52,670 --> 00:10:56,270
We are, we are presenting our
bodies, our lives, a living sacrifice

256
00:10:56,270 --> 00:10:56,950
unto God.

257
00:10:56,950 --> 00:10:58,710
And that's where we see
spiritual growth.

258
00:10:58,790 --> 00:11:01,270
Spiritual growth doesn't just
come from reading our Bibles.

259
00:11:01,270 --> 00:11:05,430
Even though we should read our
Bibles, we should study the Word

260
00:11:05,430 --> 00:11:07,310
of God, we should meditate
upon the Word of God.

261
00:11:07,310 --> 00:11:09,630
But I think we all can
understand that people can read the

262
00:11:09,630 --> 00:11:11,030
Bible, and that does not
change them.

263
00:11:11,030 --> 00:11:12,390
That doesn't make them grow.

264
00:11:12,870 --> 00:11:15,670
And so it's having that heart
of submission that I'm reading the

265
00:11:15,670 --> 00:11:16,310
Word of God.

266
00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:18,040
This is God speaking to me.

267
00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,920
And therefore I'm going to
apply this, believe this, and then

268
00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,440
set aside what God has called
me to do as my priority.

269
00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:26,480
His priority has become my priority.

270
00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,440
And therefore I'm going to die
to my flesh, and I'm going to yield

271
00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:31,240
to the Spirit.

272
00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,600
Ephesians, chapter four tells
us all about this.

273
00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:35,320
And I want you to go there
with me here this morning.

274
00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,280
Ephesians, chapter four speaks
of this process.

275
00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:40,720
And I think that we have to
all understand this as believers,

276
00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,410
because I don't know about
you, but in my life I thought that

277
00:11:44,410 --> 00:11:48,130
once I was saved, once I had
given my life over to God, then at

278
00:11:48,130 --> 00:11:50,530
that point everything was
going to run smoothly, that I wouldn't

279
00:11:50,530 --> 00:11:55,090
have any more temptation, that
I wouldn't have any more inclination

280
00:11:55,090 --> 00:11:56,690
to go in the path of sin.

281
00:11:56,690 --> 00:11:59,890
But the Bible says that even
though we are changed and our identity

282
00:11:59,890 --> 00:12:02,570
is new, we are still wrestling
with that flesh.

283
00:12:02,650 --> 00:12:05,930
We are still wrestling with,
as the Bible calls it, the old man.

284
00:12:05,930 --> 00:12:08,850
And so though we have a new
identity, there is that struggle.

285
00:12:08,850 --> 00:12:10,170
So how do we spiritually grow?

286
00:12:11,470 --> 00:12:14,710
Well, where I was growing up,
there was a standard answer for this.

287
00:12:14,710 --> 00:12:18,670
Read your Bible, pray, go to
church, and if you do those three

288
00:12:18,670 --> 00:12:19,870
things, you'll just grow.

289
00:12:21,390 --> 00:12:22,750
There's actually a song about that.

290
00:12:23,150 --> 00:12:23,470
But.

291
00:12:23,470 --> 00:12:24,590
But the idea would be this.

292
00:12:24,590 --> 00:12:29,310
You could read your Bible, you
can pray and you can go to church,

293
00:12:29,470 --> 00:12:31,470
but at the same time, leave unchanged.

294
00:12:32,110 --> 00:12:32,430
Why?

295
00:12:32,430 --> 00:12:35,910
Because ultimately the Bible
speaks of this change, this growth

296
00:12:35,910 --> 00:12:39,390
being something that's
supernatural, something coming from

297
00:12:39,390 --> 00:12:42,590
more than just us taking us a
checklist and going through those

298
00:12:42,590 --> 00:12:43,070
steps.

299
00:12:43,070 --> 00:12:44,150
It's a heart change.

300
00:12:44,150 --> 00:12:45,470
It's a new desire.

301
00:12:45,470 --> 00:12:45,990
It's a.

302
00:12:45,990 --> 00:12:48,750
It's a transition from the old
way to the new way.

303
00:12:48,990 --> 00:12:51,710
And so in Ephesians, chapter
four, we could go to a lot of places,

304
00:12:51,710 --> 00:12:52,830
but we could go to verse 17.

305
00:12:53,070 --> 00:12:54,030
And he says this.

306
00:12:54,030 --> 00:12:58,390
I say, therefore, and testify
in the Lord that ye henceforth walk

307
00:12:58,390 --> 00:13:01,510
not as other Gentiles walk in
the vanity of their mind.

308
00:13:01,510 --> 00:13:02,190
Meaning this.

309
00:13:02,350 --> 00:13:04,110
Don't walk the way that you
used to walk.

310
00:13:04,110 --> 00:13:05,870
Don't walk like the unsaved.

311
00:13:06,770 --> 00:13:09,170
That phrase, their vanity of
their mind, means this.

312
00:13:09,250 --> 00:13:14,010
The emptiness of a worldly way
of thinking, having the understanding

313
00:13:14,010 --> 00:13:18,090
darkened, being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance

314
00:13:18,090 --> 00:13:20,970
that is in them because of the
blindness of their heart.

315
00:13:20,970 --> 00:13:21,610
He says this.

316
00:13:21,610 --> 00:13:25,610
The unsaved person is living
in blindness because they cannot

317
00:13:25,610 --> 00:13:26,210
see the truth.

318
00:13:26,290 --> 00:13:27,490
They cannot see the light.

319
00:13:27,570 --> 00:13:30,410
And he says, if you are a
believer, don't go back to that old

320
00:13:30,410 --> 00:13:30,610
way.

321
00:13:30,610 --> 00:13:31,890
Don't live like you're blind.

322
00:13:32,630 --> 00:13:35,630
You have new sight, you have
new eyes, you have a new hope, new

323
00:13:35,630 --> 00:13:35,910
light.

324
00:13:35,990 --> 00:13:38,710
And so he says, verse 19, who
being past feeling.

325
00:13:38,710 --> 00:13:41,190
And he's talking about people
that are unsaved, giving themselves

326
00:13:41,190 --> 00:13:45,590
over to lasciviousness or
lewdness or sensuality, to work all

327
00:13:45,590 --> 00:13:47,070
uncleanness with greediness.

328
00:13:47,070 --> 00:13:49,750
He's describing somebody who
is not in Christ.

329
00:13:49,830 --> 00:13:51,670
And he says, why should we
live that way?

330
00:13:51,910 --> 00:13:56,510
He says, Verse 20, but ye have
not so learned Christ, if so be that

331
00:13:56,510 --> 00:14:00,110
ye have heard him and, and
have been taught by him, as the truth

332
00:14:00,110 --> 00:14:00,910
is in Jesus.

333
00:14:00,990 --> 00:14:03,750
So he says, if you have
trusted in him, if you have heard

334
00:14:03,750 --> 00:14:07,830
from him, if he has taught you
verse 22, that you put off concerning

335
00:14:07,830 --> 00:14:11,310
the former conversation or the
former lifestyle of the old man,

336
00:14:11,310 --> 00:14:15,430
which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lust and be renewed

337
00:14:15,430 --> 00:14:17,990
in the spirit of your mind,
meaning this is the way that we think.

338
00:14:17,990 --> 00:14:18,990
This is what we believe.

339
00:14:19,310 --> 00:14:19,750
This is.

340
00:14:19,750 --> 00:14:23,390
This is ultimately what we
are, trusting it to be renewed in

341
00:14:23,390 --> 00:14:26,090
righteousness, to be renewed
in our spirits.

342
00:14:26,330 --> 00:14:27,050
Verse 24.

343
00:14:27,050 --> 00:14:32,610
That ye put on the new man
which is after God and created, is

344
00:14:32,610 --> 00:14:34,170
created in righteousness and
true holiness.

345
00:14:34,170 --> 00:14:37,410
So he says, put on God which
the fruit of that would be righteousness

346
00:14:37,410 --> 00:14:38,170
and true holiness.

347
00:14:39,290 --> 00:14:41,930
Then he says, wherefore
Putting away lying.

348
00:14:42,490 --> 00:14:44,490
Speak every man truth with his neighbor.

349
00:14:45,290 --> 00:14:46,650
The idea here would be this.

350
00:14:46,730 --> 00:14:50,650
We need to stop doing the bad,
but we need to insert the power of

351
00:14:50,650 --> 00:14:52,330
God in our life so that we can
do the good.

352
00:14:52,660 --> 00:14:55,220
So we don't just stop lying,
even though we should stop lying.

353
00:14:55,300 --> 00:14:56,260
What does he say there?

354
00:14:56,260 --> 00:14:58,180
Speak every man truth with his neighbor.

355
00:14:58,180 --> 00:15:01,980
So don't just stop lying, but
speak truth, for we are members one

356
00:15:01,980 --> 00:15:02,340
of another.

357
00:15:02,420 --> 00:15:03,780
Be angry and sin not.

358
00:15:03,780 --> 00:15:05,260
Let not the sun go down upon
your wrath.

359
00:15:05,260 --> 00:15:07,860
That's a whole sermon in of
itself that we shouldn't be living

360
00:15:07,860 --> 00:15:11,380
in in selfish, egotistical
pride and anger.

361
00:15:11,780 --> 00:15:12,900
But then he goes on to say more.

362
00:15:12,900 --> 00:15:13,540
Verse 27.

363
00:15:13,540 --> 00:15:14,740
Neither give place to the devil.

364
00:15:14,740 --> 00:15:15,060
Why?

365
00:15:15,140 --> 00:15:17,500
Because when we do these
things, we give place to the devil

366
00:15:17,500 --> 00:15:18,260
to attack us.

367
00:15:18,700 --> 00:15:19,620
And we don't grow.

368
00:15:19,620 --> 00:15:20,860
We are stunted in our growth.

369
00:15:20,860 --> 00:15:21,620
Verse 28.

370
00:15:21,620 --> 00:15:25,260
Let him that stole steal no
more, but rather let him labor working

371
00:15:25,260 --> 00:15:26,020
with his hands.

372
00:15:26,020 --> 00:15:29,380
The thing which is good that
he may have to give to him that needeth

373
00:15:29,380 --> 00:15:34,739
meaning this don't just stop
sealing, but now work hard and get

374
00:15:34,739 --> 00:15:36,700
those things and give back to
those that are in need.

375
00:15:36,940 --> 00:15:40,420
Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that

376
00:15:40,420 --> 00:15:43,580
which is good to the use of
edifying, that it may minister grace

377
00:15:43,580 --> 00:15:44,380
unto the hearers.

378
00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,000
And so verse 29 tells us here
that what we say matters.

379
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:49,400
We talked about this last
week, right?

380
00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:52,240
One of the members that we
sometimes cannot tame in our own

381
00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:53,240
strength is our tongue.

382
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:55,280
And we can say things that
hurt people.

383
00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:57,160
We can say things that tear
other people down.

384
00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:01,120
And the Bible says here the
mark of a person walking in the new

385
00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:01,800
man, in the.

386
00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:05,600
In the new way and in the
spirit is that nothing corrupt comes

387
00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:06,160
out of our mouth.

388
00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,520
That word corrupt has this
idea of decaying flesh nastiness,

389
00:16:11,540 --> 00:16:11,940
okay?

390
00:16:12,020 --> 00:16:14,620
And it's this idea that what
comes out of our mouth tears other

391
00:16:14,620 --> 00:16:19,580
people down, destroys says,
let no corrupt communication proceed

392
00:16:19,580 --> 00:16:23,540
out of your mouth but that
which is good to the use of edifying

393
00:16:23,860 --> 00:16:25,740
that it may minister grace
unto the hearers.

394
00:16:25,740 --> 00:16:26,580
And so what do we do?

395
00:16:26,580 --> 00:16:31,860
We speak things to people and
about people that lift them up and

396
00:16:31,860 --> 00:16:32,740
extend grace.

397
00:16:33,780 --> 00:16:36,220
The new life is not just
about, well, I'm going to shut my

398
00:16:36,220 --> 00:16:36,580
mouth.

399
00:16:37,590 --> 00:16:39,590
I'm not going to say what I
feel about that person.

400
00:16:40,870 --> 00:16:45,190
But the new life is having a
changed heart to speak grace and

401
00:16:45,270 --> 00:16:47,430
build other people up in the
truth of God.

402
00:16:48,070 --> 00:16:49,470
And so it's not just stopping.

403
00:16:49,470 --> 00:16:53,029
Because a lot of times what
happens is a church, even fundamental

404
00:16:53,030 --> 00:16:55,830
Bible believing churches will
be known for what they are against,

405
00:16:56,150 --> 00:16:58,310
and we should be known for
what we are against.

406
00:16:58,470 --> 00:17:01,550
But at the same time, I think
biblically speaking, we should also

407
00:17:01,550 --> 00:17:04,520
know what we are for when it
comes to the gospel, when it comes

408
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,880
to reaching people for the
cause of grace and for the cause

409
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:09,920
of forgiveness and for the
cause of salvation.

410
00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,520
So he says here, don't let
that type of commun.

411
00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,040
Communication come out of your
mouth, but for that, that is good

412
00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:18,760
and that is edifying and that
is ministering grace.

413
00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:21,080
Then he speaks of this in
verse 30.

414
00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:24,560
And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto

415
00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:25,280
the day of redemption.

416
00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:26,680
Again, man, there's so much here.

417
00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:28,200
But what we could say is this.

418
00:17:28,930 --> 00:17:33,490
When we give into the flesh,
when we yield to the flesh, we are

419
00:17:33,490 --> 00:17:36,250
grieving the Holy Spirit, right?

420
00:17:36,250 --> 00:17:37,690
We're grieving the Holy Spirit.

421
00:17:37,690 --> 00:17:38,690
And what does it say here?

422
00:17:38,690 --> 00:17:40,530
Why, why is that such a contradiction?

423
00:17:40,530 --> 00:17:44,689
Because it is the Holy Spirit
he is holding on to us as it says

424
00:17:44,689 --> 00:17:46,410
we are sealed until the day of redemption.

425
00:17:46,410 --> 00:17:49,890
That idea of being sealed is
being promised, being held together.

426
00:17:50,610 --> 00:17:51,250
And so the.

427
00:17:51,250 --> 00:17:53,050
The Holy Spirit is the one who
is sealing us.

428
00:17:53,050 --> 00:17:55,890
And so therefore what we must
do is yield to him, not grieve him.

429
00:17:56,250 --> 00:17:57,930
We grieve him by disobedience, by.

430
00:17:57,930 --> 00:17:59,370
By yielding to the flesh.

431
00:17:59,450 --> 00:18:00,250
Verse 31.

432
00:18:00,250 --> 00:18:04,450
Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking

433
00:18:04,450 --> 00:18:07,450
be put away from you with all
malice, meaning all those things

434
00:18:07,450 --> 00:18:10,250
that are negative when it
comes to bitterness and, and anger

435
00:18:10,250 --> 00:18:13,330
and fighting and cursing and
malice, that's.

436
00:18:13,330 --> 00:18:15,250
That's hatred towards someone
wishing them evil.

437
00:18:15,250 --> 00:18:16,810
He says all that should be gone.

438
00:18:17,690 --> 00:18:22,760
And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another.

439
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,680
Why, why should we live this
way, even as God for Christ's sake

440
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:28,120
hath forgiven you?

441
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,560
We treat others as we have
been treated when it comes to the

442
00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,600
idea of what Jesus Christ has
done for us.

443
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,280
We treat people with grace
because God has extended grace.

444
00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:38,840
We treat people with
forgiveness because God has extended

445
00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:39,480
forgiveness.

446
00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,040
And so what we can see in this
passage is this, this new way of

447
00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:47,080
walking, this new way of
thinking is dying to that old way

448
00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:48,840
and allowing God to lead our life.

449
00:18:50,510 --> 00:18:52,910
So going back, how do we
spiritually grow?

450
00:18:53,470 --> 00:18:55,110
Well, read your Bible, pray
and go to church.

451
00:18:55,110 --> 00:18:56,350
Well, those are great things.

452
00:18:56,510 --> 00:19:00,630
But in the process of reading
our Bibles and praying and going

453
00:19:00,630 --> 00:19:04,510
to church, we must allow for
as Ephesians chapter 4 says, we must

454
00:19:04,510 --> 00:19:08,390
allow for the Holy Spirit to
guide our lives, to allow the Holy

455
00:19:08,390 --> 00:19:11,230
Spirit to speak to us while we
are reading the Word of God.

456
00:19:11,710 --> 00:19:14,590
The Bible says that the Holy
Spirit will lead us into all truth.

457
00:19:15,850 --> 00:19:19,290
The Holy Spirit will convict,
the Holy Spirit will comfort.

458
00:19:19,450 --> 00:19:21,930
We must allow the Holy Spirit
to do his work.

459
00:19:21,930 --> 00:19:25,370
When the preaching of the word
of God is here this morning, folks,

460
00:19:25,370 --> 00:19:25,610
the.

461
00:19:25,610 --> 00:19:30,450
The nothing that we do in our
lives matters outside of what God

462
00:19:30,450 --> 00:19:31,330
has called us to do.

463
00:19:31,330 --> 00:19:32,450
And so what I would say is this.

464
00:19:32,450 --> 00:19:35,770
I could get up here and preach
in my flesh and it would mean nothing.

465
00:19:36,410 --> 00:19:39,530
I could read the Bible in my
flesh and it would need me.

466
00:19:39,530 --> 00:19:39,930
Nothing.

467
00:19:39,930 --> 00:19:42,410
I can pray in my flesh and it
would mean nothing.

468
00:19:43,190 --> 00:19:43,510
I could.

469
00:19:43,510 --> 00:19:45,990
I can go to church in the
flesh and it would mean nothing.

470
00:19:46,310 --> 00:19:49,350
I would serve in the ministry,
but it would mean nothing if I'm

471
00:19:49,350 --> 00:19:50,470
doing it in my flesh.

472
00:19:50,790 --> 00:19:53,110
And so what I'm getting to
here this morning is the Bible says

473
00:19:53,110 --> 00:19:53,670
it's a.

474
00:19:53,670 --> 00:19:56,790
It's a process of allowing the
Spirit to guide us in these things.

475
00:19:57,430 --> 00:20:00,430
I'm going to read the Bible
and ask the Lord to reveal to me

476
00:20:00,430 --> 00:20:03,710
the truth that he would have
in my life that I should apply and

477
00:20:03,710 --> 00:20:06,390
that I should change and that
I should be convicted in and that

478
00:20:06,390 --> 00:20:09,670
I should repent and actually
turn around and have revival and

479
00:20:09,670 --> 00:20:10,510
renewed in my heart.

480
00:20:10,510 --> 00:20:13,800
And so, yes, I pray, but I
pray as the Bible says.

481
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,360
I pray to the Father in the
name of Jesus and the power of the

482
00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:16,800
Spirit.

483
00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,400
When I go to church, I'm not
just coming to church to look around

484
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:21,840
to see what other people are doing.

485
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:24,000
Who's here, who's not here.

486
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:26,240
Did I approve of that music today?

487
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:28,240
Did I like what the pastor said?

488
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:29,320
Did he tell good stories?

489
00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:29,600
No.

490
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,000
I'm coming to church with the
understanding of the Holy Spirit's

491
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,520
leading me here to be taught
to if, maybe even if the Holy Spirit's

492
00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,120
challenging me to come
alongside of someone else and encourage

493
00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:41,630
them and exhort them and edify them.

494
00:20:41,710 --> 00:20:44,310
And so what I'm getting to
here this morning is this, as the

495
00:20:44,310 --> 00:20:48,910
book of Romans 6 says, is that
we are guided in the Spirit, we yield

496
00:20:49,070 --> 00:20:49,870
to the Spirit.

497
00:20:50,590 --> 00:20:54,430
I could get up here and say,
all of you that are not living A

498
00:20:54,430 --> 00:20:56,750
good godly life need to come
down right here this morning.

499
00:20:57,310 --> 00:21:00,470
And I'm going to discipline
every single one of you and I'm going

500
00:21:00,470 --> 00:21:02,750
to give you the list of what
you need to do to get your life right.

501
00:21:02,750 --> 00:21:04,350
And I'm going to be checking
you on this.

502
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,640
The reality is, is that some
people might in some degree be able

503
00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:11,640
to say, okay, well that's a
list I need to follow.

504
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:12,840
And I'm going to try to do that.

505
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,600
But at the end of the day,
that's not Holy Spirit change.

506
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:18,520
That's not spiritual growth.

507
00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,000
Spiritual growth is not
following a list of rules.

508
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,200
Spiritual growth is saying,
God, I want to be more like you.

509
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:29,160
I want to die to those things
in my life that I used to love.

510
00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:30,760
I want to be different.

511
00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:32,960
I want to be strange to the world.

512
00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:34,640
And so it's a heart issue.

513
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,200
It's not about following a
list of rules.

514
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:38,920
Now would somebody say, hey,
you know what?

515
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:44,080
I'm growing in the Lord, but
I'm not reading my Bible, I'm not

516
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:45,840
praying, I'm not going to church.

517
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,080
The reality is, with that is,
if you are growing in the Lord and

518
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,040
you're yielding the spirit,
those are all things that should

519
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:51,760
be happening.

520
00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,640
But at the same time, we must
know that it's the relationship with

521
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:57,120
God that's the most important thing.

522
00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,320
And so go back to Romans
chapter six with me.

523
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,200
He's speaking to this idea of
who is our master.

524
00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:07,000
He's really speaking to this
idea of the servant master relationship.

525
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:14,000
And he says basically this
verse number 20, for when ye were

526
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,200
the servants of sin, says, remember.

527
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:18,360
He says, what did that.

528
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:19,400
That sin bring you?

529
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:21,680
Well, iniquity to iniquity, Lawlessness.

530
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:22,520
To lawlessness.

531
00:22:22,850 --> 00:22:26,930
He says, remember when you
were servants to sin, when you were.

532
00:22:26,930 --> 00:22:30,810
It's almost like, almost like
in, in a, in a joking way, sarcastic

533
00:22:30,810 --> 00:22:34,010
way, he says, when you were a
servant of sin, you were free from

534
00:22:34,010 --> 00:22:37,170
righteousness, you were bound
by righteousness, you were free to

535
00:22:37,170 --> 00:22:38,450
do whatever you wanted to do.

536
00:22:38,450 --> 00:22:40,930
You were not bound by being a
godly person.

537
00:22:41,170 --> 00:22:43,810
You could just freely choose
whatever you wanted to do.

538
00:22:44,130 --> 00:22:45,610
You were free from righteousness.

539
00:22:45,610 --> 00:22:48,130
You, you were away from that
verse 21.

540
00:22:48,940 --> 00:22:51,540
Then he comes back and he
says, okay, what type of fruit did

541
00:22:51,540 --> 00:22:52,220
that bring you?

542
00:22:52,940 --> 00:22:55,980
How did that lifestyle work
out for you?

543
00:22:56,380 --> 00:23:00,300
What fruit had ye then in
those things whereof ye are now ashamed?

544
00:23:01,180 --> 00:23:03,700
He says, if you're a believer
in Jesus Christ here this morning

545
00:23:03,700 --> 00:23:06,540
and God has changed you, you
should be ashamed of what happened

546
00:23:06,540 --> 00:23:07,100
in your past.

547
00:23:08,060 --> 00:23:11,300
No, he's not saying live in
that shame and live in that condemnation.

548
00:23:11,300 --> 00:23:12,100
But what is he saying?

549
00:23:12,100 --> 00:23:17,140
He says when you were living
in that sin, the only fruit that

550
00:23:17,140 --> 00:23:19,540
you had was things that you
should be ashamed of as a believer,

551
00:23:20,580 --> 00:23:22,580
for the end of those things is death.

552
00:23:23,940 --> 00:23:25,540
He says our desire should be different.

553
00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:29,180
He says, oh, you thought you
had freedom when you were unsaved.

554
00:23:29,180 --> 00:23:31,740
You thought you had freedom
when you were living in rebellion.

555
00:23:31,740 --> 00:23:32,940
Well, you did have freedom.

556
00:23:32,940 --> 00:23:36,940
You had freedom to not sin and
go back to sin, or, excuse me, freedom

557
00:23:36,940 --> 00:23:39,020
to not go to righteousness and
go to sin.

558
00:23:39,020 --> 00:23:41,960
He said all you had was you
were going back to sin, you were

559
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,760
free from righteousness, and
the only fruit that you had from

560
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:46,560
that, as it says there, brings
forth death.

561
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,520
But now, he says the change is now.

562
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:51,760
But now being made free from sin.

563
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:54,320
So before you were free from
righteousness, you were free.

564
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,040
Say it this way, you were free
of righteousness in your life.

565
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,360
There was no righteousness in
our life before we came to Christ.

566
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:00,760
Then he says more here.

567
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:06,360
He says, but now that you are
in God's righteousness, you are made

568
00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:07,520
free from sin.

569
00:24:08,790 --> 00:24:12,350
So he's contrasting these two
things, these two situations.

570
00:24:12,350 --> 00:24:17,670
In our life before we came to
Christ, we were free of righteousness

571
00:24:17,670 --> 00:24:18,870
and only in sin.

572
00:24:19,190 --> 00:24:23,430
Now he says you should be free
from sin and living in righteousness,

573
00:24:23,830 --> 00:24:27,350
but now being made free from
sin and become servants to God.

574
00:24:27,350 --> 00:24:30,390
Before he says you were
servants of sin, now you are servants

575
00:24:30,390 --> 00:24:30,950
to God.

576
00:24:31,750 --> 00:24:33,190
What type of fruit does that bring?

577
00:24:34,550 --> 00:24:39,910
Well, he says in verse 22, Ye
have your fruit unto holiness and

578
00:24:39,910 --> 00:24:41,670
the end everlasting life.

579
00:24:42,230 --> 00:24:45,510
He says this, you know what
the fruit is now of living in Christ.

580
00:24:45,910 --> 00:24:49,110
You get to live a life of sanctification.

581
00:24:49,270 --> 00:24:51,270
You get to live a life of
spiritual growth.

582
00:24:51,430 --> 00:24:54,150
You get to live a life now
where you can serve the one true

583
00:24:54,150 --> 00:24:54,670
creator.

584
00:24:54,670 --> 00:25:00,040
And ultimately that's
culminated in everlasting life, eternal

585
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:04,400
life with him in his presence,
forever and ever and ever.

586
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:11,440
He says, before all the fruit
you had was sin, brokenness and death

587
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:13,120
coming to Christ.

588
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,000
The fruit is now life of blessing.

589
00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:19,120
You get to live a life of fulfillment.

590
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,160
You get to live a life of
satisfaction and sustenance in the

591
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:23,520
Lord.

592
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,640
And ultimately it's culminated
with an everlasting life with him.

593
00:25:28,460 --> 00:25:31,300
And then he capstones all of
this with this amazing verse.

594
00:25:31,300 --> 00:25:35,140
I believe there's many verses
that we can summarize the gospel

595
00:25:35,140 --> 00:25:39,460
in, but I. I don't know very
many that are better than Romans

596
00:25:39,460 --> 00:25:40,220
6, 23.

597
00:25:40,700 --> 00:25:43,340
I think you can lead someone
to Christ through this verse.

598
00:25:43,820 --> 00:25:45,700
Some of you have maybe heard
of the Romans Road.

599
00:25:45,700 --> 00:25:47,540
This is the, this is the place.

600
00:25:47,540 --> 00:25:49,180
This is where we need to take people.

601
00:25:49,180 --> 00:25:52,540
It says here, for the wages of
sin is death.

602
00:25:54,370 --> 00:25:58,290
Every person must come to the
understanding that sin will bring

603
00:25:58,530 --> 00:25:58,930
death.

604
00:25:59,090 --> 00:26:01,090
The payment of sin is death.

605
00:26:01,810 --> 00:26:04,290
All of us know what it means
to, to earn a wage.

606
00:26:05,330 --> 00:26:08,770
Some of us have worked for a
long time and you go into your job,

607
00:26:08,770 --> 00:26:14,050
you do what you do, and what
happens is that you come and then

608
00:26:14,050 --> 00:26:16,370
at the end of a week or two
weeks or a month, however you're

609
00:26:16,370 --> 00:26:19,650
paid, you get a, hopefully a
fair wage, what you have earned.

610
00:26:20,770 --> 00:26:25,330
And the Bible says that all we
can ever earn in our own strength,

611
00:26:26,450 --> 00:26:31,570
all we can ever earn in our
own righteousness, in our good works,

612
00:26:33,250 --> 00:26:36,770
in our love, as it says here,
is death.

613
00:26:37,570 --> 00:26:40,810
We know that the book of
Isaiah teaches that even our good

614
00:26:40,810 --> 00:26:45,810
works, our best works, are
like filthy rags before God's perfection.

615
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,880
And so the biggest thing that
we have to take away with this verse

616
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:51,000
at the beginning is this.

617
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:52,920
All of us are sinners.

618
00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:55,320
All of us are sinners.

619
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,200
You go back a little bit, you
say, well, I don't know about that.

620
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:00,200
I'm a pretty good person.

621
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:02,680
Romans, chapter 3, verse 23.

622
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,440
For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God.

623
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:14,760
We all have to come to a place
of realization, humility, recognition

624
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,680
that we have fallen short of
the glory of God.

625
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:22,200
If you feel like you can reach
the glory of God, you're never going,

626
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,040
going to come to a place of
faith and humility.

627
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:24,480
Why?

628
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,720
Because why would I need God
if I can reach it myself?

629
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:27,720
Why do I need God?

630
00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:31,360
The world's teaching today is
a very humanistic viewpoint of that

631
00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:32,440
you are your own God.

632
00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:33,320
Worship yourself.

633
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:35,800
Have pride in what you are about.

634
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:37,920
Have pride in your identity.

635
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:38,600
Folks, I.

636
00:27:39,330 --> 00:27:43,210
So I don't want my identity
because my identity outside of Christ

637
00:27:43,210 --> 00:27:44,610
is a failure.

638
00:27:44,690 --> 00:27:47,410
My identity outside of Christ
falls so short.

639
00:27:49,090 --> 00:27:51,330
And so the world's teaching is
worship yourself.

640
00:27:52,210 --> 00:27:53,330
You can earn it.

641
00:27:53,730 --> 00:27:55,890
You can be glorified.

642
00:27:56,770 --> 00:28:00,050
You can lift yourself up on an
idol and expect everyone else to

643
00:28:00,050 --> 00:28:00,610
do the same.

644
00:28:00,690 --> 00:28:02,930
The Bible says the complete opposite.

645
00:28:04,130 --> 00:28:06,460
You, you cannot reach that peak.

646
00:28:06,460 --> 00:28:09,700
You cannot be good, you cannot
be holy.

647
00:28:09,700 --> 00:28:11,100
You cannot save yourself.

648
00:28:11,100 --> 00:28:14,540
And therefore we must agree
that that sin has brought me to a

649
00:28:14,540 --> 00:28:17,340
place of humility and
desperate need of a Savior.

650
00:28:18,140 --> 00:28:21,180
Sometimes we forget about that
desperate need that we had.

651
00:28:21,260 --> 00:28:26,460
We think that maybe you know
what, God loved me and maybe I deserved

652
00:28:26,460 --> 00:28:26,940
his love.

653
00:28:28,460 --> 00:28:30,860
The Bible says no, we are
bought with a price.

654
00:28:31,980 --> 00:28:35,500
Jesus came and gave his life
up for those who were broken.

655
00:28:35,500 --> 00:28:38,340
Jesus came and gave his life
for those who would sin against him.

656
00:28:38,340 --> 00:28:39,820
We know that through Romans 5e.

657
00:28:40,300 --> 00:28:43,500
But God commended or
demonstrated his love toward us in

658
00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:46,620
that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.

659
00:28:47,980 --> 00:28:54,460
All of us, male or female,
young or old, must come to an understanding

660
00:28:54,460 --> 00:28:57,100
that I did not deserve the
grace of God.

661
00:28:58,190 --> 00:29:00,510
I do not deserve his love.

662
00:29:00,750 --> 00:29:03,950
I do not deserve his salvation.

663
00:29:04,670 --> 00:29:07,390
I deserve pain, suffering, death.

664
00:29:07,550 --> 00:29:08,110
That's.

665
00:29:08,110 --> 00:29:13,269
That's hard for us to say, but
that's in that brokenness, in that

666
00:29:13,269 --> 00:29:16,390
humility, and in that
submission is where we can come to

667
00:29:16,390 --> 00:29:18,030
God and say, I need you.

668
00:29:18,910 --> 00:29:20,990
I'm in desperate need of your grace.

669
00:29:21,150 --> 00:29:24,690
And if I just read the first
passage there, the first part of

670
00:29:24,690 --> 00:29:27,690
verse 23, to people in the
world, I say, guys, for the wages

671
00:29:27,690 --> 00:29:28,410
of sin is death.

672
00:29:28,410 --> 00:29:29,130
See you guys later.

673
00:29:29,130 --> 00:29:29,610
It's over.

674
00:29:29,610 --> 00:29:30,410
Have a great day.

675
00:29:31,770 --> 00:29:34,010
That's a message of
hopelessness, really.

676
00:29:34,330 --> 00:29:35,610
All of us are sinners.

677
00:29:36,170 --> 00:29:37,530
All of us deserve death.

678
00:29:39,130 --> 00:29:41,530
But there's more.

679
00:29:43,210 --> 00:29:46,610
And anytime we see this idea
of transition, we see that, hey,

680
00:29:46,610 --> 00:29:49,450
yes, from this perspective, I
am a sinner.

681
00:29:49,750 --> 00:29:52,190
From this perspective, I do
deserve punishment.

682
00:29:52,190 --> 00:29:53,230
I do deserve death.

683
00:29:53,230 --> 00:29:54,390
I do deserve hell.

684
00:29:54,630 --> 00:29:57,270
But the gift of God.

685
00:29:59,750 --> 00:30:07,750
But the grace of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ

686
00:30:07,830 --> 00:30:08,550
our Lord.

687
00:30:08,950 --> 00:30:10,630
Meaning faith in Jesus.

688
00:30:12,470 --> 00:30:17,320
A belief that only Jesus in
his perfect work can save us is the

689
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:23,120
path, is the direction that we
can find eternal life.

690
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:23,960
John 3:16.

691
00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:26,440
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son.

692
00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:28,000
Romans 5:8.

693
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,680
God commended his love towards
us in that while we were yet sinners,

694
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:31,560
Christ died for us.

695
00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:33,000
That's the gift.

696
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:34,280
The gift of grace.

697
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:35,520
Ephesians chapter two.

698
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,200
Most of you, probably at some
point in your life, have heard Ephesians

699
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:40,240
2, 8, 9 quoted.

700
00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:41,640
Maybe you've even memorized it.

701
00:30:43,090 --> 00:30:47,250
For by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves.

702
00:30:48,450 --> 00:30:51,450
It is the gift of God, not of works.

703
00:30:51,450 --> 00:30:56,770
Lest any man should boast, the
Bible says that salvation is nothing

704
00:30:56,770 --> 00:30:57,730
that you do.

705
00:30:59,170 --> 00:31:03,450
Salvation is only trusting and
receiving the gift of grace that

706
00:31:03,450 --> 00:31:05,890
is extended to us in love.

707
00:31:07,740 --> 00:31:08,700
Used this analogy before.

708
00:31:08,780 --> 00:31:10,220
I think it was like three or
four weeks ago.

709
00:31:10,220 --> 00:31:11,420
I said, if we.

710
00:31:11,580 --> 00:31:12,060
If we.

711
00:31:12,060 --> 00:31:12,700
If we did this.

712
00:31:12,700 --> 00:31:14,140
This is hypothetical, by the way.

713
00:31:14,300 --> 00:31:17,300
If we had gift cards all out
in the lobby as you guys headed out.

714
00:31:17,300 --> 00:31:19,740
We had $100 Visa gift cards
just as you went out.

715
00:31:20,700 --> 00:31:22,940
That gift is extended to
everybody here today.

716
00:31:24,940 --> 00:31:27,300
But if someone is walking out
the door and they go, you know what?

717
00:31:27,300 --> 00:31:28,300
I don't need that $100.

718
00:31:28,540 --> 00:31:30,020
You know, who are you to tell me?

719
00:31:30,020 --> 00:31:30,860
I need your $100.

720
00:31:30,860 --> 00:31:31,300
I'm good.

721
00:31:31,300 --> 00:31:32,540
I've got enough money in my life.

722
00:31:32,700 --> 00:31:37,250
They could walk out and reject
that gift of grace that Middletown

723
00:31:37,250 --> 00:31:38,370
Baptist Church is extending.

724
00:31:39,170 --> 00:31:41,570
That's the idea of God's gift
of grace.

725
00:31:41,570 --> 00:31:43,490
He's extending that gift of
grace to all.

726
00:31:45,090 --> 00:31:47,690
The Bible says that as that
gift of grace is extended, there

727
00:31:47,690 --> 00:31:49,170
are those that can believe.

728
00:31:49,730 --> 00:31:53,530
And as John chapter 1, verse
12 says, Believe and receive as many

729
00:31:53,530 --> 00:31:54,690
as has received him.

730
00:31:55,330 --> 00:31:55,730
Right?

731
00:31:55,730 --> 00:31:58,290
But then at the same time,
there are those who can stiff arm

732
00:31:58,290 --> 00:32:00,970
the gospel, those that can
reject the gospel, that can say,

733
00:32:00,970 --> 00:32:02,290
I don't need that in my life.

734
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,240
Now, I'm not downplaying the
power and the role of the Holy Spirit's

735
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,280
work in salvation, but what I
am saying is the Bible says over

736
00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:13,840
and over again that the gift
of God, the gift of grace, the gift

737
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:14,720
of salvation.

738
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,000
So here this morning, it's not
a matter of you being a good person.

739
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:20,320
It's not a matter of you
coming to church.

740
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:22,560
It's not a matter of you doing
all the right things.

741
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:25,840
It's a matter of receiving the
gift of grace of God and saying,

742
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:27,600
that is what's going to save me.

743
00:32:28,650 --> 00:32:32,010
And so there, there is this
analogy that I, if I, I'm not a,

744
00:32:32,250 --> 00:32:35,170
a good artist, so I didn't
draw it up and put it up on the screen

745
00:32:35,170 --> 00:32:35,370
today.

746
00:32:35,370 --> 00:32:39,370
But if you can picture with
your mind's eye two cliffs, let's

747
00:32:39,370 --> 00:32:39,770
say the gr.

748
00:32:39,770 --> 00:32:41,090
How many of you have been to
the Grand Canyon?

749
00:32:41,090 --> 00:32:41,930
You've been to the Grand Canyon.

750
00:32:41,930 --> 00:32:42,730
There's two different sites.

751
00:32:42,730 --> 00:32:44,490
I've never been to the Grand
Canyon, but I've seen pictures.

752
00:32:44,490 --> 00:32:47,090
And there's two different
sides of the Grand Canyon.

753
00:32:47,090 --> 00:32:48,410
You have this side that drops off.

754
00:32:48,410 --> 00:32:49,690
You have this side that drops off.

755
00:32:49,770 --> 00:32:52,330
On this side is all of humanity.

756
00:32:53,210 --> 00:32:56,780
And, and basically this side
of, of, of the cliff here, we're

757
00:32:56,780 --> 00:32:57,900
trying to earn our own way.

758
00:32:57,900 --> 00:33:01,380
And, and, and I run and I try
to jump off that cliff and I go 20ft.

759
00:33:01,540 --> 00:33:03,460
This guy runs and jumps 30ft.

760
00:33:03,700 --> 00:33:05,700
This one runs and jumps two
feet, right?

761
00:33:05,700 --> 00:33:08,020
All of us are going to fall to
our demise because none of us can

762
00:33:08,020 --> 00:33:10,820
reach across that divide in
our good works.

763
00:33:11,620 --> 00:33:13,220
And then on the other side is perfection.

764
00:33:13,220 --> 00:33:14,220
The other side is holiness.

765
00:33:14,220 --> 00:33:15,500
The other side is heaven.

766
00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:16,780
The other side is eternal life.

767
00:33:16,780 --> 00:33:19,390
And everybody in this world is
trying to get there and trying to

768
00:33:19,390 --> 00:33:21,430
get there and trying to build
their own bridge and trying to find

769
00:33:21,430 --> 00:33:23,310
a way to fly across, but none
of it's working.

770
00:33:23,550 --> 00:33:26,390
And the Bible says that
ultimately, and it's pictured in

771
00:33:26,390 --> 00:33:29,910
this verse, the gift of the
cross, the gift of Jesus Christ is

772
00:33:29,910 --> 00:33:31,950
placed right there in the
middle and we can walk right across

773
00:33:32,590 --> 00:33:34,510
in faith in him and belief in Him.

774
00:33:34,510 --> 00:33:37,750
To know that I did not earn
this, but it's because of Jesus Christ.

775
00:33:37,750 --> 00:33:40,790
And when we have that
understanding, when we know that

776
00:33:40,790 --> 00:33:43,470
it's not something that we
have earned, we live our lives differently.

777
00:33:44,270 --> 00:33:48,270
We live our lives in many ways
less entitled than we think we should

778
00:33:48,270 --> 00:33:48,470
be.

779
00:33:48,470 --> 00:33:49,750
Because the idea would be this.

780
00:33:50,070 --> 00:33:54,550
I can do what I want to do if
I'm focused on myself, but if I'm

781
00:33:54,550 --> 00:33:57,310
focused on what Jesus Christ
has done for me, and, and I realize

782
00:33:57,310 --> 00:33:58,790
that I'm bought with a price,
that I'm.

783
00:33:58,790 --> 00:34:01,550
That I'm purchased by him,
that he is the One who offered me

784
00:34:01,550 --> 00:34:02,710
something that I didn't deserve.

785
00:34:02,710 --> 00:34:04,630
Hey, I'm not going to live for
myself anymore.

786
00:34:05,510 --> 00:34:09,470
I'm going to be a lot more
inclined to die to my flesh and yield

787
00:34:09,470 --> 00:34:12,030
to the Spirit because I
realize that the Spirit is what saved

788
00:34:12,030 --> 00:34:12,310
me.

789
00:34:12,949 --> 00:34:15,069
This is the, the dwelling
indwelling of the Spirit.

790
00:34:15,069 --> 00:34:16,389
Romans 8 talks about this.

791
00:34:16,709 --> 00:34:18,949
We can't be saved without the
indwelling of the Spirit.

792
00:34:18,949 --> 00:34:22,429
Therefore, the indwelling of
the Spirit is what marks me and seals

793
00:34:22,429 --> 00:34:23,909
me to the day of redemption.

794
00:34:23,909 --> 00:34:27,109
And so therefore, when I have
the Holy Spirit living in my life,

795
00:34:27,109 --> 00:34:28,788
I must yield to the Spirit.

796
00:34:28,789 --> 00:34:30,709
I. I must die to my flesh.

797
00:34:31,909 --> 00:34:34,789
And the Bible says over and
over again that this, this, this

798
00:34:34,789 --> 00:34:38,389
path, this process is called
sanctification, spiritual growth.

799
00:34:39,830 --> 00:34:44,750
And there are a lot of
Christians who are living lives that

800
00:34:44,750 --> 00:34:47,350
are focused on what feels good.

801
00:34:48,230 --> 00:34:53,990
Focus on the flesh, focus on
culture, focus on the Almighty dollar,

802
00:34:54,550 --> 00:34:58,870
focused on whatever, anything
outside of the Lord.

803
00:34:58,950 --> 00:35:02,270
And what happens is that
Christians that live, submitted to

804
00:35:02,270 --> 00:35:06,940
another Master will live, as
Romans chapter 6 said, as instruments

805
00:35:06,940 --> 00:35:07,980
of unrighteousness.

806
00:35:08,540 --> 00:35:11,100
And that's why he reminds us
at the end of Romans 6.

807
00:35:11,100 --> 00:35:14,140
Go back to the idea of your salvation.

808
00:35:14,220 --> 00:35:17,660
Go back to the understanding
of who you were before you came to

809
00:35:17,660 --> 00:35:20,420
Christ is the wages of sin is death.

810
00:35:20,420 --> 00:35:23,260
But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

811
00:35:23,340 --> 00:35:26,700
So this isn't just a passage
of scripture that we point people

812
00:35:26,700 --> 00:35:27,820
to to get saved.

813
00:35:27,820 --> 00:35:30,580
It's also a passage of
scripture that we point Christians

814
00:35:30,580 --> 00:35:34,840
back to, to understand how we
can live lives as Christians who

815
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,160
are yielding to the Spirit and
being used by God.

816
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:41,760
We're going to get to Romans
chapter 8 where it talks about no

817
00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,080
more condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus.

818
00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:48,280
But ultimately, what we have
to understand, that as believers

819
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:49,000
we can live A.

820
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,840
A way of the flesh, we can
live a way of waste, we can live

821
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:56,160
a way of our selfishness, or
we can live the way of the truth,

822
00:35:57,050 --> 00:35:59,530
the way of the spirit, the way
of righteousness.

823
00:36:00,650 --> 00:36:04,810
Folks, I'm not saying here
this morning that you can be perfect,

824
00:36:05,450 --> 00:36:10,730
at least in your own works,
but you could be seen as one who

825
00:36:10,730 --> 00:36:14,210
is no longer a servant of
unrighteousness, but a servant of

826
00:36:14,210 --> 00:36:16,810
righteousness because of the
righteousness of Jesus Christ.

827
00:36:16,810 --> 00:36:18,810
This is something called
imputed righteousness.

828
00:36:19,770 --> 00:36:22,970
A lot of people reject the
concept of imputed righteousness.

829
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,720
They basically teach this,
that God has just changed us and

830
00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:28,280
we become good people on our own.

831
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:32,520
Folks, you cannot be good on
your own even after you're saved.

832
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:34,280
It's not part of our flesh.

833
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,480
And if we're living in our
flesh, if we're living in our desires,

834
00:36:37,720 --> 00:36:40,080
ultimately, hopefully our
desire should change to be more like

835
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:40,320
Christ.

836
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,440
But that's when we yield to
the Spirit.

837
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,000
And so if you can take
anything with you here today, it's

838
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:47,560
not about being a list
follower in the Christian faith.

839
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:49,240
Even though lists are fine,
lists are good.

840
00:36:50,050 --> 00:36:52,290
But if I just think like,
okay, if I do this, this, and this,

841
00:36:52,290 --> 00:36:54,210
why, why am I not growing?

842
00:36:54,690 --> 00:36:59,810
Because it might be a thing
that you are doing in the flesh.

843
00:37:00,930 --> 00:37:03,450
Well, I'm serving in the
church, but I don't find any fulfillment

844
00:37:03,450 --> 00:37:03,890
in that.

845
00:37:06,530 --> 00:37:08,850
Well, why are you not finding fulfillment?

846
00:37:08,850 --> 00:37:13,090
Well, because no one ever
notices what I'm doing or people

847
00:37:13,090 --> 00:37:14,130
speak against me.

848
00:37:14,210 --> 00:37:15,170
Now, this is not.

849
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:16,680
Let me clarify.

850
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,800
This is not an excuse for us
to not honor people that are serving

851
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:20,320
the Lord.

852
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:22,720
This is not an excuse for us
to speak evil against people.

853
00:37:22,720 --> 00:37:26,960
But what I'm saying is that if
my worth and my substance is found

854
00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:32,600
in how other people praise me,
maybe I'm not serving in the spirit,

855
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:34,160
but I'm serving in the flesh.

856
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:37,160
Well, I read my Bible every day.

857
00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:37,680
But you know what?

858
00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,320
I got so much other things I
could do, and I just read the Bible

859
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:41,440
and I get nothing out of it.

860
00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:46,360
There's a possibility that we
could be reading the Bible in the

861
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:50,760
flesh, trying to find man's
wisdom, trying to find our plan here.

862
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:54,400
Like we've got our own device
plan and we say, God, fit this Bible

863
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:55,280
into my plan.

864
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:57,120
It's the other way around.

865
00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:58,640
My plan dies.

866
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:01,280
Lord, this is the new plan.

867
00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:05,960
How does your, your word
dictate to my life what my new plan

868
00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:06,320
is?

869
00:38:09,130 --> 00:38:12,010
Some people say, you know, I
just pray and I just feel like it

870
00:38:12,010 --> 00:38:13,730
hits the ceiling and comes
back down.

871
00:38:13,730 --> 00:38:17,170
I'm just the Bible says that
there's a right way to pray and there's

872
00:38:17,170 --> 00:38:18,090
a wrong way to pray.

873
00:38:18,090 --> 00:38:21,130
The Bible actually says that
we can pray selfishly in the flesh,

874
00:38:21,530 --> 00:38:23,449
just wanting things and just
wanting things.

875
00:38:23,450 --> 00:38:25,130
The Bible says to pray properly.

876
00:38:25,530 --> 00:38:28,370
Good example of that is read
the book of Matthew and see Jesus

877
00:38:28,370 --> 00:38:29,770
is what we would call the
model prayer.

878
00:38:29,770 --> 00:38:32,690
The example prayer looking
other passages of scripture to pray

879
00:38:32,690 --> 00:38:34,720
for the will of God in our lives.

880
00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:37,200
That's praying in the power of
the Spirit.

881
00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:41,040
So what I'm saying here today
is that we can do everything that

882
00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:45,160
seems to be church related,
religion related, even we would call

883
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:47,440
Christian related, but we
could do things in the flesh.

884
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:50,520
And at the end of the day,
that flesh brings back no benefit

885
00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:51,040
to us.

886
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:54,240
But when we die to the flesh
and say, lord, you guide me.

887
00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:55,600
It's your plan, it's your way.

888
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,720
Folks, I'm going to tell you,
in my life I have exercised this.

889
00:38:59,290 --> 00:39:04,730
And it is a scary thing when,
when we are so used to guiding and

890
00:39:04,730 --> 00:39:05,850
directing our own life.

891
00:39:05,850 --> 00:39:09,090
It's a scary thing to say,
lord, you take control because he's

892
00:39:09,090 --> 00:39:11,250
going to lead you to places
that you say, I don't think I could

893
00:39:11,250 --> 00:39:11,690
do that.

894
00:39:12,730 --> 00:39:14,010
I, I can't go there.

895
00:39:15,049 --> 00:39:16,170
I can't say that.

896
00:39:16,650 --> 00:39:17,850
I can't stop that.

897
00:39:19,450 --> 00:39:21,290
You know what people would say
about me?

898
00:39:22,010 --> 00:39:23,130
I could lose my job.

899
00:39:23,130 --> 00:39:24,410
I, I, I could lose this.

900
00:39:24,410 --> 00:39:26,170
I could have people that don't
like me anymore.

901
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:30,480
Folks, I'm going to tell you
that the scariness of yielding to

902
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:32,920
the Spirit is, is a real thing.

903
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:39,920
But the blessing and the peace
and the joy found in that through

904
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,240
that process is even greater
than anything that we can fear on

905
00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:47,240
this side or the other side
of, of that decision that we make.

906
00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,480
And so what I'm gonna tell you
here this morning is this, think

907
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:52,360
about this for, for just a few moments.

908
00:39:55,210 --> 00:40:00,570
Where in my life have I
yielded to the Spirit?

909
00:40:01,530 --> 00:40:02,810
Said Lord, you take control.

910
00:40:04,330 --> 00:40:08,729
And where am I harboring
certain aspects of my life still

911
00:40:08,729 --> 00:40:11,610
on, on my will and my flesh
and my desires.

912
00:40:12,330 --> 00:40:16,170
For some of you, it might just
be taking a step of, of, of faith.

913
00:40:17,770 --> 00:40:21,130
For some of you, it might be
taking a, a step of service.

914
00:40:22,810 --> 00:40:25,130
For some of you, it might just
be taking a step up saying, you know

915
00:40:25,130 --> 00:40:25,250
what?

916
00:40:25,250 --> 00:40:28,250
I need to start getting into
the spiritual disciplines, I. E.

917
00:40:28,250 --> 00:40:30,130
Reading my Bible, praying and
going to church.

918
00:40:30,130 --> 00:40:33,210
For some of you it might be I
need to take a step in my marriage.

919
00:40:34,010 --> 00:40:35,930
I need to lead my home properly.

920
00:40:36,409 --> 00:40:38,730
For some of you it might be I
need to get some things right with

921
00:40:38,730 --> 00:40:39,290
other people.

922
00:40:39,450 --> 00:40:41,810
I don't know where the Spirit
will lead you and guide you.

923
00:40:41,810 --> 00:40:43,130
But what I will say is this.

924
00:40:43,370 --> 00:40:46,850
If we fight against the
Spirit, it's never going to be resolved.

925
00:40:46,850 --> 00:40:49,340
It's never going to be given,
as we would say in the.

926
00:40:49,340 --> 00:40:50,180
In the power of God.

927
00:40:50,180 --> 00:40:51,700
It's always going to be in the
power of man.

928
00:40:52,740 --> 00:40:55,660
And so here today, think about
what aspect of your life that you

929
00:40:55,660 --> 00:40:58,900
are, what maybe some of us
could say is hiding from God.

930
00:40:59,940 --> 00:41:02,820
God, you can have this, this,
and this, but you can't have this.

931
00:41:03,860 --> 00:41:05,940
Can I just say by way of testimony.

932
00:41:06,820 --> 00:41:09,100
So there's been times in my
life where I've said, God, you can

933
00:41:09,100 --> 00:41:11,620
have all of this, but don't
touch this.

934
00:41:12,660 --> 00:41:14,100
I need to have control.

935
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:16,720
I need to feel like I have
something in this.

936
00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:20,640
But I'm going to tell you,
even though it is a daunting process

937
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:23,280
to just say, lord, you take everything.

938
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:26,800
My fan, my.

939
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:31,520
My family, my finances, my
faith, my fears.

940
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:33,040
Well, you.

941
00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:33,760
You take it.

942
00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:35,840
I don't know how it's going to end.

943
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:38,240
I don't know how this is going
to look.

944
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:40,840
I don't know if everything's
going to align with what I think

945
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:41,400
it should be.

946
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:41,650
But.

947
00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:43,880
But at the end of the day,
your way is the right way.

948
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:44,920
So I'm going to trust.

949
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:50,320
For some of you in this room,
or maybe some that are watching by

950
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,400
way of video, it's the first
step of faith.

951
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:58,840
The Holy Spirit does something
called conviction pricks your heart.

952
00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:03,240
It's hard to explain, but
ultimately it's pulling us to a place

953
00:42:03,240 --> 00:42:05,080
where we know something needs
to change.

954
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:09,810
For some of us, the first step
of understanding God is understanding

955
00:42:09,810 --> 00:42:12,770
that conviction and saying, I
must come to a place in my life where

956
00:42:12,770 --> 00:42:14,250
I put my faith and trust in Him.

957
00:42:14,570 --> 00:42:17,490
You can't do all this other
stuff that we're talking about in

958
00:42:17,490 --> 00:42:21,050
yielding to the flesh or
yielding to the spirit and understanding

959
00:42:21,050 --> 00:42:21,530
those two things.

960
00:42:21,530 --> 00:42:23,970
Unless you come in the first
step of faith and trusting in Jesus

961
00:42:23,970 --> 00:42:24,890
Christ as your savior.

962
00:42:26,650 --> 00:42:28,770
I think we've made it very
clear this morning, none of us can

963
00:42:28,770 --> 00:42:29,370
save ourselves.

964
00:42:30,250 --> 00:42:32,010
You say, well, what does that mean?

965
00:42:32,330 --> 00:42:34,210
Just means that you have to
trust in God.

966
00:42:34,210 --> 00:42:34,490
That's.

967
00:42:34,490 --> 00:42:35,370
It's the word faith.

968
00:42:35,370 --> 00:42:38,330
I can't sit out here and
outline everything in your life that

969
00:42:38,330 --> 00:42:39,730
as a Christian, it will make sense.

970
00:42:40,290 --> 00:42:42,370
Folks, sometimes the Christian
life doesn't make sense.

971
00:42:43,330 --> 00:42:44,210
Going to tell you when.

972
00:42:44,210 --> 00:42:47,010
When God moved us here, it
didn't make sense.

973
00:42:48,370 --> 00:42:51,290
As a pastor, there's many
things in my life that I can't make

974
00:42:51,290 --> 00:42:54,050
heads or tails of, but I know
that God has me in it.

975
00:42:55,090 --> 00:42:56,970
So I'm going to say here this
morning, if there's someone that's

976
00:42:56,970 --> 00:43:00,490
fighting the conviction of the
spirit, if there's someone saying,

977
00:43:00,490 --> 00:43:03,940
I know I cannot save myself,
but I'm just so scared to trust in

978
00:43:03,940 --> 00:43:06,460
God, let me tell you here this
morning, give it up to him.

979
00:43:07,180 --> 00:43:08,380
Say, lord, I trust you.

980
00:43:08,380 --> 00:43:10,300
That's, that's why we need faith.

981
00:43:10,300 --> 00:43:13,420
The Bible says In Hebrews,
chapter 11, verse 6, it's impossible,

982
00:43:14,780 --> 00:43:19,020
not just improbable,
impossible to please God without

983
00:43:19,260 --> 00:43:19,820
faith.

984
00:43:21,660 --> 00:43:28,800
Faith is relinquishing my
control, my power, my agenda, saying,

985
00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:29,920
lord, it's yours.

986
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:33,680
Someone here might need that today.

987
00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:36,960
Someone here might say, I need
to give it over to God.

988
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:39,360
I need to trust in him for salvation.

989
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:40,960
I know how it is.

990
00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:42,160
I was there one day.

991
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:44,160
I was at a Christian camp.

992
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:47,880
I was 15 years old and 364 days.

993
00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:50,440
It was a day before my 16th
birthday, and there was a guy up

994
00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:51,760
there preaching about the Gospel.

995
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:54,000
And you know what my thoughts were?

996
00:43:54,260 --> 00:43:55,540
I knew I needed to get saved.

997
00:43:56,580 --> 00:43:59,060
But my fear was, what are
people going to say about it when

998
00:43:59,060 --> 00:43:59,700
I come forward?

999
00:44:01,300 --> 00:44:03,460
People are going to say, I
thought you were a Christian.

1000
00:44:04,100 --> 00:44:07,700
I thought you were a chaplain
in the sophomore class.

1001
00:44:08,260 --> 00:44:10,940
I. I thought that you were a
team captain on the sports team.

1002
00:44:10,940 --> 00:44:11,900
I thought you went to church.

1003
00:44:11,900 --> 00:44:13,100
I thought your parents are Christian.

1004
00:44:13,100 --> 00:44:14,620
You know, all those things ran
through my mind.

1005
00:44:14,620 --> 00:44:17,860
I was so scared, I almost
didn't move because I was like, you

1006
00:44:17,860 --> 00:44:18,180
know what?

1007
00:44:18,180 --> 00:44:19,220
Maybe it's just not worth it.

1008
00:44:19,220 --> 00:44:20,420
Maybe I'll just keep it to myself.

1009
00:44:23,110 --> 00:44:26,030
But there was a point in my,
my, my time that night that I said,

1010
00:44:26,030 --> 00:44:26,310
you know what?

1011
00:44:26,310 --> 00:44:27,070
I'm just going to go for it.

1012
00:44:27,070 --> 00:44:28,070
I don't care what anyone says.

1013
00:44:28,230 --> 00:44:28,950
I don't care.

1014
00:44:30,470 --> 00:44:31,470
Trust in Jesus Christ.

1015
00:44:31,470 --> 00:44:32,350
And you know what happened?

1016
00:44:32,350 --> 00:44:35,110
The very first person, the
very first person that counseled

1017
00:44:35,110 --> 00:44:36,070
me, you know what they said?

1018
00:44:36,150 --> 00:44:39,310
Don't say this, by the way, if
someone comes forward, I thought

1019
00:44:39,310 --> 00:44:40,150
you were saved.

1020
00:44:40,790 --> 00:44:42,230
I thought you were a Christian.

1021
00:44:42,710 --> 00:44:43,470
They said it.

1022
00:44:43,470 --> 00:44:45,950
They said, my worst fear, you
know, I was like, oh, no.

1023
00:44:45,950 --> 00:44:46,630
They said it.

1024
00:44:46,870 --> 00:44:47,350
But you know what?

1025
00:44:47,350 --> 00:44:48,230
Nothing happened.

1026
00:44:50,470 --> 00:44:51,950
Because the ultimate thing was this.

1027
00:44:51,950 --> 00:44:54,150
I, I'm not, I'm not concerned
about what that person's saying.

1028
00:44:54,230 --> 00:44:56,470
Concerned about where my
eternal destination is.

1029
00:44:56,790 --> 00:44:59,430
For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God, the eternal

1030
00:44:59,430 --> 00:45:01,030
life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

1031
00:45:01,910 --> 00:45:03,430
There are people that said things.

1032
00:45:04,630 --> 00:45:06,710
How could you grow up in a
church and not be saved?

1033
00:45:06,870 --> 00:45:08,070
Don't say those things.

1034
00:45:09,110 --> 00:45:09,830
Celebrate.

1035
00:45:09,830 --> 00:45:10,550
Be excited.

1036
00:45:10,550 --> 00:45:15,110
When someone who seemingly was
A Christian who seemingly was a church

1037
00:45:15,110 --> 00:45:15,700
member is.

1038
00:45:15,850 --> 00:45:17,610
If they come forward, we
celebrate that.

1039
00:45:18,410 --> 00:45:18,810
Don't.

1040
00:45:18,810 --> 00:45:22,250
Don't allow those fears of
other people's opinions get in the

1041
00:45:22,250 --> 00:45:24,170
way of your eternal destination.

1042
00:45:25,290 --> 00:45:28,850
And that could even go for
someone who is saved, but yet at

1043
00:45:28,850 --> 00:45:32,650
the same time dealing with a
struggle in his or her life, that

1044
00:45:32,650 --> 00:45:34,970
they need to get right with
God and they need help for it.

1045
00:45:35,690 --> 00:45:38,450
There's some people here today
that knows how you know how to put

1046
00:45:38,450 --> 00:45:40,970
on a good face, but you need help.

1047
00:45:42,420 --> 00:45:43,860
I know that because I've been there.

1048
00:45:44,420 --> 00:45:45,100
I need help.

1049
00:45:45,100 --> 00:45:45,620
I'm scared.

1050
00:45:45,620 --> 00:45:46,580
I don't know what to do.

1051
00:45:46,660 --> 00:45:47,540
I'm confused.

1052
00:45:47,540 --> 00:45:49,140
I don't know who to go turn to.

1053
00:45:49,140 --> 00:45:50,460
And at the end of the day, you
know what?

1054
00:45:50,460 --> 00:45:51,900
Sometimes we can bottle that
all up.

1055
00:45:51,900 --> 00:45:56,420
And that can lead us to a
place of dissatisfaction, discouragement,

1056
00:45:56,420 --> 00:45:56,980
doubt.

1057
00:45:58,420 --> 00:46:01,740
But we need to be able to
trust God enough to say, lord, I'm

1058
00:46:01,740 --> 00:46:02,580
going to go to someone.

1059
00:46:02,580 --> 00:46:04,020
I'm going to ask someone for help.

1060
00:46:04,020 --> 00:46:06,100
I'm going to ultimately ask
you for help.

1061
00:46:07,390 --> 00:46:10,190
And if a person is at the
right place in their spiritual walk,

1062
00:46:10,190 --> 00:46:13,070
it's an exciting moment to
bring someone back into the fellowship

1063
00:46:13,070 --> 00:46:13,550
with God.

1064
00:46:14,670 --> 00:46:16,230
And so here this morning,
we're gonna.

1065
00:46:16,230 --> 00:46:17,950
We're gonna come to a time of invitation.

1066
00:46:17,950 --> 00:46:21,030
And what I would like you to
do is I want you to pray specifically

1067
00:46:21,030 --> 00:46:25,950
ask the Lord to reveal to you
what areas of your life you have

1068
00:46:25,950 --> 00:46:26,750
submitted to God.

1069
00:46:26,750 --> 00:46:30,430
If you've submitted God to God
in everything, praise God.

1070
00:46:30,670 --> 00:46:32,350
Ask him to give you strength
to commit.

1071
00:46:32,730 --> 00:46:37,370
Commit to that, to allow his
faithfulness to supersede your faithfulness,

1072
00:46:37,370 --> 00:46:38,650
because your faithfulness will fail.

1073
00:46:40,490 --> 00:46:43,850
But some of us today, there's
no shame in recognizing that I have

1074
00:46:43,850 --> 00:46:44,490
stumbled.

1075
00:46:45,690 --> 00:46:47,610
I'm not giving this over to God.

1076
00:46:48,490 --> 00:46:50,170
I'm not giving this doubt over
to God.

1077
00:46:50,170 --> 00:46:52,010
I'm not giving this situation
over to God.

1078
00:46:52,010 --> 00:46:53,290
I'm not giving my.

1079
00:46:53,290 --> 00:46:55,490
My fear and my concern over to God.

1080
00:46:55,490 --> 00:46:56,730
I'm just trusting in myself.

1081
00:46:56,730 --> 00:46:58,330
And that's a fleshly endeavor.

1082
00:46:59,770 --> 00:47:00,690
Hey, today, just.

1083
00:47:00,690 --> 00:47:01,570
Just admit to Him.

1084
00:47:01,570 --> 00:47:02,410
Don't admit to me.

1085
00:47:02,490 --> 00:47:04,490
Admit to him that, Lord, I
need you.

1086
00:47:05,530 --> 00:47:07,530
I'm done fighting this battle
on my own.

1087
00:47:08,570 --> 00:47:10,810
I'm going to fight this battle
with you on my side.

1088
00:47:10,810 --> 00:47:13,930
And actually you carrying me,
you lifting me up, that's.

1089
00:47:13,930 --> 00:47:16,130
That's when the Lord is able
to do his work.

1090
00:47:16,130 --> 00:47:17,530
Now, he's able to do his work anytime.

1091
00:47:17,530 --> 00:47:19,930
But when we fight against Him
a lot of times, what we see in the

1092
00:47:19,930 --> 00:47:22,730
book of Romans is he says,
okay, if you want your own path,

1093
00:47:22,730 --> 00:47:23,850
you Take that path.

1094
00:47:24,260 --> 00:47:26,660
But in submission to him, he
comes alongside and says, okay, let

1095
00:47:26,660 --> 00:47:27,700
me take care of this for you.

1096
00:47:28,900 --> 00:47:32,420
Example of that would be
sometimes with my kids, I bring home

1097
00:47:32,420 --> 00:47:32,900
homework.

1098
00:47:33,220 --> 00:47:35,140
My son has a history project.

1099
00:47:35,940 --> 00:47:40,620
I taught history in high
school for high school students and

1100
00:47:40,620 --> 00:47:42,180
he was in like second or third grade.

1101
00:47:42,580 --> 00:47:44,380
He says, dad, there's some
questions here about history.

1102
00:47:44,380 --> 00:47:46,900
And I'm like, oh yeah, that's
a no, that's not what it says.

1103
00:47:47,220 --> 00:47:47,500
So.

1104
00:47:47,500 --> 00:47:49,540
Well, son, is that's the right answer?

1105
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:51,480
No, no, dad, I know what I'm
doing now.

1106
00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:53,360
And he's sitting over there,
he's like str.

1107
00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:54,480
Struggling and stressing.

1108
00:47:54,480 --> 00:47:56,600
I was like, son, when are you
going to let me come in and just

1109
00:47:56,600 --> 00:47:59,280
let, let me help you with what
I know, okay?

1110
00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:00,880
I don't want it, I don't want it.

1111
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:02,200
I want your help.

1112
00:48:02,200 --> 00:48:05,800
I got it all figured out
myself and I saw that as a picture

1113
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:06,440
of how we are.

1114
00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:09,880
Sometimes God's sitting there
like, I've got all the answers right

1115
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:13,440
here and I know I got it, I
got it, I got it, I got it.

1116
00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:16,890
And at the end of the day we
have to say, okay, I trust, I believe,

1117
00:48:16,970 --> 00:48:19,210
I have faith that you know
better than me.

1118
00:48:19,770 --> 00:48:20,970
I'm going to give it over to you.

1119
00:48:21,290 --> 00:48:23,770
So here this morning there's
an opportunity for you to respond,

1120
00:48:23,930 --> 00:48:27,490
whether you're a believer this
morning that just needs to be realigned

1121
00:48:27,490 --> 00:48:30,730
with the power and the
guidance of the Word and the power

1122
00:48:30,730 --> 00:48:31,930
and the guidance of the spirit.

1123
00:48:31,930 --> 00:48:35,130
Or maybe there's people here
today that have not believed in Jesus

1124
00:48:35,130 --> 00:48:40,930
Christ, not in his existence,
but in the belief that he alone can

1125
00:48:40,930 --> 00:48:44,050
save and that he alone will
change and that he alone will give

1126
00:48:44,050 --> 00:48:44,570
victory.

1127
00:48:46,010 --> 00:48:49,970
We're going to have some folks
up here this morning that can show

1128
00:48:49,970 --> 00:48:52,930
you in the word of God, I can
show you in the word of God what

1129
00:48:52,930 --> 00:48:57,330
it means to come back to him,
what it means to come to him, what

1130
00:48:57,330 --> 00:49:00,090
it means to have a broken,
contrite spirit.

1131
00:49:01,050 --> 00:49:04,850
Some of you already know what
that means, but maybe there's a hesitancy

1132
00:49:04,850 --> 00:49:06,650
to make that move of getting
things right today.

1133
00:49:07,690 --> 00:49:10,460
Hey, you know, today's not the
only day that you can get it right.

1134
00:49:10,460 --> 00:49:12,420
But let me tell you, tomorrow
is not guaranteed.

1135
00:49:13,220 --> 00:49:15,140
This weekend I attended two funerals.

1136
00:49:16,500 --> 00:49:22,740
One of a 96 year old woman and
one of a 5254 year old man.

1137
00:49:24,020 --> 00:49:30,020
One lived a long life of
bountiful time with her family.

1138
00:49:30,020 --> 00:49:32,500
Other got cut short.

1139
00:49:32,740 --> 00:49:34,260
We would all say that's a
young age.

1140
00:49:35,980 --> 00:49:37,740
Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

1141
00:49:39,580 --> 00:49:41,020
Doesn't matter if you're in
perfect health.

1142
00:49:41,020 --> 00:49:42,260
Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

1143
00:49:42,260 --> 00:49:45,900
So why not move today to get
things right with God?

1144
00:49:46,460 --> 00:49:47,740
Your eternal destination.

1145
00:49:47,740 --> 00:49:49,900
My eternal destination is at
stake here today.

1146
00:49:50,459 --> 00:49:50,780
Your.

1147
00:49:50,780 --> 00:49:51,420
Your joy.

1148
00:49:51,420 --> 00:49:51,660
Your.

1149
00:49:51,660 --> 00:49:56,220
Your eternal joy is at stake today.

1150
00:49:57,100 --> 00:49:58,460
So find that here this morning.

1151
00:49:58,460 --> 00:50:01,570
Find it in a relationship with
the Lord.

1152
00:50:01,570 --> 00:50:04,930
Lord, I pray that you be in
this time of invitation, working

1153
00:50:04,930 --> 00:50:05,690
hearts and lives.

1154
00:50:06,570 --> 00:50:08,890
I thank you the power of the Spirit.

1155
00:50:09,930 --> 00:50:11,450
Thank you for the move of the Spirit.

1156
00:50:12,090 --> 00:50:12,890
We love you.

1157
00:50:13,210 --> 00:50:14,890
Pray that you work in this
time of invitation.

1158
00:50:15,290 --> 00:50:16,450
Jesus name Amen.

1159
00:50:16,450 --> 00:50:19,570
As as the music plays, you can
stand every head bowed, every eye

1160
00:50:19,570 --> 00:50:19,850
closed.

1161
00:50:19,850 --> 00:50:23,410
If you're able to in this
time, you can just respond to the

1162
00:50:23,410 --> 00:50:24,490
word of God here this morning.

1163
00:50:30,580 --> 00:50:33,060
Thank you again for listening
to the Middletown Baptist Church

1164
00:50:33,060 --> 00:50:33,700
podcast.

1165
00:50:34,020 --> 00:50:36,260
I hope that this sermon has
been a blessing for you.

1166
00:50:36,900 --> 00:50:39,180
If you would like to find out
more information about our church

1167
00:50:39,180 --> 00:50:42,740
or this sermon, you can find
us at middletownbaptistchurch.org

1168
00:50:42,980 --> 00:50:45,540
or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

1169
00:50:46,260 --> 00:50:48,340
You can also email me directly at.

1170
00:50:48,340 --> 00:50:52,190
Josh Massaro,
middletownbaptistChurch.com if you've

1171
00:50:52,190 --> 00:50:56,190
enjoyed this podcast, please
subscribe and follow along for future

1172
00:50:56,270 --> 00:50:57,950
podcast and updates.

1173
00:50:58,670 --> 00:50:59,550
Thank you so much.

1174
00:50:59,790 --> 00:51:00,590
God Bless.

1175
00:51:00,830 --> 00:51:02,110
Have a wonderful day.