[0:00] Let's find the book of Romans and chapter number 6.! Romans chapter 6 in the New Testament. And while you're turning there, I want to just set up a little bit here.
[0:13] It's going to take me a minute or several to get set up before we really get going. And when we get going, it's going to go rather quickly. So please do your best to pay attention and follow as I kind of lead into the message this morning.
[0:30] When you think about the author of this book and many others, the Apostle Paul, and the life that he lived for the Lord Jesus Christ, you probably think of it just as being so high compared to yours.
[0:42] It's just, he is something I'll never be. And you read about the revelation and the meetings of Jesus Christ and the great works that he's done, and it just feels like, well, what am I?
[0:53] Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet. Not I, but Christ liveth in me. He speaks of the working of God in him. He says he works in me mightily. He said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain, calling Jesus Christ his all in all.
[1:10] And I love those statements. It gives me something to aspire to, to hold on to, and to say that's the direction I should be moving in my Christian life, is to where those are my statements and my testimonies.
[1:23] And so when you think of this man, you quickly think of his surrender to Christ. You think of his, that he's all in for the Lord Jesus. Like not even withholding his life for the service of God.
[1:36] His boldness, his zeal, his preaching of the gospel and adversity. The man won souls to Christ. He formed churches. He delivered the word of God and delivered doctrine to these believers and even checked on them and cared about them and rebuked them where they were wrong and got them set in order.
[1:54] He led them and taught them how they ought to walk and to please God. And all of this is a very popular commentary on the ministry and life of the apostle Paul.
[2:06] But when we get into the book of Romans, we learn that there was more to it than all of those victories and all of those triumphs and all of those great successes for Jesus Christ.
[2:16] We learn that there's more to the life that the apostle Paul lived. Romans chapter 6, 7, and 8. The apostle Paul wrote for us an extremely important description.
[2:31] A description of the competing natures that goes with the Christian life. The old man and the new man. The inward man and the outward man.
[2:43] And it's the age-old battle of good versus evil, but now it's happening right inside of me. Everywhere I go, I can't get away from this thing.
[2:54] And so Paul gives us some real good insight into what this is. And he lays down here some sound doctrine, as well as some very practical insight into this battle, into this new thing that we're experiencing.
[3:09] And he even uses himself as an example to show that the conflict is constant. And he knows it very much himself. And so these three chapters here, they help us see the Christian life in its essence.
[3:24] The Christian life, it cannot be boiled down to a checklist of the things that you do now because you're saved. Now I go to church. Now I read my Bible.
[3:34] Now I do this and that. Christian life cannot be just described by that. Nor can it be described as saying the things I don't do now because I'm a Christian.
[3:44] I don't drink that. I don't smoke that. I don't go to those places or listen to that music or say those words. There's been a change and that should be true. All of that should be true.
[3:56] There should be things you stopped doing and things you started doing as God leads you into a new life living for him. But that cannot be the Christian life.
[4:07] It's just the checking the boxes and crossing out the sins that you committed. And so these chapters tell us something else.
[4:18] And even when you do see change in you and even when you do experience victories and God grows you and leads you away from what you were and into something new, the Christian life is still a continual daily battle of you trying to overcome your sinful flesh, your sinful nature that you were born with and grew inside of you, that sinner that loves the role in the sin.
[4:46] Your Christian life is still a daily battle against that flesh. Now, in chapter 6, Paul says a few things. I want to highlight them quickly and then we'll move on.
[4:58] With the Spirit of God inside of you, when you're a believer and you trust Jesus Christ, the Bible says His Holy Spirit lives within you. And I know you don't feel stronger and you don't feel smarter, but you have the Spirit of God in you who is now able to teach you the Scriptures and reveal things in your life and in your world that are wrong in God's eyes and things that are right in God's eyes.
[5:22] And now you have a new nature about you. Now, with the Spirit of Christ in you, you're charged that you should no longer serve sin. Look at Romans 6 and verse 6.
[5:33] Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth, meaning from now forward, we should not serve sin.
[5:45] That's part of the Christian life. You're also, in verse 11, to reckon yourself dead to sin. Romans 6, verse 11. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[6:03] Look at verse 12. You're not to permit sin to reign in your body. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Reign like a king, like he's on the throne, like sin is in charge telling you what to do.
[6:14] That's not you anymore. You're not to obey it in the lust thereof. Also, verse 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you. It's not to reign and rule in your life anymore.
[6:26] But through Christ, you have the ability to not be a servant to sin anymore, but now to be a servant to what Paul says, righteousness. Look at verse number 18. Romans 6 and verse 18.
[6:38] Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Picture yourself as a slave, like a literal slave. The master is sin.
[6:50] And sin owns you, has dominion over you, rules you, and you serve it all of your life. Even when you think you're a good person, the Bible would shine a spotlight on your life and show you how much sin is in you.
[7:04] Sin is running you. But God says that the Lord Jesus Christ frees you from that master. And he gives you a new master to follow. And now you can start to serve God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
[7:18] So now let's consider what Paul says here. These things, this dead to sin and not serving it anymore, but serving Christ and being a servant of righteousness, that's the ideal Christian life.
[7:33] That's the ideal thing. Alive in Christ, but dead to sin. Servants of righteousness, sin's not in charge of me anymore. I'm going to do what's right.
[7:45] No longer am I going to do what's wrong. That sounds like victory. That sounds like rejoicing. That sounds like a wonderful life in Christ. And then we get to chapter 7.
[7:58] Romans chapter 7. And then Paul tells us a pretty honest, a pretty transparent take on how all of that is going for him.
[8:10] And up until this point, you would have thought, this guy has got it going on. He hasn't sinned for the last 25 years. That's what you'd have thought. Because everything he says is uplifting and sound and strengthening and helpful and challenging.
[8:27] And you think, well, he's doing it then, right? But in chapter 7, Paul tells us, well, that's not always how it goes. Now we know that the Apostle Paul loves Jesus Christ.
[8:42] We know that the Apostle Paul has done great things for Christ. We know that he's been used of God. We know that he's devoted. We know that he's willing to give his life for the Lord. There's no question he's all in.
[8:53] There's no question about his devotion and his sacrifice and his love and his surrender. No question about it. All of that's true. However, there's another side to the Christian life.
[9:07] Now find chapter 7, Romans chapter 7. And let's read a verse here, verse number 15. Paul giving a personal testimony. 715, For that which I do, I allow not.
[9:25] For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. I want to break this down for you before we go any further and just analyze this. This verse is in three phrases, basically.
[9:38] The first phrase ends with a colon. And that is the statement that the Apostle Paul is making. The overall statement, For that which I do, I allow not.
[9:50] That's the statement. And then he follows that up by giving two separate sides of that statement. In other words, if this were a coin, Paul is showing us the coin by saying, For that which I do, I allow not.
[10:05] And then he's going to show, but look, this has two sides. Side number one, For what I would, that do I not. What I hate, the other side is, that do I.
[10:21] I'm not satisfied with my way. Paul says it's not acceptable. It's not permissible. I'm not giving myself a license to do what I do. I'm not making allowances.
[10:32] He said, I allow not. I'm not making an allowance for the things that I do. I'm not saying that they're right. I'm not justifying them at all. And here's what he means. I don't do the things that I wish I did, that I should do.
[10:48] And I do the things that I hate. That's his words. What I hate, that do I. He repeats this again later in this chapter.
[11:00] Look at verse 19. Romans 7 verse 19. It doesn't sound like he's living the victorious Christian life after all, does it?
[11:24] I mean, it doesn't sound like, be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. It sounds like there's another side to the Christian life. Sounds like Paul's admitting that he fails miserably and he fails often.
[11:40] And he claims that he doesn't do what he should, admits that he does evil, even when he wishes that he didn't do it. My question to every one of you this morning, does that sound familiar? It should sound familiar, even if you don't want to admit it publicly in front of all of us.
[11:58] I know this sounds familiar, that the things that I should be doing for Jesus Christ, I just don't do them.
[12:09] And I know I should do them, but I just don't do them. Once in a while, but then I don't. And then there's things that I should not do and I know I shouldn't do them and I told the Lord I'm sorry for doing them and I go right back and do them again.
[12:28] That's the other side of the Christian life. And I want to preach this to you this morning. What Paul reveals to us, it's a reality that we know all too well, that we experience far too often.
[12:46] There's a side of the Christian life that we sing about. There's a side that we aspire to be. A side that we rejoice and one that we testify of when the Lord does something for us and we follow and obey Him and we want to declare His goodness in our life.
[13:04] And then there's a side that we're ashamed of. There's a side that we don't want to talk about. Just like Paul, there's a side that we hate too.
[13:16] And it's in us. Every day of our life is the other side of the Christian life. I want to expose from this chapter just a couple things and I'm not even entirely sure how this is going to go and how it's going to wrap up, but let's just go.
[13:32] The first thing I want you to know is although the Christian life is a life of victory and a life of triumph and a life of growing in Christ and moving away from what you were to what God wants you to be, although it is all of that, it's also a life of failure.
[13:49] Look at verse 18 and 19 again with me. The other side of the Christian life is a life of failures. Verse 18, he says, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me.
[14:07] But how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not, that I do. Paul says, inside of me is a will.
[14:22] It's present with me to do good, to do right. It's right here. I want to please God. I know it's the right thing to do. I feel so fulfilled when I know that I'm doing what's right.
[14:35] But Paul says, but how to perform that I find not. I try, I want to, and yet I fail. I decided I'm going to do it today, and I didn't do it today.
[14:50] I decided that no more am I going to do it, and I ended up doing it again. How to perform it. How to perform that what's inside of me, this desire in the new man to do what's right and to stop doing what's wrong.
[15:02] It's there, it's there, it's there, but I just can't find a way to perform it. Can't find a way to show it, to display it, to let that be the life that has dominion over me.
[15:15] The Christian life, the other side of the Christian life, is in fact a life of failures. A failure to, to stay clean and holy.
[15:30] A failure to resist temptation, a failure to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, because it's at your fingertips, and you know it's the right thing to do, but how to perform it, I find not.
[15:46] A failure to do what you know is right. Paul says, I want to, I want to, I desire to, but I just don't perform it.
[15:58] You know how I know I'm living the Christian life? Because I fail. I know what He's talking about. Because I fail, and I hate it too.
[16:10] It smites me in my heart, and I despise myself, and yet here I am. That's how I know I'm living the Christian life. If I was lost, I wouldn't give a rip.
[16:21] If I was lost, you told me that's wrong, I'd say, shut up. I didn't ask for your opinion. Get out of my face. I'll live the way I want to live. You go live the way you want to live.
[16:32] That's how I would respond to that stuff. But if you tell me I'm wrong today, when I'm wrong, inside my heart, and my heart's already smitten me about it.
[16:44] I know it, and I hate it too. That's the other side of the life of a Christian. It's a life of failing. It's a life of falling. Failing the Lord Jesus Christ.
[16:57] You know, He never failed me one time. Never once has He failed me. From the cross to this moment in my life, He's never failed me, yet my life for Him, it's a life of failures.
[17:11] It's filled with them. You might say, well, I thought the Christian life was reading your Bible, praying, going to church, telling others about Jesus. And it is.
[17:22] And it's also a life of failing to read your Bible. And failing to get on your knees and talk to God. And failing to show up to church.
[17:35] And failing to tell others about Jesus Christ. As much as you get the victories, the truth is, there's another side. And that other side is a life of failures.
[17:47] So does that mean you're not saved? Because your life is filled with disappointments and letdowns. Not God, but you. Does that mean you're not saved? No. That means you're still a sinner.
[17:59] And that sin is still inside of you. We read it in verse 17. Notice back in verse 17. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
[18:15] Later in verse number 20 and 21. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find that in the law that when I would do good, evil is present with me.
[18:27] That's all that means. Doesn't mean you're not saved. Doesn't mean you're not born again. When you fail Jesus Christ, it means you still got sin in you. Evil is present with you.
[18:40] And sadly, it's not going anywhere. It hasn't gone anywhere yet. And as I've been saved, as I've been a child of God for over 40 some years, believe it or not.
[18:51] And that sin, it hasn't gone anywhere. And until it does, my Christian life and your Christian life is going to be plagued with failure.
[19:04] There's something else in this passage. When you think of the Christian life, you may think that that we're justified by faith and we have peace with God and a fruit of the Spirit is peace and inside of us there's a peace that now resides in our heart, a peace that the world never gave, a peace it cannot take away.
[19:22] We think of coming unto Jesus Christ. He'll promise to give us rest unto our souls. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. We think of peace and rest in the Christian life, but there's another side.
[19:35] And the other side's a life of fighting. Look with me at verse 20 down to 23. Now if I do that, I would not. It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
[19:48] I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing, not just warring, but winning.
[20:07] Bringing me into captivity. To the law of sin, which is in my members. The other side of the Christian life is a side, a life of fighting.
[20:19] When you receive Jesus as your Savior, you entered a battlefield you didn't even understand or realize. You didn't know what was coming. You just wanted to get out of hell.
[20:30] You just wanted to escape paying for your sins and being damned by a righteous God. And so you take the gift of salvation, you take eternal life, and you take the Spirit of God in the new man, and you don't even understand what's coming.
[20:45] But along the way, God starts to prick your heart. He starts to open your eyes and starts to expose some things in your life that just should not be there. It's not pleasing to Him, the one who loved you enough to give His Son to save your soul.
[21:00] And somewhere along the lines, after a day, after a week, after a month, or a year, wherever it is, God opens your eyes and says, this is wrong. This should go.
[21:11] This should not be part of your life. This does not please me. This is sin. And He exposes it to you. And then you see it as sin. Maybe for the first time you see that I'm, I've got this stuff going on every day of my life and I don't even think twice about it and it's wrong.
[21:30] And immediately, immediately, an opposition shows up. And a flesh shows up and says, you're fine.
[21:41] You can't let that go. There's nothing wrong with that. Everybody else is doing that. Don't be a fanatic. What will your friends think? What will your parents say?
[21:52] What will the people at work think if you start doing that? If you stop doing that? And immediately, a battle you didn't even know was going to show up is inside of you. A war.
[22:04] There's opposing forces fighting for authority to reign in your life. Your flesh kicks back every time God tries to work on your heart and tries to move you toward His righteousness and toward holy living and toward the example of Jesus Christ.
[22:23] Immediately, your flesh kicks back and says, don't even think about it. it's a life of fighting. You may not understand it until it happens a few times until day after day after day you keep having the same thought, the same realization that, should I be doing this?
[22:41] Or after a while your heart starts to smite you and you know you're guilty but you don't really want to give in and as it continues you realize there's a battle here. Sometimes just Bible preaching and reading the scriptures can expose these things to you.
[22:59] Doing what's right is a fight. You can come to church and spend time in the Bible and spend time with the brethren and spend time with the Lord and you can get out there like some of us did yesterday with some door hangers and some signs of scripture on the corner and you can do those things and you can feel strong, you can feel excited in the new man and as soon as you're alone, as soon as you're alone the flesh is right there to say let's do something you shouldn't do.
[23:27] Let's get into you know that's all done now. You did a good job today. Now let's have some me time and the flesh shows up and it comes alive and it overtakes you.
[23:39] It's weird that sometimes the flesh doesn't bother you when you're at church. Sometimes it doesn't bother you when you're serving the Lord and you have that joy just bursting inside of you. Your cup is running over but as soon as you're alone and away from God's people it's like bam the fight's back on.
[23:57] The flesh is back. It's a life of fighting. Keep your place here. I want to just put another verse or two on this. Come to Galatians chapter number 5.
[24:08] If you're not familiar with this verse you need to get familiar with it because this is what's happening inside of you. Galatians 5 verses 16 and 17. There's a fight.
[24:20] There's a fight. There's a fight. The Christian life is a life of peace. It's a life of rest and assurance in Christ but boy the other side of it is a fight.
[24:32] Galatians 5 and verse 16 says this I say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh for the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other.
[24:53] Now notice this last phrase. It sounds like what Paul was talking about earlier. So that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Remember what he said?
[25:03] The things that I would I do not. Why? Because the flesh it's fighting me and it's bringing me into captivity while it's warring against that new man who wants to do what God says.
[25:20] You cannot do the things that ye would when you're walking in the flesh. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2 all the way back to the right a little further. 1 Peter chapter 2 and look at verse 11 when you get there.
[25:38] 2 11. 2 11. Before we get to that let's start at verse 1 read a couple verses.
[25:54] 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 1 Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and evil speakings as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby.
[26:11] And you grow in the word of God and in spiritual things and a fight is evident. So then verse 11 Dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
[26:30] There's a war going on. It's happening inside of you. It's a life of fighting. I don't particularly enjoy the fight that goes on inside of me.
[26:43] I don't enjoy that when I would do good evil's present with me telling me don't you dare. I don't enjoy when I would stay away from something there's somebody inside of me that's so strong that has overtaken me so many times in my life that just says this is how we're going to live today and we'll do the other stuff tomorrow.
[27:07] That fight I understand how Paul closes this chapter come back to chapter 7 again I understand why he doesn't want to deal with this stuff this law and his members warring against the law of my mind bringing me into captivity a fight that he doesn't just experience a fight that he often loses and now verse 24 Romans 7 24 Paul says O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death the Christian life is a life in Jesus Christ of completion where you're complete in him a life of contention where I mean contentment rather where Paul says that I find whichever state I am therewith to be content and yet there's another side there's one thing that
[28:08] Paul is never content with he's actually exasperated with the state of man that he is the apostle Paul has found that there's another side to the Christian life it's a life of frustration a life of failures a life of fighting and a life of oh wretched man that I am there's frustrations in life that are just common to man just a flat tire waking up with a cold or a cough and knowing that this is going to go for a couple days working with a co-worker that just gets on your last nerve and you just you can't do anything about there's frustrations that are just common to life but they don't necessarily have anything to do with your walk with Jesus Christ your Christian life those are normal but when you attempt to walk with God and when you attempt to fight sin and you fail you feel like you're going nowhere you try and you fail and you determine you know what
[29:19] I'm going to try harder and you fail and you determine God I sacrifice this on the altar take this from me give me victory and you go and you fail you know in your heart you're supposed to be a child of God and you're saved and the word of God tells me to walk this way I'm supposed to be a child of God but I walk like I'm not I'm supposed to act one way and I can't stop acting another I'm supposed to think one way and I can't stop thinking another I'm supposed to talk one way I can't stop talking another and day after day after day you know why some Christians give up you know why they quit on the Lord and just say enough of this because they're frustrated with it because they fight it and they fail and they realize this thing is not going to go away I'm not going to just wake up one day and I'm magically healed of all this all the sin and the lust in my flesh and the laziness and the desires of the flesh and of the mind it just didn't get washed away and I want
[30:35] God to take it from me and I'm still here dealing with it and so some Christians come to this end they say you know what thank God I'm saved I'll just apologize for it at the judgment seat of Christ because I don't want to deal with it anymore surrender to sin well if you make an attempt to walk with God believer you've already experienced I'm not telling you anything new right here you're going to experience good days followed by bad days you're going to experience some mountaintops of glory in the presence of the Lord and then just after that why a valley of temptation and grief and despair sometimes you just take that step forward and you take that slide right back and that's the other side of the Christian life and it's frustrating it's frustrating when is this going to end I remember there's a song and
[31:35] I guess it's in this hymnal it says oh Lord Jesus how long how long air we shout the glad song Christ returneth hallelujah how long do we have to wait in these bodies and of the sin and in this world till we can shout he's back he's here I remember sitting in a tree stand in the woods I think I was in Maryland and I can remember just sitting in that tree stand it was waiting for some deer to come by and I had all my camouflage on and my bow and my hand and there was a church way off in the distance but there was at certain time of night the bells would ring and it would ring a certain hymn and it would just be you know like I'm not going to do it for you but it would be a little couple bars depending on the time it was and I can remember just this vibe this feel of the church bells peeling across the land and here
[32:41] I am in the middle tree and yet there I was hearing that sound and it was just speaking glory and joy into my spirit hearing the songs of God just hearing it come into my ears and I remember that thought hitting me and just looking up to the sky and saying oh Lord Jesus how long how long until you come back how much longer is it going to be just a desire like I'm already partway up this tree I'm already off the ground a little bit let's go you know in the past when I was a younger man I would imagine I would imagine that as I was getting out of the world and getting in the word of God getting things right and the Lord was just dealing with my heart and moving me in a direction I had this imagination in my mind that it's just a I'll be such a better man a better soldier for
[33:47] Jesus Christ and I just think in my mind that in 20 years in 30 years that's going to be me a better husband a better father a better Christian and I suppose in some ways that has happened I suppose it has but when I look back and remember what I envisioned to what I am I'm kind of disappointed I'm frustrated because I thought you know the longer I'm saved and in the book and doing right I'll get further removed from the sin and the flesh and I'll have greater victories and when I look at the man that I am I hear Paul loud and clear oh wretched man that I am after reading Paul's confession and his description I realized that this is what it is this is the other side of the
[34:51] Christian life there's failures and there's fighting the battles against your flesh and there's frustrations with all of it that aren't going to go away until somebody comes and rescues us and gets us out of here and at his appearance our frustrations and our disappointments and all of our weaknesses will be left behind once and for all and they'll be forgotten and we will meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord the song we sing says this robe of flesh I'll drop and rise to seize the everlasting prize one day but until that day until that day there's just going to be those frustrations there's going to be those failures there's going to be every single day fight to do what's right and to resist the lust of the flesh
[35:52] I want to notice something before we dismiss with this a note that discussing the other side of the Christian life I have to mention this that Paul talks far more about the victories far more about the rejoicing in Christ and him giving himself to that life than he ever does talk about his defeats and his failures he gives us an honest glimpse in this passage in Romans 7 but he doesn't relish in these shortcomings and the disappointments he just opens the window and says okay but I'm going to go on and do what's right for Jesus Christ with the rest of my life he says this in verse 25 after asking that question he answers the question by saying I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord that's my deliverer and he will deliver me and until then I'm going to keep fighting I'm going to keep failing I'm going to keep experiencing frustration
[36:53] I'll just get it under the blood and despite the failures and all of this about getting back up and going on he closes the chapter by saying so then with the mind I myself will serve the law of God I'm not giving up and I'm not quitting I'm not walking away from this just because it doesn't work out the way I want it to just because I'm weak and know that in this statement that there's a deliverance coming when Jesus Christ comes and God has integrated within you too that same hope that the apostle Paul had it's there when you do good and it's there when you do evil it reminds you sometimes quietly sometimes loudly it reminds you that there's a better day coming when this robe of flesh will drop when we can walk out of these bodies into new bodies and be changed and have the flesh gone forever and the failures that go along with it and the frustrations and the battles that can just be all forgotten and buried one day forever
[37:59] God has given us that hope a future! freedom a day of deliverance that lies beyond our time here on this earth what he describes it as look at chapter 8 and verse 21 he describes it as glorious liberty chapter 8 verse 21 because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God it's important Christian that you understand this other side of the Christian life it's important that you're prepared for this other side of the Christian life if you think that you're saved and it's going to be all good you're going to be so disappointed and you'll be tempted to quit and you'll be the one that's so embarrassed you can't show your face and it's easier to walk away if you're prepared and you understand what it is you'll learn how to respond to your failures you'll learn how to restore fellowship you'll learn how to get back up until
[39:05] God saves us from this earth and delivers us from this flesh there's going to be another side to the Christian life and we're not going to glory in it we're not going give testimony raise our hand and talk about our failures we're going to try to keep them confessed and forsaken and repented of we're going to try to get up with the mind serve the law of God and walk in the new man you're going to fail you're going to fail this week and so am I but are you going to get up are you going to confess it are you going to hate it you're going to despise that side of you that side of!
[39:51] your Christian life and long for Jesus Christ to come so knowing this admitting this that will humble you it should keep you humble in the sight of God but it should also help you to be prepared for it and to know how to respond to it let's bow together let's bow our heads I wasn't addressing anybody's sin today but there sure is another side isn't there and there's a side that you know man you know it you don't want to raise your hand and admit it you don't want to say amen to it but you know it's true do you ever imagine you'd be further along in the Christian walk than you are or do you deceive yourself to thinking that you are farther along than you are until you get by yourself give you a chance if the
[40:54] Lord's dealing with your heart or if he's calling you or challenging you give you a chance to respond and just to talk things over with him you can use this as a chance to surrender something to him again you can use it as a chance to admit something to him again you can use it as a chance to ask him for strength and for courage and to be honest with him and to say I want to live the Christian life that you offer me you know my heart forgive me where I fail help me to get back up there's somebody in here that needs to get up today's the day God's calling you to get up if this is foreign to you and you don't even know what half this stuff is maybe you're not saved maybe you just got saved you need to understand this stuff it's the other side of it it's a battle father help your people give us courage in the new man strengthen us with might lord we understand your will is for us to walk in the spirit to resist the devil to quench the fiery darts of the wicked we understand that your will is for us not to serve sin and let it have dominion over us we're new creatures in
[42:27] Christ we've been raised to walk in newness of life and yet God we fail you some days we're so weak sometimes we don't even care father have mercy on us please help us to grow help us to be honest help us to care help us to see our sin as the sins that put Jesus Christ on the cross help us to repent of our sins God give us strength we desperately need you as these are praying we invite you to come if you need to otherwise we're going to sing together a hymn other command