[0:00] with thy abundant grace and with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy place. O God of our salvation, thou in thy righteousness, by fearful works unto our praise, thine answer dost express. Therefore the ends of all the earth and those afar that be upon the sea, their confidence, O Lord, will place in thee. And so on. Psalm 65, from the beginning of the psalm, praise waits for thee in silent, Lord, to thee vows paid shall be.
[0:39] Amen. Amen. Amen.
[1:10] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[1:44] Amen. shall wish not left. Blessed is the mountain of the castles and makes approach to thee, that he within thy heart so long mischief not whether be.
[2:26] We surely shall be such this time where thy abundant grace and with the goodness of thy house in all thy holy place.
[2:57] O God, all the salvation that may thy righteousness by the evil works.'" The answer does this rest.
[3:30] Then for the end so far the earth, And thus the body of all the sea, And then for the end so far the earth, And thus the Lord will bless the name.
[4:05] Let us join together in prayer. Ever blessed God as we come before you, we acknowledge that by nature we have no right of access Notwithstanding the fact that there may be within us The desire to worship God, Even a God of some description, Or an undescript God, A God who owes origin entirely to the work of our imagination.
[4:43] And there are many who over the centuries have lived in their life here in this world, And they have worshipped the creature, They have worshipped the work of the creator, Rather than the creator himself.
[5:03] They have worshipped the sky, the moon, the stars. There are gods from the ocean, And gods from the world of nature.
[5:15] There are gods that are a myriad hosts beyond number. And we acknowledge that that is what we are by nature.
[5:25] And even those who give credence to the elevated position that man has ascended to, Where there is no need for God, Man still finds a way of worshipping a God of their own making.
[5:41] Even though they would dispute the fact that they are worshipping, Outwardly, what they are doing is little better than worship, Except that it is a worship without any true benefit or outcome.
[6:03] We would ask, Lord, that you would ensure that our worship here would not be empty or void of meaning. That it would be focused in and through the passion of the Lord Jesus, On the God who is God over all.
[6:19] We pray for your blessing. That is what we seek beyond anything else that we might desire. That you would bless our time here around your world, Collectively, realising the need that we have for that word to speak to us.
[6:36] And where we are and what we are may be of little consequence. Perhaps we are crying out from the position we are in, By reason of the shortcomings that mark us out as creatures.
[6:54] Sometimes our trials and our testings and our difficulties make us cry out of the depths of our need.
[7:08] Lord, from the depths to thee I cry. These words are the words of one who knew where to look when need overwhelmed him.
[7:19] And you are able to hear such prayers and answer them far above our asking. We would ask, Lord, that wherever we are and whatever is true of us this evening, That even in the secret of our hearts we would have that desire to call upon God And to seek the blessing of God upon our lives.
[7:41] And upon the lives of those for whom we pray. It would be wrong of us to suggest that we are so self-centred and so selfish in our prayers That we never think of others.
[7:54] But help us to remember that whoever we are praying for, That we can do no better for them than pray for them in their time of need. And make us as one mighty instrument in your hand as a congregation.
[8:11] Pray to the God of all grace that you may come into our midst and minister to us according to the needs that we have As a congregation, as a community.
[8:23] Remembering all the homes and the families that are here within this part of your vineyard where we are found. And pour out your spirit upon us that we may know that God is at work in our lives and in the lives of those round about us.
[8:38] And sometimes unbeknown to ourselves. There are many who may have been under the teaching of your word from childhood. And yet they are still far from you in many respects.
[8:53] They have not indicated publicly at least that they have a saving interest in Christ. They have not acknowledged that Christ to be Lord of their life.
[9:04] We pray that you would grant to them that desire. Not to hide their light under a bushel. Not to pretend that there is no true interest in the things of God.
[9:18] And to go on as they are. Still numbered with the lost. And still identified with those who have no hope in the world. We pray that if there are such that you would touch them savingly and encourage them in their faith.
[9:36] We pray for those who do not have such faith. And that you would increase their desire for a greater and a deeper knowledge of the things of God.
[9:47] That they may have for themselves what others have clearly indicated that they have in their possession. We remember the church here and all who follow part of it.
[9:58] Many of our number have reached old age and they are confined to their homes or perhaps being cared for by others. Some because of the pandemic.
[10:10] They are fearful of being too often in the public gatherings of your people. Rightly so. We pray that you would preserve us and all who are with us from succumbing to the virus.
[10:26] For it is still prevalent in our midst. And we pray for those who have succumbed to it. And we still hear reports within our communities of this influence in lives.
[10:40] In one way or another. Remember our schools and also teaching them. Those who have to work in environments where they have to be in close proximity to others.
[10:54] We would ask Lord that you would wisely intrude into their circumstances so that they would not succumb to it. Be merciful to us as a nation.
[11:07] But we see so little evidence of man's devices which are in many ways not as fruitful as they could be if God were called upon.
[11:20] And we know that they do not call upon God. And they do not bring God of heaven into the equations of their resolutions. We pray that you would bring a sassanation to your footstool.
[11:36] And that we would listen out for the voice of God above all. The cacophony of sound that is so often crying this and that.
[11:47] And each proving to be a false prophet and a false declaration of peace. We pray Lord that you would remember all who are in government.
[12:00] Be it in Westminster or in Edinburgh, Holyrood. We pray for those who are there. We remember our own counsel and those who serve the people in these counsel offices.
[12:18] We pray Lord that you would be merciful to us as a generation. And that we would be brought back to yourself. Remembering the parts of the world that have little of the creature comforts that we enjoy.
[12:34] When we see in our news bulletins those who are driven from their homes and who are destitute. And who are maliciously dealt with by their fellows.
[12:49] in the sense that they are taken advantage of and they are set adrift in boats that can barely carry their weight and made to survive on the ocean and some of them having travelled hundreds upon hundreds of miles in the hope of securing a better life for themselves and for their children we see the world in which we live that it is so full of this malice and this hatred and so full of the selfishness and the desire to gain at another expense you are the God who is God over all, you are not blind to these things and sooner rather than later each one must answer to you and you have made that abundantly plain to us through your word and through those you have dealt with even within the sphere of our own lives we pray then your blessing upon your word as we turn to it, as we continue to sing your praises and as we wait upon you to enter into our presence and to make yourself known to us we would seek that above all else as cleansing from sin and pardon all our transgressions in and through Christ the Redeemer
[14:20] Amen We are going to hear the word of God as we have it in the New Testament Scriptures we are reading from Paul's epistle to the Romans and we are reading from chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 and we can read from the beginning down to verse 17 Romans chapter 8 from the beginning to verse 17 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit for to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God but ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his and if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is life because of righteousness but if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh for if ye live after the flesh he shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live for as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God for ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry
[17:06] Abba, Father the Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together and so on may the Lord at his blessing to a reading of his word and to his name be the praise we shall sing now from Psalm 103 Psalm 103 and we're going to sing to verse 7 6 stanzas from the beginning O thou my soul bless God the Lord and all that in me is bestowed up his holy name to magnify and bless bless O my soul the Lord thy God and not forgetful be of all his gracious benefits he hath bestowed on thee all thine iniquities who doth most graciously forgive who thy diseases all and pains doth heal and thee relieve who doth redeem thy life that thou to death mayst not go down who thee with loving kindness doth and tender measures crown who with abundance of good things doth satisfy thy mouth so that even as the eagle's age renewed is thy youth
[18:42] God righteous judgment executes for all oppressed ones his ways to Moses he his acts made known to Israel's sons and so on these verses to God's praise Psalm 103 from the beginning O thou my soul bless God the Lord and all that in me is O thou my soul bless God the Lord and all that in me is presenting my love Besserend and all that in me is The п kidney I am blessed.
[19:46] Blessed, O my soul, the Lord thy God, I'm not forgetful, thee, of all his grace than is it, he hath his good on me.
[20:19] All thy iniquity to God must graciously forgive.
[20:38] And thy diseases all and pains can't in love he relieve.
[20:55] Who does redeem thy life, our love?
[21:07] Who does pitch not for the moon? O thy world with reward and yea, and Pad어가 Marci Sigh Who is a finance of new things Just like this high flying fire So that even God's day In verse it renews his life God righteous, judgment and saviour
[22:19] All are oppressed in once His wisdom was to see His act Reign to his persons I'd like us to turn to the passage of scripture That we read together Paul's epistle to the Romans chapter 8 And we can read from verse 5 Romans chapter 8 from verse 5 For they that are after the flesh Do mind the things of the flesh But they that are after the spirit The things of the spirit For to be carnally minded is death
[23:21] But to be spiritually minded is life and peace Because the carnal mind is enmity against God For it is not subject to the law of God Neither indeed can be So then they that are in the flesh Cannot please God But ye are not in the flesh But in the spirit If so be that the spirit of God dwell in you Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ He is none of his So The epistle to the Romans Is a grand epistle It's a word that many of God's people hold dear For a host of reasons Not because it is more the word of God
[24:22] Than any other part of the scripture That would be wrong thinking Because the scripture tells us That the whole of God's word From Genesis to Revelation Has the same value Has the same God inspired written word Given to us For our spiritual well being But there are portions of the scripture That we turn to more often than others And to portions That we enjoy reading perhaps More More than we do Certain other parts of the scripture Romans Is an epistle That is a favourite to many And Romans 8 A more favoured Passage Warren Wiersbe One of the commentators Describes Four main elements
[25:25] That we find in this In this chapter Four freedoms That belong to the Christian And he sees these freedoms In the way the apostle Describes The work of God's spirit In his people There is What we see at the beginning Of the chapter Freedom From condemnation Freedom from judgment There is Therefore now no condemnation Condemnation he says To them Which are in Christ Jesus There is Freedom from Defeat God's people Are victorious And they are Free from The The obligations Under which God's law Places them In the sense that
[26:27] The law of God Is something that Christ has Fulfilled On their behalf There is Freedom from Discouragement Because They are They are Guaranteed Victory Nothing will Frustrate their Progress In the journey That they are on At God's Behest With God's help On the final thing There is Freedom from Separation They are Bound Up with Christ And they Will continue And remain With Christ Even into Heaven itself And they Will not be Separated from Him Or from His people Now the Passage we Are looking at Is contained Within that Second category And the Liberty That is
[27:27] Described to Us Is Carried Forward With A Series Of Contrasts Being made Between What is True Of the Christian And what Is true Of a Person Who does Not Believe What the Christian Believes A Christian Is Someone Who According To Paul Walk After The Spirit Not After The Flesh And then In verse 4 You have The Righteousness Of the Law Might Be Fulfilled In Us Who Walk Not After The Flesh But After The Spirit Their Walk Is Contrasted With The Walk Of The Person Who Is Not A Believer Walk In The Sense Is Their Lifestyle Their Mode Of Existence
[28:28] Their Thinking It Is It Is Directed By The Teaching Of The Holy Spirit And By The Guiding Of The Spirit They Are Led By The Spirit Now A Person Who Is Not A Christian Is We Are Told Led By The Flesh And They Are Totally Governed By Their Own Human Instinct And Human In The Sense Of Being Free From Outside Interests And Outside Influence Other Than The Influence That That That Is Accepted By The Devil Upon Their Lives And That Almost Goes Without Saying They Are A People Who Are Governed By Their Sinful
[29:28] Hearts And Minds Now When We Look At This Passage I Want To Look At It As A Sort Of Continuation Of What We Were Looking At In The Morning But With The Emphasis On What Is Positively Said About Those Those Who Are God's People A Christian Who A Christian Is A Person Who Knows What It Is To Be Governed By The Spirit Of God By You Know They Are Marked By What They Have Come To Enjoy Under God's Hand They Are Different Ways I Suppose You Could Refer To But If We Limit Our Thinking To What Paul Is Saying Here In This Chapter A Christian Is A Person Who Is Spirit Filled
[30:29] And Spirit Led And That Reveals Itself In Different Ways There For Example How Would How Would I Begin To Describe A Christian Well You Couldn't Really Begin To Describe A Christian If You Didn't Speak About Faith In Christ A Christian Is Somebody Who Has Put Their Trust In Christ They Have Faith In Jesus Christ And The The only Way A person Can Can Can Be In Christ Is By Faith You Know He Is Here Describing To us Or Contrasting The two Kinds Of Life And We Have To Stress That There's No Middle Ground There's
[31:29] No Sort Of Half And In Between There's No Straddling Of The Fence He's Talking About Those Who Have The Influence The Life Of The Spirit Upon Within Their Hearts Are Those Who Are Governed By The Flesh Totally And When Paul Writes To The Ephesians He States About The Christian The Following He Says To The Ephesian Church There That Christ May Dwell In Your Hearts By Faith That Ye Being Rooted And Grounded In Love May Be Able To Comprehend With All Saints For The Breath And Length And Depth And Height And To Know The Love Of Christ Which Passes Knowledge And That You Might Be Filled With All The Fulness Of God Their Ability To
[32:29] Know Any Truth Concerning Christ Comes From Within And The Light That Christ Shines Within Their Heart That's The Truth That Paul Wants To Highlight In Different Ways Throughout His Epistles The In Christ Relationship Albeit In Christ By Faith But In Christ Nevertheless And In Christ They Are Able To Discover Truth And Discover The Various Elements Of That Truth That Are Important For Their Christian Lives For The Way That They Live Their Life The Way They Conduct Themselves The Way They They They They Relate To God To Christ As Their Savior And The Spirit As The Guide Of Their Life And The Lord's People As Those Who Share In That Experience The Commendator Charles Hodge
[33:30] Says That Along With That I Would Say Most Important Experience Of Being In Christ By Faith That There Is Also The The Understanding Now I Hope You Understand That What I'm Saying Is For The Benefit Of The Believers So That They Can Recognize Their Unassailable Position As Believers As Christ Through The Apostle Means Them To Understand And That's The Purpose That's The In Product As Far As Paul Is Concerned He Wants The Believer To Be At Ease With Themselves As Believers Knowing That What They Are And What They Have Become He Is Responsible For It And The Second Thing That Hodge Says Is True Of Them Christ
[34:30] They Are In Christ He Is Their Federal Head You Know If You're Seeing Contrast Here The Contrast Between The Person Who Is Walking After The Flesh And The Person Who Is Walking After The Spirit The Person Who Is Walking After The Flesh Is Someone Who Is A Descendant Of Adam And Who Remains In A Relationship With Adam In The Sense That They Have A Kinship With Them In The Fall That Has Not Changed If We Go Back To The Old Testament We Find That When Adam Sinned In His First Transgression As The Divines Put It Not Only Was His Sin Something
[35:30] That Affected His Life And His Relationship To God It Is Something That Affected All Who Descended From So That Every Descendant Of Adam Because He Was A Covenant Head Because He Was Their Federal Head He Is He Is The One That Because Of That Relationship They Are Like Him In Their Sinfulness They Are Flesh Like He Became Flesh They Have Do Not Have The Capacity To Demonstrate Spirituality Because That Spirituality Which Was The Original Condition Of Adam As Their First Parent Was Lost When He Fell And Only God Can Restore It So
[36:31] In The Words Of Charles Hodge When You Look At What Is Spoken Of Here Them Which Are In Christ Jesus Who Walk Not After The Flesh But After The Spirit They Are Those Who Are In Christ As Their Federal Head As Well As Being In Christ By Faith They Can Look To Him And Believe That He Is The One Who Has Fulfilled All Righteousness On Their Behalf You Go Back Just A Few Verses In In This Epistle In Chapter 5 Of Romans You Read There From Verse 12 Where For As By One Man Sin Entered Into The World That One Man Is Adam Sin Came Into The World Through Adam Death Resulted Because Of That Sin Death
[37:32] Passed Upon All Men For That All Have Sin They Were Dead Before Any One Of Them Had Life Because They Were In A Sense In A Very Real Sense They Were Bound Up Within The Loins Of Adam Before They Were Conceived They Sin With Him They Fell With Him In His First Transgression Is How The Theologians Put So If You Read They Take That From Passages Such As This One For Until The Law Sin Was In The World But Sin Is Not Imputed When There Is No Law Nevertheless Death Reigned From Adam To Moses Even Over Them That Had Not Sinned After The Similitude Of Adam Transcression Who Is The Figure Of Him That Was To Come But Not As The Offense So So Also As Gives By Grace Which Is By One Man
[38:32] Jesus Christ As Abounded Unto Many So What Charles Hodge Is Saying Is Seen Clearly From What Paul Is Teaching Here That There Is The Affinity The Link That Exists For Those Who Are In The Flesh There They Are They Are Tied By Nature To Their First Parent Adam Still They Fell With Him And The Consequences Of The Fall Remain In Power As Far As They Consent But Those Who Come To Christ They By Faith Are In Him And By Faith They Are Now Now In Possession Of That Righteousness That Perfection That Adam Lost But
[39:32] Christ Retains And That's Why When Theologians Speak About Adam As The First Adam They Speak About Christ As The Last Adam The Last Adam Not The Second The Last Adam Because There Will Never Be A Need For Another There Will Never Be A Need For Any Other To Present Any Righteousness Or To Fulfill Any Works Because He The Lord Jesus Is The One Who Will Do This The Third Thing That We Find That Charles Hortges Is Referring To Is Christ Himself Teaches In The Gospels The Vitality That Union With Him Brings Away Because We Mentioned It In The Morning When Christ Is Teaching The Vital Union With Him Brings Life It Is True He Is Divine
[40:32] And We Are The Branches And As That Branch Is In Him Is The Fruit That The Branch Bring For For God's Glory Is Because Of That Vitality That Vital Union With Him And It's That Simple He Is The Source Of Their Spiritual Life And They Derive The Vitality Essential For Their Christian Life From Him They Derive It From Him And Him Alone Now We Must Bear These Thoughts In Mind Because When We Get To Verses 5 To 7 We Are Told They That Are After The Flesh
[41:47] If I was curious why in the authorised version that word carnal is introduced.
[42:12] If you look at the ESV just as an example. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.
[42:25] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed it cannot, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
[42:36] Now, if you look at the original version of the New Testament Greek, the word flesh appears throughout. That's not to say that the word carnal is wrong per se.
[42:52] There's nothing wrong, but there's no reason why the word flesh should be replaced with carnal. Because it doesn't really do anything to enhance the meaning of what Paul is saying.
[43:08] And what Paul is saying is he is highlighting this difference. The life of the flesh is a life that brings death.
[43:20] The life of the flesh is a life that is without fruit. The life of the flesh is a life that will not bring glory to God or good to man.
[43:34] Whereas the life that is in the spirit will do all of these things. And when we look at what Paul is saying here, that is what the emphasis is.
[43:45] If you go back to the previous chapter, chapter 7, Paul describes the two opposing forces at work within mankind.
[43:58] The flesh and the spirit. And the emphasis that comes in that chapter is something that every one of us needs to bear in mind.
[44:10] The two cannot coexist. The flesh and the spirit are at enmity. The flesh and the spirit, they are not able to function together.
[44:30] Because one will seek to suppress the other always. Those who have the mind of the spirit are delighted, for example, with the things of God.
[44:44] They enjoy what God has for them. They seek what God has for them. They yearn for what God has for them. You ask the man or woman who is under the influence or the power of the flesh, where is your enjoyment?
[45:05] In the things of God. What pleasure do you derive in the things of God? And the answer to that is, there can be no pleasure for the one who is under the power of the flesh.
[45:24] In what is spiritual. Because according to the apostle here, the carnal mind, he says, or the fleshly mind, is enmity against God.
[45:40] Because it is not subject to the law of God. And it cannot be subject to the law of God. In other words, the law of God is something that he, as an enemy of God, refuses to recognize.
[45:56] Even in our modern circumstances, we are not at war with any nation openly anyway.
[46:08] But there are constant frictions between factions where there is a refusal to yield to the influence of one party over and against another.
[46:23] Because there is a refusal to recognize the rights of that one party over against the rights of that other party that is in opposition to it.
[46:34] Whether that is because of Brexit or because of nationalism or whatever it is. Now, within the scripture, it is much more serious than that.
[46:48] What we are told is that this contrast reminds us that those who are under the influence of the flesh refuse to recognize the authority of God.
[47:04] Refuse to recognize it and yield to that authority by way of his law and his commandments as they are brought to bear upon our lives through the scriptures.
[47:18] By nature, we are identified with the first Adam. By faith, we are identified with the last Adam. By faith, we are identified with the last Adam.
[47:57] By faith, we are identified with the last Adam.
[48:27] By faith, we are identified with the arguments of sociologists or social anthropologists. And they are discussing influences exerted on the lives of people which can be either by way of nurture or nature.
[48:45] So that you can teach a person to be a good person. You can teach a person to be a good person. You can teach a person to be a good person. You can teach a person to be a good person. You can teach a person to be a good person. You can influence them from their youth so that they live in accordance with norms that are acceptable.
[49:04] Now, there is no doubt that you can go quite a long way in teaching people how to behave acceptably within society. But that never goes far enough as far as God's word is concerned.
[49:20] Because as we said in the morning, God is not looking on the externals. He is looking on what is in here. And what is in here is outside the sway of external influences.
[49:36] What is in here, what is in the heart and in the mind that is under the influence of God's spirit, can only be the result of God's doing and can only result in what is God honouring and God glorifying.
[49:55] I think we said in the morning that what needs to happen needs to be of God's planting. And if that doesn't happen, then what results is simply what we have here.
[50:10] To be carnally minded, he says, is death. To be under the rule of the flesh will result in death.
[50:22] The fruit that God seeks is fruit of his own making. And it doesn't matter how like it is to fruit.
[50:36] That you would think that is acceptable. If you can, at the moment I can't think of any fruit. There are fruits, I suppose, or vegetables that outwardly look as if they're the same.
[50:55] But if you cut into it or bite into it, one is bitter and the other is not. Because one is really not what it's supposed to be. And sometimes you have that within nature.
[51:07] But in the spiritual realm, it is what God exposes to be not the fruit of the Spirit or the work of the Spirit.
[51:18] That, the fruit of the Spirit rather. I think that takes me to think of when we come to our communion Sabbath. Very often we go to the words of Paul to the Galatians.
[51:34] And he describes to us what separates the person who is required to sit at the Lord's table and remember the Lord's death until he comes. He says, these men and women are able to produce fruit.
[51:51] Fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. Whereas, these others, what they have is but works. And all they have are works of the flesh.
[52:02] There's a difference. Maybe we can't tell them apart, but God can. That's the thing. John tells us in the Gospel, or Jesus tells us in the Gospel, that we must be born again and so on and so forth.
[52:16] I refer you to a couple of theologians. They tell us quite plainly what we have here and how we can understand what Paul is saying.
[52:34] The American WGT shared, he says, The will or inclination of the flesh designates original sin in the unregenerate.
[52:44] It is the principle of evil in its full strength and dominion. Where the flesh is spoken of here as Paul is speaking of it.
[53:00] It designates the original sin in the person who is not born again by the Spirit. The principle of evil in its full strength.
[53:10] In Z.B. Canfield, fallen man's fierce hostility to God is the response of his egotism, which is the essence of his fallenness, to God's claim to his allegiance.
[53:27] His hatred of God and his rebellion against God's claim upon him, expressed in God's law, are inseparable from one another. I think that's one of the hardest things.
[53:40] A person who is governed by the flesh. Someone who is an unregenerate person. Somebody who is not born again.
[53:50] Somebody who's thinking is governed totally by their natural reason. It's one of the hardest things for them to acknowledge that there is an enmity in their heart or in their life against God.
[54:08] There's no question in the mind of the apostle. That's what's true. They that are in the flesh, he says, cannot please God. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you, he says.
[54:23] Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of us. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of it. But the Spirit is life because of righteousness. That cannot be true about a person who is not born of God.
[54:39] Who is not in possession of the Spirit of God. When we think about what Paul is saying, he is challenging us with regard to our own faith, if we have faith.
[54:55] And he is challenging those who have not got that faith to understand what is true about their standing before God.
[55:08] Death, he says, is the only alternative for those who are outside of Christ. Perhaps what they do is praiseworthy, humanly speaking.
[55:20] Perhaps there are elements or aspects to it that would take them very far as far as the world's opinion is concerned. I think it's...
[55:34] There's two interesting things that I came across when I was reading this. The first was a reminder to us of how the thinking of some people is sometimes at odds with what you would expect it to be.
[55:54] One of the best known commentators, and certainly the most admired commentators, was some... He was a minister who went...
[56:05] I don't know why he went there, but he felt he needed to go to Geneva. It was in the 1850s.
[56:19] And when he was in Geneva, and this is reported by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones in a... In a... He said to his commentary.
[56:30] He says when he was there, he was introduced to a group of students for the ministry.
[56:43] And he was led to preach to them from Paul's epistle to the Romans. Remember, these were people who were destined to become ministers of the gospel.
[56:58] And it was as a result of his work in his way through this epistle that many of them were converted. They came to realise that whatever they were, they were not Christian.
[57:15] And with God's... And it wasn't his ability that convinced them of that. But his teaching of God's word led them to understand that whoever they trusted in, they did not trust in Christ.
[57:33] And God blessed his ministry to them. And the second thing, which is also equally amazing, and many people will reject the idea, is that according to John Murray, for example, the passage we looked at here reminds us of two things.
[57:58] The first of these is man's total depravity. And the second is man's total inability. Now, when you say to somebody that they are totally depraved, they immediately think that you're accusing them of being the most heinous sinner in the world.
[58:22] But that's not what total depravity means in the biblical sense. It means simply that the faculties of our soul by nature, while it is not as evil or not as wicked as you would think depravity suggests, it is incapable of any world good that would glorify God.
[58:56] The sin that is in the heart of man has resulted in man being destitute of any good that is salvific, that is saving.
[59:10] And the second part of that is, there is the inability to, that is, you know, if a person says to you, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you would think that it would be, I don't know which one of the divine systems, why would I as a preacher, preach to those people, who are, who are holding the Bible in their hand, and tell them what the Bible has already told them.
[59:56] Because, surely it is sufficient for them, with God's word in their hand, to believe what God's word is saying. what, what, why would I think that what I have to say is going to change that?
[60:10] Because, he says, their inability to believe, what the Bible tells them, can only be resolved with God's help.
[60:23] It can only, the only change that they need to experience, can only be brought in them by God. And, there is no Christian in this building tonight, who has not had that self-same change.
[60:39] They did not, arrive at faith, by any other route, except that God work, faith in them, through the spirit.
[60:53] God opened, the eyes of their understanding, God enabled them to accept the fact, that they were, unable, to please God. You know, inability.
[61:05] We are told, simply this, we cannot, please God, without faith. You read Hebrews 11, without faith, it is impossible, for us to please God.
[61:20] So how can we, resolve that? We cannot do it, but God can. And this is an encouragement to God's people, because, this is a change, that has been wrought in their life, that they know about.
[61:35] And sometimes, there are, as I said, insidious, forces at work, that would undermine their confidence, in what God has done.
[61:46] to try and disprove, or to try and, undermine their confidence, in what they should be confident in, that God, has, made this difference in their life.
[61:58] They that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, do things of the spirit. And if your interests are spiritual, don't for one minute, believe that your interests, that are spiritual, are something you inherited, or something that evolved, within your heart.
[62:19] You know, sometimes we think, that's the way we come to faith. I was trying to resolve this, in my own mind, as for something, as something that I, needed to explain.
[62:31] You know, there are some people, and they have a, have a sort of, Pauline experience, on the road to Damascus. One minute, they're facing one way, and the other minute, they're facing, the other direction.
[62:42] That's not strictly true, as far as Paul was concerned. Because Paul was not, without, the strivings of the spirit. As far as I understand, what the Bible is saying.
[62:55] Paul was not, ignorant of God's word, or what God's word said. He may have resisted, or denied, what that word meant. And there are many people, and you think, that they do a right, about turn, and instant.
[63:08] instant. But, I don't know how many of them, are in real life. Because, if I'm not mistaken, every one of you here, whether you're a believer, or not, God has already been, at work in your life.
[63:22] For a very long time, some of you. And if you were to, come to faith tonight, it's not because, something happened, instantly, at this point, that brought you, to that faith.
[63:33] Maybe, there is a point, that we each need to come to, in order to arrive, at a place of safety. But God works, throughout the lives, of many people.
[63:46] Maybe, for years, and years before, they are able to surrender, the baggage, that they're carrying, with them. That would, make them think, that they're, they're going to do something, themselves.
[64:01] They can't. We can't. I can't. You can't. May you understand, that there is a difference, between the person, who's, who's, a spiritual person, and this person, who's a natural person, a man of flesh.
[64:18] Because, the flesh is weak. The flesh, will yield death. The flesh, will not take you, anywhere, except to a place, of disappointment. And may God, convince us, of that, let us pray.
[64:31] Hear us, O God. Bless, your word, to us, and to everyone here, wherever they are, may your word, make sense to them. May you open, all our eyes, that we may see, glory in Christ, and be drawn to him, and to surrender, everything of our own, and leave it, where it will, perish, in the dust.
[64:57] Hear us, in Jesus name, may we. The closing psalm, is Psalm 51. Psalm 51, and we've seen, from verse 8, four stanzas.
[65:12] Of gladness, and of joyfulness, make me to hear, the voice, that so, these very bones, which thou hast broken, may rejoice. All mine iniquities, blot out thy face, hide from my sin.
[65:26] Create a clean heart, Lord, renew a right spirit, me within. Cast me not, from thy sight, nor take thy, holy spirit away. Restore me, thy salvation's joy, with thy, free spirit, me stay.
[65:40] Then will I teach, thy ways, unto those, that transgressors be, and those, that sinners are, shall then, be turned, unto thee. These verses, of gladness, and of joyfulness, make me to hear, the voice.
[65:55] Of gladness, and of joyfulness, make me to hear, the voice, that so, these very bones, with life, has broken, and of joyfulness, and of joyfulness, and of joyfulness, all my iniquities, though I digest, from my sin, my фильatribe.
[66:57] within. Cast me not from the eyes die nor take thy holy strength away.
[67:16] With your life shall destroy with thy peace could be saved.
[67:32] And where thy takes thy wisdom to those others desert keep and those that said shall be chosen and truly may grace, mercy, and peace from God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all.
[68:11] Amen.