[0:00] Romans chapter 8 is where we're going to take our text today. But I just wanted to read a familiar portion of scriptures. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13.
[0:11] But I would not have you ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. Hope is what makes you and I as the children of God different than a lost world out there.
[0:24] We have hope. We have something to look forward to. This is not my best life. Amen. I've got something to look forward to down the road. And I just wanted to share that with you. It doesn't really have a whole lot to do with what I'm going to preach this morning.
[0:37] But we were privileged, those of you that don't know us, this is my wife Joanne. I'm going to ask her to stand up because she hates it when I embarrass her. Every church we go into I do this to her. And she knows it's coming sooner or later.
[0:49] But our ministry is living in spite of ministries as pastors already said. We were privileged to have a child born into our family with disabilities. And Johnny was profoundly deaf.
[1:00] He had multiple unique malformations. He had a kidney transplant. He had two heart valves replaced. Johnny was 28 years old. He was 4'6", weighed all of about 92 pounds, and had many, many surgeries, well over 40 surgeries in his lifetime.
[1:15] But he taught us, God used him to teach us valuable lessons that we would have never learned had we not had a child that was born with all these problems.
[1:26] And on October 3rd, 2015, Johnny went home to be with the Lord. He had been praying. He had been asking God to take him home. He had been in pain.
[1:37] He had been on dialysis the last two years of his life. The kidney transplant that he had lasted 17 years, which is unusual for a transplant. But he was in pain every day.
[1:48] And after dialysis, he was in severe pain. He'd come home and he'd cry and he'd weep. And he began to ask my wife and I to pray with him that Lord would just take him home. Johnny had known.
[1:59] He knew that he was saved. He knew that he had trusted Christ as his Savior. He didn't know he was going to heaven because he had all these disabilities and he had paid some sort of penalty here on earth.
[2:10] No, he knew he was going to heaven because he had realized he was a sinner in need of a Savior, asked the Lord to forgive him of his sin, accepted Christ as his only payment for sin, and knew he was going to heaven.
[2:23] That's why he had the hope. The hope. You know, biblical hope, friend, is not it may happen or it may not happen. You hope that it happens. Biblical hope is a confidence.
[2:34] It's an expectation that God's going to do what he says he's going to do. And October 3rd, Johnny's hope became sight. His faith became sight. He breathed his last breath here on earth.
[2:46] My wife actually was down here celebrating the birth of our son's first baby. And I was back home in Michigan and Johnny had gotten up that morning, made his bed, got dressed, ready to face the day.
[3:00] And we believe that his heart just gave out. There was no autopsy or anything because of all the health problems that he had. And he went to be with the Lord from his bedroom.
[3:12] But can I tell you something? Grief, sorrow, hope, and joy can come together when you have hope. We sorrow not as others which have no hope.
[3:25] When Johnny passed away, I found his body on the floor in his bedroom. And I was weeping and I was crying and I was clutching his body close to mine. And I was just crying, oh, Johnny, oh, Johnny, oh, Johnny.
[3:38] And then for a brief moment, joy entered into my heart. Not for me and not for my wife, not for our family because this was the worst day of our lives. But for Johnny.
[3:50] Because he had been praying that God would take him home. And the Lord took him home. Again, if he would ever pick the place to go home from, it was his bedroom. That was his domicile. That's what he loved.
[4:00] He loved that place. That was his little spot in the world where he was most comfortable. But I had joy in my heart for him because his faith became sight.
[4:12] I know that I will meet Johnny someday. That's the hope that I have today. Because I have received Jesus Christ as my Savior. And I don't tell you that so you feel sorry for us.
[4:22] I'm just giving you a little bit of background about what our ministry is about. We try to help people understand that your sorrow, your grief, your trials in life are what God's using to build your testimony.
[4:33] As Pastor said, to reach the lost world that's out there. Because people are hurting everywhere you go. And if you can say, hey, you know what? This is how God helped me get through my trials.
[4:47] And let me just share with you how the Lord gave me strength. How the Lord gave me grace to deal with the trials that I dealt with. Friend, you will have an open door to talk to somebody about the Lord Jesus Christ.
[4:59] Like I said, when Johnny was profoundly deaf, we didn't know he was deaf until he was two and a half because of all the other physical problems that he had.
[5:10] But Johnny loved watching Rescue 911. That was his favorite TV show years ago. And man, I mean, man, when it came on, he was going to watch that show.
[5:22] Nothing else was going to stop him. Well, my wife was going to a local college learning sign language, taking sign language classes. And one of the requirements for the students was that they would spend time with a deaf person.
[5:34] And a lady that she got to know that didn't live too far from us asked her if she could come over and sit with Johnny and just have a conversation with him in sign language.
[5:46] And, you know, my wife, being the wonderful woman that she is, said, Sure, of course, come on over. We would love that Johnny will be just fine with it. Not on Rescue 911 night.
[5:58] So Johnny reluctantly gave in. And so the lady came in and they're having this conversation and they're talking. And Johnny is a clock watcher, man.
[6:09] He's watching the clock. He knows Rescue 911 is about to come on. So in the middle of this lady trying to have a conversation with Johnny, he gets up off the couch.
[6:21] He walks into the kitchen. He grabs her coat off the back of a chair, walks over to her, lays the coat in her lap, walks to the front door and goes.
[6:42] She knew all the sign language she needed to know to understand what Johnny was telling her. Amen. Rescue 911 is coming on, lady, and you are leaving my home. So that's the truth.
[6:54] That was one of those moments with Johnny that we've never forgotten because that was his personality. He always kept us guessing. But Romans chapter 8 and verse number 1.
[7:08] I want to begin reading. If you're able, I'm going to ask you to stand as we read our text for this morning's message. Romans 8 verse 1. The Bible says, There is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
[7:24] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath 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.
[7:48] 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.
[8:00] 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.
[8:11] 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.
[8:29] 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 the Spirit that dwelleth in you.
[8:42] Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
[8:56] 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, Abba, Father.
[9:12] Verse 1 there says, There is therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. I want to preach a message this morning.
[9:22] He's saying, Accept no condemnation. Accept no condemnation. Let's pray. Lord, we come to you now and thank you for your love.
[9:33] Thank you for the Word of God. Thank you for this time that we can be here. Lord, in the house of God with the people of God, sing these wonderful songs. And Lord, sit under the Word of God and to hear the Word of God preach.
[9:46] Oh God, I pray that you would speak here this morning. Lord, no doubt there's some heavy hearts here today that Father have lived under some condemnation in their own lives.
[9:56] And I pray, dear God, that today they'd be free of that. So Lord, I just pray that you'd do a work. Lord, most of all, we pray here this morning that if there's somebody here that does not know Christ as their Savior, that they would realize, Lord, that they are under condemnation even now.
[10:15] Lord, I pray that you would speak to their heart and that today would be the day that they would trust Christ as their Savior and leave this church with the same hope that our Son had in heaven.
[10:28] So Lord, I pray now that you would bless this time, do a work that no man could do, and we'll thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. I believe that most of God's children, most of us that have been born again, believers in Jesus Christ, have trusted Christ as our Savior, have times where we have actually accepted condemnation, lived under condemnation.
[10:53] The word condemnation means the act of declaring one guilty. And a lot of times, I think it's because of preachers like myself have portrayed God in this way of, child of God, you are under the condemnation of God.
[11:10] And can I tell you something today, friend, that's just not true. Not according to the Bible, but sometimes we preach as though God has forgiven you, but God has sanctified you, but you have this price you have to pay because of sin.
[11:28] Friend, let me tell you something, Jesus paid the price for the sin of the world. You know, we love to quote Romans 8, verse 1. Amen. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
[11:39] And man, what is a blessed thought, is it not that, you know, you and I, if you're saved today, don't have to worry about hell. We don't have to worry about being condemned to an eternal punishment because of sin.
[11:50] We have got a home waiting for us in heaven. We've got something to look forward to. Jesus settled that 2,000 years ago by his death on the cross. The sting of death hath no power on the child of God.
[12:02] 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51.
[12:35] O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[12:46] Hey, this corruptible flesh, what that means is we're all dying. Amen. We're all headed to the grave. Some of us got a lot of time, and some of us don't have as much time. Amen. But we don't know when that's going to happen, do we?
[12:58] We don't know the day of our death, but our bodies are falling apart. It's corrupting. Our bodies are corrupting, but someday when we die, amen, we're going to get us a new body. That was Johnny's hope.
[13:09] That was Johnny's hope. I think I've told you the story before. When he began to pray and asking the Lord to take him home, he'd get up in the morning, he'd say, Jesus is stubborn. Jesus is stubborn. I said, what do you mean?
[13:20] Why? Why? Why do you say that? He said, because he wanted to go to heaven from his bedroom. Amen. But he wanted to go to heaven while he was sleeping. Fall asleep and wake up in heaven. Amen. Wouldn't that be great?
[13:30] I said, how do I want to go? Amen. But he said, when I wake up in the morning, he had a cleft lip and a cleft palate, and he had a plate, an upper plate that he would put in in the morning and take it out at night.
[13:42] And he said, when I wake up in the morning, if I rub my tongue against the roof of my mouth and I have teeth, I know I'm in heaven. He knew he was getting a new body. Amen. Amen. He was going to get an incorruptible body someday.
[13:55] Amen. You know, we have the ultimate victory because of what Christ has done for us. Romans 8.1 also draws a contrast that most of us don't seem to like to talk about.
[14:06] It says, therefore, there's no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Now, in context, it means it's talking about you and I, as the children of God, have the spirit of God dwelling inside of us.
[14:22] We can walk in the spirit. Amen. Amen. We are saved and we have that. We have no condemnation upon us because we have the spirit of God. However, we still live in flesh, don't we?
[14:35] We still live in a fleshly body. And the flesh produces death in our walk with the Lord where the spirit produces life. So there's this internal battle that rages from the day that we get saved until the day that we go home.
[14:48] Amen. We're going to be fighting this internal battle between the flesh and the spirit in our lives until the day that we go home. The spirit is that part of you and I which communicate with God.
[15:01] The flesh is that natural part that is tied to this world. When we yield to the spirit, there's victory. When we yield to the flesh, there's defeat.
[15:12] Again, in verse number six, it says, for to be carnally minded or fleshly minded is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. When we yield to the spirit, there's victory. When we yield to the flesh, there's defeat.
[15:25] Now, none of us are going to live in complete victory all the time, 24 hours a day, right? We're going to be fighting the battle against the flesh. We're going to be fighting that battle over and over and over again. But the hope should be in every war that we win more battles than we lose.
[15:41] Right? That we would be walking in the spirit more often than we're walking in the flesh. Now, it sounds easy enough, right? But like any battle, any war, it's difficult.
[15:54] It's hard to stay walking in the spirit constantly in our lives. As we fight those internal battles, we need to understand that victories only come when we're walking in the spirit.
[16:05] The defeated Christian life dwells in walking in the flesh. When we're walking in the flesh, friend, we are going to begin to accept condemnation.
[16:20] I'm guilty. This is what I've done. I have had these things go on in my life. And God needs to take care of it. And we begin to start taking on ourselves condemnation in our lives.
[16:33] And the sad truth is, for many of God's children, the place living under condemnation is a place of comfort. It's a place where I can have a ready-made excuse not to be all that I can be for God.
[16:49] Because after all, the Lord's not going to accept me. You know, I've got all these things. I've done this wrong and I've done that wrong. And we begin to allow condemnation to seep into our heart and seep into our lives.
[17:01] It keeps us from being effective for the cause of Jesus Christ. It gives us a, many times, that's the reason why we don't get victory over sin in our life. We can't get victory on it because we're walking in the flesh.
[17:15] Not walking in the spirit where we know we're forgiven. Where we know God will give us the strength and he'll give us the grace and the power to get victory over things that are in our lives.
[17:28] Jesus deals in life and the flesh, the devil, and the world deals in death. Things that will try to draw us from the Lord and the life that we can enjoy in him. Jesus said in John chapter 10, verses 9 and 10, I am the door.
[17:42] By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.
[17:54] I know I preached about the abundant life, I think, the last time that we were here, that Christ came to give us. But, child of God, the Lord wants you to thrive in your Christian walk. He wants you to enjoy your Christian walk.
[18:05] He wants you to have victory in your Christian walk and not defeat. Don't just get by. Don't just survive being saved. Man, I'm holding on until Jesus comes. I'm holding on until I breathe my...
[18:16] No, man. Enjoy life. Live. Live in spite of what you're going through. Live the life for Jesus Christ that you can enjoy. When we blow it by giving into the flesh, we begin to allow ourselves to dwell in the flesh and to live a life of condemnation.
[18:33] The flesh brings condemnation, not the spirit. Hey, man, when we blow it, when we've given into the flesh, we must yield to the conviction of the Holy Spirit to escape the condemnation that comes from walking in the flesh.
[18:48] Now, there's three areas of our life, three sources of condemnation that we should not accept today. First and foremost, accept no condemnation from the Lord. The reason is, He hasn't come to condemn you.
[19:01] John chapter 3 and verse 16, for God so loved the world, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[19:11] For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He didn't come to condemn you, child of God. He came to save your soul.
[19:23] And if you're saved today, you've moved from condemnation into life. You've moved from darkness into light. Many times we believe that the Lord's condemning us for things that we've been forgiven of.
[19:35] Amen? We do sin after we get saved. Now, we talked about it a little bit in Sunday school. If you're saved and you get convicted about something, something you need to get in your life or get out of your life, sin in your life, or whatever it may be, and God's convicting you of it, your next response should be, Lord, forgive me.
[19:59] Let me get that right. And I want, because you want to be over here in the flesh, right? Or, excuse me, spirit's over here, flesh is over there. Remember that now. Okay? But, but, you got to understand, you got to understand, when you've been forgiven, and God convicts you again about sin, not past sin, but something that's in your life, if you don't get it right, what's He going to do?
[20:23] He's going to chasten you. But He's not condemning you. He's not condemning you. He'll chasten you. He'll correct you just like a father corrects a child, right? We need to understand that today.
[20:36] You see, He's not condemning us. You and I have been made justified in the eyes of God, declared innocent by the blood of Jesus Christ. Receive that child of God, know it, understand it, and accept it.
[20:51] Jesus deals in conviction, not condemnation. Jesus deals in life, the flesh deals in death. Jesus gives victory, the flesh defeat.
[21:02] Jesus brings joy, the flesh brings discouragement. Jesus brings peace, the flesh brings frustration. Jesus gives freedom, the flesh brings bondage. Jesus brings faith, the flesh brings fear and doubt into our life.
[21:18] When we've blown it and we ask God to forgive us and we get those things right with God that He's been convicting us of, friend, He will never bring them up again. You're forgiven.
[21:31] The Lord's not bringing that up again in your life. Jesus deals in conviction, not guilt. There's a difference.
[21:44] Conviction is something that you will feel because you've sinned now. You've sinned since you've been saved, right? How many have never sinned since the day you got saved?
[21:54] Amen. Don't raise your hand. Please don't raise your hand. But we've all sinned, right? And from time to time, we need to get right with God. We need to make that thing right. That's called conviction.
[22:07] When you are living under the guilt of something that you've been forgiven of, that's not God, friend. that's not the Lord. Know that in your heart right now.
[22:19] If you've asked God to forgive you of something, He's forgiven it and He's forgotten it. And He's not bringing it up again. But your flesh will. Your flesh will bring it up again.
[22:29] The devil loved to throw it in your face. Don't accept condemnation from the Lord because He's not condemning you. Then don't accept condemnation from yourself.
[22:40] We are our worst critics. You are looking at the king of condemnation. I can condemn myself over stuff I've done in my past. You know, when Johnny was born, my wife had gotten saved a year and a half before Johnny was born.
[22:57] I had gotten saved when I was in the military and got away from the Lord. And I was backslid. I was away from God. Got right when my wife got saved. And I was sure that God was judging me because of the years that I had lived in sin.
[23:14] I knew that Johnny was born with all these defects because it was my fault. And then it took me a while to get over that. It took me a while to understand that's just not the truth.
[23:27] God wasn't judging me. God wasn't condemning me. God wasn't doing that to Johnny because of my sin. But you see, I beat myself over the head for all the things I've done wrong in the past still to this day.
[23:40] Things will come up in my heart and I begin to dwell on them and dwell on them. Hey, again, that's not God. That's you. That's you. That's me condemning ourselves. You know, well, if God's not going to condemn me, I have to condemn myself.
[23:53] No, friend. No. If God's not condemning you, hey, praise the Lord. If God's forgiving you, we need to learn to forgive ourselves. God won't condemn us, so we must condemn. After all, I've sinned and we must pay.
[24:07] Christ has already paid for our sin. Amen. Amen. Thank the Lord it's been paid for once and for all. We don't deserve God's blessing. We don't deserve God's help.
[24:18] We don't deserve God's freedom. That's all humanistic thinking. That's the flesh talking, not the spirit talking. No, we don't deserve anything, but by the grace of God, we're going to heaven.
[24:30] By the grace of God, we've been forgiven. It's the flesh that's speaking to us and not the spirit. Paul says in Romans chapter 7 and verse 18, For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
[24:43] For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. Paul struggled with the flesh just like you and I do. Can you imagine the thoughts that he could condemn himself with?
[24:58] The cries of those that he persecuted, those that he dragged before the council in order to be put to death, holding the garments while they stoned Stephen.
[25:12] Then he got saved. Can you imagine how he could beat himself up over and over and over again for all the things that he had done? If we walk after our flesh, we can do no good thing.
[25:28] In Romans 8, verse 8, it says, So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. You know, if I'm walking in the flesh, I'm not fellowshipping with the Lord.
[25:39] And you know he desires our fellowship? He desires the fellowship with you and I? And so the Lord doesn't, you can't please God because, man, he wants to have a relationship with us.
[25:51] He wants us to be in communication with him. So we've got to stop walking in the flesh and start walking in the spirit so that we can have that communication with the Lord. So he can lead us and guide us and direct us and enjoy time with him.
[26:05] As we walk in the flesh, we will not only eventually fall into sin, but we spend our time condemning ourselves over the things that we have already been forgiven of. We find ourselves beating ourselves up.
[26:18] We must recognize that we are operating in the flesh. Ask the Lord to forgive us. Yield to the spirit of God and go forward for Christ. Accept no condemnation from the Lord because he's not condemning you.
[26:30] Accept no condemnation from yourself because you're not God. And then accept no condemnation from the devil. The enemy is on the attack constantly. Revelation chapter 12, verses 9 through 11 says, And the great dragon was cast out.
[26:45] That old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceived the whole world, he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ.
[27:01] For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God. day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
[27:13] And they loved not their lives unto death. Hey, the devil spends his days making accusation about you and I before God. Before the throne of God. You know, he even accuses God, goes so far as to accuse God of wrongdoing.
[27:29] Remember Eve in the garden? You know, God's holding out on you. Because he knows in the day that you take out the fruit of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he knows the day that you do that, you'll be like God.
[27:45] He's holding out on you. He went before God and said, Take down your hedge around Job and he'll curse you to your face.
[27:57] And you don't think the accuser, that he'll accuse you and me? I mean, he's bold. He's bold. The devil wants us to live in discouragement over the failures of our past.
[28:12] He'll continually bring up our past that God has forgiven us of. Maybe even allow us to think that we've been forgiven, but you know, you're not going to get a second chance.
[28:25] God can't use you anymore because of the things you have done. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. God used all kinds of people that messed up. He used Adam.
[28:36] He used Moses. He used Samson. He used Jonah. He used David. He used Peter. He used Paul. Amen. He's the God of the second chance. He's the God of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth. The Lord will use you as long as you want to be used, child of God.
[28:50] We are overcomers by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony. The devil is a defeated foe. He's just not done fighting yet. Refuse to accept his condemnation.
[29:06] When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. Amen. He's good about bringing up your past but say, you know what? You know what, devil? I know I've done a lot of bad things.
[29:16] I know I've done things wrong, but you know what? I'm going to heaven and you're not. Amen. When we find ourselves not living, not living, but being discouraged and being down because of the things we've done in our lives, friend, we are not living the abundant life that Christ came to give us.
[29:34] We're not living for the Lord the way that he wants us to. We're not living in fellowship that we need to have. We need to understand we're walking in the flesh. Need to understand, friend, when you're feeling that condemnation, when you're feeling that load, on you, of things that you've been forgiven of, you know what you need to do?
[29:51] You're going to go, whoa, whoa, whoa, man, I'm not walking in the spirit. I need to get over here and start walking in the flesh. Walking in the spirit again.
[30:05] Hey, we need to immediately go to the Lord and ask him to forgive us. Accept his forgiveness. Accept his victory. Accept his peace. Accept his joy. Accept his freedom.
[30:16] Come, live by faith, and accept the abundant life that Christ came to give you. We need to encourage ourselves from the word of God. When that's going on in your life, when you're living under condemnation, when your past is beating you up and you're beating yourself up, you need to get into the word of God.
[30:34] Ephesians chapter 320, now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh within us. Hey, accept the power of God working in you and through you.
[30:47] See the Lord do exceeding and abundant things in your life. Don't buy into the thought that your sin has condemned you. Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ.
[30:58] Nevertheless, I live. I'm living, man. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
[31:11] Man, live, friend, live. Live by the faith of the Son of God. Don't walk in the flesh, but walk in the Spirit. Philippians 4.8, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.
[31:32] Man, when we begin to yield to the flesh, our mind goes places that it ought not go. And we need to say, you know what? I'm not dwelling here. I'm going to think on the things that are true, lovely, good report, all those things that the Lord gave me.
[31:47] We need to get our minds right and start thinking on proper things. Isaiah 26, verse 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee.
[31:58] Trust in the Lord. Trust his word. We are forgiven forever. Amen. Enjoy God's perfect peace. 2 Timothy 1, verse 7.
[32:08] For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. When condemnation comes, refuse to accept it and walk in the spirit of God, the spirit of love, the spirit of peace, and the spirit of a sound mind.
[32:24] We need to ask the Lord when we're walking in the flesh. We need to ask the Lord to lead us into a life walking in the spirit. When we feel like we've blown it, remember, he's the God of multiple chances.
[32:38] He'll use you, friend. He'll use you. If you want to be used, he'll use you. As long as we have breath, he will use us for his glory if we allow him to.
[32:50] There's a friend of Joanne of mine who, man, we've known for many, many, many, many, many, many years. And he had moved away and he's living up in the northern part of Michigan.
[33:01] And he got in a horrible car wreck. And his body got all broken up and they put him on a bunch of pain medications. And this guy, he was always so happy and joking and loving and just a great guy to be around.
[33:16] But after that accident, he kind of fell into depression. And years passed, and years passed, and he was just living on disability. He couldn't work and everything.
[33:29] One day he realized that he was not thriving in his Christian walk. He was surviving. And he realized he was barely surviving.
[33:41] He realized, you know what, this isn't where God wants me to be. He said, man, I'm going to go out and I'm going to find me a job. So he goes through, goes driving, he's driving down the road and he sees a sign that says bus drivers wanted in the school district that he lives by.
[33:54] And he got all excited. He says, man, I used to drive a church bus. I can drive a bus. I got my CDL. And he went down there and he took the application and they're all excited, man. They're ready to hire him on the spot. And he goes home.
[34:05] He's going to fill out the application. And he sat down and he realized, I'm on all these pain meds. They're not going to hire me. I can't do that job.
[34:17] And he walked into his bedroom and laid down, shut the lights off, covered himself up, and started going into depression. And he stopped himself. He said, this is not what God wants for my life.
[34:30] This is not what the Lord wants for me. And he went and he filled out that application, finished filling out that application and he quit doing his pain meds. Now, don't you leave here and say, Brother Ashley said I should quit doing my pain meds because that's not what I'm telling you.
[34:44] I'm just telling you what happened in his life. He drove for two and a half hours to come and tell my wife this story. He said, I quit doing my pain meds and those pain meds, I had to go to the doctor every month to get the prescription renewed because they're so powerful.
[35:00] So he goes into the doctor and he fills out the application. He takes it and turns it into the school district. And he goes to the doctor's appointment and he says to the doctor, he says, hey, what would happen to me if I quit doing those pain meds?
[35:14] Oh man, you can't do that. Don't quit your pain meds. You quit your pain meds, it could kill you. She said, don't quit your pain meds. This is gonna happen, this is gonna happen, this is gonna happen, this is gonna happen.
[35:26] And he smiled and said, well, I know there's a God in heaven. She said, what do you mean? He said, I quit doing my pain meds three days ago. He goes, and I haven't had any of those side effects.
[35:37] He goes to the pharmacist, he tells the pharmacist, you know what I need? I need the most potent Tylenol that I can get over the counter without any codeine or anything like that because he wants to drive this bus, right?
[35:49] He doesn't want to be on any narcotics. And he said, hey, what would happen to me if I quit doing those pain meds? You can't do that. You can't quit doing those pain meds. You quit doing those pain meds, it could kill you. You're gonna have these side effects, all these things are gonna happen.
[36:01] He said, well, praise the Lord. Man, it's been five days since I quit doing those pain meds and I haven't had one of those things happen to me. Next thing you know, the school district calls him, he gets on the bus, he starts impacting the lives of all these kids that he's driving on the bus, man.
[36:17] He starts working in the church, he starts getting involved, man. He wants to become a deacon. All these things are going on in his life. Why? Because he quit living under condemnation.
[36:27] He quit living that way and he decided not to just get by in his life, but man, I'm gonna live. I'm gonna enjoy living for Christ. His life was changed because he said, you know what?
[36:41] I'm making a decision. See, my point is this, accepting condemnation will keep you from being all that you can be for the Lord. He is the God of forgiveness.
[36:53] He's the God of multiple chances. And let me say this, if you're here today and you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you've never come to the place where you have admitted that you're a sinner before a holy God.
[37:11] Can I tell you something right now? The Bible says that you're condemned already. You're headed for hell. Condemnation is on you. The wrath of God abides on you.
[37:22] Word of God says in John chapter 3 in verse 18, we talked about, you know, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that through him the world might be saved.
[37:36] Verse 18, he says, he that believeth on the hymn is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.
[37:46] Friend, if you're here today and you've not been forgiven of your sin, you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, let today be your day. Let today be the day that you can walk out of here with hope.
[38:00] Hope of knowing you're going to heaven. Knowing that your sins have been forgiven. Because if you don't, Fred, you don't know what tomorrow holds. You don't know what this afternoon holds. You could die and be launched into eternity before this day's out.
[38:14] No one knows what the day holds. But won't you be sure today that you're not living under condemnation but you've been forgiven, man. And you're on your way to heaven.
[38:26] Child of God, stop blaming God for your feelings feelings of guilt. Stop blaming God for your feelings of condemnation. If you're saved, you have been forgiven of all your sins.
[38:40] He's not condemning you. He may be convicting you and he will chasten you but he won't condemn you. Stop accepting self-condemnation.
[38:51] We can be our worst enemies but you and I are not God. We are not our own judge. Receive God's forgiveness and stop accepting condemnation from the wicked one.
[39:05] He loves to discourage the saints of God. He's the accuser of the brethren but my friend, he's a liar. And he's also a defeated foe. We have victory by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony.
[39:22] Amen? Accept no condemnation today. Father, we come to you now and Lord, I know in my own life I've struggled with this.
[39:36] I've struggled with this idea of condemning myself. I've struggled with accepting condemnation from the wicked one. I've accepted just Lord my own my own condemnation.
[39:53] Lord, please today if there's someone here today that Lord needs first of all to be saved, I pray right now, right now you'd be touching their heart. You'd be showing them it's their need.
[40:04] They need to trust Christ today and not wait another day. And Lord, no doubt there are Christians born again believers in Christ that are in this room right now that have been living under some condemnation.
[40:20] I pray today they'd let it go. Stop walking in the flesh and letting the flesh win the battles. Let's start walking in the spirit and allow you to make us free and let us live, live the life that you came to give us.
[40:35] Oh God, I pray that you would speak right now and we would respond in order to glorify you. Father, you do the work that no man can do, we pray in Christ's name.
[40:51] Amen. You've passed. Amen. Okay. Thank you very much. Bye now.".