WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.600 Well, good morning. 00:00:17.820 --> 00:00:28.339 In the iconic cult classic movie, The Princess Bride, the swashbuckler Inigo Montoya says 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:38.159 this, say it with me, hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:38.500 die. 00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:39.840 All right? 00:00:44.840 --> 00:00:49.879 When you meet someone for 10 minutes, maybe 15, you've got to get beyond the, oh, who are 00:00:49.879 --> 00:00:52.620 you, where are you from, what do you do, that kind of thing. 00:00:52.620 --> 00:00:57.900 When you start actually talking with people, one of the most interesting things is to find 00:00:57.899 --> 00:01:02.000 out what their controlling passions are in life. 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:07.519 For Inigo Montoya, his life was driven by revenge. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:13.439 He was looking for the six-fingered man who had murdered his father so that he could take 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:16.319 revenge on him, and it has driven his whole life. 00:01:17.780 --> 00:01:21.539 There are many other people that you could think of that you would, you'd not have to 00:01:21.539 --> 00:01:25.239 even think for a minute to know what is the controlling passion of their lives. 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:35.179 Marie Curie, or Lance Armstrong, Billy Graham, or Bono, and many, many others. 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:39.500 When you think of these people, they just, you know what they're about. 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:41.019 You know what drives them. 00:01:41.179 --> 00:01:44.719 You know what controls their mind and their passions. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:52.260 And this morning, as we look, continue in our series in Romans chapter 8, we're going to 00:01:52.260 --> 00:01:57.780 think a little bit together about the controlling passions of our own mind, of our own heart, 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:02.400 of our own lives, and how that shapes and informs our spiritual life. 00:02:03.340 --> 00:02:11.000 If you want to turn with me to page 944 in the Pew Bible, or any Bible you brought, Romans 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:17.539 chapter 8, we're going to be looking at specifically verses 5 through 8 today, but I'm going to be 00:02:17.539 --> 00:02:24.120 reading the first 12 verses, first 11 verses, I'm sorry, just to give it some context, because 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:25.099 we're kind of in the middle. 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:29.420 This passage is in the middle of a section, and so we're going to look at it together. 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:31.080 So let's read God's Word together. 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:40.780 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:48.180 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin 00:02:48.180 --> 00:02:48.939 and death. 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:54.220 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. 00:02:54.219 --> 00:03:01.599 By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemns sin in the flesh 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:09.039 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:12.360 according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:18.259 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but 00:03:18.259 --> 00:03:22.500 those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:29.939 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:30.300 peace. 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:36.939 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:38.920 Indeed, it cannot. 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:43.780 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 00:03:44.939 --> 00:03:51.300 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells 00:03:51.300 --> 00:03:51.659 in you. 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:57.599 Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him, but if Christ is in 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:05.719 you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness, 00:04:06.699 --> 00:04:11.180 the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:17.439 He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:19.540 His Spirit who dwells in you. 00:04:19.540 --> 00:04:21.080 Let's pray. 00:04:21.080 --> 00:04:21.100 Let's pray. 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:29.080 Lord, we come before your word this morning. 00:04:31.640 --> 00:04:38.560 Lord, humbled because we read of these words and we hear them talk of things that we know 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:39.420 so little of. 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:47.420 Lord, I come this morning trembling before you, Lord, knowing my own inadequacies and my own 00:04:47.420 --> 00:04:53.319 weakness and yet asking, Lord, that you might in this moment, Lord, speak. 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:55.319 Lord, that your word would be clear. 00:04:55.319 --> 00:05:01.659 Lord, that you would help me to proclaim it as I ought, with clarity and with power. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:07.560 Lord, I pray for the presence of your Holy Spirit among us, that you would be turning our 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:14.300 hearts towards you and that we would be knowing and experiencing the life that this passage refers 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:15.300 to you. 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:23.139 Lord, help us to be, to have minds that are alert to listen for your word and hearts that 00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:28.120 are soft to receive your word and hands that are quick to respond to your word. 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:30.480 Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:31.259 Amen. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:46.800 Romans 8 is one of the most beautiful passages in all of Scripture, but it comes after Romans 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:47.579 1 through 7. 00:05:47.840 --> 00:05:53.000 And as we launch into this morning, I wanted to spend just two minutes trying to get us 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:57.620 aligned to what the argument of what the Apostle Paul has been doing from the very beginning. 00:05:57.620 --> 00:06:04.680 The very beginning of the letter, he declares in verses 16 and 17, for the gospel is the 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:10.560 power of God unto salvation for all who believe, first to the Jew and then to the Gentile. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:18.000 He's saying that there is a gospel, there's a good news about what God has done for all 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:21.399 people that has power to save us. 00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:25.780 And then he launches into, for the rest of chapter 1, all the way through the middle of 00:06:25.779 --> 00:06:26.519 chapter 3. 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:35.119 He launches into going deep into the problem that we have, that humanity is all under sin. 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:42.159 Men and women from every tribe and nation, we do not worship God as we ought to. 00:06:42.299 --> 00:06:49.039 We do not honor Him or obey Him or serve Him as we ought to, as our Creator. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:56.260 And that because of that, all of us, religious people, non-religious people, all people in 00:06:56.260 --> 00:07:00.319 their natural state apart from God's help are lost. 00:07:01.080 --> 00:07:05.259 And not only are they lost, but they are under a right judgment. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:11.900 For as we turn away from the God who is all that is good in this world to something else, 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:12.920 we turn to evil. 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:17.879 And God cannot allow evil to continue. 00:07:18.340 --> 00:07:21.040 And so we are all under God's judgment. 00:07:22.080 --> 00:07:25.600 And when we get to Romans 3, 20, we should all be despairing. 00:07:25.700 --> 00:07:26.840 What then can we do? 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:28.560 How then can we live? 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:30.120 Is there any hope for us? 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:33.840 And Paul steps in and says, yes, of course there is. 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:37.319 Now there is a righteousness from God that is revealed. 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:41.939 Now God has done something for you that you could not do for yourself. 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:51.500 In Jesus Christ, He sent Him to be the perfect God-man, to live the life of perfect obedience 00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:55.459 and perfect honor and perfect worship of God that we could never do. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:00.300 And then having that perfect life, He then offers Himself up and says, 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:04.699 I will take a death that I don't deserve for you who do deserve it. 00:08:04.699 --> 00:08:12.199 I will step into your place and die for the sin, die the penalty of death that you deserve 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:17.219 because of your sin, because of your rebellion and alienation from God. 00:08:18.719 --> 00:08:23.120 And then He unpacks this and He talks about how glorious this is and how free this is, 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:27.779 how it's something we could never do on our own, and so all we can do is receive it by faith. 00:08:27.779 --> 00:08:33.899 And then He gets to chapters 5 through 8, and He says, 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:42.519 now that having been justified by God's grace, we now stand in this grace. 00:08:42.659 --> 00:08:48.059 We have peace with God and have a grace in which we now stand that gives us a new relationship 00:08:48.059 --> 00:08:53.939 with God and a new opportunity to live out a new kind of life where we're no longer slaves 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:58.280 to this power of sin that has controlled us and infected us our whole lives. 00:08:58.520 --> 00:09:03.780 But now there is a new life that we can have, a life toward God and unto God. 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:08.800 And in this we find all the things that our hearts most deeply desire. 00:09:11.520 --> 00:09:15.940 Most of all, we find our right place as being those who worship God. 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:19.460 And in knowing Him, we follow Him. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:30.900 And so, this is Romans 1 through 7 in a nutshell that leads us up to Romans 8, 00:09:31.160 --> 00:09:35.360 where He comes back and He is in some ways placing a capstone on that by saying, 00:09:35.900 --> 00:09:40.640 there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:46.379 You are free from that penalty because of what God has done. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:48.419 And now there is a new life. 00:09:48.500 --> 00:09:54.399 If you were here last week, you remember Greg helped us see very helpfully that chapter 4, 00:09:55.059 --> 00:09:59.879 that God did all this in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled. 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:04.939 That is, that we are now able for the first time because of what God has done, 00:10:04.940 --> 00:10:12.820 to actually serve God, to actually please Him, to actually do the things that He told us to, 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:17.420 which is actually how God defines the good life for us, right? 00:10:17.660 --> 00:10:22.580 Following the law, the righteous requirements of the law is not meant to be seen as a burden or a duty, 00:10:23.040 --> 00:10:27.340 but instead it is a path of wisdom for those of you who are this summer, 00:10:27.340 --> 00:10:33.360 the path of rightness, how we live rightly under the God who created us and made us. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:38.259 And so this is the good life that God has created for us 00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:46.019 as long as we continue to walk in the Spirit and not according to the flesh. 00:10:46.300 --> 00:10:52.840 And that's how He ends verse 4, and this is what launches us into this middle section of this argument, 00:10:53.300 --> 00:10:59.759 verses 5 through 8, where He talks about the dichotomy of the flesh and the Spirit 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:03.039 and the significance of setting our minds on things. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:05.440 So look with me again at verses 5 through 8. 00:11:05.800 --> 00:11:09.120 I just want you to see how often this idea, 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:12.879 I gave an introduction where I talked about the controlling passions of our mind, 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:16.639 that's trying to give new language to what Paul says here when he says, 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:19.560 set your minds on, okay? 00:11:20.060 --> 00:11:23.560 And we see it in all four verses, right? 00:11:23.559 --> 00:11:29.339 Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:32.559 but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 00:11:33.099 --> 00:11:36.979 For to set the minds on the flesh is death, 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:39.339 but to set the mind on the Spirit is life. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:41.559 For the mind that is set, in verse 7. 00:11:42.199 --> 00:11:43.759 And then verse 8, he summarizes it. 00:11:43.779 --> 00:11:45.500 He doesn't use the same word, but he says, 00:11:45.579 --> 00:11:46.819 for those who are in the flesh. 00:11:46.820 --> 00:11:50.580 So this is the idea Paul wants us to see, 00:11:50.760 --> 00:11:57.260 is that setting our mind is a critical part of understanding what it is that God has done for us. 00:11:57.560 --> 00:11:59.000 And he says three things about it. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:02.480 He says the things that we set our mind on reveal our true nature. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.280 The things that we set our mind on determine our ultimate destiny. 00:12:06.940 --> 00:12:10.700 And the things that we set our mind on reveal our ultimate attitude towards God. 00:12:10.700 --> 00:12:14.360 So our nature, our destiny, and our attitude towards God. 00:12:14.420 --> 00:12:18.300 And that's what we're going to look at for a few minutes this morning as we continue. 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:22.560 So first, look at verse 5 with me again, right? 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:27.100 Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:32.900 Those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 00:12:33.140 --> 00:12:36.200 Now this flesh-spirit language is not brand new. 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:42.660 We've seen it even in 8, 1 through 4, but we've also seen it in the argumentation that's come back. 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:50.360 You see, particularly, let me read, or let me define it for you and then read two verses to help you see it a little more clearly. 00:12:50.740 --> 00:12:52.960 The flesh is not just our physical nature. 00:12:53.100 --> 00:12:55.060 It's not because we have skin and bone. 00:12:56.020 --> 00:13:01.860 Lots of translations, if you have the NIV translation with you today, it will say this as the sinful nature. 00:13:01.860 --> 00:13:13.419 Paul uses the word flesh not simply to talk about our physicality, but to talk about our part of a creation that is in rebellion against God. 00:13:13.899 --> 00:13:22.740 And it is about our fundamental nature that, if you go back to Romans 5, ever since Adam has been against God and not for him. 00:13:22.740 --> 00:13:35.340 So our flesh is shorthand for Paul to talk about all of our impulses to refuse, reject, ignore, and be opposed to God. 00:13:35.539 --> 00:13:37.600 This is what the flesh is, right? 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:40.299 And he juxtaposes that with the Spirit. 00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:41.759 He says, what is the Spirit? 00:13:42.060 --> 00:13:43.899 The Spirit is the Spirit of God. 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:45.940 You see what he said in verse 2? 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:50.799 The Spirit is the Spirit of life that God has given us. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:14:02.719 It is, in fact, the promise that God himself, in a mysterious and wonderful way, actually comes to dwell in those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. 00:14:02.979 --> 00:14:07.099 God hasn't just saved us and then said, hey, I hope it goes well. 00:14:08.219 --> 00:14:09.359 You know, good luck with that. 00:14:10.079 --> 00:14:18.500 He's actually given us not just even power, like use the force, Luke, but he's given us himself to dwell inside of us. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:26.599 That is, the new way that we are able to live. 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:29.759 So Romans 7, 5 and 6 say this. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:37.919 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 00:14:38.779 --> 00:14:39.399 Verse 6. 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:57.340 It's always hard to read Romans because there's so much complexity of argumentation that's going on in the background. 00:14:57.340 --> 00:14:59.320 But what I want you to see is really clear. 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:04.600 He's saying there was an old way in the flesh and it led to death and it was in rebellion against God. 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:12.340 But God has given us a new way in the Spirit with God present with us that we are now able to live differently. 00:15:12.340 --> 00:15:28.600 And so then, what Paul says in verse 5 is, if you live according to the flesh, that's what your controlling passions will be consumed by. 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:34.040 They will be consumed by the things that are against God. 00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:41.839 If you live according to the Spirit, your mind will be consumed with the things of God. 00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:49.279 John Stott expands on how we're to understand this mindset. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:53.319 He says, it is a question of what preoccupies us. 00:15:53.959 --> 00:15:57.879 The ambitions which drive us and the concerns which engross us. 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:01.059 Of how we spend our time and our energies. 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:05.480 What we concentrate on and give ourselves up to. 00:16:06.019 --> 00:16:10.159 All of this is determined by who we are. 00:16:10.439 --> 00:16:12.840 Whether we are still, quote, in the flesh. 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:18.539 Or are now by new birth, quote, in the Spirit. 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:23.720 Here's the thing that bugs us about this. 00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:25.720 At least it bugs me when I read this. 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:26.200 Right? 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.040 Because I really, really want to believe the army. 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:30.720 That I can be all that I can be. 00:16:31.180 --> 00:16:32.920 And that I can remake my world. 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:34.820 And if I choose the right things. 00:16:34.899 --> 00:16:37.519 If I can set my mind on the right things. 00:16:37.660 --> 00:16:41.080 Then I'm going to be able to make myself whatever I want to be. 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:45.180 And I want you to see what Paul has done here. 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:47.500 Because he's actually reversed the order. 00:16:48.899 --> 00:16:51.519 He has said, because of who you are. 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:54.779 That is what you will set your mind on. 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:57.460 Do you see that? 00:16:58.420 --> 00:17:01.300 Some of you maybe watch television. 00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:03.139 Maybe some of you don't. 00:17:03.980 --> 00:17:06.579 There's a great insurance ad on right now. 00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:09.339 If you're a fisherman, you tell tales. 00:17:09.980 --> 00:17:12.759 If you're a couple, you fight over directions. 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:15.960 If you're a parrot, you repeat things. 00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:18.779 If you're Peter Pan, you stay young forever. 00:17:18.779 --> 00:17:22.319 And if you want to save 15% or more on your car insurance. 00:17:24.859 --> 00:17:25.299 Yes? 00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:25.720 Geico? 00:17:25.980 --> 00:17:26.339 You're there? 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:26.740 Okay. 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:27.779 So. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:31.839 On a much more profound level. 00:17:31.940 --> 00:17:33.960 This is what Paul is saying about us. 00:17:35.660 --> 00:17:36.099 Right? 00:17:36.099 --> 00:17:40.839 That it is in fact our true nature. 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:45.959 That determines how we set our mind on things. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:53.619 It means that our controlling passions are not actually under our control. 00:17:53.619 --> 00:17:58.039 And we don't like that, do we? 00:18:01.479 --> 00:18:02.679 We'll come back to this. 00:18:02.859 --> 00:18:03.319 There's more. 00:18:03.679 --> 00:18:05.179 But Paul is trying to say. 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:08.319 Remember the context. 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:09.959 He's encouraging believers. 00:18:10.179 --> 00:18:11.619 You have been given the spirit. 00:18:12.179 --> 00:18:14.500 The if in verse 4 is not a conditional. 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:16.719 Like, well, if you do this right, then you'll be okay. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:23.220 He's saying, assuming or based on the fact that I believe you are already in the spirit. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:28.120 But he's laying these things out and he's saying there's an old way and a new way. 00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:34.759 And it's going to, and the things that we set our mind on then reveal our true nature. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:38.839 And friends, this is when it comes home, doesn't it? 00:18:40.180 --> 00:18:42.100 Someone looked at your Facebook account. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.240 Or your text messages throughout the day. 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:48.420 Or the things on your bedside table. 00:18:49.120 --> 00:18:51.900 Or if they met you in conversation for half an hour. 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:57.319 What would they know about your controlling passions? 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:03.120 Who would they say you are and what you're all about? 00:19:04.140 --> 00:19:06.620 What does that reveal about your true nature? 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.859 Paul's not giving an exhortation here. 00:19:12.859 --> 00:19:15.359 He's simply explaining spiritual dynamics. 00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:17.779 But it's worth asking that question. 00:19:17.939 --> 00:19:21.519 Having laid then that foundation, he moves on to the next verse. 00:19:21.639 --> 00:19:22.859 Verse 6. 00:19:22.979 --> 00:19:26.019 He says, for to set the mind on the flesh is death. 00:19:26.719 --> 00:19:29.419 To set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. 00:19:29.459 --> 00:19:34.279 And here he's explaining, not verse 5, but he's going back to what he said in verses 1 through 4. 00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:40.240 And he's explaining this is the reason why there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:42.920 Because in Christ Jesus you've been given the spirit. 00:19:43.059 --> 00:19:48.200 And because you have the spirit, which is the life-giving power, you are able to fulfill the righteous law. 00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:52.519 But if you don't have that, then you are still in the flesh. 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:59.420 And you are still trying to keep a law in your own power to make yourself pleasing to God. 00:20:01.879 --> 00:20:04.519 Paul says, no, don't you see? 00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:06.940 There are these two ways to live. 00:20:08.259 --> 00:20:14.359 And if you are living according, the mind that is set on the flesh is leading to death. 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:18.919 This life and death theme is a powerful one. 00:20:19.059 --> 00:20:21.179 You go back and read Romans 5 through 8. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:25.279 You'll see Paul is constantly saying, here's a way of life. 00:20:25.379 --> 00:20:26.159 Here's a way of death. 00:20:26.459 --> 00:20:28.939 Here's a way of, by faith, God's work. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:33.979 And here's a way of, by your own energy, trying to please God by keeping the law. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:39.299 And back and forth and back and forth and saying, there is a way of life and there is a way of death. 00:20:40.099 --> 00:20:42.819 And by that, he doesn't simply mean your physical life. 00:20:42.819 --> 00:20:46.279 In fact, he primarily means your spiritual life. 00:20:47.139 --> 00:20:49.019 Are you alive to God? 00:20:49.939 --> 00:20:51.259 Do you love him? 00:20:52.259 --> 00:20:53.960 Do you believe in him? 00:20:54.119 --> 00:20:55.599 Do you know that he is there? 00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:59.439 Have you experienced his reality and his power in your life? 00:21:00.919 --> 00:21:05.099 And by death, he means, are you dead to God? 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:08.139 Are you cold? 00:21:08.439 --> 00:21:09.359 Are you indifferent? 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:14.139 Are you dismissive of God? 00:21:17.179 --> 00:21:25.479 It is a deadness that Paul talks about in other places where we are unable to rouse ourselves from. 00:21:25.899 --> 00:21:33.339 It is a deadness that comes with it judgment and condemnation from God because of our alienation from him. 00:21:33.339 --> 00:21:42.539 And Paul says that if you live, if you want to try to live on your own apart from God, you will live in the river of death. 00:21:43.259 --> 00:21:49.539 And you will feel the currents of death in your life, in your relationships, in your hopes and dreams. 00:21:49.539 --> 00:21:57.240 And eventually that will fall over the waterfall into the eternal pool of destruction. 00:21:57.240 --> 00:22:05.120 And this passive death leads to a place that is darker than the darkest of nights, 00:22:05.660 --> 00:22:11.160 to a destruction that is greater than the worst and most powerful storm, 00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:17.420 to a place of despair that is deeper than anything experienced here. 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:26.000 The death that ultimately the life of the flesh leads to is a terrible, terrible place. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:32.300 Do not fool yourself, friends, of thinking you can dabble in the life of the flesh 00:22:32.300 --> 00:22:35.640 and kind of swim in half in one and half in the other. 00:22:36.180 --> 00:22:37.380 Paul is very clear here. 00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:39.700 There are two ways and there is not a middle ground. 00:22:39.700 --> 00:22:43.240 And the mind that is set on the flesh is death. 00:22:46.980 --> 00:22:52.319 The mind that is set on the spirit is life and peace. 00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:59.360 And friends, this is what breaks into our lives when, by faith in Christ, 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:04.400 we experience and enjoy the forgiveness that God has given us in Christ. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:12.480 We experience this renewal of our spiritual lives and suddenly the world becomes a rich place. 00:23:13.060 --> 00:23:17.280 It's like in the Chronicles of Narnia when the winter that was never Christmas, 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:19.800 but always winter, finally ended. 00:23:20.840 --> 00:23:23.040 And the snow began to melt and drip. 00:23:23.540 --> 00:23:28.340 And life began to burst forth through the remaining snowdrifts. 00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:34.599 This is the spiritual life that we then have, where we care about God. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.720 We care about what God is doing in the world. 00:23:36.819 --> 00:23:38.220 We care about who He is. 00:23:38.459 --> 00:23:43.439 And we begin to change our lives because God has done these great things for us. 00:23:44.259 --> 00:23:46.319 This is the life that we experience. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:50.699 And it flows from this fundamental thing where God has, 00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:52.779 you saw it in the passage at the very end, 00:23:52.779 --> 00:24:00.539 God actually brings to us a new birth and a new spiritual life that we cannot have apart from Him. 00:24:00.879 --> 00:24:06.799 And He gives us His Spirit as the seal and the sign and as His presence with us 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:10.579 that we have this life with Him that will now live forever. 00:24:10.579 --> 00:24:16.939 It's a beautiful thing. 00:24:19.019 --> 00:24:24.059 Paul is saying that there is one road, flesh, you do not want to go down 00:24:24.059 --> 00:24:28.119 because the end is darker than the worst that you can imagine. 00:24:28.399 --> 00:24:33.259 But there is another way, the way of the Spirit which leads to life. 00:24:33.259 --> 00:24:42.539 Friends, I wonder if you see how dire this is. 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:47.140 I wonder if you believe that this is true, 00:24:47.779 --> 00:24:49.879 that there is a path of life and a path of death. 00:24:51.579 --> 00:24:54.379 I wonder if you see how terrible sin is. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:00.140 I wonder if you see how destructive it is in your life now 00:25:00.140 --> 00:25:06.400 and how it is, how even more terrible the eternity will be. 00:25:08.120 --> 00:25:12.980 But I wonder if you see as well how good it is to know God 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:15.259 and to have His Spirit dwelling in you, 00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:19.280 to have your mind set on Him so that all of your thoughts 00:25:19.280 --> 00:25:22.320 and all of your ambitions and all of your goals, 00:25:22.320 --> 00:25:28.280 all of your interactions are shaped by this great desire 00:25:28.279 --> 00:25:36.920 that God would be magnified and glorified and worshipped in our lives. 00:25:37.539 --> 00:25:39.700 What a beautiful thing it is. 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:48.899 And so, we recognize that that leads us to an eternal destiny with God 00:25:48.899 --> 00:25:53.599 where we have only begun to taste the goodness that God has 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:55.759 for those who are in Him. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:56.259 Right? 00:25:57.819 --> 00:26:00.279 So, even the best pleasures of this world 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:02.180 and the best pleasures of this life 00:26:02.180 --> 00:26:06.559 are only a foretaste of what God has for us in heaven 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:11.980 when life with Him is unfettered and unstained and unstruggled. 00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:21.460 So, we've seen that the controlling passions of the mind reveal our true nature. 00:26:22.279 --> 00:26:24.180 They determine our eternal destiny. 00:26:24.779 --> 00:26:26.440 And then finally, verses 7 and 8, 00:26:26.940 --> 00:26:31.019 the controlling passions reveal our fundamental attitude towards God. 00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:33.400 Look with me at 7 and 8. 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:35.120 Paul does not pull any punches. 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:40.639 He focuses in on the mind that is set on the flesh, right? 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:42.179 The mind that is set on the flesh. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:45.139 And he says just a few things about them. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.779 The first one is they are hostile to God. 00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:51.619 It does not submit to God's law. 00:26:51.739 --> 00:26:54.579 In fact, not only does it not, but it cannot. 00:26:55.579 --> 00:26:56.619 And then verse 8. 00:26:56.619 --> 00:27:02.459 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:12.619 Paul talks about this in terms of a sense of slavery. 00:27:13.239 --> 00:27:15.179 In chapter 6, he talks about how 00:27:15.179 --> 00:27:18.659 when we are apart from God, 00:27:18.759 --> 00:27:20.279 when we are on our own, 00:27:20.419 --> 00:27:22.779 we are actually enslaved to sin. 00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:26.180 That is, it has a controlling power on our lives 00:27:26.180 --> 00:27:28.480 that we are unable to break. 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:32.139 And that this is, for those who are in the flesh, 00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:33.259 this is our nature. 00:27:33.940 --> 00:27:35.220 This is who we are. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:38.460 I remember once. 00:27:39.619 --> 00:27:40.740 It's an odd memory, 00:27:40.859 --> 00:27:42.279 but I remember as a little kid, 00:27:42.579 --> 00:27:44.879 going with my mom because I was sick one day. 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:46.180 And I had to go with her 00:27:46.180 --> 00:27:47.940 because she had a meeting at someone else's house. 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:49.779 And they had a German shepherd. 00:27:49.899 --> 00:27:51.359 And this German shepherd, by all accounts, 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:52.879 was a very friendly German shepherd. 00:27:53.639 --> 00:27:56.199 But this German shepherd, for whatever reason, 00:27:56.659 --> 00:27:58.679 didn't think that I belonged. 00:28:00.879 --> 00:28:03.219 In his nature, he did not want me there. 00:28:03.299 --> 00:28:04.519 When we showed up at the door, 00:28:04.619 --> 00:28:05.740 he bristled and barked. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:06.799 The dog got put away. 00:28:06.959 --> 00:28:09.039 I got put in a separate room 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:11.599 because I don't even know what meeting my mom had. 00:28:12.059 --> 00:28:14.000 I was just sort of given a book and a chair 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:14.979 and said, stay here. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:16.719 And halfway through, this dog came, 00:28:17.139 --> 00:28:19.079 somehow was released from where he was being kept 00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:20.159 and came rushing around the corner. 00:28:20.399 --> 00:28:21.199 It's traumatic for me. 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:24.220 You can tell having this German shepherd, 00:28:24.360 --> 00:28:25.500 you know, six inches from me, 00:28:25.620 --> 00:28:27.019 barking and growling at me. 00:28:29.660 --> 00:28:31.720 The dog was hostile towards me. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:38.100 And when God looks at us in our sin, 00:28:38.620 --> 00:28:42.279 in our flesh, that's what he sees. 00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:48.399 He sees us as those who are opposed to him. 00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:52.480 We bristle at this. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:56.319 We don't really want to believe that this is true. 00:28:57.220 --> 00:28:58.980 We live in a tolerant society. 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:00.139 Can't we all get along? 00:29:00.259 --> 00:29:01.539 If it doesn't hurt someone else, 00:29:01.579 --> 00:29:02.720 how bad could it be? 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:07.700 Romans 8 pushes us to think through a different grid. 00:29:07.700 --> 00:29:16.960 What God sees in us as he sees us in the flesh 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:19.980 is someone who is antagonistic towards him. 00:29:22.460 --> 00:29:24.480 Someone who is a rebel, 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.100 who will not bow his knee to the rightful king. 00:29:29.099 --> 00:29:35.359 He sees someone who chooses their own independence, 00:29:36.659 --> 00:29:39.759 their own self-determined freedom, 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:43.819 rather than submission to God. 00:29:43.819 --> 00:29:53.799 It is a terrible place to be. 00:29:54.399 --> 00:29:57.720 Because you see here, as Paul plays this out, 00:29:57.799 --> 00:30:01.619 this hostility is something that is expressed, 00:30:02.059 --> 00:30:04.259 and it's not something we're actually able 00:30:04.259 --> 00:30:05.659 to do anything about. 00:30:06.439 --> 00:30:10.159 If we are on our own trying to worship God 00:30:10.159 --> 00:30:13.399 the best that we can without submitting to him, 00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:14.740 without honoring him, 00:30:14.860 --> 00:30:18.759 without throwing ourselves on the salvation 00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:20.820 that he has given us in Christ, 00:30:21.380 --> 00:30:23.100 and wanting to do it on our own, 00:30:24.860 --> 00:30:26.480 Paul does not pull punches. 00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:29.880 He says you cannot do it. 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:32.380 You cannot submit to God's law, 00:30:32.600 --> 00:30:34.720 and you cannot please him. 00:30:37.700 --> 00:30:39.500 Now let me clarify one thing here 00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:41.040 just so that we may get this right. 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:44.539 There are ways in which any human being 00:30:44.539 --> 00:30:48.000 is able to reflect the created goodness, 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:49.759 the common grace goodness 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.619 of what God has done in creating us. 00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:55.740 And so we know that there are people 00:30:55.740 --> 00:30:57.799 who do good things in the world, right? 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:00.019 We know that there are people who don't know God 00:31:00.019 --> 00:31:02.200 who still do good things in the world. 00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:05.059 And we need to be sure 00:31:05.059 --> 00:31:08.779 that we do not denigrate that unnecessarily. 00:31:08.779 --> 00:31:11.799 But here what we see is 00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:16.539 we cannot please God in the fundamental way 00:31:16.539 --> 00:31:20.599 that would cause him to deliver us 00:31:20.599 --> 00:31:22.299 and save us from our sin. 00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:25.759 We have no ability to do that on our own. 00:31:26.940 --> 00:31:29.160 And this message of divine inability 00:31:29.160 --> 00:31:32.200 as God's enemy 00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:40.080 again, grates against our human spirit, doesn't it? 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:42.279 Because we want to believe we can do this. 00:31:44.580 --> 00:31:48.160 And the whole message of Romans here 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:49.779 is that we can't. 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:51.980 We cannot do it. 00:31:51.980 --> 00:31:55.880 And it leaves us in a terrible place in the flesh. 00:31:56.460 --> 00:31:58.640 One Bible commentator says it this way, 00:31:59.059 --> 00:32:01.559 because God values his own glory 00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:03.860 as that which is supreme in the universe, 00:32:03.960 --> 00:32:05.640 he cannot dismiss as trivial 00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:07.940 those whose mindset is directed 00:32:07.940 --> 00:32:09.680 against the things of God. 00:32:10.660 --> 00:32:12.079 Because they are his enemies, 00:32:12.220 --> 00:32:14.319 he punished them with eschatological, 00:32:14.539 --> 00:32:16.680 that is, eternal judgments. 00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:23.460 So, friends, 00:32:23.820 --> 00:32:26.120 we can look at the passions of our lives 00:32:26.120 --> 00:32:27.779 as maybe litmus test, 00:32:27.900 --> 00:32:29.200 as an indicator, 00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:30.960 what's really going on, 00:32:31.019 --> 00:32:31.799 who is our true, 00:32:31.900 --> 00:32:33.299 what is our true identity, 00:32:34.860 --> 00:32:36.539 what do we really think of God? 00:32:36.539 --> 00:32:36.619 God 00:32:36.619 --> 00:32:42.180 might be sobering to do that. 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:45.180 But I want you to see 00:32:45.180 --> 00:32:47.720 that Paul's saying here, 00:32:47.819 --> 00:32:49.639 the passions of the flesh are disastrous. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:50.839 They lead to death. 00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:52.139 They reveal our sin 00:32:52.139 --> 00:32:54.279 and our hostility to God. 00:32:54.460 --> 00:32:56.359 And they show us to be those 00:32:56.359 --> 00:32:57.159 who are enslaved 00:32:57.159 --> 00:32:59.559 to this spirit of rebellion against him. 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:02.079 But, 00:33:03.480 --> 00:33:06.379 look at verse nine with me. 00:33:07.539 --> 00:33:08.899 Paul's not done. 00:33:10.299 --> 00:33:11.359 Paul has written this 00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:13.240 as a description primarily 00:33:13.240 --> 00:33:14.579 of the spiritual dynamics 00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:15.559 of the human heart. 00:33:16.759 --> 00:33:18.899 His exhortation is in verse nine. 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:20.639 But you are not 00:33:20.639 --> 00:33:23.319 in the flesh, 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:24.960 but in the spirit. 00:33:26.980 --> 00:33:27.680 If, and again, 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:29.500 if means in this context, 00:33:29.740 --> 00:33:30.139 assuming. 00:33:31.099 --> 00:33:33.139 I'm calling you to assume 00:33:33.139 --> 00:33:34.480 because I'm writing, 00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:36.440 he's writing this to the church. 00:33:36.539 --> 00:33:37.420 In Rome. 00:33:37.539 --> 00:33:37.899 And he's saying, 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:39.420 I'm assuming that you have 00:33:39.420 --> 00:33:40.220 the Holy Spirit. 00:33:42.420 --> 00:33:43.859 Saying there is something. 00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:45.440 You are not of the flesh 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:47.799 with all of its terrible consequences 00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:49.099 and all of its enslavement. 00:33:49.379 --> 00:33:50.779 You now have, 00:33:50.899 --> 00:33:51.299 in fact, 00:33:51.379 --> 00:33:52.720 something else 00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:54.139 because of what God 00:33:54.139 --> 00:33:54.819 has done for you. 00:33:54.899 --> 00:33:56.359 Not because you determined it. 00:33:56.619 --> 00:33:58.319 Not because you strove to get it. 00:33:58.539 --> 00:34:00.539 Not because you ran after it. 00:34:00.539 --> 00:34:04.240 I often describe my own conversion 00:34:04.240 --> 00:34:05.500 as I ran after God 00:34:05.500 --> 00:34:06.559 until he caught me. 00:34:07.139 --> 00:34:07.460 Right? 00:34:07.819 --> 00:34:08.800 It wasn't me 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:09.920 that got myself there. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:10.800 It was God 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:12.000 who got me there. 00:34:13.699 --> 00:34:15.460 And even my running after him 00:34:15.460 --> 00:34:16.840 was his work in my heart. 00:34:18.420 --> 00:34:20.019 And what Paul wants to do 00:34:20.019 --> 00:34:20.739 is to end this 00:34:20.739 --> 00:34:21.579 with an encouragement. 00:34:22.139 --> 00:34:22.380 You, 00:34:22.579 --> 00:34:23.719 as the people of God, 00:34:23.800 --> 00:34:25.539 now have the spirit of God 00:34:25.539 --> 00:34:26.920 dwelling within you 00:34:26.920 --> 00:34:28.460 so that you can be the people 00:34:28.460 --> 00:34:29.639 who can fulfill 00:34:29.639 --> 00:34:30.780 the righteous requirements 00:34:30.780 --> 00:34:31.480 of the law. 00:34:31.780 --> 00:34:33.500 You can actually live a life 00:34:33.500 --> 00:34:35.079 that is pleasing to God. 00:34:35.340 --> 00:34:36.400 A life of worship. 00:34:36.599 --> 00:34:37.680 A life of service. 00:34:38.039 --> 00:34:39.119 A life of sacrifice. 00:34:39.340 --> 00:34:41.079 A life with eternal perspective. 00:34:41.579 --> 00:34:43.320 A life of dying to self 00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:44.639 and living to Christ. 00:34:46.200 --> 00:34:48.079 This is what God has given us. 00:34:48.380 --> 00:34:49.460 And it is a great 00:34:49.460 --> 00:34:50.960 and a wonderful gift. 00:34:51.460 --> 00:34:52.519 You can now do 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:54.119 what you could not do before. 00:34:54.460 --> 00:34:56.519 You can please your creator 00:34:56.519 --> 00:34:57.599 and you're God. 00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:03.420 And if you remember, 00:35:03.940 --> 00:35:05.480 you can please this one 00:35:05.480 --> 00:35:06.980 who has loved you so much 00:35:06.980 --> 00:35:09.400 that he pursued you in Jesus. 00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:12.179 He came for you and for me. 00:35:12.619 --> 00:35:13.619 He came for us 00:35:13.619 --> 00:35:14.960 to rescue us 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:16.900 from the flesh 00:35:16.900 --> 00:35:19.280 and to give us his spirit 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:21.380 so that we might experience 00:35:21.380 --> 00:35:22.900 this new and eternal life 00:35:22.900 --> 00:35:23.759 with him. 00:35:23.860 --> 00:35:26.099 And what a glorious thing it is 00:35:26.099 --> 00:35:28.059 that now we have all 00:35:28.059 --> 00:35:29.239 that Christ has accomplished 00:35:29.239 --> 00:35:29.799 for us. 00:35:30.019 --> 00:35:31.639 All that he has earned for us 00:35:31.639 --> 00:35:32.759 by his life and death 00:35:32.759 --> 00:35:33.400 and resurrection 00:35:33.400 --> 00:35:35.039 is now ours. 00:35:37.539 --> 00:35:39.719 And by taking on 00:35:39.719 --> 00:35:40.860 this new life 00:35:40.860 --> 00:35:41.960 that he has given us 00:35:41.960 --> 00:35:44.039 in the spirit, 00:35:45.099 --> 00:35:46.519 we then 00:35:46.519 --> 00:35:48.880 can allow that spirit 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:51.480 to control our passions 00:35:51.480 --> 00:35:53.539 and to shape our lives 00:35:53.539 --> 00:35:55.599 for God's glory. 00:35:58.140 --> 00:35:59.099 I've gone long, 00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:00.559 so let's cut to the chase. 00:36:00.740 --> 00:36:01.800 What do we do about this? 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:04.280 First, 00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:05.640 if you are here today 00:36:05.640 --> 00:36:06.599 and you have tasted 00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:07.280 this freedom, 00:36:07.619 --> 00:36:09.260 if you have placed your faith 00:36:09.260 --> 00:36:10.400 in Jesus Christ, 00:36:10.660 --> 00:36:11.740 if you know 00:36:11.740 --> 00:36:14.800 that Christ died for your sin 00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:16.059 and that's the only hope 00:36:16.059 --> 00:36:17.300 that you have for salvation, 00:36:17.300 --> 00:36:19.519 then brothers, 00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:20.280 sisters, 00:36:20.560 --> 00:36:21.580 be of good cheer, 00:36:21.720 --> 00:36:22.700 be encouraged. 00:36:23.340 --> 00:36:24.280 God has given you 00:36:24.280 --> 00:36:25.019 his spirit. 00:36:26.500 --> 00:36:27.720 You now are able 00:36:27.720 --> 00:36:29.060 to live in the patterns 00:36:29.060 --> 00:36:30.280 that live to life. 00:36:30.560 --> 00:36:31.380 You are now able 00:36:31.380 --> 00:36:32.320 to live out 00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:33.600 what Paul talks about 00:36:33.600 --> 00:36:34.840 in Galatians 5. 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:37.160 No longer enslaved to sin, 00:36:37.220 --> 00:36:38.039 now you can live 00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:38.760 with love 00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:40.080 and joy 00:36:40.080 --> 00:36:40.720 and peace 00:36:40.720 --> 00:36:41.280 and patience 00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:41.800 and kindness 00:36:41.800 --> 00:36:42.400 and goodness 00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:43.400 and gentleness 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:44.260 and faithfulness 00:36:44.260 --> 00:36:45.220 and self-control 00:36:45.220 --> 00:36:46.140 because God 00:36:46.140 --> 00:36:46.840 has given you 00:36:46.840 --> 00:36:47.880 the spirit of God 00:36:47.880 --> 00:36:48.800 to do this. 00:36:51.120 --> 00:36:53.340 He has unseated yourself 00:36:53.340 --> 00:36:55.100 and he's put himself 00:36:55.100 --> 00:36:56.340 in the center 00:36:56.340 --> 00:36:57.600 of your spiritual life 00:36:57.600 --> 00:36:58.460 and your salvation. 00:36:59.080 --> 00:37:00.260 So now you can live 00:37:00.260 --> 00:37:01.320 unselfishly, 00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:02.680 sacrificially, 00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:04.580 giving to others 00:37:04.580 --> 00:37:05.700 for God's sake. 00:37:05.699 --> 00:37:11.119 If you feel defeated, 00:37:12.139 --> 00:37:12.980 if you feel like, 00:37:13.079 --> 00:37:14.259 I feel like I'm trying 00:37:14.259 --> 00:37:15.279 and I don't know how, 00:37:16.179 --> 00:37:17.059 the answer is not 00:37:17.059 --> 00:37:18.419 try harder to do better, 00:37:18.799 --> 00:37:19.599 it's go back 00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:20.919 and remind yourselves 00:37:20.919 --> 00:37:21.739 of these things. 00:37:21.859 --> 00:37:22.419 Go back 00:37:22.419 --> 00:37:23.819 and look at the cross 00:37:23.819 --> 00:37:24.599 and remember 00:37:24.599 --> 00:37:25.679 what it means 00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:27.279 that there is no condemnation 00:37:27.279 --> 00:37:27.939 now for those 00:37:27.939 --> 00:37:28.799 who are in Christ Jesus. 00:37:29.279 --> 00:37:30.619 Remember that you are now 00:37:30.619 --> 00:37:31.519 in the spirit 00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:33.419 and plead with God 00:37:33.419 --> 00:37:35.019 to revive your soul 00:37:35.019 --> 00:37:37.239 so that what is true 00:37:37.239 --> 00:37:37.880 of you, 00:37:38.059 --> 00:37:38.759 that the spirit 00:37:38.759 --> 00:37:39.780 dwells within you, 00:37:40.019 --> 00:37:41.019 would actually have 00:37:41.019 --> 00:37:41.539 the effect 00:37:41.539 --> 00:37:42.619 that it should have. 00:37:45.599 --> 00:37:46.900 And he will help you 00:37:46.900 --> 00:37:47.460 put off 00:37:47.460 --> 00:37:48.880 the old patterns of life 00:37:48.880 --> 00:37:50.239 and to put on 00:37:50.239 --> 00:37:50.960 the new life 00:37:50.960 --> 00:37:51.519 in the spirit. 00:37:53.699 --> 00:37:54.559 If you're here 00:37:54.559 --> 00:37:55.239 this morning, 00:37:56.480 --> 00:37:57.960 maybe this is a kind 00:37:57.960 --> 00:37:58.480 of Christianity 00:37:58.480 --> 00:37:59.639 you've never heard of. 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:01.559 Maybe this is something 00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:02.320 new and different. 00:38:03.179 --> 00:38:04.320 Maybe you're figuring 00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:04.820 this out 00:38:04.820 --> 00:38:05.840 or exploring it. 00:38:06.920 --> 00:38:08.080 Maybe you feel 00:38:08.080 --> 00:38:09.180 the enslavement 00:38:09.180 --> 00:38:09.980 to sin 00:38:09.980 --> 00:38:11.059 in your own life. 00:38:11.380 --> 00:38:11.760 Feel like, 00:38:11.880 --> 00:38:13.000 I can never do better. 00:38:15.420 --> 00:38:15.880 Well, 00:38:17.019 --> 00:38:18.460 Paul wants you 00:38:18.460 --> 00:38:19.180 to hear this. 00:38:19.980 --> 00:38:21.059 There's another way. 00:38:22.200 --> 00:38:23.300 Start with Romans 1, 00:38:23.460 --> 00:38:24.440 not with Romans 8. 00:38:24.880 --> 00:38:25.720 Go back to the beginning 00:38:25.720 --> 00:38:26.380 of this book. 00:38:26.519 --> 00:38:26.920 Read it. 00:38:27.760 --> 00:38:28.680 Hear what God 00:38:28.680 --> 00:38:29.539 has done for you 00:38:29.539 --> 00:38:30.140 in Christ. 00:38:30.139 --> 00:38:30.980 receive 00:38:30.980 --> 00:38:31.900 receive 00:38:31.900 --> 00:38:33.259 by faith 00:38:33.259 --> 00:38:34.460 what you cannot 00:38:34.460 --> 00:38:35.679 do for yourself. 00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:39.719 Believe 00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:40.739 that there is a God 00:38:40.739 --> 00:38:41.859 who has loved you 00:38:41.859 --> 00:38:44.199 and died for you. 00:38:45.279 --> 00:38:46.379 And as you take hold 00:38:46.379 --> 00:38:47.279 of him by faith 00:38:47.279 --> 00:38:48.179 and as you trust 00:38:48.179 --> 00:38:48.519 in him 00:38:48.519 --> 00:38:49.379 for your salvation, 00:38:49.879 --> 00:38:50.519 know that God 00:38:50.519 --> 00:38:51.699 will bring his Holy Spirit 00:38:51.699 --> 00:38:52.500 to live in you. 00:38:54.319 --> 00:38:55.159 He will come 00:38:55.159 --> 00:38:56.039 and dwell with you 00:38:56.039 --> 00:38:57.679 and bring this new life. 00:38:57.679 --> 00:38:59.759 what a glorious thing 00:38:59.759 --> 00:39:00.279 it will be. 00:39:01.359 --> 00:39:02.039 Let's pray. 00:39:05.099 --> 00:39:05.539 Lord, 00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:06.079 we thank you 00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:06.719 this morning. 00:39:09.319 --> 00:39:09.739 Lord, 00:39:09.819 --> 00:39:10.440 thank you for 00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:14.719 the great work 00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:15.399 that you have done 00:39:15.399 --> 00:39:15.839 in Jesus. 00:39:16.739 --> 00:39:17.879 Thank you for the hope 00:39:17.879 --> 00:39:18.500 that it is 00:39:18.500 --> 00:39:19.199 to those of us 00:39:19.199 --> 00:39:19.699 who struggle. 00:39:20.419 --> 00:39:21.559 Thank you for the hope 00:39:21.559 --> 00:39:22.379 that it is 00:39:22.379 --> 00:39:23.139 to those of us 00:39:23.139 --> 00:39:23.859 who are lost. 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:26.440 Lord, 00:39:26.519 --> 00:39:27.119 we pray 00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:27.980 and ask 00:39:27.980 --> 00:39:30.000 for your gracious work 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:33.859 in each of our hearts 00:39:33.859 --> 00:39:34.440 this morning. 00:39:35.380 --> 00:39:35.639 Lord, 00:39:35.699 --> 00:39:36.219 that the truths 00:39:36.219 --> 00:39:36.940 of this word 00:39:36.940 --> 00:39:37.719 and this passage 00:39:37.719 --> 00:39:39.239 would sink into our lives. 00:39:39.839 --> 00:39:40.119 Lord, 00:39:40.159 --> 00:39:41.039 that you will bring 00:39:41.039 --> 00:39:42.179 to us life, 00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:43.920 life in the Spirit, 00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:45.659 life that glorifies 00:39:45.659 --> 00:39:46.579 and honors you 00:39:46.579 --> 00:39:47.460 and pleases you. 00:39:48.339 --> 00:39:49.359 We pray these things 00:39:49.359 --> 00:39:50.139 in Jesus' name. 00:39:50.759 --> 00:39:51.039 Amen. 00:39:51.039 --> 00:39:51.179 Amen.