WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.459 Our reading this morning is from Romans chapter 7 verses 1 to 6. 00:00:05.459 --> 00:00:15.880 ! Romans chapter 7 verses 1 to 6. 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:22.200 Do you not know, brothers and sisters, for I am speaking to those who know the law, that 00:00:22.200 --> 00:00:27.640 the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:34.640 For example, by law, a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:39.719 But if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:45.399 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:47.719 is called an adulteress. 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:52.859 But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries 00:00:52.859 --> 00:00:54.859 another man. 00:00:54.859 --> 00:01:00.519 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that 00:01:00.519 --> 00:01:05.519 you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:07.659 bear fruit for God. 00:01:07.659 --> 00:01:12.019 For when we are in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were 00:01:12.019 --> 00:01:15.619 at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 00:01:15.619 --> 00:01:20.759 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we 00:01:20.759 --> 00:01:26.340 serve in the new way of the spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:27.340 Great. 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:28.659 Thank you, Pesh. 00:01:28.659 --> 00:01:30.939 Let's pray together as we come to God's word. 00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:31.939 Let's pray. 00:01:31.939 --> 00:01:40.659 Heavenly Father, we pray now and ask for your help and your blessing. 00:01:40.659 --> 00:01:47.260 We're so very conscious of the weakness of the means that you've given us, but also of 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:51.580 your great power by your spirit to work through them for your glory and for our good. 00:01:51.579 --> 00:01:57.519 Please, Lord, we've come from busy weeks, we've got things on our hearts and our minds, and 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.980 we pray that you might quieten us to listen to what you say to us in your word. 00:02:02.579 --> 00:02:03.620 In Jesus' name. 00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:04.780 Amen. 00:02:07.780 --> 00:02:14.400 It's a universally accepted truth that church is boring. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:17.400 We know that, don't we? 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:24.540 On all measures of that scale of entertaining, church is not entertaining. 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:31.900 I am very grateful for all of our musicians, and I know that we are quite, like, geographically 00:02:31.900 --> 00:02:36.200 close to the West End, but this is not a musical, is it? 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:41.719 We probably wouldn't be able to sell a recording of our singing, especially if the microphone was 00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:43.080 anywhere near me. 00:02:45.180 --> 00:02:46.800 We're not entertaining. 00:02:48.360 --> 00:02:55.159 And then you're sitting now and listening to someone speak, and he is not very entertaining 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:55.860 either. 00:02:56.620 --> 00:02:59.919 Hardly Winston Churchill or William Shakespeare. 00:03:00.139 --> 00:03:01.500 I've got a conference speaker. 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:03.539 I've written no books. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.900 Only a very few people download our sermons or watch the YouTube videos. 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:11.640 Church, by any measure, is not entertaining. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:14.260 And neither is it a social phenomenon. 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:19.500 So, you know, we're sat together in a cozy-ish room because Louise has turned the thermostat 00:03:19.500 --> 00:03:22.840 up and say, it's going to get warmer and warmer and warmer in here. 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.159 But despite that, we're all very different to one another, aren't we? 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:30.000 There are very few people in the room who are exactly the same age as me. 00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:32.460 Very few people who are from the same background. 00:03:32.460 --> 00:03:35.800 There are not many people with bald heads and beards. 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:37.960 There are not many people who are born in Loughborough. 00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:40.980 Not many people who like motorbikes or tow caravans, right? 00:03:41.040 --> 00:03:43.620 This is not a club where we're all the same. 00:03:44.140 --> 00:03:47.140 It's not a school where everyone is in the same age and stage. 00:03:48.760 --> 00:03:52.680 We stay around and have a cup of tea and coffee together, maybe even a few biscuits. 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:53.879 But this is hardly Starbucks. 00:03:54.620 --> 00:03:56.580 And it is certainly not Gale's. 00:03:56.580 --> 00:04:04.300 They are not worried that there is a building down the road that is giving coffee away for free. 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:06.180 They're not threatened by that at all. 00:04:07.140 --> 00:04:10.000 No, church is an undisputed fact. 00:04:10.100 --> 00:04:16.220 Church is boring, which is why 95% of people in the UK have zero desire to be here. 00:04:17.020 --> 00:04:20.840 And it's why some of the 5% who do come fall asleep when they're here as well. 00:04:21.780 --> 00:04:24.060 Church is very, very average. 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:29.560 Church, even cool churches, and there are churches that are kind of cool, 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.040 and when they record their music and the pastor does speak at conferences and write books, 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:39.439 still they are below average compared to the other entertaining things that you might do in life, right? 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:43.800 I can only imagine if they don't know that, they've never been to watch a football match, right? 00:04:45.019 --> 00:04:52.600 But here is the remarkable thing, that despite the fact church is dull and boring, still people come. 00:04:52.600 --> 00:05:00.720 I've been to church all my life, and not a single week have I turned up and been the only person there. 00:05:02.020 --> 00:05:02.980 And it's not just that. 00:05:03.080 --> 00:05:05.300 People want to be here, right? 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:07.540 People don't just stumble into the building. 00:05:07.700 --> 00:05:10.080 You might have done this morning, and you might think, oh my goodness, what am I doing here? 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:12.879 But most people have not just stumbled into the building. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:19.899 Instead, they have put the gathering of the church in their calendar as one of the big things that they're going to do this week. 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:21.379 I mustn't miss that. 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:23.040 They are here willingly. 00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:25.680 And people are listening. 00:05:25.899 --> 00:05:27.100 People are singing. 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:29.680 And they're not forced to do either of those things either. 00:05:29.860 --> 00:05:31.800 They are choosing to do that. 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:41.860 Perhaps even more remarkable than that is that church costs us about, I don't know, about £150 per church member per month to run. 00:05:45.860 --> 00:05:48.000 See, someone's already calling a friend, right? 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:52.180 Church costs us about £150 per member per month to run. 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:54.240 And that kind of pays for a few staff. 00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:55.199 It keeps the lights on. 00:05:55.259 --> 00:05:57.780 It keeps the roof basically watertight. 00:05:57.779 --> 00:06:01.419 And we give to missions like London City Mission and Grace Baptist Missions. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:03.979 But that money doesn't come to us from the government. 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:05.699 It doesn't grow on a tree in the car park. 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:11.879 No, that money is given to us by church members who are not told to give. 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:13.459 There's not a fee. 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:15.659 Instead, they just give willingly. 00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:17.939 And even extraordinary amounts. 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:19.739 You are sat in this building. 00:06:19.919 --> 00:06:26.819 I am stood here in this building because a long time ago, well, a short while ago, I suppose 10 or so years ago, maybe a few more, 00:06:26.819 --> 00:06:32.719 one church member gave half a million pounds to this church so we could buy the freehold so we could still meet here. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:42.680 But perhaps maybe the most amazing thing is that people in this room, members of this church, 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:48.279 don't consider themselves just friends who happen to be in a seat next to each other for an hour and a half once a week. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.439 Rather, they consider one another brothers and sisters. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:56.879 You'll notice that if you're a visitor this morning, people will refer to each other in that category. 00:06:58.019 --> 00:06:59.620 Brother, sister. 00:07:00.420 --> 00:07:01.379 They pray together. 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:03.779 They show up for one another when they're in need. 00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:05.839 They get to know each other's struggles and joys. 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:07.540 They walk alongside each other. 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:09.220 They invite one another into their homes. 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:14.600 That extraordinary depth of commitment in church has not gone unnoticed. 00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:20.040 At Christmas time, a load of church leaders and ministers were invited to Downing Street. 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:22.660 And the community's minister, Mr. Reid, said this. 00:07:22.700 --> 00:07:23.439 And I read it in the paper. 00:07:23.520 --> 00:07:23.980 I wasn't there. 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:29.040 So often it's the church that is there at the important moments in our lives, 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:34.080 holding communities together, supporting the most vulnerable, reaching out to the most lonely. 00:07:34.580 --> 00:07:36.960 All of you are champions for your community. 00:07:37.220 --> 00:07:39.740 All of you represent the very, very best in Britain. 00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:45.579 Now, if I can ask you a question just for a moment before you fall asleep, right? 00:07:45.780 --> 00:07:47.939 Can I ask you to explain that to me? 00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:49.939 Explain that to me. 00:07:51.259 --> 00:07:56.579 Why something so ordinary commands such devotion? 00:07:58.180 --> 00:08:03.439 Explain why, if you're a Christian this morning, for all of the weaknesses and the failings, 00:08:03.740 --> 00:08:07.079 still there is a part of you that is excited to be here this morning. 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:10.459 You know, part of you can't wait to hear what Romans 7 says. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:14.419 Not because you're interested in me, but because you're interested in this, the text. 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:16.019 Why? 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:17.620 Why is that? 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:21.839 You know, why is it that if I stood here and told jokes, even if they were really funny jokes, 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:24.120 you'd leave, you'd never come back. 00:08:24.500 --> 00:08:27.000 But if we look together at this ancient text, 00:08:27.139 --> 00:08:31.199 even if it makes you work hard this morning and you're having to think hard, 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:33.100 still you'll stay, you'll engage and you'll listen. 00:08:33.220 --> 00:08:33.600 Why? 00:08:34.059 --> 00:08:34.379 Why? 00:08:34.379 --> 00:08:38.519 Well, Romans chapter 7, verse 1 to 6 says, 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:39.419 Church is like that. 00:08:39.500 --> 00:08:40.759 Christians are like that. 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:43.179 You are like that if you're a believer this morning, 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:46.700 not because there's a rule that says you must be like that, 00:08:47.379 --> 00:08:50.840 but because there's a new spirit in you that wants to be like that. 00:08:51.700 --> 00:08:57.559 In other words, Romans 7 is telling us that the Christian life is not explainable in worldly terms. 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:03.399 You cannot explain the church as entertainment or a social club or the best coffee in town. 00:09:03.579 --> 00:09:06.519 There is something else going on in this room. 00:09:06.939 --> 00:09:12.000 God is at work by his spirit in our hearts, binding us to him and to one another. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.899 So that we're not governed by rules that tell us what we must do, 00:09:16.899 --> 00:09:23.419 but we're governed by the spirit who now plants new desires, new goals, new hopes, new loves in our hearts. 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:25.299 So we want to be here. 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:33.099 Now, in a way, there's nothing new in Romans 7, 1 to 6 that hasn't really been covered in Romans chapter 6. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:35.859 But Paul's style involves lots of repetition. 00:09:36.079 --> 00:09:37.379 And so here we go again. 00:09:37.459 --> 00:09:44.139 This is the link between being saved through the work of Jesus Christ and living for Christ, 00:09:44.139 --> 00:09:49.580 considering what teaches and motivates and governs and shapes our Christian life. 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:53.779 You know, what will keep us from sin and error and from fruitless lives? 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:58.100 And the repeated answer is, remember, it's not a law. 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:00.559 It's not a list of rules that will keep you. 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:01.799 Look at verse 1. 00:10:02.580 --> 00:10:05.319 Do you not know, brothers and sisters, 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:07.759 for I am speaking to those who know the law, 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:12.860 that the law has authority over someone only as long as a person lives. 00:10:14.139 --> 00:10:15.620 Now the work begins, right? 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:17.500 Paul is talking about the moral law, 00:10:17.779 --> 00:10:20.539 the idea that we all know what is good and what is bad. 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:24.860 That might be because you've grown up in a Christian home and you've been taught the Ten Commandments. 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:26.419 Maybe you learned them. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:30.460 Or you might have had a very liberal upbringing with very little moral instruction, 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:34.319 but still even you know there are moral lines that you will not cross. 00:10:34.419 --> 00:10:37.699 And so Paul says, listen, we all know the law. 00:10:38.700 --> 00:10:42.039 But the problem is, and we all experience this, 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:45.860 that knowing the law doesn't actually help us keep the law, does it? 00:10:46.860 --> 00:10:51.500 Knowing what is right and wrong doesn't actually help us to do what is right and not what is wrong. 00:10:51.939 --> 00:10:54.219 In fact, often it works the opposite way. 00:10:55.139 --> 00:10:58.259 So you read in the law, honor your father and mother. 00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:02.199 It turns out to be quite a lot more difficult than you first anticipated, doesn't it? 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:07.240 And so the law, instead of enabling you to do what is right, catalogues your failure. 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:09.259 Don't covet. 00:11:10.019 --> 00:11:11.620 That proved impossible as well. 00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:14.060 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:16.039 Rest, worship your God and your maker. 00:11:16.340 --> 00:11:17.940 That too was beyond us. 00:11:18.680 --> 00:11:23.340 And so the law, sort of like a bad master, binds us to failure and perpetually condemns. 00:11:23.700 --> 00:11:27.240 It holds up perfection and exposes our imperfections. 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:30.620 You know, do this and you will live. 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:33.080 Oh, you can't do this. 00:11:33.800 --> 00:11:35.840 Therefore, you cannot live, says the law. 00:11:36.860 --> 00:11:38.400 And we all know how that feels, don't we? 00:11:39.060 --> 00:11:42.820 We call that guilt or shame and we all experience it. 00:11:43.780 --> 00:11:46.560 But, says Paul, something has changed for the Christian. 00:11:47.420 --> 00:11:49.639 They have been liberated from that law. 00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:51.820 How have they been liberated from that law? 00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:53.960 Well, not by keeping it because that was beyond us. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:57.740 Rather, they've been liberated from that law by dying, it says. 00:11:57.920 --> 00:12:00.560 Dying to it and so being released from its grasp. 00:12:01.239 --> 00:12:03.959 And Paul has an illustration of this and his illustration is marriage. 00:12:04.099 --> 00:12:05.159 Take a look at verse 2. 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:11.639 For example, by law, a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive. 00:12:11.819 --> 00:12:15.799 But if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:20.739 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, 00:12:21.179 --> 00:12:23.099 she is called an adulteress. 00:12:23.100 --> 00:12:29.080 But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:33.399 Paul is using an illustration of contracts that end in death. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:40.080 If your husband dies, the marriage contract dies with him and you are free. 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:42.460 Free to marry again should you choose. 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:47.180 But if you try to do that before they die, then that's bad. 00:12:47.259 --> 00:12:47.920 It's immoral. 00:12:48.040 --> 00:12:48.759 It's adultery. 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:52.220 And more than just that, it's a breach of contract. 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:57.500 Because being married to someone still alive, you are not free to go and marry someone else. 00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:01.000 That freedom only comes when your husband passes away. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:03.100 So it is with the Christian. 00:13:03.860 --> 00:13:08.779 The Christian, verse 4, is someone who has died to the law through the body of Christ. 00:13:08.779 --> 00:13:17.439 That means the Christian is united to Jesus by faith in such a way that they died with him to the tyranny of the law. 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:20.000 That the list of debts has been shredded. 00:13:20.379 --> 00:13:29.959 Not because morality no longer matters, but because the consequences of our disobedience have been satisfied in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:32.100 We died to the law. 00:13:32.620 --> 00:13:34.720 By faith, we are united to him. 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:37.679 And the requirements of the law have been met in us too. 00:13:38.620 --> 00:13:42.279 And so now the law of condemnation has no hold on us because we're dead to it. 00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:43.979 The sentence has already been passed. 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:45.120 It cannot be passed again. 00:13:47.579 --> 00:13:50.819 Maybe this is a good opportunity for me to explain what a Christian is this morning. 00:13:51.319 --> 00:13:55.019 Maybe you're here this morning and you know that you're not a Christian and you're wanting to find out more. 00:13:55.579 --> 00:13:58.399 Or maybe you're just still not quite sure where you stand with the Lord. 00:13:58.479 --> 00:13:59.419 Well, listen, this is it. 00:13:59.979 --> 00:14:03.139 Being a Christian is not about keeping rules. 00:14:03.819 --> 00:14:05.059 It's not about that. 00:14:05.819 --> 00:14:07.120 It's not about keeping rules. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.560 It's rather about dying to the rules. 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:14.919 By being united to Jesus by faith in him so that we die and rise with him. 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:17.060 It's strange language, I understand. 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:19.139 But verses 5 and 6 try and explain it to us. 00:14:19.179 --> 00:14:21.519 Let me work through those and see whether it becomes clearer. 00:14:22.220 --> 00:14:25.679 Verse 5 talks about what life is like before you become a Christian. 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:27.379 Before faith in Christ. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:29.659 And he calls it living in the realm of the flesh. 00:14:29.659 --> 00:14:30.759 It says this. 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:39.219 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us so that we bore fruit to death. 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:48.300 In other words, sinful passions, this desire to disobey God is aroused by the list of things which are required of us to obey God. 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:53.579 And the flesh listens to the rules and goes, I'm going to run the other way. 00:14:54.379 --> 00:14:55.620 You know, we hear, oh, don't covet. 00:14:56.099 --> 00:14:56.879 Don't lie. 00:14:57.219 --> 00:14:58.399 Don't disobey your parents. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:00.639 And those become the things that we want to do. 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:03.699 And the fruit of that is death, says Paul. 00:15:04.199 --> 00:15:04.679 Condemnation. 00:15:04.679 --> 00:15:07.939 But becoming a Christian changes all that. 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:10.959 Verse 6 explains it to us. 00:15:12.139 --> 00:15:22.739 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the spirit and not in the old way of the written code. 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:24.899 Here it is then. 00:15:25.719 --> 00:15:31.919 Becoming a Christian is being united by faith to Jesus so that in his death we die. 00:15:32.479 --> 00:15:34.379 Die to the condemnation of the law. 00:15:35.099 --> 00:15:41.239 And so we're made alive in a new way, a way by the spirit, so that we have new desires, new hopes, new loves. 00:15:41.359 --> 00:15:42.259 We're new people. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:46.579 Let me try and illustrate what's going on here. 00:15:46.839 --> 00:15:47.599 Think about the difference. 00:15:47.699 --> 00:15:50.919 And this is a controversial illustration, but just bear with me for a moment, okay? 00:15:51.319 --> 00:15:54.979 Think about the difference between cats and dogs, right? 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:57.620 Cats, you know, don't you? 00:15:57.699 --> 00:15:58.719 They live for themselves. 00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:02.479 If you have a cat, it is completely disinterested in you. 00:16:02.959 --> 00:16:04.279 They are living for themselves. 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:05.980 They do what they please. 00:16:06.439 --> 00:16:12.439 They might obey you to the extent to which they get what they want back from you, like food or attention. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:16.560 But don't you imagine for a moment that you can tell a cat what to do. 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:17.940 They do exactly what they want to do. 00:16:17.940 --> 00:16:21.180 They are ruled by their desires. 00:16:21.179 --> 00:16:30.419 And if you like, the longer your list of expectations of your cat, the longer your list of disappointments in your cat will be, because they will perpetually let you down. 00:16:31.019 --> 00:16:32.239 But dogs, right? 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:33.839 Dogs love you. 00:16:34.379 --> 00:16:34.559 Yeah? 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.539 They're not interested in themselves. 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:39.319 They will do anything to please you. 00:16:39.819 --> 00:16:42.739 They're grateful that you walk them, that you feed them, that you fuss them. 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:49.839 They love learning new commands because they just love that joy that comes to you when they, you know, spin around when you ask them to. 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:59.220 Now, and I can't believe I'm illustrating it like this, but really becoming a Christian is like being transformed from being a cat to being a dog, right? 00:16:59.220 --> 00:17:02.139 Please forgive me, right? 00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:14.860 That God in Christ, through your union with Christ by faith, is killing your old cat-like nature at the cross and by the spirit making you new. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:17.559 So there's a whole new way of living. 00:17:17.860 --> 00:17:21.640 Not the old way of the written code, but the new way of the spirit. 00:17:22.120 --> 00:17:24.059 Now you want to please God. 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:26.420 Now you want to be with his people. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:28.539 Now you want to hear his word. 00:17:28.539 --> 00:17:30.740 Now you want to sing his praises. 00:17:31.399 --> 00:17:33.619 Not for reasons that are immediately obvious. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:38.500 Not for reasons that can be explained as a merely kind of cultural phenomenon or entertainment alone. 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:41.099 But because you're a new person in your heart. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:44.039 Listen, let me put it this way this morning. 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:49.079 If you're bored this morning, it could be worse than you thought it was. 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:54.819 It could be you think that you're bored and sleepy because you think I am boring and making you sleepy. 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:55.980 Which might be true. 00:17:55.980 --> 00:18:02.779 But it could be that if you have no desire in your heart to hear his word, it's because you're a cat and not a dog. 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:08.619 It's because you need a new life by the spirit where you long to hear God's words. 00:18:09.059 --> 00:18:10.279 To be with his people. 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:11.740 To sing his praises. 00:18:11.740 --> 00:18:15.220 But if you are hungry for his word. 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:17.400 If you're delighting in what he's done for you. 00:18:17.460 --> 00:18:19.380 If you find whelming up in you. 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:21.599 This love for these people around you. 00:18:21.660 --> 00:18:23.559 Even though they're very different to you. 00:18:24.019 --> 00:18:25.140 Even though they look different. 00:18:25.299 --> 00:18:25.940 Sound different. 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:27.279 Have different experiences. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:28.400 Come from different places. 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:29.599 But you love them. 00:18:29.940 --> 00:18:31.920 Know that God has done that in you. 00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:33.559 That's not you doing that yourself. 00:18:34.620 --> 00:18:36.120 He has made you a new person. 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:38.719 And this is the point here. 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:39.059 Right? 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:43.799 You don't look after dogs in the same way you look after cats. 00:18:44.199 --> 00:18:44.399 Right? 00:18:45.159 --> 00:18:47.439 They need different kinds of things. 00:18:47.979 --> 00:18:50.179 Different kind of food and different kinds of attention. 00:18:50.459 --> 00:18:51.919 Because they're different animals. 00:18:52.779 --> 00:18:54.659 That's Romans 7.1-6. 00:18:55.139 --> 00:18:57.219 Christian living is new life by the spirit. 00:18:57.579 --> 00:19:00.639 It's the only explanation of why we are here this morning. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.020 It's because God has done something in our hearts. 00:19:03.040 --> 00:19:04.800 Which has given us a completely new desire. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:06.680 Which cannot be explained to the world. 00:19:06.800 --> 00:19:08.759 Because it's God's work in us. 00:19:09.180 --> 00:19:11.940 And that new life is kept and grown. 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:13.380 And fed and flourished. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:15.060 Not in the old way. 00:19:15.120 --> 00:19:15.980 But in a new way. 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:19.280 It's kept by faith and not works. 00:19:20.080 --> 00:19:20.960 That's the big idea. 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:24.700 Let me just finish with two applications for us. 00:19:24.840 --> 00:19:25.640 First one is this. 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:28.840 Don't live your new life in the old way. 00:19:28.839 --> 00:19:31.959 I think this is perhaps Paul's big concern. 00:19:32.099 --> 00:19:34.199 Over and above what came before in chapter 6. 00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:36.039 He starts this section with the words. 00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:37.939 Do you not know? 00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:40.399 Which I think means by implication. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:43.240 This is I am writing to you something that you should already know. 00:19:43.899 --> 00:19:45.679 But you probably need to think about it some more. 00:19:46.539 --> 00:19:48.139 You need to be reminded of this. 00:19:48.539 --> 00:19:49.299 And why is that? 00:19:49.859 --> 00:19:53.599 Well it's because I think it's the easiest thing in the world for Christians. 00:19:54.399 --> 00:19:57.439 Especially if this morning you're a keen well-meaning Christian. 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:02.059 It is the easiest thing in the world to impose law upon yourselves. 00:20:02.059 --> 00:20:03.680 Or even upon others. 00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:07.299 To make you or others behave in a way you think they should. 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:13.720 And then you assume that your Christian growth is your ability to keep those rules you set for yourself. 00:20:15.080 --> 00:20:18.779 Even though the whole of the Christian life is about faith in Jesus. 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:21.259 And not about keeping rules. 00:20:21.259 --> 00:20:25.240 Now you perhaps don't need me to tell you how often churches do this. 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:28.619 Churches set up discipleship programs for young Christians. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:31.440 That are focused mostly on setting rules for them. 00:20:31.460 --> 00:20:34.180 And then holding them account to the keeping of those rules. 00:20:35.059 --> 00:20:35.900 Youth talks. 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:39.220 Which are basically thinly veiled appeals to young people to behave themselves. 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:40.079 Please behave yourself. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:46.480 Or the Roman Catholic Church loves to make its members feel guilty all the time. 00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:49.419 And Paul says no don't do that. 00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:53.159 Now don't do that not because we should have no moral restraints. 00:20:53.859 --> 00:20:55.919 Rather because the rule-based system. 00:20:56.019 --> 00:20:57.039 The system of works. 00:20:57.159 --> 00:20:58.279 The law as he calls it. 00:20:58.379 --> 00:21:00.439 Is a bad master from whom you've been liberated. 00:21:01.859 --> 00:21:05.619 Now there's a really simple test to know if we're going wrong here. 00:21:05.619 --> 00:21:08.119 But it's perhaps not what you would expect. 00:21:08.619 --> 00:21:11.679 The test is not simply to abandon all rules. 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:14.559 And it's certainly not to abandon all moral expectations. 00:21:15.139 --> 00:21:16.599 Some people assume that don't they? 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:17.779 But that's wrong. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.539 God's moral expectations still matter. 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.839 Adultery is still adultery if you're a Christian liberated from the law. 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:25.779 If failure to keep the Sabbath. 00:21:25.959 --> 00:21:26.539 To tell the truth. 00:21:26.619 --> 00:21:27.319 To honour your parents. 00:21:27.719 --> 00:21:29.519 All of those still matter to me. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:30.639 To you if you're a Christian. 00:21:31.239 --> 00:21:34.839 Reading your Bible and attending church each week is a good thing to do. 00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:37.980 And setting a commitment to do that will be a blessing to you. 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:41.339 The test is not no check to see whether you've got any rules in your life. 00:21:41.379 --> 00:21:42.519 And if you have you've gone wrong. 00:21:42.859 --> 00:21:43.119 No. 00:21:43.699 --> 00:21:44.720 This is the test. 00:21:45.899 --> 00:21:46.980 How do you deal with failure? 00:21:49.539 --> 00:21:50.639 Does it ruin you? 00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:54.179 Do you see where you've broken God's moral command? 00:21:54.679 --> 00:21:55.759 And does it crush you? 00:21:56.839 --> 00:21:59.199 Do you hide what you're really like? 00:21:59.619 --> 00:22:01.259 For fear of being exposed? 00:22:01.259 --> 00:22:07.400 Do you feel like your Christian life is lived pretending that you're better than you really are? 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:11.900 Are you proud of your success as if it means like you're winning God's favour? 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:17.460 If any of those things are true of you, then you are running on the law, not by the Spirit. 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:26.160 Martin Lloyd-Jones, who was a preacher in central London last century, said this in his commentary on this passage. 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:26.539 He says, 00:22:26.600 --> 00:22:29.660 I'm about to make a statement which is almost certainly going to be misunderstood. 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:32.440 What a great way to introduce what you're going to say. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:35.279 I'm about to make a statement which is almost certainly to be misunderstood. 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:37.619 I put it like this. 00:22:37.859 --> 00:22:43.019 It does not matter how deeply, how violently you may sin as a believer. 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:47.539 You should never come again under condemnation. 00:22:48.019 --> 00:22:55.579 If you do, it's because you've not understood your relationship to the law and you have put yourself back under the law again. 00:22:55.579 --> 00:22:58.839 And this is where we go wrong so often as Christians. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:05.099 If you're a Christian this morning and you have in your heart a sense that God is just disappointed in you, 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:10.419 that you've let him down with your disobedience, that your ongoing battle with sin might end in failure, 00:23:10.699 --> 00:23:12.939 that you're probably the worst Christian in this room, 00:23:13.879 --> 00:23:17.359 that it doesn't matter how hard you try or what you do, you'll always be a failure as a Christian. 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:22.679 All of that is wrong because you're out of that system of condemnation. 00:23:23.199 --> 00:23:24.500 That's not how we think anymore. 00:23:24.500 --> 00:23:28.319 You died to it and you've been made to live for Christ. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:31.960 So your sin, past, present and future is dealt with at the cross. 00:23:32.059 --> 00:23:32.759 You are forgiven. 00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:38.700 You will be holy and not by your effort in your strength, but in Christ. 00:23:41.779 --> 00:23:45.140 Now, before you all complain that this illustration of cats and dogs has gone too far, 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:46.440 I'm going to push it a little bit harder. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:51.400 And I have owned both cats and dogs and you will know where my preferences lie, right? 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:58.120 But you know, don't you, that cats are very complex and very fussy to look after. 00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:02.179 Now, if you put the wrong food down for your cat, it will not eat it. 00:24:02.979 --> 00:24:07.779 Our cat, if you didn't allow it to drink from a running tap, would refuse to drink water. 00:24:08.419 --> 00:24:09.539 It's insane, isn't it? 00:24:10.419 --> 00:24:15.359 A dog, all you just need is a cheap bowl of kibble once a day and a walk. 00:24:16.199 --> 00:24:16.659 Job's done. 00:24:16.719 --> 00:24:17.539 They'll drink from puddles. 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:21.759 Now, in a sense, that's true of a born-again Christian. 00:24:22.460 --> 00:24:25.839 A born-again Christian does not need a complex set of rules. 00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:28.480 That's how religious people care for themselves, isn't it? 00:24:28.879 --> 00:24:31.079 That's how self-reliant people care for themselves. 00:24:31.139 --> 00:24:32.359 And it becomes very complicated. 00:24:32.859 --> 00:24:34.180 I must pray this many times a day. 00:24:34.759 --> 00:24:36.740 I must wear these clothes, not those clothes. 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:39.039 I must eat this food and not that food. 00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:41.720 I must wash my hands in this way and not that way. 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:44.000 I must go to this gym and not that one. 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:46.420 But what does the born-again Christian need? 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:49.240 Well, they know God's moral law. 00:24:49.320 --> 00:24:50.180 They read it, don't they? 00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:50.940 And they love it. 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:52.860 They love obeying God. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:58.740 And they realise that the fuel for the Christian life is not obedience to rules, but repentance and faith. 00:25:00.120 --> 00:25:04.519 And so they see their sin as it's exposed to them, as they're exposed to God's moral law. 00:25:04.580 --> 00:25:08.279 And they go, Lord, I've seen it. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:10.420 I know what I'm like. 00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:12.820 I'm deeply, deeply sorry. 00:25:12.819 --> 00:25:18.799 Thank you that in the Lord Jesus Christ, you've done all that's needed to be done to forgive me. 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:21.240 You knew this before I knew this. 00:25:21.899 --> 00:25:22.819 Have mercy. 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:24.039 I believe in Jesus. 00:25:25.299 --> 00:25:25.819 Sorry. 00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:27.359 Yes. 00:25:29.139 --> 00:25:31.179 Receive again the assurance of the gospel. 00:25:31.180 --> 00:25:35.039 I can't tell you how important this is for you. 00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:38.160 You are not saved by your great moral effort. 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:42.740 And you will not be made holy by your own personal efforts. 00:25:44.299 --> 00:25:45.980 Repentance and faith is what you need. 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:51.420 That's not to say you need to put no effort into the Christian life. 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:52.460 That's not what I'm saying. 00:25:52.900 --> 00:25:58.120 But it is your efforts empowered by this new life of the Spirit lived out in you. 00:25:58.839 --> 00:26:02.759 This is why our church services take the shape that they take, right? 00:26:03.259 --> 00:26:08.979 Our whole gathering is shaped around the gospel because this is what we need as the fuel for Christian living, right? 00:26:09.339 --> 00:26:13.179 You don't, as you come here, you don't need a great emotional experience. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:15.519 What you need is the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:16.699 You come in. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:19.799 You hear of his greatness and his majesty and his glory. 00:26:20.179 --> 00:26:25.699 You see that he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the one to whom all people will one day bow. 00:26:25.700 --> 00:26:30.940 Now, and you realize again, oh, I'm unworthy to be in your presence, Lord. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:33.180 I come in repentance. 00:26:33.360 --> 00:26:33.940 I'm sorry. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:39.420 And you hear again the great affirmations of the gospel that coming in repentance and faith like that, 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:41.059 you are washed clean of your sin. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:44.160 You were assured that you're a child of God in Jesus Christ. 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:47.779 In union with him, you are saved and you will be made holy. 00:26:47.779 --> 00:26:55.440 And you listen to his word as a child listens to his father, longing to hear and obey. 00:26:56.299 --> 00:27:02.660 And then you come to him with your needs in prayer and you lift them up to him, asking for his help and his blessing. 00:27:02.660 --> 00:27:06.119 And you're sent out to live for his glory for the rest of the week. 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:07.619 That's what we need. 00:27:08.220 --> 00:27:09.660 The gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:13.779 Now, people worry that that will make people sin some more. 00:27:13.779 --> 00:27:17.660 Oh, well, if you don't give people rules, they're going to go crazy. 00:27:18.740 --> 00:27:19.799 But that's not the case. 00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:27.379 In fact, understanding this truth that you are not under law, but under grace and coming in confession and repentance, not fearing condemnation. 00:27:27.379 --> 00:27:32.059 That is the most powerful tool that Christian has to deal with ongoing sin. 00:27:33.420 --> 00:27:36.660 If you're a Christian this morning, maybe you're fighting bitterness. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:40.500 It's perhaps true that someone has been terrible to you. 00:27:40.500 --> 00:27:43.259 And you just can't let go of it. 00:27:43.299 --> 00:27:44.880 You just can't get past the hurt. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:47.359 Let me tell you, what you need is not a rule. 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:49.279 What you need is repentance. 00:27:50.119 --> 00:27:51.259 Lord, I'm sorry I'm so bitter. 00:27:52.460 --> 00:27:54.680 I'm sorry for the anger that dwells deep in my heart. 00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:58.299 Thank you that there's ample forgiveness and grace in the Lord Jesus. 00:27:58.500 --> 00:27:59.460 I'm sorry, Lord. 00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:01.359 Please have mercy on me. 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:02.119 Please help me. 00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:05.599 Maybe you're struggling with unwanted thoughts. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:09.019 Perhaps unwanted lustful thoughts and desires. 00:28:09.019 --> 00:28:11.680 Let me tell you, what you need is not a rule. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:14.940 You need repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. 00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:20.639 Lord, I know that deep in my heart there are desires which dishonor and displease you. 00:28:21.420 --> 00:28:24.240 There are desires in my heart which I know deserve condemnation. 00:28:24.420 --> 00:28:27.500 Condemnation which I will not receive because Jesus has paid it all. 00:28:28.619 --> 00:28:34.559 Lord, I'm deeply sorry that I am not what I should be and not what I will be. 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:42.039 But thank you that there is grace sufficient in the Lord Jesus Christ, not only to forgive me for that, but also to make me holy. 00:28:42.039 --> 00:28:47.279 And it's important, isn't it, that we don't do those things on our own. 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:54.500 You need a community of people who will do that with you and around you and encourage you in that direction. 00:28:54.920 --> 00:28:56.720 A community of repentance and faith. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:04.899 Communities that come together not to be entertained but to worship and to fuel these new lives as they shape their gatherings around the gospel. 00:29:04.900 --> 00:29:08.660 Second and final application. 00:29:08.840 --> 00:29:09.620 Sorry, I'll speed up. 00:29:10.560 --> 00:29:12.360 Rejoice in unexpected fruitfulness. 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:14.440 Just as we close, just look at verse 4. 00:29:15.620 --> 00:29:27.660 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 00:29:27.660 --> 00:29:33.920 I just want to, as we close, there's so much we could say in those verses, but I just want to zoom in on those last seven words. 00:29:34.300 --> 00:29:36.019 That we might bear fruit for God. 00:29:36.320 --> 00:29:38.980 Just think about how incredible that is, right? 00:29:40.340 --> 00:29:42.240 Here's what is before you and me this morning. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:44.480 God has not saved us reluctantly. 00:29:45.259 --> 00:29:48.120 Nor has God saved us just to sort of leave us in our sin. 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:54.080 Oh, well, I'll save them, but they're a useless Christian and I'll just leave them there and they're going to paddle around in their sin and bathe it. 00:29:54.120 --> 00:29:55.660 No, that's not what God has saved us for. 00:29:55.660 --> 00:30:03.400 God has saved us for fruitfulness that comes not from our moral efforts under the law, but from a new life that he has given us by the Spirit. 00:30:04.220 --> 00:30:05.720 And so, look around you this morning. 00:30:05.860 --> 00:30:09.340 This is what God is doing by his Spirit, for his glory. 00:30:10.220 --> 00:30:13.040 You are surrounded by a group of people who don't dress the same as you. 00:30:13.380 --> 00:30:15.820 They don't come together washing their hands in a particular way. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:18.680 Some of them had bacon for breakfast this morning, right? 00:30:18.740 --> 00:30:19.820 They're from different backgrounds. 00:30:20.180 --> 00:30:24.019 They're not here to be entertained, but they're here for God's glory. 00:30:24.019 --> 00:30:25.380 That's what they care about. 00:30:25.660 --> 00:30:31.180 And the fuel for this community is repentance and faith drawn from the finished work of Christ. 00:30:31.820 --> 00:30:33.360 It's amazing, isn't it? 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:34.820 What great fruit. 00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:48.080 God is raising up communities of people like that who share their lives with one another, who gather together, who encourage each other, who share their joys and sorrows together, shining lights for his gospel in the world. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:54.240 And he includes you in that by the Spirit through what he's doing. 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:58.440 So we're here not to sit back and have a great time. 00:30:58.519 --> 00:30:59.980 We're here to lean in. 00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:04.539 Drink deeply from the wells of his kindness and his mercy to us. 00:31:05.259 --> 00:31:13.339 Church, you know, it might be universally accepted as being boring, but that's only if you don't know what's going on. 00:31:13.339 --> 00:31:18.679 If you know what's going on, this is the most brilliant place to be. 00:31:19.500 --> 00:31:22.299 We are watering fruitful trees, right? 00:31:23.019 --> 00:31:26.240 Trees that will bear fruit of grace and mercy to others. 00:31:26.919 --> 00:31:31.000 You know, we are growing trees here that will shed bitterness and grow kindness. 00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:35.180 Trees that will blossom with perseverance under great trial. 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:36.940 Steadfastness in suffering. 00:31:37.619 --> 00:31:40.660 Trees that will bring glory to God and delight in what he's done. 00:31:41.980 --> 00:31:42.740 Let's pray. 00:31:43.200 --> 00:31:45.559 And let's praise God for what he's doing amongst us. 00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:45.559 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:13.140 Heavenly Father, thank you that what is going on in this room cannot be explained simply in human terms. 00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:17.940 But that you are at work by your Spirit for the sake of your glory. 00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:26.680 Thank you that by your Spirit you are enabling us to live fruitful lives to your praise and glory that we would not be able to do in our own strength. 00:32:26.680 --> 00:32:35.320 Thank you that by your Spirit you are calling people from death to life to come and trust in you and turn from their sin. 00:32:35.820 --> 00:32:41.380 Things that they would not have been able to do in their own strength, but now find that they long to do by your Spirit. 00:32:42.700 --> 00:32:47.620 Oh, how we pray, Lord, give us more of Jesus as we come in his name. 00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:50.920 By your Spirit, trusting in him alone. 00:32:52.060 --> 00:32:53.960 Oh, Lord, bring glory to your name we pray. 00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:55.120 Amen. 00:32:56.680 --> 00:32:57.680 Amen.