back to index2016-08-21 Living Life As Instruments of Righteousness
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If you can keep, turn your Bibles to Romans Chapter 6, 00:00:07.000 |
our main focus this morning is in Verse 12-14, 00:00:12.000 |
but I'm going to start reading from Verse 5, Romans Chapter 6, 00:00:20.000 |
"For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. 00:00:26.000 |
We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, 00:00:31.000 |
so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. 00:00:36.000 |
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. 00:00:40.000 |
We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 00:00:46.000 |
For the death He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God. 00:00:51.000 |
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:00:56.000 |
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. 00:01:01.000 |
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God 00:01:06.000 |
as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 00:01:11.000 |
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace." 00:01:20.000 |
Heavenly Father, we thank You for this morning. We thank You for Your living Word that convicts, 00:01:31.000 |
We ask, Lord God, that You would give us soft hearts, that we would be like clay, easily moldable. 00:01:38.000 |
And we pray, Father God, for Your grace to be sufficient. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:01:44.000 |
You know, there's a lot of things that we do when we're little kids that we just do because our parents tell us. 00:01:49.000 |
You know, if you're raising kids, you tell them to brush their teeth and they don't really understand why. 00:01:54.000 |
You can tell them that their teeth are going to get rotten, but they just do it because you tell them to do it. 00:01:59.000 |
So when you're young, you expect them to do it. They don't have to understand. They just need to obey. 00:02:05.000 |
But at some point in maturity, they learn why this is important. 00:02:10.000 |
So every single one of you have, at some point in your maturity, realized that if you don't brush your teeth, 00:02:15.000 |
your teeth are going to get rotten, your breath is going to smell, and you're going to look funny. 00:02:19.000 |
And so at some point, you understood why it was important, and so you took it upon yourself. 00:02:24.000 |
Nobody tells you to do it. You just do it because you understand the consequences if you don't, 00:02:31.000 |
Spiritually speaking, we go through the same process. 00:02:34.000 |
When we're younger, we don't know much, so we say, "Well, what are we supposed to do? 00:02:38.000 |
Are we supposed to come to church on Sunday? Are we supposed to read the Bible? What does this mean?" 00:02:42.000 |
But at some point in our maturity, we have to understand why we're doing what we're doing, 00:02:53.000 |
You may just read the Bible when you're a young Christian because somebody told you to do it, 00:02:58.000 |
and you kept accountable when somebody said you have to do it. 00:03:02.000 |
Or maybe you'll have accountability groups that tell you if you don't read your Bible, 00:03:05.000 |
you're going to have to buy boba for the rest of the group. 00:03:07.000 |
And so that's your motivation for why you're doing it. 00:03:10.000 |
But at some point, you have to mature enough where you understand the consequences and the benefit, 00:03:16.000 |
and so you choose to do it. And that's part of maturing. 00:03:20.000 |
Why we do something is just as important of what we do. 00:03:25.000 |
There's a reason why Paul has spent five and a half chapters in the book of Romans, 00:03:30.000 |
in the introduction of the gospel and his ministry, without mentioning one imperative. 00:03:35.000 |
We talked about that, that the first imperative that we see in the book of Romans 00:03:40.000 |
happens in Romans chapter 6, verse 11, when he says, "Consider, 00:03:45.000 |
consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." 00:03:50.000 |
Prior to that, all of it was about who God is, in light of who He is, who we are, 00:03:56.000 |
in light of who we are, what Jesus has done, and because of what Jesus has done, 00:04:02.000 |
So basically, he set the foundation to teach us why we need to live, 00:04:14.000 |
Why we do, why we come to church and worship God, why we study the Bible, 00:04:17.000 |
why we pray, is absolutely essential to what we're doing. 00:04:22.000 |
If, having said that, if all we know is why, and then you don't practice the what, 00:04:34.000 |
The author of Hebrews rebukes the readers of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 5. 00:04:38.000 |
He says, "By this time you ought to be teachers." 00:04:41.000 |
But he says in verse 14, the reason why they weren't maturing, he says, 00:04:44.000 |
"But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment 00:04:48.000 |
trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil." 00:04:53.000 |
So spiritual maturity is not just learning the why. 00:05:00.000 |
And that's what he's transitioning into in chapter 6. 00:05:03.000 |
He's told us the foundation behind who we are, what has happened. 00:05:07.000 |
Basically, it was a detailed presentation of the Gospel. 00:05:10.000 |
He's not done yet. He's going to continue on with this. 00:05:13.000 |
But then based upon that, he says, "This is what needs to happen." 00:05:17.000 |
That's exactly what he says again in Romans chapter 12, verse 2. 00:05:21.000 |
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed first by what? 00:05:32.000 |
In order for us to practice what it is that we profess to believe. 00:05:41.000 |
He's already transitioned to verse 11, but we're going to continue with this transition of imperatives. 00:05:45.000 |
And he's transitioning, basically, in this text, in verses 12 to 14, 00:05:54.000 |
And that's exactly what he's going to say. He's going to tell us to fight. 00:05:58.000 |
Fight for our sanctification. Fight for righteousness. 00:06:04.000 |
In our culture, a lot of people think that sanctification is just choosing the right boat to be on. 00:06:10.000 |
I've chosen, and I've been justified, so if I just get on this boat and just relax, 00:06:15.000 |
That's not the picture that we see in Scripture. 00:06:17.000 |
Paul constantly reminds us, and he reminds his disciple Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2.12, 00:06:26.000 |
Ephesians chapter 6.11, that we do not battle and fight against flesh and blood, 00:06:35.000 |
He describes this Christian walk as, in the Greek word, agonai, an agony, a marathon, 00:06:44.000 |
In verses 12 through 14, the image that he shows us in this struggle 00:06:49.000 |
is about the kingdom, it's about reigning, it's about dominion, 00:06:54.000 |
and even the word that he uses to present yourself as instruments of righteousness. 00:07:00.000 |
The word instrument in other parts of the Bible is translated to weaponry. 00:07:04.000 |
So again, after painting the picture of what has happened, 00:07:08.000 |
he says, "You were at one point part of this kingdom, 00:07:12.000 |
now you are part of the kingdom of God, and there is this struggle that is taking place in these kingdoms, 00:07:18.000 |
and now you must live according to what has happened to you." 00:07:23.000 |
So, in these few verses, he's going to give an exhortation. 00:07:26.000 |
One is a negative exhortation, not to do something, 00:07:29.000 |
and then he's going to give a positive exhortation to do something. 00:07:32.000 |
And that's how it is outlined this morning in verses 12 to 14. 00:07:36.000 |
First, a negative. He says, "Do not let sin reign in your mortal body." 00:07:42.000 |
Do not let sin reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passion. 00:07:51.000 |
What not to do is don't allow sin to have utter dominion over your life. 00:07:57.000 |
To have absolute control. And the reason why he says that is because that's basically the gospel message. 00:08:04.000 |
The gospel message basically was that at one point you were under the dominion of sin and death. 00:08:11.000 |
Now you've been delivered from that. Now stop living that way. 00:08:15.000 |
You know what's interesting is he says that he's very specific about what you're wrestling with. 00:08:21.000 |
He said, "Don't let sin reign in your mortal body." 00:08:25.000 |
So let's stop a minute and talk about what he means by mortal body. 00:08:29.000 |
When we say, "Well, he's just human," or "He's just a mere mortal," what do we mean by that? 00:08:39.000 |
Right? "He's powerful." No, typically when we say, "He's a mere mortal," we're saying, "He's weak." 00:08:46.000 |
Right? "He's frail." Ultimately, it means that we're eventually going to die. 00:08:51.000 |
We're finite people. So when he says, "Don't let sin reign in your mortal body," 00:08:57.000 |
automatically we know that Paul is saying every single human being who has a flesh 00:09:02.000 |
has a corrupted flesh that we have to wrestle with until the day we die. 00:09:09.000 |
Paul actually spells this out in 1 Corinthians 15, 42-44. 00:09:13.000 |
"What is sown is perishable. What is raised is imperishable." 00:09:19.000 |
Perishable basically means that we're all rotting. 00:09:23.000 |
I know some of us are rotting faster than others, but we're all rotting. 00:09:27.000 |
No matter how much time, effort, and money, and cream that you put on yourself, right? 00:09:33.000 |
Every single one of us. I mean, we can prolong our youth for a period. 00:09:38.000 |
We can spend millions of dollars just to prolong it, but that's all you can do. 00:09:46.000 |
Every single person who has flesh is inside that which is perishing. 00:09:52.000 |
And that's why when that is perishable, when it is sown, it will be raised imperishable. 00:09:58.000 |
He says, "It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory." 00:10:03.000 |
It automatically tells us that by living in this flesh, there is dishonor that we're going to be wrestling with. 00:10:10.000 |
When you accepted Christ, did the temptation disappear? 00:10:16.000 |
If you say yes, talk to me afterwards, because whatever secret that you have, 00:10:24.000 |
When you accepted Christ, the temptation didn't disappear. It was still there. 00:10:27.000 |
You still struggled with lust, pride, greed, anxiety. 00:10:34.000 |
All of these things still are dwelling in us. 00:10:37.000 |
And that's what Paul says, that if you have the flesh, it is sown in dishonor, and yet it is raised in glory. 00:10:42.000 |
It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. 00:10:45.000 |
It is sown in natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. 00:10:50.000 |
And so what Paul is saying, he is assuming that every single Christian, 00:10:54.000 |
again, he's talking to Christians here, not non-Christians, 00:10:57.000 |
every single human being that has this flesh will have this temptation and weakness and dishonor 00:11:07.000 |
So basically, Paul is saying, "Fight against this flesh." 00:11:11.000 |
And you know what's interesting here when he says to fight? 00:11:14.000 |
He says, "Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness." 00:11:19.000 |
The word "present" in the King James, in the New King James, is translated "yield." 00:11:26.000 |
And the word literally means to just come alongside and just let it happen. 00:11:33.000 |
Whenever you're driving, you see a sign that says "yield." 00:11:36.000 |
Basically, you're supposed to go there, and if there's nobody there, you go. 00:11:39.000 |
But if there's another car coming, you're supposed to slow down and let them go. 00:11:42.000 |
That's the imagery that we see here where Paul says, 00:11:45.000 |
"Do not yield yourself to the temptations of your flesh." 00:11:49.000 |
That's the literal translation of what he's saying. 00:11:55.000 |
Because every single one of us, every single day, wrestles with temptation. 00:12:01.000 |
See, the difference between wrestling with temptation and yielding to temptation 00:12:06.000 |
is just allowing it to just have its free reign. 00:12:14.000 |
Typically, we're deceived to think that the people who are loudmouthed and have a lot to say, 00:12:20.000 |
But I found, again, from years of counseling and talking to people, being around a lot of people, 00:12:24.000 |
that pride is a problem with every single person. 00:12:31.000 |
Pride is inside of all of us because the core of our rebellion against God 00:12:36.000 |
is to want to have the glory that our Father has. 00:12:39.000 |
That's what Satan wanted. That's what Adam and Eve wanted. 00:12:45.000 |
At the core of our rebellion against God is self-exaltation. 00:12:50.000 |
That's what he says, remember, Romans chapter 1? 00:12:53.000 |
They refuse to acknowledge the Creator and give credit to the creation, 00:13:00.000 |
So at the core of who we are, we struggle with pride. 00:13:02.000 |
And as long as we're in this flesh, pride is going to be right in there with us. 00:13:07.000 |
There's a difference between struggling with pride and yielding to pride. 00:13:12.000 |
When somebody says something and then you say, "You know what? 00:13:14.000 |
I'm just going to not let that guy get away with this." 00:13:20.000 |
There's a difference between struggling with lust and yielding to lust. 00:13:27.000 |
It's like, "Well, where do you draw the line? Everybody does this." 00:13:33.000 |
And then you yield yourself. You're no longer struggling. 00:13:42.000 |
It's one thing to be struggling and being tempted by that. 00:13:45.000 |
It's another thing to yield to that and say, "You know, I'm just going to give in. 00:13:48.000 |
That's just the way it is. I'm going to have it all." 00:13:52.000 |
See, Paul is saying that as long as you're in this flesh, 00:13:59.000 |
And you don't have to commit to commit these sins. 00:14:04.000 |
It's always there. It's always knocking at your door. 00:14:13.000 |
It's the difference between struggling with that and just letting it have control. 00:14:18.000 |
So Paul, again, knowing what it is that we have in Christ, 00:14:22.000 |
do not yield yourself so that sin would reign in your mortal body. 00:14:28.000 |
So if you do that, it will continue and cause you to commit even more sins. 00:14:34.000 |
Now, if Christianity was all about what he just said, right? 00:14:39.000 |
And if that's all you know about Christianity, 00:14:46.000 |
Imagine living in this world, you know, and you see what everybody else sees. 00:14:55.000 |
You drive in a nice neighborhood and you see nice houses. 00:14:58.000 |
It's like, "Oh, that's nice. It would be nice to raise my children in that house." 00:15:02.000 |
You see Facebook and all the great places that people have gone. 00:15:09.000 |
All the things that your head is filled with thinking, "Oh, it would be nice. 00:15:12.000 |
It would be nice if I went there and did this and ate that and lived there and bought this." 00:15:16.000 |
And then you come to church and he said, "You can't have it!" 00:15:22.000 |
You can't have it! If you're a Christian, you can't have that! 00:15:26.000 |
That house looks awesome, but you can't have it! 00:15:29.000 |
"I want to eat that food." No! You can't have it. 00:15:31.000 |
Pick up your cross and deny yourself if you want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. 00:15:36.000 |
If Christianity was, that's all it was, what a miserable way to exist. 00:15:42.000 |
If that's all you know of Christianity, of course you're not going to persevere. 00:15:48.000 |
It's like a man starving to death constantly hanging around at a buffet. 00:15:54.000 |
Hoping somebody will spill it and it will accidentally enter your mouth so you don't have to feel guilty. 00:16:00.000 |
I mean, that's how Christianity is sometimes. 00:16:02.000 |
It's like, you know what I mean? It's just about denying. 00:16:05.000 |
There is that negative aspect of, "Do not yield yourself to the flesh so that it would rain." 00:16:14.000 |
He says, "But present yourself to God as those who have been brought from death to life, 00:16:19.000 |
and your members to God as instruments for righteousness." 00:16:25.000 |
Yield. Just like there is, if you're living in this flesh, 00:16:28.000 |
there's this constant temptation knocking at your door, tempting you with lust, greed, pride, anger. 00:16:35.000 |
But along with that, if you are a genuine Christian, the old wineskin has gone. 00:16:42.000 |
The Bible says the Holy Spirit is indwelling in us. 00:16:47.000 |
And not only is there a temptation knocking at your door, 00:16:50.000 |
every Christian has the Holy Spirit also knocking at your door. 00:16:56.000 |
See, that is the hope that we have in Christ. 00:17:02.000 |
It's about embracing life that the Holy Spirit desires for us. 00:17:09.000 |
Again, Paul says, "For we know that if the tent," 00:17:12.000 |
and the tent he's referring to is this physical body, 00:17:16.000 |
"if the tent which is our earthly home is destroyed, 00:17:19.000 |
we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven. 00:17:26.000 |
As long as we are in this flesh, he says that we are groaning, 00:17:33.000 |
For every Christian, there is a groaning inside of us, desiring to be with the Father. 00:17:38.000 |
If indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked, 00:17:41.000 |
for while we are still in this tent we groan, being burdened. 00:17:45.000 |
As long as we are in this flesh, we are burdened by temptation, 00:17:52.000 |
but there is this groaning for the life that He has promised in eternity. 00:18:04.000 |
there is also a knocking by the Holy Spirit that is constantly groaning 00:18:14.000 |
"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together 00:18:21.000 |
who have the first fruit of the Spirit, groan inwardly." 00:18:27.000 |
he's not talking about just a few select Christians. 00:18:29.000 |
Every Christian who has the Holy Spirit in him, 00:18:37.000 |
He says, "We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons." 00:18:45.000 |
That is the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. 00:18:48.000 |
A non-Christian is constantly living under the temptation of their flesh. 00:18:55.000 |
But for Christians, we still live in this flesh, 00:18:58.000 |
and until we are completely delivered from this flesh, 00:19:02.000 |
But the difference now is, we have the Holy Spirit also groaning 00:19:09.000 |
This is not something where he is saying that it may happen to some people. 00:19:15.000 |
Every Christian, every Christian, there is a groaning that God has placed inside of you 00:19:20.000 |
that cannot be satisfied until you are with Him. 00:19:27.000 |
"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, 00:19:31.000 |
but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 00:19:36.000 |
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." 00:19:44.000 |
He says, "You need to work out your salvation with fear and trembling 00:19:50.000 |
The Holy Spirit is already pushing you toward that direction. 00:19:54.000 |
The Holy Spirit is groaning to cause you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." 00:20:04.000 |
"Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom 00:20:08.000 |
that we may present everyone with true Christ for this I toil, 00:20:12.000 |
struggling with all His energy that powerfully works within me." 00:20:17.000 |
He wasn't simply saying, "Hey, work hard, be determined." 00:20:20.000 |
He is saying, "No, the Holy Spirit is already moving. 00:20:29.000 |
that longs to be adopted for final redemption." 00:20:34.000 |
And so what he says is, "One, do not yield to that constant temptation knocking at your door. 00:20:42.000 |
Yield yourself to God as instruments of righteousness." 00:20:54.000 |
but what Paul is saying here through the Holy Spirit 00:21:01.000 |
See, the difference between a non-Christian who is struggling with guilt 00:21:12.000 |
So when guilt comes upon him, it leads to condemnation and more guilt. 00:21:16.000 |
But for a Christian, when guilt comes upon us because of our temptations, 00:21:20.000 |
because of our sins, we have an intercessor between us and God 00:21:28.000 |
who has taken away the barrier between us and the throne of grace. 00:21:35.000 |
We have a high priest who is sympathetic toward our weaknesses 00:21:38.000 |
because he once walked in this same tent that you and I struggle with. 00:21:43.000 |
And so we are no longer helpless in our sins. 00:21:47.000 |
So he says, "Do not yield to the flesh, but yield to the work of God." 00:21:54.000 |
You know what's really interesting about these commandments? 00:21:56.000 |
The tense for the negative and the tense for the positive instruction is different. 00:22:05.000 |
In the English, it seems like it's all present tense, 00:22:08.000 |
that we have to continue to wrestle against our flesh 00:22:12.000 |
and continue to wrestle for the things of God. 00:22:17.000 |
And I'm going to read what John Stott says about the tense here, 00:22:22.000 |
"Whereas the command not to offer ourselves to sin was in the present tense, 00:22:29.000 |
the exhortation to offer ourselves to God is in the aorist, 00:22:34.000 |
Although it may not be a call for a once-for-all surrender, 00:22:37.000 |
it at least suggests deliberate and decisive commitment." 00:22:40.000 |
Now, you have to understand the difference between these two tenses. 00:22:43.000 |
The present tense is something that is happening now, 00:22:45.000 |
it's continuing, and it's an everyday struggle. 00:22:50.000 |
It's something that happened in the past, it has an effect on it today. 00:22:55.000 |
Where Christ was crucified for our sins happened in the past, 00:23:01.000 |
So the challenge to offer yourselves as instruments for righteousness 00:23:10.000 |
What Paul is saying, what John Stott is saying, 00:23:13.000 |
the commandment here for the present tense, for the negative is 00:23:16.000 |
that we are to continue to wrestle, continue to struggle, 00:23:18.000 |
not to allow sin to have complete dominion over us. 00:23:29.000 |
begins decisively at some point when we say, "This is who I am." 00:23:37.000 |
and you confess your sins, and you repent of your sins, 00:23:43.000 |
saying, "You know what, I'm going to follow Jesus." 00:23:45.000 |
At some point decisively, when you gave your life to Christ, 00:23:58.000 |
But for some reason, in our generation, in our culture, 00:24:01.000 |
to decide to follow Jesus, and the decision to accept Jesus, 00:24:13.000 |
You have the level 1 Christian, level 2 Christian, level 3 Christian. 00:24:17.000 |
So level 3 Christians are the ones who do mission work, 00:24:19.000 |
church planting, and forsake all things to follow Christ. 00:24:22.000 |
And then you have the level 1 Christians who just accepted Christ, 00:24:27.000 |
See, what Paul is saying is this decision to embrace Christ, 00:24:32.000 |
and the Gospel message was a decision that every Christian made, 00:24:44.000 |
And then we were also resurrected in His life. 00:24:47.000 |
See, Winston Churchill had to give this speech to England 00:24:55.000 |
where the Nazis were completely taking over Europe. 00:24:57.000 |
It looked like that even France was going to fall, their greatest ally. 00:25:00.000 |
And then they were going to cross the Channel, 00:25:02.000 |
and their plan was to come and fight England. 00:25:06.000 |
So Winston Churchill, as the Prime Minister at that time, 00:25:08.000 |
had to rally the country up to gear up for fight, 00:25:13.000 |
And that, not sermon, but that, what do you call it, 00:25:20.000 |
because it kind of caused the resolve of the nation to fight against the Nazis, 00:25:27.000 |
And this is a clip, or a short verse from that speech. 00:25:31.000 |
Winston Churchill says, "We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. 00:25:36.000 |
We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. 00:25:39.000 |
We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. 00:25:42.000 |
We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender." 00:25:51.000 |
is a challenge to the Church to embrace what has happened to us. 00:25:55.000 |
It's to embrace and make a decisive decision that this has happened to us. 00:26:02.000 |
In Romans chapter 12-1 it says, "I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God." 00:26:10.000 |
to present your bodies, to offer up your bodies, 00:26:16.000 |
holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship." 00:26:21.000 |
Paul is not commanding us to do anything that God is not already doing inside of us. 00:26:31.000 |
"Hey, every desire is headed toward way, but deny yourself and go this way." 00:26:36.000 |
See, that's what sometimes we think Christianity is. It's quite the opposite. 00:26:40.000 |
The challenge for sanctification, the application of what we know of the Gospel, 00:26:45.000 |
is basically, "God has begun a good work in you. 00:26:54.000 |
That's why he's able to say, "Live up to the calling that you have been given. 00:27:01.000 |
God already gave it to you. Now live consistently with what you profess. 00:27:06.000 |
He says, "Live and resist and give as those who have been brought from death to life." 00:27:15.000 |
As people who have died, but also have been resurrected in this new life, 00:27:20.000 |
where the Holy Spirit is dwelling, groaning inside of us, 00:27:22.000 |
who's working powerfully within us, to live as those people. 00:27:28.000 |
And if we live in any other way, we're not living the way God intended us to live. 00:27:34.000 |
Years ago, when I used to play a lot of basketball, 00:27:37.000 |
there was this one guy that we used to play basketball with, and he was about 6'1", 6'2". 00:27:42.000 |
And obviously, if you're 6'1", 6'2", you don't have to be the best basketball player. 00:27:48.000 |
The ball falls, put your hand up, pick it up, give it to somebody, and you're awesome. 00:27:53.000 |
This guy would dribble the basketball, and he was an athlete. 00:27:58.000 |
But he had this weird habit of bending down when he would shoot. 00:28:02.000 |
He would go like this, and awesome, and he'd bend down like this and shoot. 00:28:06.000 |
Every time he would shoot, we're like, "You're 6'2". 00:28:11.000 |
I can come behind him and squat him. Get that out of here. Right? 00:28:15.000 |
So every time he shoots the ball, we're like, "What are you doing?" 00:28:21.000 |
God gave you the gift of height. Stand up straight, put your hand up, and shoot it here. 00:28:27.000 |
But for whatever the reason, he got this bad habit of squatting. 00:28:39.000 |
What Paul is saying is, live as those who have been brought from death to life. 00:28:48.000 |
To stop living like you're still bound in the flesh. 00:29:05.000 |
You join small groups because there is an urging in the Holy Spirit that can't be satisfied unless you are at the center of his will? 00:29:16.000 |
God opened our eyes to see the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:29:27.000 |
We desire more of it. We're frustrated when we don't get it. 00:29:31.000 |
And so all sanctification is, is come and get it. 00:29:36.000 |
The door has been opened. There is no barrier between you and the Father. 00:29:48.000 |
The love that you are craving is in the Father. 00:30:00.000 |
Give up to the calling that you have been given. 00:30:03.000 |
He says in 1 Peter 2, 9-10, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, 00:30:10.000 |
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 00:30:16.000 |
Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. 00:30:19.000 |
Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:30:26.000 |
How does the Bible describe, how did Paul describe the fall of mankind? 00:30:30.000 |
All have sinned and fall short of what? The glory of God. 00:30:40.000 |
And the only way that we can glorify Him is to be in His glory. 00:30:44.000 |
To be affected by His glory. To be near His glory. 00:30:48.000 |
But when we sin, there was a barrier between us and Him. 00:30:53.000 |
That's why our whole sin of mankind is described as falling short of that glory. 00:30:59.000 |
So the restoration of salvation is to be restored and to be reunited with His glory. 00:31:05.000 |
And not only are we reunited with His glory, we are to be proclaimers of this glory. 00:31:22.000 |
Isn't that what you've experienced if you are a true believer in Christ? 00:31:30.000 |
That sometimes we try to dress up with having things and going places. 00:31:36.000 |
And having the right friends and the circumstance. 00:31:39.000 |
And we are all trying to dress this up, but if you are a genuine child of God, you know. 00:31:44.000 |
You know that life is in Christ, in Christ alone. 00:31:47.000 |
Isn't Jesus the one who said, "If you drink of the water of this world, you are going to be thirsty again." 00:31:51.000 |
You may quench it for a period, but you are going to be thirsty again. 00:31:54.000 |
But the water I give you, if you drink of it, you will never thirst. 00:31:59.000 |
The bread that you eat of this world, you will be hungry again. 00:32:04.000 |
So if you are nibbling to find life in this world, there is a constant hunger and constant thirst. 00:32:12.000 |
And you have to constantly dress that up by doing more and more things. 00:32:17.000 |
But the invitation for us who know Christ, who have been redeemed, 00:32:22.000 |
is that the seat of mercy has been opened up. 00:32:28.000 |
And when we live at the center of His glory, glorifying His name, that's when we really live. 00:32:43.000 |
"Chariots of Fire" was about Eric Liddell, who was the main character, and he was an Olympic runner. 00:32:50.000 |
And he made news because he refused to run on Sunday because he wanted to have corporate worship. 00:32:57.000 |
And one of the lines in the movie that really stuck out, and I think repeated over and over again, 00:33:01.000 |
where they asked him about his running and his relationship with God. 00:33:06.000 |
"I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. 00:33:24.000 |
So when he runs for His glory, he feels His pleasure. 00:33:30.000 |
That is the testimony of every Christian that's been born again. 00:33:34.000 |
When we live our life to magnify and glorify God, 00:33:37.000 |
we yield ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness, 00:33:48.000 |
And I think every Christian will say, "Amen." 00:33:54.000 |
We can get easily distracted and put other things in the path, 00:33:58.000 |
and thinking like, "Oh, if we just did this, if we just changed this, 00:34:00.000 |
and if we just had this, and we have all these little things that we think, 00:34:04.000 |
like if we just adjust it, if we just get the volume right, 00:34:06.000 |
if we just get this right, and if we just do this, everything will be okay." 00:34:11.000 |
But at the end of the day, life is found in Christ and Christ alone. 00:34:16.000 |
The reason why you may not be satisfied is because you may have drifted away 00:34:23.000 |
The reason why you're constantly adjusting your life to make it right, 00:34:26.000 |
and it never seems to get on the right channel, 00:34:29.000 |
is because you're looking for the wrong channel. 00:34:42.000 |
And He concludes in verse 14 with a declaration. 00:34:46.000 |
"This is what has happened to us, therefore this is what you should do." 00:34:49.000 |
And then He concludes with this absolute declaration, 00:34:52.000 |
"This will happen," verse 14, "for sin will have no dominion over you." 00:34:56.000 |
Now it's not a challenge, it's not a command, He's just stating a fact. 00:35:00.000 |
"If you're a Christian, for sin will have no dominion over you, 00:35:03.000 |
since you are not under law, but under grace." 00:35:07.000 |
In other words, because God is not waiting for you to do your part, 00:35:13.000 |
to do His part, He's basically saying, "Go live." 00:35:19.000 |
He's telling us a fact, just like the book of Revelation. 00:35:23.000 |
He's not saying that if you struggle and you get it right, 00:35:25.000 |
and if the church does its job, that Christ is going to come and redeem, 00:35:28.000 |
and all this stuff is waiting for you if you get it right. 00:35:32.000 |
The whole book of Revelation, in the context of chaos, struggle, 00:35:39.000 |
that because of what Christ has done, it is the final chapter of human history, 00:35:44.000 |
and it is absolutely victorious in the name of Jesus. 00:35:49.000 |
It is not simply telling us what might happen, 00:35:52.000 |
it's declaring what will happen because of what Christ has done. 00:35:59.000 |
If you are a child of God, if the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you, 00:36:03.000 |
and it is constantly groaning to be with the Father, 00:36:17.000 |
He will carry it unto completion, until the day of Christ. 00:36:28.000 |
to come alongside and work and labor and toil and fight, 00:36:33.000 |
along with the Holy Spirit who is already doing this inside of us. 00:36:41.000 |
Because I know there's a lot of you in this room, 00:36:46.000 |
In fact, let me say, not a lot, all of us, every single one of us, 00:36:57.000 |
And maybe some of you have just allowed yourself, 00:37:00.000 |
you've given yourself to them, and let it have control over you. 00:37:08.000 |
You don't find joy in that. You don't find peace in that. 00:37:12.000 |
But as we are challenged and encouraged this morning, 00:37:15.000 |
that you know that the Holy Spirit is constantly drawing you to Him. 00:37:21.000 |
And maybe you've been resisting because of anger, 00:37:24.000 |
because of bitterness, because of whatever it was. 00:37:27.000 |
That you will come before the Lord and recognize what Christ has done, 00:37:31.000 |
and now yield yourself, present yourself to God, 00:37:35.000 |
that we may be used as instruments of righteousness. 00:37:42.000 |
because we are not under law, but under His grace. 00:37:46.000 |
Let's take some time to pray before the Lord, 00:37:49.000 |
asking the Lord to make it even more clear to us, 00:37:52.000 |
what it is that we have in Christ, that we may embrace it and live and worship.