WEBVTT 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:08.839 We're going to start in Galatians chapter 5. 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:11.439 I know y 'all hate to hear that when the preacher 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:15.160 says, we're going to start. But it's really not 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:21.239 going to be too bad. Galatians chapter 5. We'll 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:24.820 start in verse 16. And if you want to, while 00:00:24.820 --> 00:00:27.440 you're turning to that, you can also put a finger 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:39.649 in Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. Both of 00:00:39.649 --> 00:00:41.429 those books are going to be in the New Testament, 00:00:41.530 --> 00:00:43.369 kind of toward the back third of your Bible. 00:00:45.210 --> 00:00:50.630 Galatians chapter 5, verse 16, and Romans chapter 00:00:50.630 --> 00:00:55.770 7. We'll probably start off around verse 18 there. 00:00:56.810 --> 00:01:01.009 We won't go into these, Romans 7, in a whole 00:01:01.009 --> 00:01:03.950 lot of depth today, but I would encourage you 00:01:03.950 --> 00:01:06.049 really to read all those chapters kind of surrounding. 00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:09.760 Romans 7, 5 and 6 and 7 and 8. Just to kind of 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:12.340 see what Paul's talking about, we'll just briefly 00:01:12.340 --> 00:01:18.140 go over it this morning. Galatians chapter 5, 00:01:18.260 --> 00:01:30.500 verses 16 and 17. I say then, walk by the Spirit, 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:33.840 and you will not carry out the desire of the 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:37.920 flesh. For the flesh desires what is against 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:42.280 the spirit, and the spirit desires what is against 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:47.159 the flesh. These are opposed to each other so 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:50.840 that you don't do what you want. Let's pray. 00:01:52.780 --> 00:01:55.079 God, we come to you today and I thank you for 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:58.280 being good to us. I thank you for giving us the 00:01:58.280 --> 00:02:01.459 freedom and the privilege to come and to worship 00:02:01.459 --> 00:02:05.939 you today, dear Lord. God, we could be anywhere 00:02:05.939 --> 00:02:09.039 today, but we're here. We chose to be here, dear 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:12.860 Lord, and maybe we come here with some sadness 00:02:12.860 --> 00:02:15.460 in our heart or some stress or some struggles 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:18.960 or whatever it may be, dear Lord. It may just 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:21.280 be some sin or just something going on that's 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:24.219 really tough, but God, whether we came in here 00:02:24.219 --> 00:02:27.979 in a good place or struggling, dear Lord, you 00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:30.159 know where we are, and we pray that you just 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:32.360 meet us there today, God. Sometimes we're just 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:35.620 too... We're just too weak and all we can do, 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:38.000 dear Lord, is just cry out to you and call out 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.939 to you. And I pray today that with our hearts 00:02:39.939 --> 00:02:42.340 that when we come into this place that we would 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:45.639 do that. I pray that your word would speak to 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:47.580 us, God, that we would draw strength from you, 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:49.819 that you would help us in our struggles, dear 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:53.439 Lord. Every day, God, the struggle is real and 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:55.800 there are things that we just battle against 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.960 and we need help, God, because so often we want 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.210 to do good and it's so hard. So I pray, dear 00:03:02.210 --> 00:03:04.189 Lord, that we would find strength in you, strength 00:03:04.189 --> 00:03:07.990 through Jesus Christ, that we can make it through 00:03:07.990 --> 00:03:11.870 the days and draw closer to you. I ask that you 00:03:11.870 --> 00:03:13.849 be with us, dear Lord, pour your spirit out on 00:03:13.849 --> 00:03:17.469 us, offer your kingdom and your glory. In Jesus' 00:03:17.629 --> 00:03:23.629 name I pray it. Amen. I had a really big decision 00:03:23.629 --> 00:03:31.710 to make this week on Monday. We no longer have 00:03:31.710 --> 00:03:34.789 a microwave due to health and safety concerns. 00:03:35.189 --> 00:03:37.189 Now, that's a whole other story for another sermon. 00:03:40.169 --> 00:03:43.090 And my wife had made a delicious meal Sunday 00:03:43.090 --> 00:03:47.770 night. She had made some spaghetti. And so lunchtime 00:03:47.770 --> 00:03:51.729 came about Monday, and I was at home, and I was 00:03:51.729 --> 00:03:54.569 going to eat that spaghetti. But I said to myself, 00:03:54.990 --> 00:03:58.889 I don't have a microwave, and it's a whole lot 00:03:58.889 --> 00:04:02.310 of trouble. to get a pot out, to heat that stuff 00:04:02.310 --> 00:04:05.310 back up. And I said, I could just walk up to 00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:09.770 the church and use the microwave. But then I 00:04:09.770 --> 00:04:12.750 said to myself, that's a long way. I've got to 00:04:12.750 --> 00:04:14.930 take a plate with spaghetti all the way from 00:04:14.930 --> 00:04:18.389 down here to up there. And so I had to make a 00:04:18.389 --> 00:04:22.730 decision. So I knew that on the shelf in there 00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:27.550 was a whole bag of Hickory BBQ wavy legs. They're 00:04:27.550 --> 00:04:33.069 delicious. And so I said, I can just eat that 00:04:33.069 --> 00:04:36.430 bag of Lay's potato chips for lunch. And that's 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:39.810 where the struggle began. Because I said, I can 00:04:39.810 --> 00:04:42.009 eat this bag of potato chips, but if I eat this 00:04:42.009 --> 00:04:44.490 whole bag of potato chips, I'm going to feel 00:04:44.490 --> 00:04:48.129 horrible. So I said, I don't want to feel horrible, 00:04:48.230 --> 00:04:51.930 so I'm not going to eat the potato chips. But 00:04:51.930 --> 00:04:54.910 then I said, I don't want to walk up to the church, 00:04:55.110 --> 00:04:59.810 so I am going to eat the potato chips. So the 00:04:59.810 --> 00:05:03.569 struggle ensued for a few moments, and finally 00:05:03.569 --> 00:05:07.329 I made the only choice that could be made. I 00:05:07.329 --> 00:05:10.509 ate the bag of potato chips. I crushed the whole 00:05:10.509 --> 00:05:13.329 bag of potato chips. Well, not really. That's 00:05:13.329 --> 00:05:17.269 a lie. Because what I did was, is I left three 00:05:17.269 --> 00:05:19.649 or four chips in the bag so I'd feel better about 00:05:19.649 --> 00:05:22.250 myself. So I could say, well, I didn't eat the 00:05:22.250 --> 00:05:25.750 whole bag of chips. So I left a few chips in 00:05:25.750 --> 00:05:30.120 the bag, and I was still hungry. And then it 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:32.759 occurred to me, you got an Easter basket over 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:38.420 there. And there are a few fun -sized chocolate 00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:41.100 bars in there. And I said, boy, wouldn't it be 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:45.779 fun to eat those for dessert? And I said, this 00:05:45.779 --> 00:05:47.899 is a bad idea. I just crushed a whole bag of 00:05:47.899 --> 00:05:51.660 chips. And so naturally I went over there and 00:05:51.660 --> 00:05:53.899 I ate the chocolate, every one that was left 00:05:53.899 --> 00:05:59.089 in there. I had a Mounds and a Milky Way. I don't 00:05:59.089 --> 00:06:02.970 even remember what the other one was. Twix. But 00:06:02.970 --> 00:06:06.529 the good news is I washed it all down with a 00:06:06.529 --> 00:06:08.209 glass of water, so therefore it was a healthy 00:06:08.209 --> 00:06:14.990 meal. Now, I say that story because for each 00:06:14.990 --> 00:06:17.449 of us, we kind of have that struggle in life. 00:06:18.689 --> 00:06:20.850 And a lot of times it's far more serious than 00:06:20.850 --> 00:06:22.189 whether we're going to eat the bag of chips. 00:06:22.269 --> 00:06:24.709 By the way, I felt horrible the rest of the day. 00:06:25.930 --> 00:06:28.189 And I knew I shouldn't do it because I knew it 00:06:28.189 --> 00:06:30.629 wasn't good for me, but there was this battle 00:06:30.629 --> 00:06:32.769 that went on. Should I do what I know is right 00:06:32.769 --> 00:06:37.069 or should I do what I know is wrong? And I did 00:06:37.069 --> 00:06:40.829 what I knew was wrong and going to make me feel 00:06:40.829 --> 00:06:44.189 bad. And that's kind of what our struggle is 00:06:44.189 --> 00:06:48.189 every day. And that's what Paul talks about in 00:06:48.189 --> 00:06:51.750 this passage. He said, I say then, walk by the 00:06:51.750 --> 00:06:55.290 Spirit and you will be... and you will not carry 00:06:55.290 --> 00:06:59.949 out the desires of the flesh. Okay, pretty simple 00:06:59.949 --> 00:07:03.769 instruction. If we trust in Jesus Christ, the 00:07:03.769 --> 00:07:07.189 Holy Spirit dwells in us, and it guides us and 00:07:07.189 --> 00:07:10.209 it helps us to know the ways of God and gives 00:07:10.209 --> 00:07:13.189 us conviction to know, hey, maybe you shouldn't 00:07:13.189 --> 00:07:15.269 do that thing that you want to do. And so Paul 00:07:15.269 --> 00:07:18.290 gives us an easy instruction there. Walk by the 00:07:18.290 --> 00:07:20.589 Spirit. Now let's just pray and say amen and 00:07:20.589 --> 00:07:24.129 go and do that. Well, it's not that easy, is 00:07:24.129 --> 00:07:28.889 it? Because sometimes we know what to do and 00:07:28.889 --> 00:07:33.329 we know what not to do. But our desires of the 00:07:33.329 --> 00:07:38.050 flesh are strong. They are strong. They are not 00:07:38.050 --> 00:07:39.829 easy for me. Now, maybe for some of you they 00:07:39.829 --> 00:07:42.670 are, but the desires of the flesh are not easy 00:07:42.670 --> 00:07:44.850 for me. And I hope that one day it's going to 00:07:44.850 --> 00:07:47.230 get better. I don't know if it gets better or 00:07:47.230 --> 00:07:49.610 not. I'm 42. I'm thinking maybe by 50 it gets 00:07:49.610 --> 00:07:52.480 better. I don't know, 60, 70. I'm hoping it gets 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:56.779 better, but I believe that it probably doesn't 00:07:56.779 --> 00:07:59.600 get better. There's probably always some desire 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:03.579 of the flesh that's kind of gnawing away at us. 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:07.259 Now Paul says walk by the Spirit and we won't 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:10.199 carry out the desires of the flesh, but he also 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:14.019 says in verse 17, for the flesh desires what 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:17.319 is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:21.180 what is against the flesh. Okay, we understand 00:08:21.180 --> 00:08:24.000 that. We know that sometimes the flesh wants 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.279 to do one thing, and we know that God's Word 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:29.379 says we shouldn't do it, and we want to obey 00:08:29.379 --> 00:08:33.080 God's Word, but then we want to do the thing 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:35.480 of the flesh, and everybody gets this because 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:37.740 we see this on cartoons and TV shows, right? 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:39.659 There will be the little devil on one shoulder 00:08:39.659 --> 00:08:41.559 and the little angel on the other shoulder. It's 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:44.519 this struggle between here's this desire and 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:46.980 here's that desire. And I want to do both. And 00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:49.399 it's like we're at war with ourselves. It's a 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:53.879 spiritual warfare in a sense. But then he says 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:58.059 that these are opposed to each other so that 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:03.159 you don't do what you want. Okay, now this is 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:07.200 good news for us. We have this struggle so that 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:12.220 we don't do what we want. Now there's a lot of 00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:15.440 people in this world. that do not know Jesus 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:17.720 Christ, that do not know the Word of God, the 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:20.179 instructions of God, the commands of God. They 00:09:20.179 --> 00:09:24.879 don't know them. And it's obvious because of 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:27.500 the way that they live. And by the way, that's 00:09:27.500 --> 00:09:29.740 you and I too before we know Jesus Christ. Maybe 00:09:29.740 --> 00:09:32.320 you're in the crowd today. Maybe you've already 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:35.139 trusted in Jesus Christ. But at some point in 00:09:35.139 --> 00:09:38.500 your life, you probably didn't really know the 00:09:38.500 --> 00:09:40.960 commands of God. Maybe you knew about the Bible. 00:09:41.019 --> 00:09:43.120 Maybe you knew about Jesus. Or maybe you didn't. 00:09:44.110 --> 00:09:46.070 And you're just living life the way you want 00:09:46.070 --> 00:09:50.110 to, because why not? And that's kind of the heart 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:54.570 of our world today. Just do what you want. I 00:09:54.570 --> 00:09:56.570 mean, we pretty much see that message in our 00:09:56.570 --> 00:09:59.370 songs and in our shows and everything we're exposed 00:09:59.370 --> 00:10:04.289 to. Just do what you want. Just do what you want 00:10:04.289 --> 00:10:08.769 to do. Well, the problem with that is, is that 00:10:08.769 --> 00:10:12.129 a lot of the things we want to do are not good. 00:10:13.830 --> 00:10:15.970 If the worst of the things we wanted to do was 00:10:15.970 --> 00:10:17.870 crush a bag of chips, we'd be in good shape. 00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:22.409 But the fact of the matter is the things that 00:10:22.409 --> 00:10:25.009 we want to do are horrible. I mean, there are 00:10:25.009 --> 00:10:27.809 people in this world that want to hurt people, 00:10:27.950 --> 00:10:29.809 that want to kill people, that want to steal 00:10:29.809 --> 00:10:34.269 from people, that want to do all kind of sinful 00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:37.769 things and be involved in sinful behaviors. And 00:10:37.769 --> 00:10:40.129 apart from Christ, that's every one of us in 00:10:40.129 --> 00:10:44.039 this room. And our world just says, hey, do what 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:48.039 you want to do. That's what the song says. I'm 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:52.080 free to do what I want any old time. I would 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:55.500 ask you guys today. Don't answer. But if I were 00:10:55.500 --> 00:10:59.120 to ask you guys today, if you could do anything 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:04.960 you want right now, what would it be? What would 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:11.220 it be? Maybe it'd be something good. Maybe it 00:11:11.220 --> 00:11:14.889 wouldn't. But praise the Lord we have the word 00:11:14.889 --> 00:11:19.129 of God because even though in our minds we have 00:11:19.129 --> 00:11:22.490 some desire that maybe what we want that's evil, 00:11:22.710 --> 00:11:27.970 God has given us a way to keep us from getting 00:11:27.970 --> 00:11:30.909 off track. He says, I'm going to give you my 00:11:30.909 --> 00:11:34.110 word. I'm going to send my son, Jesus Christ, 00:11:34.190 --> 00:11:36.370 to die for you and forgive you of your sin. So 00:11:36.370 --> 00:11:42.340 if you follow him, you'll be forgiven. He'll 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:46.080 experience joy and peace. And just follow my 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:48.340 instructions. Follow his example. Praise the 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:50.360 Lord. That's a good message. We need that message, 00:11:50.460 --> 00:11:52.919 right? Because we're sinners, and without the 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:55.899 grace of God, we are in bad shape. So God sent 00:11:55.899 --> 00:11:59.399 Jesus Christ so that we would trust in him, so 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:01.919 that our sins would be forgiven. And the scripture 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:04.399 says that when we trust in Jesus Christ, we receive 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:07.639 the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord. Now, now we 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:10.879 have somebody on our side. So now we're not just 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:13.700 living for ourselves because Christianity, being 00:12:13.700 --> 00:12:17.220 a Christian, what we're saying is, is that I 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:20.419 no longer am living for myself, but now I submit 00:12:20.419 --> 00:12:23.879 to Jesus Christ. So it's not about my desires 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:26.580 and what I want. It's about the desires of God. 00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:29.980 It's about following Jesus Christ. That's what 00:12:29.980 --> 00:12:32.759 being a Christian is. It's not just walking an 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:34.919 aisle and being baptized and saying, I'm ready 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:38.480 to go. It's about saying, no, I'm giving up my 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:42.360 life because I want to live a life for Jesus. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.059 Now, we need to recognize that. I don't know 00:12:45.059 --> 00:12:48.000 if we always appreciate that as Christians, that 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.620 that's what we're submitting to when we submit 00:12:51.620 --> 00:12:54.919 to Jesus Christ. And so when that moment occurs, 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:59.159 it's not about my will anymore. It's about the 00:12:59.159 --> 00:13:03.480 will of God. It's about the will of Jesus Christ. 00:13:04.779 --> 00:13:07.679 And so apart from Jesus Christ, we can just willy 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.500 -nilly do whatever we want. But now all of a 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:14.120 sudden our eyes have been opened. Now all of 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:18.120 a sudden we know that there is a truth. Now all 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:20.879 of a sudden we know that there's a right and 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:23.299 that there's a wrong. Now all of a sudden we 00:13:23.299 --> 00:13:26.580 know that there's a standard. It's not my standard. 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:28.139 It's not your standard. We don't just make our 00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:31.080 own standard. Now in our world today, we see 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:33.740 plenty of people that do. We see plenty of people. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:37.039 You hear people say this all the time. You live 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:40.980 by your truth. You do you. Well, that's a lie 00:13:40.980 --> 00:13:43.539 from the devil. There's no your truth and my 00:13:43.539 --> 00:13:46.740 truth. There is truth and there is a lie. And 00:13:46.740 --> 00:13:50.200 we don't get to decide what is truth. We don't 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:54.379 stand here today and debate what is truth. I 00:13:54.379 --> 00:14:00.620 hope, I hope, I hope, I hope that everybody listening 00:14:00.620 --> 00:14:03.830 online And everybody here today has come into 00:14:03.830 --> 00:14:08.690 this building acknowledging that the Word of 00:14:08.690 --> 00:14:12.210 God is the truth. And if you didn't, it's okay. 00:14:12.769 --> 00:14:15.070 Because you're here and you're seeking. If you're 00:14:15.070 --> 00:14:17.269 watching online, it's okay because you're seeking. 00:14:17.389 --> 00:14:19.730 But I want to tell you that if you are seeking 00:14:19.730 --> 00:14:24.730 today, that the Word of God is the truth. And 00:14:24.730 --> 00:14:27.470 that's the truth that we must live by. We won't 00:14:27.470 --> 00:14:29.629 get to decide. That's the standard that is set 00:14:29.629 --> 00:14:34.779 by God. It's a standard that means that sometimes 00:14:34.779 --> 00:14:38.259 when we want to live for the flesh, that God's 00:14:38.259 --> 00:14:41.799 word is going to be opposed to that. So now all 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:44.340 of a sudden we become Christians and we still 00:14:44.340 --> 00:14:46.740 have those fleshly desires. They do not go away. 00:14:47.299 --> 00:14:50.279 Man, it would be so awesome if the moment we 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:52.340 became a Christian, all those fleshly desires 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:56.559 went away. Would not that be awesome? But they 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:59.549 don't go away. Man, those temptations are there. 00:14:59.610 --> 00:15:03.750 That fleshly desire is still there. But now all 00:15:03.750 --> 00:15:09.129 of a sudden, as Paul expresses here, we don't 00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:12.789 necessarily do what we want. Well, in a way we 00:15:12.789 --> 00:15:16.570 do, but in a way we don't. Because now we say, 00:15:16.649 --> 00:15:20.149 man, I want to do this thing. But all of a sudden 00:15:20.149 --> 00:15:23.679 the Holy Spirit begins to convict us. We say, 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:26.259 man, that person in traffic cut me off. I'm going 00:15:26.259 --> 00:15:28.720 to fly by them. I'm going to give them a not 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:30.899 -so -friendly wave, and I'm going to ride their 00:15:30.899 --> 00:15:32.659 bumper. I'm going to slam on brakes in front 00:15:32.659 --> 00:15:35.360 of them. And there's that temptation to get back 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:38.679 at people. And that still may cross our minds 00:15:38.679 --> 00:15:42.419 sometimes. But then we say to ourselves, that's 00:15:42.419 --> 00:15:44.899 not the Christian way to act. Well, praise the 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:47.750 Lord that that's there. That's what the Holy 00:15:47.750 --> 00:15:50.429 Spirit does for us. Once we're exposed to the 00:15:50.429 --> 00:15:53.230 truth of the Word of God, now the battle really 00:15:53.230 --> 00:15:56.029 begins. Because when we're living for ourselves, 00:15:56.190 --> 00:15:58.389 we can live in sin willy -nilly, and we ain't 00:15:58.389 --> 00:16:00.809 got nothing to worry about. We don't care. We 00:16:00.809 --> 00:16:02.710 don't care about anybody else. We care about 00:16:02.710 --> 00:16:05.710 doing what we want to do. But now all of a sudden, 00:16:05.730 --> 00:16:09.710 when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, now all 00:16:09.710 --> 00:16:12.029 of a sudden we live for Him. And that's a good 00:16:12.029 --> 00:16:14.230 thing because that keeps us out of a lot of trouble. 00:16:16.299 --> 00:16:20.399 And Paul says, look, the flesh and the spirit, 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:24.080 they wage war against us so that we will not 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:28.019 do what we want to do. Praise the Lord. Because 00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:30.139 when we just do what we want to do in the flesh, 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:33.519 we get ourselves in so much trouble. We are full 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:37.279 of bitterness and anger and hatred and envy and 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:40.720 greed, and we don't care about anything other 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:45.580 than ourselves. But praise the Lord, the word 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:49.580 of God is good to us. And it begins to reveal 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:55.460 to us that, man, things of the world, they're 00:16:55.460 --> 00:16:59.360 not right. Things that our world say is right, 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:05.160 they're not right. They're not good for us. When 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:09.680 we read the scripture, we know that's true. Our 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:14.569 world will say marriage is not important. Having 00:17:14.569 --> 00:17:17.390 children is not important. What's the scripture 00:17:17.390 --> 00:17:21.509 say? It's not good for man to be alone. Marriage 00:17:21.509 --> 00:17:24.869 is one of the greatest gifts of God. Having children 00:17:24.869 --> 00:17:29.349 is one of the greatest gifts of God. To have 00:17:29.349 --> 00:17:31.650 a husband, to have a wife, and to stand by them. 00:17:33.349 --> 00:17:36.829 Our world says you're not happy. In the flesh 00:17:36.829 --> 00:17:39.450 you're not happy. Boom. Separate from that flesh. 00:17:39.470 --> 00:17:42.670 Go find some more flesh. That's not what the 00:17:42.670 --> 00:17:45.809 Word of God says. And so we have these kind of 00:17:45.809 --> 00:17:48.569 struggles, right? We have a hard time. We say, 00:17:48.710 --> 00:17:51.130 I'm going to leave my husband. I'm going to leave 00:17:51.130 --> 00:17:55.329 my wife. I've had enough. But now that we're 00:17:55.329 --> 00:17:59.009 in Christ, it's not so easy. Because now we remember 00:17:59.009 --> 00:18:03.789 the words of God. Now we remember the teachings 00:18:03.789 --> 00:18:09.920 of Jesus Christ. And so that conviction... helps 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:12.339 us to do things that we otherwise wouldn't do. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.779 If we were to do what our flesh always wanted, 00:18:15.880 --> 00:18:18.319 we'd be in bad shape. But through Jesus Christ, 00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:20.940 now all of a sudden, our eyes have been opened. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:23.440 We know that there's a right. We know that there's 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.920 a wrong. We know that if we do certain things, 00:18:26.019 --> 00:18:29.119 they're not going to be good for us. The curtain 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:31.920 has been pulled back. There's no mystery there 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:36.259 anymore. And so now we have this battle that's 00:18:36.259 --> 00:18:41.049 just waging every... day in our life. I used 00:18:41.049 --> 00:18:43.529 to listen to this kind of music. And now you 00:18:43.529 --> 00:18:44.970 turn that kind of music on and you're listening 00:18:44.970 --> 00:18:47.549 to it and you're like, man, should I be listening 00:18:47.549 --> 00:18:50.589 to this music? Praise the Lord. The struggle 00:18:50.589 --> 00:18:53.089 is real. We have the struggle. Because now we 00:18:53.089 --> 00:18:56.549 know that, man, maybe this isn't right. We used 00:18:56.549 --> 00:18:58.789 to speak a certain way. Man, we'd have words 00:18:58.789 --> 00:19:00.769 coming out of our mouth and we'd say things and, 00:19:00.809 --> 00:19:02.690 man, I bet you some of us have said some things 00:19:02.690 --> 00:19:06.650 we're so ashamed of. Maybe still do. And it's 00:19:06.650 --> 00:19:09.000 not right. God doesn't want our tongues to speak 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:12.819 in such a way with foul language or gossip or 00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:16.779 whatever evils may come from our mouth. Before 00:19:16.779 --> 00:19:19.039 Christ, just talk and say whatever we want to 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:23.140 say. Now all of a sudden we know the truth of 00:19:23.140 --> 00:19:27.039 God's word. We begin to say those same things 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:29.700 and now all of a sudden we kind of cringe when 00:19:29.700 --> 00:19:33.160 we say them. What is that? We get things all 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:35.200 our life and it didn't bother us. And then all 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:36.779 of a sudden there's a... There's just something 00:19:36.779 --> 00:19:39.019 there. That's the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord. 00:19:39.859 --> 00:19:42.039 It's letting us know, hey, that's not right. 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:47.380 You shouldn't do that. And the list can go on 00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:50.140 and on and on. We all have our struggles every 00:19:50.140 --> 00:19:55.599 day. And they're serious struggles. But praise 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:57.700 the Lord that God didn't just abandon us and 00:19:57.700 --> 00:20:00.319 say, I made you, here you are, figure it out 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.680 for yourself. He doesn't do that because He knows 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:08.180 that on our own we are, in big, big trouble. 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:11.259 Now flip over to Romans chapter 7, verse 18. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.920 Paul is talking about the same idea here in this 00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:24.180 passage. Romans chapter 7, verse 18. We'll try 00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:26.859 to get through this quickly. If we go past 12, 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:29.900 just please don't leave. We're going to make 00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:36.220 it. Romans chapter 7, verse 18. This is Paul 00:20:36.220 --> 00:20:43.480 speaking here too. He says, For I know that nothing 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:47.220 good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. Okay. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.619 That's a good place to start. There's some humility 00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:54.019 there. He's acknowledging his weakness. Now, 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:56.519 maybe we can relate to him here. Maybe we've 00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:59.160 felt like that before. Maybe there's times in 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:02.369 our life that we just feel like. There is nothing 00:21:02.369 --> 00:21:05.470 good in me. That is the start of following Jesus 00:21:05.470 --> 00:21:07.950 Christ. We have to have some humility to realize 00:21:07.950 --> 00:21:11.269 that there's nothing good in me. Now, maybe you're 00:21:11.269 --> 00:21:13.930 not there yet today. Maybe you're saying, I'm 00:21:13.930 --> 00:21:17.049 pretty good. I mean, I'm pretty good at my job. 00:21:17.109 --> 00:21:19.190 I'm pretty good at this. I'm pretty good at that. 00:21:19.289 --> 00:21:24.309 I'm pretty good looking. I'm pretty smart. Well, 00:21:24.549 --> 00:21:26.690 it's hard to follow Jesus when we have that kind 00:21:26.690 --> 00:21:31.480 of pride. But Paul acknowledges something that 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:33.500 every one of us have to acknowledge. He said, 00:21:33.539 --> 00:21:36.500 Jesus Christ came to save sinners of whom I am 00:21:36.500 --> 00:21:39.000 the worst, or I am the chief. I'm the chief among 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:41.640 sinners. Well, that's the humility that following 00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:46.599 Christ requires from us. We realize, wait a minute, 00:21:46.660 --> 00:21:49.720 there is nothing good within me. There's nothing 00:21:49.720 --> 00:21:51.980 good that I can offer to God. So what are we 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:54.119 going to do? Well, that's what he talks about 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:57.420 in this passage. Continuing on, he says, at the 00:21:57.420 --> 00:22:00.109 second half of verse 18, he said, For the desire 00:22:00.109 --> 00:22:05.349 to do what is good is with me, but there is no 00:22:05.349 --> 00:22:08.750 ability to do it. Now, I'm not sure, but I think 00:22:08.750 --> 00:22:10.589 it's possible that Paul could have been playing 00:22:10.589 --> 00:22:13.809 golf when he penned those words. Because that's 00:22:13.809 --> 00:22:16.170 how I feel when I'm on the golf course. I have 00:22:16.170 --> 00:22:18.710 a desire to do good, and I know. I know how I 00:22:18.710 --> 00:22:20.950 need to stand, how I need to swing, how I need 00:22:20.950 --> 00:22:23.630 to hold the club. For the desire to do good is 00:22:23.630 --> 00:22:26.490 within me, and I swing the club, and there is 00:22:26.490 --> 00:22:31.650 no ability to do it. And maybe you feel that 00:22:31.650 --> 00:22:33.470 way sometimes, not about your golf game, but 00:22:33.470 --> 00:22:37.269 just more serious areas in life. That there is 00:22:37.269 --> 00:22:41.549 a desire to do what is good. You know the word 00:22:41.549 --> 00:22:44.569 of God and you desperately, you want to do it. 00:22:45.369 --> 00:22:49.190 And you want to keep your mouth shut. And you 00:22:49.190 --> 00:22:53.369 want to love people. And you want to pray for 00:22:53.369 --> 00:22:57.390 your enemies. And you want to do all these things 00:22:57.390 --> 00:22:59.569 that God's word says is good and you know it's 00:22:59.569 --> 00:23:03.210 good and you agree that it's good. There's no 00:23:03.210 --> 00:23:06.150 ability to do it, he says. As much as I want 00:23:06.150 --> 00:23:08.750 to do it, he says, I just find myself failing. 00:23:08.789 --> 00:23:11.089 As much as I did not want to crush that bag of 00:23:11.089 --> 00:23:14.910 chips because I knew it wasn't good. It's just 00:23:14.910 --> 00:23:16.529 like there was no ability. It's like, there's 00:23:16.529 --> 00:23:20.950 chips, I'm going to eat chips. Paul says, look. 00:23:21.259 --> 00:23:23.200 I wanted to do what is good and I knew what was 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:25.440 good, but there was no ability. Listen as he 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:30.019 goes on. For I do not do the good that I want 00:23:30.019 --> 00:23:34.259 to do, but I practice the evil that I do not 00:23:34.259 --> 00:23:38.400 want to do. Anybody ever feel like that before? 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.980 I love this passage because I feel like if we're 00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:44.900 honest, we can probably relate to this. If we're 00:23:44.900 --> 00:23:46.420 honest, we can probably say, yeah, that's me. 00:23:47.339 --> 00:23:49.160 And here's the good news. It's not just you. 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:51.200 You know, sometimes we'll read God's Word and 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.559 we'll say, man, I'm afraid to say that I feel 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:55.859 that way because I'm probably the only one that 00:23:55.859 --> 00:23:59.000 feels that way. No, it's not just you. It's probably 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:01.519 every one of us. And even if it is just you, 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.059 it's you and Paul. Because at least he acknowledged 00:24:04.059 --> 00:24:07.779 the truth here. He says, I do not do the good 00:24:07.779 --> 00:24:10.420 that I want, but I practice the evil I do not 00:24:10.420 --> 00:24:13.099 want to do. Okay, this is a problem. This is 00:24:13.099 --> 00:24:15.819 a big problem. We have to acknowledge that. That 00:24:15.819 --> 00:24:18.099 it's good for us to know that we want to do good. 00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:21.339 It's good for us to know the Word of God, but 00:24:21.339 --> 00:24:25.579 it's not good that we cave in. It's not good 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:28.019 that we keep just doing evil, so we can't just 00:24:28.019 --> 00:24:29.880 shut the book here and say, well, Paul struggled 00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:31.359 with it, I am too, so I'm going to just keep 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.220 on doing the evil. No, that's not a good place 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:37.200 to be. Now, the reality is that sometimes we 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:39.980 do the evil that we don't want to do, but we 00:24:39.980 --> 00:24:41.980 should never settle for that or be happy with 00:24:41.980 --> 00:24:45.720 that. Let's skip on down to verse 21. He says, 00:24:45.859 --> 00:24:49.430 so I discovered this principle. When I want to 00:24:49.430 --> 00:24:53.769 do what is good, evil is with me. For in my inner 00:24:53.769 --> 00:25:00.230 self, I joyfully agree with God's law. Man, I 00:25:00.230 --> 00:25:02.089 suspect that's probably some of us today. We 00:25:02.089 --> 00:25:05.069 read the word of God and we joyfully agree with 00:25:05.069 --> 00:25:08.549 what God says. We see that God's word is good. 00:25:08.730 --> 00:25:11.430 That it says to love people and to help people. 00:25:12.190 --> 00:25:14.930 We see that God's word is good. We're supposed 00:25:14.930 --> 00:25:17.670 to... do these things and not do these things, 00:25:17.730 --> 00:25:19.710 that we don't want to lie and cheat and steal, 00:25:19.950 --> 00:25:23.289 and we know that it's good not to lie, and then 00:25:23.289 --> 00:25:25.589 all of a sudden we get ourselves in a bind, and 00:25:25.589 --> 00:25:27.930 next thing you know, whoop, we tell a lie, and 00:25:27.930 --> 00:25:31.650 we're like, man, I didn't want to do that. So 00:25:31.650 --> 00:25:35.069 there's many areas in our life that we joyfully 00:25:35.069 --> 00:25:37.190 agree. It's not that we do evil because we don't 00:25:37.190 --> 00:25:39.769 think God's word is good, or we say, I ain't 00:25:39.769 --> 00:25:42.349 worried about that. For many of us, it's just 00:25:42.349 --> 00:25:45.089 the opposite. We do think God's word is good. 00:25:45.329 --> 00:25:49.650 It is right. But the struggle is real. The temptation 00:25:49.650 --> 00:25:53.170 is real. The desire of the flesh is still there. 00:25:54.670 --> 00:25:59.430 Verse 23. But I see a different law in the parts 00:25:59.430 --> 00:26:02.670 of my body, waging war against the law of my 00:26:02.670 --> 00:26:06.089 mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin 00:26:06.089 --> 00:26:12.289 in the parts of my body. He says some pretty 00:26:12.289 --> 00:26:15.450 strong language here. He says, these two opposing 00:26:15.450 --> 00:26:19.809 thoughts in my mind are waging war with one another. 00:26:20.910 --> 00:26:24.789 Now, you guys know that, I suspect. I mean, sometimes 00:26:24.789 --> 00:26:28.910 the things that we are tempted to, we are fighting 00:26:28.910 --> 00:26:32.210 so hard that we do not want to do it, that we 00:26:32.210 --> 00:26:35.390 do not want to give in to it. And it is like... 00:26:35.559 --> 00:26:38.740 It's like a physical struggle sometimes. It's 00:26:38.740 --> 00:26:40.700 a battle in our mind. It's physical. It's like, 00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:45.660 I don't want to do it. And we know that struggle. 00:26:46.119 --> 00:26:50.019 We know that there are things that we don't want 00:26:50.019 --> 00:26:55.440 to do and we just keep struggling. And so what 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:59.779 do we do? What is our hope there? What do we 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:04.039 do? Paul says, I have no ability to do it. I 00:27:04.039 --> 00:27:07.220 won't and I try so hard, but more times than 00:27:07.220 --> 00:27:10.640 we care to admit, we end up giving in to the 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:14.460 evil that we don't want to do. Listen to what 00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:16.920 Paul says. Here's our hope right here, the same 00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:21.240 hope that he had in verse 24. What a wretched 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:25.740 man I am. Who will rescue me from this dying 00:27:25.740 --> 00:27:30.119 body? That's a good question. Maybe you've... 00:27:30.940 --> 00:27:33.279 Ask that question before. Maybe those words have 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:36.019 come from your mouth or have popped up in your 00:27:36.019 --> 00:27:41.740 mind. What a wretched man am I. We have our struggle. 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:43.579 We don't want to give in to it. We give in to 00:27:43.579 --> 00:27:46.240 it. We feel so ashamed. We feel so guilty that 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:48.960 we keep giving in to certain sins. And we just 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.279 say, man, I'm wretched. I'm worthless. I'm stupid. 00:27:52.359 --> 00:27:55.720 I'm dumb. I'm helpless. I'm hopeless. And we 00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:58.640 say those things. And that's kind of what Paul 00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:02.000 is saying when he says, I'm wretched. Where does 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:05.240 my help come from? What am I going to do? What 00:28:05.240 --> 00:28:09.880 a wretched man am I? That's you and I today. 00:28:11.099 --> 00:28:15.400 We're wretched. Let's not fool ourselves. Because 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:21.839 of our sinfulness, we are wretched. But there 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:25.579 is hope. We may feel that we're worthless and 00:28:25.579 --> 00:28:29.759 we're stupid. And we're hopeless. But don't let 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:34.359 despair set in in your life. Our hope is in Jesus 00:28:34.359 --> 00:28:39.259 Christ. Paul says in verse 25, I thank God through 00:28:39.259 --> 00:28:43.460 Jesus Christ our Lord. What a wretched man am 00:28:43.460 --> 00:28:46.200 I. What am I going to do? Who's going to rescue 00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:49.779 me? He says, I thank God through Jesus Christ 00:28:49.779 --> 00:28:53.539 our Lord. So then with my mind I myself am a 00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:57.869 slave to the law of God. but with my flesh to 00:28:57.869 --> 00:29:02.210 the law of sin. And then let's flip over to Romans 00:29:02.210 --> 00:29:05.509 chapter 8. And what's he say in the next verse 00:29:05.509 --> 00:29:10.529 of Romans chapter 8? He says in verse 1, Therefore, 00:29:10.529 --> 00:29:15.309 no condemnation now exists for those in Christ 00:29:15.309 --> 00:29:19.410 Jesus, because the Spirit's law of life in Christ 00:29:19.410 --> 00:29:25.170 Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and 00:29:25.170 --> 00:29:29.289 death. Well, praise the Lord. Okay, so now when 00:29:29.289 --> 00:29:32.029 we come to a knowledge of God's Word and Jesus 00:29:32.029 --> 00:29:34.849 Christ, we'll reveal that some of the things 00:29:34.849 --> 00:29:37.309 that we do are sinful, but there's this struggle, 00:29:37.390 --> 00:29:39.990 which is a good struggle, because the Holy Spirit's 00:29:39.990 --> 00:29:42.490 working on us, letting us know that these things 00:29:42.490 --> 00:29:44.769 aren't good. So what are we going to do if we 00:29:44.769 --> 00:29:47.250 keep failing from time to time? Paul says we're 00:29:47.250 --> 00:29:49.289 going to just keep trusting in Jesus Christ, 00:29:49.450 --> 00:29:52.789 because even though we failed, Jesus Christ did 00:29:52.789 --> 00:29:55.859 not fail. And there is no condemnation in Him, 00:29:56.059 --> 00:30:00.019 but there is freedom. Now, apart from Jesus Christ, 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:03.019 we don't really have much ability to overcome 00:30:03.019 --> 00:30:07.460 our sin, to say no to our sin. But in Jesus Christ, 00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:11.740 through the Spirit of God, now we have a way 00:30:11.740 --> 00:30:15.000 out. You don't have to say yes. Sometimes you 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:16.880 do. You don't have to. I want to tell you today 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:19.099 that through Jesus Christ, you don't have to 00:30:19.099 --> 00:30:22.269 say yes to the temptations of the flesh. Because 00:30:22.269 --> 00:30:24.950 when we read in Galatians chapter 5, one of the 00:30:24.950 --> 00:30:27.250 fruit of the Spirit that's listed in that list 00:30:27.250 --> 00:30:31.809 is self -control. Now maybe that's a good thing 00:30:31.809 --> 00:30:33.990 for us to pray for. God, I need you to give me 00:30:33.990 --> 00:30:38.369 some self -control. I didn't have it. I ate the 00:30:38.369 --> 00:30:43.569 whole bag of chips. I needed self -control. Now 00:30:43.569 --> 00:30:46.809 praise the Lord, nobody's going to hell for eating 00:30:46.809 --> 00:30:53.079 a bag of barbecue chips. But we need self -control 00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:57.460 in our life. Because what if we continue to say 00:30:57.460 --> 00:31:01.940 yes to those sins and yes to those sins and yes 00:31:01.940 --> 00:31:07.359 to those sins and yes to those sins? We're in 00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:12.240 a bad, bad place. So I don't know what your struggle 00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:14.019 is today. I don't know what your sin is today. 00:31:14.099 --> 00:31:15.839 But I want to tell you that there is freedom 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:19.430 from it in Jesus Christ. I want to tell you that 00:31:19.430 --> 00:31:21.490 through Jesus Christ, through receiving the Holy 00:31:21.490 --> 00:31:25.930 Spirit, that you will have the ability and the 00:31:25.930 --> 00:31:29.450 strength to say no. There will be self -control 00:31:29.450 --> 00:31:31.849 that comes. There's no ability within you apart 00:31:31.849 --> 00:31:34.549 from Christ to overcome your sins and to overcome 00:31:34.549 --> 00:31:37.509 your temptations. But in Jesus Christ, you can 00:31:37.509 --> 00:31:42.950 say no. So maybe for some of you today, you've 00:31:42.950 --> 00:31:46.990 never trusted in Jesus Christ. I want to let 00:31:46.990 --> 00:31:48.609 you know there's a better way than what the world 00:31:48.609 --> 00:31:51.990 says. If you're trying to figure out what's truth 00:31:51.990 --> 00:31:55.309 and what's not truth, you don't need to seek 00:31:55.309 --> 00:31:58.069 the world. The world will tell you to do what 00:31:58.069 --> 00:32:01.109 you want to do. But I'm going to tell you, the 00:32:01.109 --> 00:32:04.750 world is lying to you. There is a truth. And 00:32:04.750 --> 00:32:07.869 it's Jesus Christ. And it's the Word of God. 00:32:09.190 --> 00:32:12.769 And that's what gives us freedom. The struggle 00:32:12.769 --> 00:32:15.410 is still going to be there. The temptation's 00:32:15.410 --> 00:32:18.170 still going to be there. But you don't have to 00:32:18.170 --> 00:32:22.349 give in to it. You can be free from it. You can 00:32:22.349 --> 00:32:25.109 find some peace. And you can continue to seek 00:32:25.109 --> 00:32:27.769 Jesus to help you. Because those temptations 00:32:27.769 --> 00:32:31.150 are coming back. You overcome them today, they'll 00:32:31.150 --> 00:32:35.269 be back. But what about those who have trusted 00:32:35.269 --> 00:32:38.890 in Jesus Christ? We know the Word of God, and 00:32:38.890 --> 00:32:41.329 as much as we want to do it, sometimes we fail. 00:32:42.210 --> 00:32:45.200 Well, I think about... The words of John here 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:49.720 in 1 John 2, verses 1 and 2, he says this, speaking 00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:53.759 to Christians, he says, My little children, I 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:56.180 am writing you these things so that you may not 00:32:56.180 --> 00:32:59.460 sin. Okay, that's good. He says, I'm writing 00:32:59.460 --> 00:33:01.200 to you. I'm telling you what's good, what's not 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:03.700 good. I want you to do what's right. I don't 00:33:03.700 --> 00:33:05.400 want you to sin. That's why I'm giving you these 00:33:05.400 --> 00:33:07.220 instructions. That's why God gave us the whole 00:33:07.220 --> 00:33:09.980 Bible. He does not want us to sin. He gave us 00:33:09.980 --> 00:33:12.200 his instructions. He gave us his commands because 00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:14.640 he does not want us to sin. And that would be 00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:18.500 fantastic if we just wouldn't sin. But we do 00:33:18.500 --> 00:33:22.059 sin. Even those, as he refers to them, my little 00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:24.859 children, that is Christians, even for Christians, 00:33:24.940 --> 00:33:27.950 he says, I want you not to sin. But listen to 00:33:27.950 --> 00:33:32.410 what he says after this. But if anyone does sin, 00:33:32.609 --> 00:33:34.630 okay, that's you and I, that's everybody here, 00:33:34.710 --> 00:33:38.269 everybody online. We have an advocate with the 00:33:38.269 --> 00:33:43.390 Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. Well, 00:33:43.430 --> 00:33:46.710 praise the Lord for that. That if you do sin, 00:33:46.990 --> 00:33:51.930 that God doesn't sweep you to the side. John 00:33:51.930 --> 00:33:56.799 says, hey, look, sin's not good. You know it's 00:33:56.799 --> 00:34:00.299 not good. But if you sin, just know you can go 00:34:00.299 --> 00:34:04.279 back to Jesus. Just know you can call on Jesus. 00:34:04.460 --> 00:34:07.440 Just know that you can repent today. You don't 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:10.059 have to keep living in that sin. You can trust 00:34:10.059 --> 00:34:13.900 in Jesus. And at the end of the verse, in verse 00:34:13.900 --> 00:34:18.119 2, he says, He himself is the propitiation for 00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:23.840 our sins, and not only for ours, but also for 00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:28.090 those. Of the whole world. Propitiation. That's 00:34:28.090 --> 00:34:30.489 a big fancy word. It means Jesus paid the price 00:34:30.489 --> 00:34:34.449 for our sins. We can go to Jesus today. You can 00:34:34.449 --> 00:34:37.630 go to him today. You have sinned a million times. 00:34:37.710 --> 00:34:41.710 Two million times. I don't even know. But I know 00:34:41.710 --> 00:34:45.210 you can go to him today. Because he's paid the 00:34:45.210 --> 00:34:48.989 price for your sins. Not only for ours. But for 00:34:48.989 --> 00:34:54.400 the whole world. May we be. Those today who know 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:56.460 the truth, who live by the truth, who trust in 00:34:56.460 --> 00:34:59.079 the truth, who seek to live by it as good as 00:34:59.079 --> 00:35:04.539 we can. And when you fail, just know that there 00:35:04.539 --> 00:35:06.360 is forgiveness and there is grace through Jesus 00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:11.079 Christ. May we know this truth today and may 00:35:11.079 --> 00:35:13.719 our world know this truth today. Let's pray. 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:16.980 God, we thank you for your good words and I pray 00:35:16.980 --> 00:35:20.780 that you help us today to have self -control. 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:23.119 God, maybe there are some here today and they're 00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:25.659 yours and they know your word pretty well. They 00:35:25.659 --> 00:35:27.739 know what you want them to do and not want them 00:35:27.739 --> 00:35:31.539 to do. They know the Holy Spirit working on them 00:35:31.539 --> 00:35:35.940 and convicting them. And dear Lord, maybe more 00:35:35.940 --> 00:35:40.739 times than we care to admit, we just did the 00:35:40.739 --> 00:35:43.579 thing we didn't want to do. We just didn't exercise 00:35:43.579 --> 00:35:46.139 self -control. I pray, God, that you give us 00:35:46.139 --> 00:35:48.179 that today. You know our struggles and our sins. 00:35:49.059 --> 00:35:51.940 Whatever they may be, dear Lord, I pray that 00:35:51.940 --> 00:35:53.880 you help us to bring them before you today and 00:35:53.880 --> 00:35:56.800 seek you as our strength. We don't have the ability 00:35:56.800 --> 00:35:59.400 on our own, but through you, Lord Jesus, we do. 00:35:59.500 --> 00:36:02.739 And where we failed, I pray that we would just 00:36:02.739 --> 00:36:06.360 repent today. God, maybe there's some here today 00:36:06.360 --> 00:36:09.800 or some listening online and they're just kind 00:36:09.800 --> 00:36:11.739 of trying to seek your word and figure out what's 00:36:11.739 --> 00:36:13.760 what. I pray today, God, that they would know 00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:16.500 that. Your word is the truth. There is a right 00:36:16.500 --> 00:36:18.559 and there is a wrong. There is a good and there 00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:22.099 is a bad. And dear Lord, there is no good within 00:36:22.099 --> 00:36:25.500 us, but Jesus Christ has been the good shepherd. 00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:28.679 He has been the one who has given his life for 00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:30.699 us so that we may be forgiven, dear Lord. If 00:36:30.699 --> 00:36:32.619 there are any that do not know Jesus Christ, 00:36:32.760 --> 00:36:36.039 I pray that even right now that they just would 00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:39.300 ask you to forgive them. That they would repent, 00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:41.199 dear Lord. That they would turn from their wicked 00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:44.690 ways. just acknowledge today that they are tired 00:36:44.690 --> 00:36:46.650 of living for themselves and that they are ready 00:36:46.650 --> 00:36:49.809 to live for Jesus Christ. I pray that they would 00:36:49.809 --> 00:36:51.590 just ask you now to forgive them, dear Lord. 00:36:53.630 --> 00:36:56.210 Dear Lord, I pray that if any have prayed that 00:36:56.210 --> 00:36:58.329 and accepted Jesus Christ, that they would come 00:36:58.329 --> 00:37:00.210 down today if they're here, if they're online, 00:37:00.449 --> 00:37:02.030 they'd just reach out, dear Lord, that we would 00:37:02.030 --> 00:37:05.110 celebrate with them that decision to be a follower 00:37:05.110 --> 00:37:07.469 of Jesus, that they would follow through with 00:37:07.469 --> 00:37:10.809 baptism just as Jesus has commanded in the Scripture. 00:37:12.809 --> 00:37:14.769 God, you know where we are today. You know what 00:37:14.769 --> 00:37:17.809 our struggles are today. And I pray that if there's 00:37:17.809 --> 00:37:20.369 any here that are struggling, that they would 00:37:20.369 --> 00:37:22.550 turn to Jesus Christ and seek his grace right 00:37:22.550 --> 00:37:26.969 now. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.