WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:11.279 Good morning. An interesting verse that we read 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:14.259 in a passage that I'm not focusing on, but in 00:00:14.259 --> 00:00:18.440 the Matthew passage in verse 39, it says, 10 00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:21.920 39 says, whoever finds his life will lose it 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:24.320 and whoever loses his life for my sake will find 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:29.329 it. There's a lot of interesting seeming contradictions 00:00:29.329 --> 00:00:31.629 and it seems that this is one of the way God 00:00:31.629 --> 00:00:34.929 likes to communicate is through these clever 00:00:34.929 --> 00:00:38.070 and I think because they're seemingly contradictory 00:00:38.070 --> 00:00:42.990 memorable things that sound like they mean one 00:00:42.990 --> 00:00:45.890 thing but in truth as you dig into it it means 00:00:45.890 --> 00:00:50.549 the opposite. We are not going to lose our lives 00:00:50.549 --> 00:00:52.789 by losing our lives we're going to find our lives 00:00:52.789 --> 00:00:56.380 by losing control over our lives and giving it 00:00:56.380 --> 00:00:59.200 to him. And the reason I bring that up shall 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.340 become apparent in a moment because I want to 00:01:02.340 --> 00:01:05.400 talk mainly today about the passage we read in 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:11.000 Romans 6. And I also at some point want to include 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:15.739 discussion of Psalm 86, which I think illustrates 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:19.819 largely the same point as the passage in Romans 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:30.859 6. Let's pray before we begin. Father, I thank 00:01:30.859 --> 00:01:34.439 you for your word, and I pray that you will make 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:38.420 your message clear from your word. And I pray 00:01:38.420 --> 00:01:40.219 this in the name of the Father and the Son and 00:01:40.219 --> 00:01:46.439 the Holy Spirit. Amen. It's important what we 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:49.219 are thinking about. It's important what we think 00:01:49.219 --> 00:01:52.620 intentionally. And one of the things the Bible 00:01:52.620 --> 00:01:55.780 tells us that we need to intentionally think 00:01:55.780 --> 00:02:01.519 about is who we are as a result of the work of 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:04.700 Jesus. You are specifically supposed to consider 00:02:04.700 --> 00:02:10.520 yourself to have the identity that Jesus has 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:13.979 purchased for you. You are not supposed to think 00:02:13.979 --> 00:02:17.259 of yourself primarily in terms of the fact that 00:02:17.259 --> 00:02:21.159 you disobey God. Primarily by the fact that you 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:24.539 are a sinner, but as a believer in Jesus, you 00:02:24.539 --> 00:02:31.819 are commanded to think about yourself as righteous. 00:02:33.139 --> 00:02:35.740 And that is something that Paul is going to tell 00:02:35.740 --> 00:02:41.659 us. I find every time I drive here, we drive 00:02:41.659 --> 00:02:44.659 largely the same path on the way to our church 00:02:44.659 --> 00:02:48.110 on Sundays. And there's a place where the the 00:02:48.110 --> 00:02:52.550 two paths diverge, and I should make sure to 00:02:52.550 --> 00:02:59.849 be on 97 instead of on 332. And if I don't think 00:02:59.849 --> 00:03:02.710 about it, as I did this morning, I had a huge 00:03:02.710 --> 00:03:07.870 buffer of time, and I sat there thinking, I was 00:03:07.870 --> 00:03:11.669 thinking about the sermon, and as I suddenly 00:03:11.669 --> 00:03:14.629 looked up, I realized I was on the path to the 00:03:14.629 --> 00:03:20.159 wrong church. And I thought, what a fitting thing. 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:23.259 The fact that what I really needed was to be 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:25.780 intentionally recognizing where I was going. 00:03:26.659 --> 00:03:28.400 I should have been thinking about where I was 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:30.000 going. And Paul's going to say something very 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:34.560 similar. Where you are going is resurrection. 00:03:35.740 --> 00:03:40.860 Where you are going is life. You may sin, but 00:03:40.860 --> 00:03:44.020 you must think of yourself in terms of that resurrection. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:50.800 We're going to see that. Have you ever wondered 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:54.759 how the psalmist speak so confidently about their 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:57.539 godliness? There's more than one psalmist. You 00:03:57.539 --> 00:04:00.520 realize David, and Ethan, and Esraheit, and Solomon, 00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:05.800 and Moses, and others that are unnamed. So the 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:09.439 psalmist speak confidently about their godliness. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.419 We're familiar with Bible verses that teach us 00:04:12.419 --> 00:04:16.060 that there is none righteous, no not one. and 00:04:16.060 --> 00:04:18.800 that our righteousness is that of filthy rags. 00:04:19.939 --> 00:04:23.180 But when we read the Psalms, the spirit -filled 00:04:23.180 --> 00:04:26.860 authors who wrote the Psalms say things like 00:04:26.860 --> 00:04:32.540 David says in Psalm 7 verse 8. Judge me, O Lord, 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:37.439 according to my righteousness and according to 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:43.000 the integrity that is in me. Psalm 18 verse 20, 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:47.040 we hear The Lord dealt with me according to my 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:51.579 righteousness, according to the cleanness of 00:04:51.579 --> 00:04:56.779 my hands he has rewarded me. Is this the same 00:04:56.779 --> 00:04:58.759 Bible that says that there is none righteous? 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:02.100 No, not one. That says in James, we all stumble 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:07.120 in many ways. That says, we all like sheep have 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.759 gone astray. Each of us has gone his own way. 00:05:11.580 --> 00:05:15.620 Psalm 86, which I promised to mention here, says 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:20.720 something very similar. It says in verse 2, preserve 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:27.019 my life, for I am godly. Save your servant who 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:31.060 trusts in you, you are my God. There's confusion 00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:35.139 for us in this because we have been taught theology 00:05:35.139 --> 00:05:37.300 that tells us that we are definitely sinners, 00:05:37.740 --> 00:05:42.480 and rightly so. But we also have confusion because 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:45.500 not just our thoughts not just our teaching but 00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:48.279 because you live the experience of your life 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:50.480 you're though you look at yourself in the mirror 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:55.800 and you say I Know I don't even have to have 00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:57.579 the Bible tell me to know that I'm a sinner. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:01.759 I know that I'm a sinner and Yet here we are 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.279 in worship with a hymn book in the Psalter that 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:08.990 we are supposed not only to sing out of but also 00:06:08.990 --> 00:06:13.470 to believe and to submit to because its words 00:06:13.470 --> 00:06:16.269 are God's words and its thoughts are the truth 00:06:16.269 --> 00:06:19.370 brought to us by the Holy Spirit. So we sing, 00:06:19.610 --> 00:06:24.449 preserve me, preserve my life for I am godly. 00:06:26.209 --> 00:06:28.310 And there are some keys in this passage that 00:06:28.310 --> 00:06:33.529 help us with this. He calls on God to preserve 00:06:33.529 --> 00:06:37.740 him because he is godly. Then he makes it clear 00:06:37.740 --> 00:06:41.480 that he is a sinner in the same Psalm Under the 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:44.500 condition of God's grace mercy and forgiveness 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:48.920 verse 5 of Psalm 86 says for you Oh Lord are 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:51.199 good and forgiving. This is the condition. He's 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:55.079 saying preserve me for I'm godly But I will remind 00:06:55.079 --> 00:06:59.279 you how this works God You Oh Lord are good and 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:02.839 forgiving Abounding in steadfast love to all 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:06.889 who call upon you Now, just so no one misunderstands, 00:07:06.949 --> 00:07:09.370 the Bible calls on us to remind God of things. 00:07:09.850 --> 00:07:12.589 God doesn't need to be reminded, but liturgically 00:07:12.589 --> 00:07:15.629 God has designed us to call on God to remember 00:07:15.629 --> 00:07:20.529 things. So we tell back to him, you are good 00:07:20.529 --> 00:07:25.129 and forgiving, verse 15, but you, O Lord, are 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:30.470 a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and 00:07:30.470 --> 00:07:32.870 abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:07:34.310 --> 00:07:38.870 So the psalmist is not saying I am godly because 00:07:38.870 --> 00:07:43.610 I am great It says I am godly because you are 00:07:43.610 --> 00:07:48.069 forgiving and merciful and It also illustrates 00:07:48.069 --> 00:07:52.029 the fact that the life of the singer who is first 00:07:52.029 --> 00:07:54.310 the psalmist and then also us as we sing this 00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:58.250 we say this The grace of God has changed us in 00:07:58.250 --> 00:08:02.000 our hearts It isn't just a label that you're 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.660 godly, but His grace actually changes you. It 00:08:04.660 --> 00:08:07.819 says in verse 12, I give thanks to you, O Lord 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:12.800 my God, with my whole heart. And I will glorify 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:16.160 your name forever. For great is your steadfast 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:19.519 love to me. You have delivered my soul from the 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:26.480 depths of Sheol. An interesting thing, an interesting 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:30.680 theme in this psalm is his identity of himself. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.899 Four times in this psalm, the psalmist calls 00:08:34.899 --> 00:08:40.159 himself the slave of God. In verse two, he says, 00:08:41.379 --> 00:08:44.419 preserve my life for I am godly. Save your slave 00:08:44.419 --> 00:08:47.360 who trusts in you. You are my God. In verse four, 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:50.379 gladden the soul of your slave for to you, O 00:08:50.379 --> 00:08:52.620 Lord, do I lift up my soul. if you're reading 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:55.159 yours and it says servant yes it's the same word 00:08:55.159 --> 00:08:57.100 there's no difference in hebrew between the word 00:08:57.100 --> 00:08:59.379 servant slave sometimes our english says servant 00:08:59.379 --> 00:09:03.019 sometimes it says slave it's the same word in 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:06.519 verse verse 16 it says it twice turn to me and 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:09.000 be gracious to me give your strength to your 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:13.139 slave the son of your maid servant the son of 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:15.779 your maid servant it amplifies that first i'm 00:09:15.779 --> 00:09:19.919 a slave the son of a slave so the identity of 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:26.139 the singer is I your slave come to you with a 00:09:26.139 --> 00:09:30.340 joyful heart Reminding you of your grace and 00:09:30.340 --> 00:09:33.340 forgiveness and now declaring because of all 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:38.159 that Because you have said so I am godly and 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:42.320 because I am godly Answer me. That's a much surer 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.980 footing when you come to God in prayer Often 00:09:45.980 --> 00:09:48.740 when you come to God in prayer after your sin 00:09:49.179 --> 00:09:54.340 after your failures, in need of great power from 00:09:54.340 --> 00:10:00.320 God's directing hand. What is the foundation 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:04.740 upon which you stand? What credit do you have 00:10:04.740 --> 00:10:07.480 before Him to say these things? But the Bible 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:12.080 tells us because of His work, you do have the 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:16.460 credit to stand. It's not your work. It's not 00:10:16.460 --> 00:10:20.200 your work, but you do own it. You didn't produce 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:24.899 it, but it is yours. So not only do you have 00:10:24.899 --> 00:10:29.019 it, not only do you have the right to access 00:10:29.019 --> 00:10:33.759 this credit, you have the responsibility to tell 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:38.019 yourself, this is what I have. Let's look over 00:10:38.019 --> 00:10:45.490 at Romans 6. Romans 6 says to us, What shall 00:10:45.490 --> 00:10:48.070 we say then are we to continue in sin that grace 00:10:48.070 --> 00:10:53.330 may abound? By no means how can we? Pardon me. 00:10:53.330 --> 00:10:55.250 I had one last thing I had meant to say about 00:10:55.250 --> 00:11:00.870 this song this song David is saying I'm on the 00:11:00.870 --> 00:11:04.370 run. I've got I need you to preserve my life 00:11:04.370 --> 00:11:08.389 Physically, I'm in physical danger But in order 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:11.950 to pray for that he says you have saved my life 00:11:11.950 --> 00:11:15.019 from shale already You've saved my life from 00:11:15.019 --> 00:11:17.980 death through grace and forgiveness." So he says, 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.759 you have saved me spiritually, so therefore I 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:24.740 have grounds to enter before your throne and 00:11:24.740 --> 00:11:28.360 say to you, please save my life physically. But 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:32.000 that makes it one of the patterns or motifs of 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:36.100 that Psalm to be life and death. So taking all 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:39.960 of that into account in Psalm 86, life and death, 00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:44.940 slavery, the joyful heart. and the one who can 00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:47.200 call himself godly even though he is actually 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:49.940 a sinner. All of those things show up in Romans 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:53.799 6. What shall we say then? Are we to continue 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:56.840 in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:00.320 can we who have died to sin still live in it? 00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:03.240 Do you not know that all of us who have been 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:06.559 baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:10.139 his death? We were buried therefore with him 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:13.730 by baptism into death in order that Just as Christ 00:12:13.730 --> 00:12:15.769 was raised from the dead by the glory of the 00:12:15.769 --> 00:12:21.610 father we too may walk in newness of life Your 00:12:21.610 --> 00:12:25.110 baptism declares you own it you own his death 00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:29.350 you own his life Verse 5 for if we have been 00:12:29.350 --> 00:12:31.710 united with him in a death like his we shall 00:12:31.710 --> 00:12:34.610 certainly be united with him in a resurrection 00:12:34.610 --> 00:12:39.889 like his How was that done verse 6 says? We know 00:12:39.889 --> 00:12:44.590 that our old self was crucified with him in Order 00:12:44.590 --> 00:12:47.149 that the body of sin might be brought to nothing 00:12:47.149 --> 00:12:51.070 so that we could no longer be enslaved to sin 00:12:51.070 --> 00:12:54.590 For one who has died has been set free from sin 00:12:54.590 --> 00:12:59.990 We're not talking here about labeling ourselves 00:12:59.990 --> 00:13:04.590 You know a thing you hear at the gym when you 00:13:04.590 --> 00:13:06.970 feel like you can't go and and someone's telling 00:13:06.970 --> 00:13:08.960 you you got it You've got to get with it. You've 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:11.779 got to believe in the process. You need to take 00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:14.860 it till you make it, right? You've got to try, 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:19.340 and then you'll get there. That is not what Paul 00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:23.259 is telling us. He is not saying, I know you feel 00:13:23.259 --> 00:13:26.620 like a sinner, but I want you to pretend you're 00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:30.899 righteous until it takes hold. He is telling 00:13:30.899 --> 00:13:34.740 you, I know you're a sinner, but because of the 00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:41.299 forgiveness of Christ, you Righteous It is not 00:13:41.299 --> 00:13:45.320 a label that is Handed to you through imagination 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:50.299 It is a label that was purchased for you at the 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:54.840 cost of the life of Jesus and It was guaranteed 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:59.549 for you through the power Of it in Romans 6 it 00:13:59.549 --> 00:14:01.690 says he was raised from the dead by the glory 00:14:01.690 --> 00:14:05.029 of the father That glory from the father is so 00:14:05.029 --> 00:14:08.230 powerful. It raised Jesus from the dead that 00:14:08.230 --> 00:14:13.110 power that same power that could You just imagine 00:14:13.110 --> 00:14:15.889 if you see in a film or something when there's 00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:18.590 a bomb that explodes You see the rings rippling 00:14:18.590 --> 00:14:22.110 outward as everything is knocked over that power 00:14:22.110 --> 00:14:24.529 emanating that could raise Jesus from the dead 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:29.580 It also that power raises you from the dead It 00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:33.580 is not cheap. It is not fake. It is not pretend 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:37.879 You own the resurrection of Jesus and the same 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:40.659 glory of God that raised him from the dead Raises 00:14:40.659 --> 00:14:45.320 you from the dead so you don't have the idea 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:51.320 of of asking God to Think about me as righteous, 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:56.129 please God But you have the firm standing to 00:14:56.129 --> 00:15:00.470 stand before God and say answer me because I'm 00:15:00.470 --> 00:15:07.809 godly because you've forgiven my sins continuing 00:15:07.809 --> 00:15:11.090 continuing down we get closer and closer I'm 00:15:11.090 --> 00:15:12.870 trying to get to verse 11 which is one of my 00:15:12.870 --> 00:15:18.610 favorite verses in the Bible in verse 10 I'll 00:15:18.610 --> 00:15:21.090 skip down to verse 10 for death the death he 00:15:21.090 --> 00:15:23.980 died he died to sin once for all but the life 00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:26.940 he lives he lives to God and it says in verse 00:15:26.940 --> 00:15:29.580 11 and this you'll hear why I keep saying what 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:37.299 I'm saying so you also must consider you must 00:15:37.299 --> 00:15:42.200 consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:46.899 God in Christ Jesus you know that verse in Romans 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:51.000 4 that says that Abraham believed God and it 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:54.330 was counted to him as righteousness, and it's 00:15:54.330 --> 00:15:59.610 quoting from Genesis. That same word that God 00:15:59.610 --> 00:16:02.309 counted it to him as righteousness is the same 00:16:02.309 --> 00:16:04.509 word he says here where he says you have to count 00:16:04.509 --> 00:16:07.269 yourselves as dead to sin and alive to Christ. 00:16:07.750 --> 00:16:11.490 So our theology, if it works at all, that we 00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:16.210 are counted as righteous for faith means you 00:16:16.210 --> 00:16:20.679 also have to count yourself that way. It means 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:24.340 giving credit, but as I have said already, it's 00:16:24.340 --> 00:16:29.779 not a mere mark on a ledger. It is a mark that 00:16:29.779 --> 00:16:34.000 was purchased. It came with a price and it has 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.460 value. It is not an imagination, but it is your 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:50.120 reality. About 15 years ago, I was... I was working 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:53.139 as a grocery vendor, as a sales representative. 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:56.059 And this was kind of at the beginning of that, 00:16:56.500 --> 00:16:59.840 for me, the beginning of learning that job. We 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:04.059 were supposed to dress with a uniform shirt and 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:09.740 wear company logos and have identification badge 00:17:09.740 --> 00:17:13.980 on to make sure they knew who you were. It said 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:18.210 who I was. It said who I worked for. But I was 00:17:18.210 --> 00:17:20.730 new to the job and I didn't understand my position. 00:17:21.509 --> 00:17:24.109 And I remember being in a Mars grocery store 00:17:24.109 --> 00:17:27.670 on a Saturday morning and asking one of the cashiers 00:17:27.670 --> 00:17:31.150 where the restroom was. And seeing my company 00:17:31.150 --> 00:17:33.410 logo on my shirt, she knew I was a vendor and 00:17:33.410 --> 00:17:36.549 she said to go up the stair, the long flight 00:17:36.549 --> 00:17:39.210 of stairs to the secret second floor place in 00:17:39.210 --> 00:17:41.970 the grocery store and across the staff break 00:17:41.970 --> 00:17:43.930 room and to find the restroom on the other side. 00:17:44.509 --> 00:17:48.960 I was so scared to go up there. I got to the 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:51.339 top of the stairs and I saw a warning, staff 00:17:51.339 --> 00:17:54.079 only beyond this point. I thought, I don't work 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:59.480 for this grocery store. So you may not have trouble 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:03.099 obeying or disobeying signs. I'm sure some of 00:18:03.099 --> 00:18:11.079 you don't. Ken, I'm looking at you. But at that 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:14.339 time, I was very nervous about getting caught 00:18:14.339 --> 00:18:16.559 sneaking where I didn't belong or being questioned 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:20.579 about who I was. Now a few years later by comparison, 00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:24.559 I had really learned my position and I knew where 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:27.299 I had a right to go and what I had a right to 00:18:27.299 --> 00:18:29.960 access in the store. I felt like I owned the 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:33.400 stores I was in. I would go where I pleased and 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:37.440 I feared no one. Even though supposedly we were 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:40.759 to wear these badges telling our name, and who 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:42.980 we worked for. I didn't even wear my identification 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:44.640 badge for the last four years I worked for the 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:47.619 company because it was irritating to me and I 00:18:47.619 --> 00:18:52.059 didn't need it. I knew who I was and I had a 00:18:52.059 --> 00:18:54.599 right to be in all the parts of the store and 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:57.119 I belonged there and I needed to act confident 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.559 in that fact. People didn't question, this is 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:02.220 just a fact, people don't question you when you 00:19:02.220 --> 00:19:04.519 walk confidently into a place. You can walk into 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:06.420 the back room of anywhere confidently and no 00:19:06.420 --> 00:19:11.920 one will stop you. On the rare occasion that 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:18.259 someone does ask who I was, why I was in their 00:19:18.259 --> 00:19:21.339 space, I would just tell them the truth. I work 00:19:21.339 --> 00:19:25.960 for this vendor. I have product here. Now notice 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:28.059 I said if you are confident, you can get into 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:30.539 anywhere. But the confidence is not based on 00:19:30.539 --> 00:19:34.640 self -determination. It's based on the fact of 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:39.480 who I was. I didn't have to pretend that I was 00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:44.319 allowed, I had to recognize the truth about who 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:47.380 I was and that handed me the power that was already 00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:53.720 mine. Romans tells us who we already are. We 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:58.640 have been unified with Jesus in his death. Are 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:01.839 we who died to sin still to live in it? It doesn't 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:05.430 say We who might appropriate the death of Jesus 00:20:05.430 --> 00:20:08.670 somehow if we try hard enough. If you were baptized 00:20:08.670 --> 00:20:11.569 into Christ, you've been included with him in 00:20:11.569 --> 00:20:18.289 his death. One who has died has been set free 00:20:18.289 --> 00:20:22.190 from sin. You must consider yourselves dead to 00:20:22.190 --> 00:20:26.720 sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. It's really 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:29.180 important to recognize the teaching of the Bible 00:20:29.180 --> 00:20:32.579 that the resurrection is not a mere metaphor 00:20:32.579 --> 00:20:37.740 It's a frequent metaphor Hebrew says Abraham's 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:40.980 body was as good as dead, but he had Isaac Isaac 00:20:40.980 --> 00:20:43.240 was sent to slaughter, but he was substituted 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:47.460 by the the ram Joseph was thrown into a pit and 00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:49.319 called dead by his brothers, but then he was 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:51.990 brought back out to Potiphar's house. And then 00:20:51.990 --> 00:20:54.089 he was put back down into Pharaoh's dungeon, 00:20:54.210 --> 00:20:56.430 but then he was raised up to be the king. The 00:20:56.430 --> 00:20:59.210 metaphors go on and on. This is just a few samples. 00:20:59.630 --> 00:21:03.009 The resurrection metaphor happens a lot in the 00:21:03.009 --> 00:21:08.109 Bible. Noah going to the death punishment of 00:21:08.109 --> 00:21:10.890 the flood, only to come out again on the other 00:21:10.890 --> 00:21:14.009 side. Shadrach in the fiery furnace. Daniel in 00:21:14.009 --> 00:21:18.750 the lion's den. But all this is not in the Bible. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:24.180 as a neat picture but rather because it is pointing 00:21:24.180 --> 00:21:31.200 to the most important powerful thing the actual 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:36.299 physical death and the actual physical resurrection 00:21:36.299 --> 00:21:41.799 of Jesus and that power provides us not only 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:45.940 with knowledge that we can access in a metaphorical 00:21:45.940 --> 00:21:51.369 spiritual way But it provides us with the knowledge 00:21:51.369 --> 00:21:57.589 that we are actually raised in the future Bodily 00:21:57.589 --> 00:22:01.710 and we are raised presently spiritually you are 00:22:01.710 --> 00:22:07.130 already dead to sin and alive to Christ if you 00:22:07.130 --> 00:22:10.130 are a believer in Jesus if you have Repentant 00:22:10.130 --> 00:22:13.750 and been baptized if you are then you know that 00:22:13.750 --> 00:22:17.250 sign of baptism says you are dead and resurrected 00:22:22.730 --> 00:22:26.650 So it's actually totally appropriate to tell 00:22:26.650 --> 00:22:29.549 you that despite being a sinner, you must consider 00:22:29.549 --> 00:22:32.670 yourselves as dead to sin and alive to Christ. 00:22:35.849 --> 00:22:38.869 I want to say that the ideas in Romans can seem 00:22:38.869 --> 00:22:41.690 very complex. Have you tried to read through 00:22:41.690 --> 00:22:43.730 Romans? Have you tried to get your head around 00:22:43.730 --> 00:22:48.329 Romans? I assume if you do, you will spend decades 00:22:48.329 --> 00:22:54.049 doing it. If the ideas that Paul were teaching 00:22:54.049 --> 00:22:56.349 were simple, it wouldn't have taken the brilliance 00:22:56.349 --> 00:22:59.089 of Paul's 16 chapters to try to explain it to 00:22:59.089 --> 00:23:05.269 us. It is crammed with information. Sometimes 00:23:05.269 --> 00:23:08.529 we need to accept the fact of something before 00:23:08.529 --> 00:23:12.970 we understand it. It's great to learn how a car 00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:17.809 works. It's great to be able to fix a broken 00:23:17.809 --> 00:23:23.049 car. It's great to be able to diagnose a troublesome 00:23:23.049 --> 00:23:26.289 problem, a sound in your car before it gets to 00:23:26.289 --> 00:23:29.150 the actual braking. It's great to be able to 00:23:29.150 --> 00:23:32.750 describe its processes and its systems. But you 00:23:32.750 --> 00:23:34.529 know what the most powerful interaction is you 00:23:34.529 --> 00:23:37.950 can have with a car? Pick up the keys, get in 00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:44.470 and drive it. And you can do that before... You 00:23:44.470 --> 00:23:46.589 learn all the parts and mechanisms of the car, 00:23:46.609 --> 00:23:48.789 and it doesn't prevent you from continuing to 00:23:48.789 --> 00:23:51.130 learn the parts and mechanisms of the car after 00:23:51.130 --> 00:23:53.809 you already drive it. But you can see that it 00:23:53.809 --> 00:23:58.690 works, and you can get in and drive it now. And 00:23:58.690 --> 00:24:01.369 I want you to pour over Romans, and I want you 00:24:01.369 --> 00:24:03.970 to plumb the depths of the cave full of jewels 00:24:03.970 --> 00:24:08.369 and to mine it for riches. But before you understand 00:24:08.369 --> 00:24:12.599 all the pieces, the ways and the mechanisms of 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:18.420 how God has saved us I Want you to know that 00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:24.819 you are saved I Want you to know that you are 00:24:24.819 --> 00:24:31.079 not a slave to sin any longer Remember in psalm 00:24:31.079 --> 00:24:34.980 86 we call ourselves God's slaves four times 00:24:34.980 --> 00:24:39.579 and Romans 6 says the same thing After verse 00:24:39.579 --> 00:24:43.099 11, it goes on to say, let not sin therefore 00:24:43.099 --> 00:24:46.079 reign in your mortal body. So this is the outworking. 00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:50.660 If this is a fact, if this is a fact that you 00:24:50.660 --> 00:24:55.900 are alive to Christ, then what is the conclusion? 00:24:56.059 --> 00:24:58.279 What are the ways that you need to act because 00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:01.819 of that? As my pastor growing up said, that was 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:05.539 the what, and here now is the so what. So what 00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:11.039 if you are free from sin? Well, Paul says, let 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:13.859 not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to 00:25:13.859 --> 00:25:18.059 make you obey its passions. Do not present your 00:25:18.059 --> 00:25:20.420 members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:23.299 but present yourself to God as those who have 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:26.900 been brought from death to life, and your members 00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:29.660 to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin 00:25:29.660 --> 00:25:31.680 will have no dominion over you, since you are 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:34.819 not under law but under grace. What then are 00:25:34.819 --> 00:25:37.079 we to sin because we are not under law but under 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:41.660 grace by no means? Do not know that if you present 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:44.299 yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves you are 00:25:44.299 --> 00:25:47.380 slaves of the one whom you obey either to sin 00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:50.599 Which leads to death or of obedience which leads 00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:56.960 to righteousness? But thanks be to God That you 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:01.339 who were once slaves of sin have become obedient 00:26:01.339 --> 00:26:04.849 from the heart To the standard of the teaching 00:26:04.849 --> 00:26:07.450 to which you were committed and have been set 00:26:07.450 --> 00:26:11.430 free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness 00:26:11.430 --> 00:26:16.990 so while Paul gives us the instruction I Want 00:26:16.990 --> 00:26:20.210 you to take this truth of your resurrection and 00:26:20.210 --> 00:26:25.130 go out and sin no more Right I say as Jesus says 00:26:25.130 --> 00:26:27.009 to the woman caught in adultery go and sin no 00:26:27.009 --> 00:26:35.890 more Go live in freedom He goes on to say Act 00:26:35.890 --> 00:26:40.490 in righteousness because you are already a slave 00:26:40.490 --> 00:26:44.230 of righteousness He describes that whoever submits 00:26:44.230 --> 00:26:46.470 to the master of one or submits to the master 00:26:46.470 --> 00:26:51.150 of another is the slave either of sin or of Righteousness, 00:26:51.289 --> 00:26:54.470 but he doesn't say the fact that you sin daily 00:26:54.470 --> 00:26:58.549 Means you are a slave to sin he says you have 00:26:58.549 --> 00:27:01.900 already passed from being a slave of sin and 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:05.740 you are already a slave of righteousness he says 00:27:05.740 --> 00:27:10.779 you have submitted to God joyfully from the heart 00:27:10.779 --> 00:27:14.160 the way that Psalm 86 says the same thing I worship 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:17.039 you with my whole heart do you notice that that 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:18.839 can happen at the same time that you can still 00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:22.660 be a sinner so you can't say well not me I'm 00:27:22.660 --> 00:27:24.940 not joyfully obedient to God from the heart because 00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:29.349 I sin that's not the that's not the test The 00:27:29.349 --> 00:27:34.609 test is not whether you sin, but whether you 00:27:34.609 --> 00:27:37.910 worship God. I heard this as a good illustration 00:27:37.910 --> 00:27:41.329 years ago, probably from Doug Wilson, that said 00:27:41.329 --> 00:27:44.349 that consider a man and a fish. Both of them 00:27:44.349 --> 00:27:46.329 can go in the water and both of them can go on 00:27:46.329 --> 00:27:49.470 the land. But if you take a fish out of water, 00:27:49.549 --> 00:27:52.890 it starts to panic and it longs to get thrown 00:27:52.890 --> 00:27:55.970 back into the water. You can dive deep down under 00:27:55.970 --> 00:28:00.109 the water, But you have to come up for air now 00:28:00.109 --> 00:28:03.329 imagine you were a fish and a miracle has happened 00:28:03.329 --> 00:28:06.509 and you've been turned into a man You could get 00:28:06.509 --> 00:28:11.190 back in that water But you can't stay under it 00:28:11.190 --> 00:28:14.130 and This is this is the difference there are 00:28:14.130 --> 00:28:17.769 people who are unrighteous They are not godly 00:28:17.769 --> 00:28:21.069 they do not know the Lord and they can obey some 00:28:21.069 --> 00:28:25.890 laws of God outwardly But they are ruled by their 00:28:25.890 --> 00:28:31.470 nature Now Christians, you too can sin. You too 00:28:31.470 --> 00:28:33.650 can do things that are unrighteous, but that's 00:28:33.650 --> 00:28:36.549 like returning to the water. You can't stay there 00:28:36.549 --> 00:28:40.670 because your heart pulls you to repent. You know 00:28:40.670 --> 00:28:44.490 inside you, I shouldn't have done that. I am 00:28:44.490 --> 00:28:48.809 sorry. I want God's forgiveness. That is the 00:28:48.809 --> 00:28:53.160 indication. You have to go back to... Back to 00:28:53.160 --> 00:28:55.559 the land and breathe the water of the gospel 00:28:55.559 --> 00:28:58.640 number be the water breathe the oxygen of the 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:07.740 gospel that says you are forgiven I I want to 00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:13.180 I want to illustrate a Positivity to the idea 00:29:13.180 --> 00:29:21.339 of the being a slave slave to God as a positive 00:29:21.339 --> 00:29:26.950 thing That's what we are called to. And because 00:29:26.950 --> 00:29:30.329 of that, I wanted to read a poem that I think 00:29:30.329 --> 00:29:33.230 illustrates something of this. And it maybe is 00:29:33.230 --> 00:29:36.769 a bit oblique to read this. But I thought of, 00:29:36.769 --> 00:29:39.910 this is one of my favorite poems, is John Donne's 00:29:39.910 --> 00:29:44.789 poem, The Bait. So you know how far we're walking. 00:29:45.029 --> 00:29:49.890 It's just this one page here. And this is, this 00:29:49.890 --> 00:29:53.500 is, old -timey language, but it's about a man 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:57.019 saying he's going fishing with the woman he loves, 00:29:57.819 --> 00:30:03.720 and he's not gonna take nets and hooks and those 00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:06.220 things, and he's not gonna need the sun or the 00:30:06.220 --> 00:30:10.700 moon, because she'll provide the light and the 00:30:10.700 --> 00:30:15.559 fish will swim right to her. He says, come live 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:18.559 with me and be my love, and we will some new 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:21.400 pleasures prove. of golden sands and crystal 00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:25.019 brooks, with silken lines and silvery hooks. 00:30:25.940 --> 00:30:28.960 There will the river whispering run, warmed by 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:32.839 thy eyes more than the sun. And there the enamored 00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:36.619 fish will stay, begging themselves they may betray. 00:30:38.059 --> 00:30:41.960 When thou wilt swim in that live bath, each fish 00:30:41.960 --> 00:30:45.799 which every channel hath will amorously to thee 00:30:45.799 --> 00:30:50.890 swim. Gladder to catch thee than thou him. If 00:30:50.890 --> 00:30:54.670 thou be so seen be sloth, By sun or moon thou 00:30:54.670 --> 00:30:58.430 darkenest them both. And if myself have leave 00:30:58.430 --> 00:31:02.789 to see, I need not their light having thee. Let 00:31:02.789 --> 00:31:06.190 others freeze with angling reeds, And cut their 00:31:06.190 --> 00:31:10.390 legs with shells and weeds, Or treasurously poor 00:31:10.390 --> 00:31:13.990 fish beset With strangling snare or windowy net. 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:18.279 Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest the bedded 00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:21.779 fish in banks outrest of curious traders sleeve 00:31:21.779 --> 00:31:25.839 silk flies Be which poor fishes wandering eyes 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:32.059 For thee thou needs no such deceit for thou thyself 00:31:32.059 --> 00:31:36.599 art thine own bait The fish that is not catch 00:31:36.599 --> 00:31:44.559 thereby alas is wiser far than I So The reason 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:49.619 I read this is I love the language and the cleverness 00:31:49.619 --> 00:31:53.740 of saying I Want to take you fishing with me 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:57.559 to prove to you how? Wonderful you are because 00:31:57.559 --> 00:32:00.680 every fish in that stream will swim Straight 00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:04.220 to you longing to betray himself to you longing 00:32:04.220 --> 00:32:08.460 to hand himself to you Because any fish that 00:32:08.460 --> 00:32:13.299 could get away from you is smarter than me I 00:32:13.299 --> 00:32:17.339 long to betray myself to you just the same. And 00:32:17.339 --> 00:32:21.259 that funny play of words, that funny reversal, 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:26.559 I would betray myself to you, is to say I would 00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:31.700 deliver myself by giving myself to you. The Bible 00:32:31.700 --> 00:32:35.539 over and over uses phrases like this, where God 00:32:35.539 --> 00:32:42.599 says that His law sets us free. The law of the 00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:45.259 Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. It says, 00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:49.339 but because I have followed your law, you have 00:32:49.339 --> 00:32:53.339 set my heart free. I am bound by your law. I 00:32:53.339 --> 00:32:59.940 am bound to be free. I want to access the life 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:03.660 of Christ and I will do it by knowing I am dead. 00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:08.579 I am dead to sin. Want to be liberated from sin 00:33:08.579 --> 00:33:12.839 so I will know that I am certainly a slave I 00:33:12.839 --> 00:33:16.740 am a slave of Jesus and that language is distasteful 00:33:16.740 --> 00:33:22.460 to us But the truth is if you knew the glory 00:33:22.460 --> 00:33:26.240 of Jesus if you could see it you would long to 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:30.319 be his slave You would long to come to him and 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:36.259 say Whatever you say whatever you say Lord that 00:33:36.259 --> 00:33:40.599 I will do. And the way that you can access the 00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:45.720 love for him is recognizing what he did for you 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:48.680 out of love for you that has certainly put you 00:33:48.680 --> 00:33:51.480 in a position to come before him and not only 00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:55.380 say, please help me, you have made me godly. 00:33:55.740 --> 00:34:00.000 And I long, because you have made me godly, I 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:03.980 long to be godly. So I have come to deliver myself 00:34:03.980 --> 00:34:13.480 to you. let's pray father we would be your slaves 00:34:13.480 --> 00:34:17.840 we would take on the death that you would include 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:21.039 us in and we thank you that you have already 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:23.760 done this for us as we are those who trust in 00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:27.380 you you have given us new life instead of death 00:34:27.380 --> 00:34:30.639 you have given us freedom by giving us your law 00:34:32.650 --> 00:34:35.710 But we don't have to sustain this on our own. 00:34:35.809 --> 00:34:38.429 We don't have to make this happen It is the work 00:34:38.429 --> 00:34:41.130 of Jesus on the cross and is the power of God 00:34:41.130 --> 00:34:44.170 that raises him to life That we have been given 00:34:44.170 --> 00:34:48.170 father. Thank you Please keep this ever on our 00:34:48.170 --> 00:34:51.329 mind and draw us draw us ever toward you in Jesus 00:34:51.329 --> 00:34:52.190 name. I pray