1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,760 into his mouth is what he eats. He can let it be known when he needs a change, but even 2 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:19,440 that can be delayed beyond what he would choose. But as one grows into childhood, more choices 3 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:25,440 are possible. You can begin to choose whether you want a hamburger or a fish sandwich at 4 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:32,440 McDonald's when you go out, and if you want ketchup on those french fries. And as one 5 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:37,200 gets into adolescence, even more choices are possible. You can choose who you want to date 6 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:48,160 or if you want to date. And then you hit adulthood. Adulthood demands choices. Choices as to whether 7 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:53,440 to be married or single. The choice to whom to be married, whether to have children, where 8 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:58,680 to live, what kind of a car you're going to drive, what job you're going to hold down, 9 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,600 how you're going to use your day, how you're going to spend your money, where you will 10 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:08,680 eat lunch, whether you're going to be on a diet, the kind of toothpaste you want to use, 11 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:14,280 whether it's Coke or Pepsi, whether you want to wear the red tie or the brown one, what 12 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:19,480 you're going to read, what you're going to watch, what you're going to hear. Adulthood 13 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:30,200 demands choices. One measurement of maturity is the kind of choices which one makes. Life 14 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:37,520 seems to be, at least for adults, a series, almost an endless series of choices. Some 15 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:45,960 are very little. Some are very big. Some choices are easy. Others are hard. Some are insignificant. 16 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:55,120 Yet others are life-changing. And the choices that you and I make play some part in our 17 00:01:55,120 --> 00:02:01,800 becoming distinctively who we are. Now, of course, genetics have something to do with 18 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:10,960 that, as does the environment that one lives in. The choices are crucial. The accumulated 19 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:21,400 choices, more than any other factor, eventually forge your character. Character does not develop 20 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:30,880 overnight, but slowly, almost imperceptibly. It's almost like that tree in your front yard. 21 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:35,320 At night you don't go out with your lawn chair and sit in the front yard to wash and grow, 22 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:42,000 do you? But if you get out the picture album, you're able to see how over the last five 23 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:49,760 years or ten years that tree has grown and you hadn't realized it. Character grows like 24 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:59,320 a river deepens. Almost imperceptibly, the bed is washed away by erosion. The most important 25 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:07,920 things about you are determined by choices that you make. What you believe is true is 26 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:15,960 a choice you make. What you consider to be important is up to you. Who your friends are 27 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:23,400 going to be, what your lifestyle will entail, and pre-eminently, above all, whether you 28 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:32,720 will repent and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. These are the choices of life. 29 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:40,480 We are given the ability to make choices by God. Unlike the animals who make limited choices 30 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:48,860 based on instinct or training, humans choose based on the use of their God-given ability 31 00:03:48,860 --> 00:03:58,960 to think and to feel. Our will acts in conjunction with our intellect and our emotions. The intellect 32 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:07,840 may be misinformed or it may be ignorant. The emotions may be healthy or perhaps tragically 33 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:17,240 scarred. They both are affected by sin which indwells us, as is our will affected by sin. 34 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:25,480 But the fact is that we may choose, and we are responsible for the choices that we make. 35 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:32,780 As we continue to make choices in life, we form patterns or habits. They may be good 36 00:04:32,780 --> 00:04:41,320 or they may be bad. Sometimes we hear that bad habits cannot be changed if we allowed 37 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:48,440 a trickle to become a stream and allow that stream to become a river. We are told that 38 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:57,320 the power of that pattern becomes unchangeable and irresistible. I have good news for you 39 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:05,240 if you are one who struggles with a stubborn habit, and there are a few of us that don't. 40 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:14,840 You can choose to say no to your actions that displease God. You can. Would you open your 41 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:24,800 Bible please to Romans chapter 6. I am using as our text today verses 12 through 14 of 42 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:35,280 Romans 6. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its 43 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:47,200 lusts. And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. 44 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:52,400 These are negative commands and the assumption in the verb is that they were in fact in the 45 00:05:52,400 --> 00:06:01,120 process of doing what he tells them not to do. Maybe you can identify with that. He goes 46 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:08,000 on to say, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members 47 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:16,280 as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be mastered over you. For you 48 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:24,120 are not under law, but under grace. Let me tell you that's good news. Because the law 49 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:31,400 cannot liberate one from sin. It can only point out the sin. It can only exacerbate 50 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:42,720 it. It can only stimulate it. But grace delivers from sin. Because you and I are under grace, 51 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:54,520 sin is not mastered over us. You and I can choose to say no to our actions that displease 52 00:06:54,520 --> 00:07:01,720 God. I want first of all to talk about the basis for that statement that I am making. 53 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:07,640 We see it right here in Romans chapter 6. Paul says, do not go on doing this, but do 54 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:18,040 this. Therefore, it begins that way. Therefore, that points to what has gone before in this 55 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:25,880 chapter and that is the basis for his statement. Verses 1 through 11 give you the basis for 56 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:34,440 saying no to those actions and attitudes in your life and mind that displease the Lord. 57 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:41,720 Simply put, our union with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection gives us the ability 58 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:48,320 to say no. Now please understand that I am speaking of Christians. I am not speaking 59 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:54,640 of those who are seekers after God. I would hope that you might find him by faith and 60 00:07:54,640 --> 00:08:00,900 be able to join us in this liberty. It certainly is not speaking of those who have no use for 61 00:08:00,900 --> 00:08:07,280 God in their lives, but I am speaking of those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as 62 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:16,880 Savior. Those of us who have trusted in him have been joined together with him in a vital 63 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:26,380 life union so that we, it can be said, died with Jesus Christ on the cross, we were buried 64 00:08:26,380 --> 00:08:34,440 with him in the grave, and we rose again with him from the tomb. The old man that we were 65 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:46,440 in Adam, which was in fact enslaved to sin, died. It died in Jesus Christ when he died 66 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:55,120 on the cross. The picture here is of a cold death, a cold crucifixion, so that when Jesus 67 00:08:55,120 --> 00:09:02,720 was nailed to that tree, you and I as the old man in Adam were nailed there with him. 68 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:08,640 And when he was put into that grave, you and I were put there with him. So that it can 69 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:15,080 be said, as we have said earlier this summer in the message focused on this one point, 70 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:23,440 what happened to Jesus happened to you, though you were not even born yet. The old man that 71 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:31,280 we were in Adam died, and the new man, the new man that we are in Jesus Christ through 72 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:38,920 faith in him, rose with Christ so that there was a co-resurrection. When he came out of 73 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:47,080 that tomb alive from the dead, you and I came out with him in God's mind so that today you 74 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:54,320 are not what you were and you are what you were not. A tremendous radical change has 75 00:09:54,320 --> 00:10:01,000 been made in who you are, Christian. You are not what you were before, and what you are 76 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:08,700 today you were not before. You are a new person in Jesus Christ, freed from your former slavery 77 00:10:08,700 --> 00:10:17,800 to sin. Sin is no longer your master. Sin still does dwell in you. Paul describes it 78 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:25,560 in chapter 7 as being in your flesh. And it still seeks to enforce its former relationship 79 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:34,520 on you. It will still seek to be your master, and you may allow it to if you choose to do 80 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:43,160 so, but the fact is that you can choose not to do so. You can choose to obey sin, but 81 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:49,080 what a tragedy to do that, to go back to the old slave master. For you have a new master 82 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:57,400 who is Jesus Christ, how much better to obey him? You and I can choose to obey Christ because 83 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:03,520 of our union with him. You say, all of that sounds wonderful, but how do I experience 84 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:13,620 that in my reality, in my everyday life? Let's talk about the means of doing that. The means 85 00:11:13,620 --> 00:11:20,840 I want to talk about this morning are fourfold. I hope that you will take note of them. How 86 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:29,280 is it that I can apply in my life today and tomorrow and Tuesday and every day this truth 87 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:39,160 of my union with Jesus Christ, which is the basis by which I can say no to sin? The first 88 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:48,960 means involves an act of faith. An act of faith. It is an act of faith on your part. 89 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:57,400 Verse 11 of this chapter says, even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to 90 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:04,600 God in Christ Jesus. This is an act of faith on your part. To reckon it to be true, to 91 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:14,640 consider it an actual fact, it's more than a theory, but it's true. It is an act of your 92 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:24,600 faith to say, I have died to sin in Jesus Christ and I am alive to God to serve him. 93 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:31,680 He tells us in our text, present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your 94 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:38,560 members as instruments of righteousness to God. This is a step of faith on your part 95 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:43,920 to do it. To get out of bed in the morning and to bring through your mind is the very 96 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:51,360 first conscious act of your day, I am dead to sin and alive to God and God I present 97 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:59,360 myself and my members to you today as your instruments. So what are the members? Well 98 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:08,520 they're the members of the body, our mind, our hands, our eyes, but more than that, he's 99 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:14,320 talking about everything that we are. He's talking about our imagination. Have you thought 100 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:20,680 about giving your imagination to God as his instrument? He's talking about all of the 101 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:29,160 potential that God has placed within us. He's including our spiritual gifts. He's also talking 102 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:36,120 about our natural abilities that we have. He says, present yourselves as a total package 103 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:43,920 to God. I challenge you to take that step of faith every morning. If you begin your 104 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:52,200 day that way, it will change the course of the day for you and it will begin to steer 105 00:13:52,200 --> 00:14:01,720 you away from those old habits and patterns that seem to be a snare to you spiritually. 106 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:05,160 There's a second means that it's important for us to understand and that is the power 107 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:11,880 of the spirit. To clearly see this, we could see it in chapter 8 of Romans, but let's go 108 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:19,840 to Galatians chapter 5 verse 16. 109 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:30,120 But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Walk 110 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:38,480 by the Spirit. You will not carry out the desire of the flesh. The habits and patterns 111 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:50,880 in our lives spring from sin still operating in our flesh. In that part of us that is not 112 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:59,480 redeemed, that part of our person that has not been redeemed and never will be the flesh, 113 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:07,000 sin still operates in that part of you and me. The fact is that the Holy Spirit is our 114 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:16,760 enabler so that we can deny what sin operating in our flesh wants us to do. The Holy Spirit 115 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:24,360 enables us to overcome the flesh or in the language of Romans to put to death the deeds 116 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:32,360 of the body. The Holy Spirit is not merely given to the spiritually mature. It's amazing 117 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:38,720 how many people have that idea. It is those who are along the pathway somewhere who receive 118 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:45,240 the Holy Spirit, not at all. At the very moment of conversion one receives the Holy Spirit 119 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:52,360 to make us mature, not because we are mature. He is in us to enable us from day one as a 120 00:15:52,360 --> 00:16:01,320 Christian. He is the power of God within us. If you and I are going to say no to those 121 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:06,760 actions and attitudes that displease God, we must have the power of the Spirit of God 122 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:13,320 operating in us. It is one thing in our part to say I will today say no to sin and yes 123 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:20,240 to God, but it's another thing then to allow the Holy Spirit to reinforce that step of 124 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:28,560 faith, to give strength to that decision, that choice on your part, and he will do it. 125 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:34,660 If you consciously depend upon him. And so in the morning as you get up and as you present 126 00:16:34,660 --> 00:16:41,560 yourself to God, yield yourself to the Holy Spirit and say Spirit of God who indwells 127 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:51,920 me, I allow you to strengthen me today that I might say no to sin and yes to God. The 128 00:16:51,920 --> 00:17:00,120 first means is an act of faith that's your responsibility in mind. The second means is 129 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:08,440 the power of the Spirit. The third means is the word of God. The word of God, we have 130 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:15,920 sung a hymn just before the message based on Psalm 119. How shall a young man keep 131 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:24,840 his way pure? By keeping it according to the word of God, says the psalmist. How do you 132 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:31,480 keep your way pure in a world like ours? By listening to the word of God and to the wisdom 133 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:40,880 that he gives us. How shall a young man cleanse his way by the word of God? Thy word have 134 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:49,200 I hid in my heart, said the psalmist. Thy word have I treasured, is the real thought. 135 00:17:49,200 --> 00:18:00,120 Thy word have I set apart as precious in my heart that I might not sin against thee. When 136 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:04,240 I was a kid I learned a little statement that has stuck with me all through the years. I 137 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:11,520 wrote it in front of one of the first Bibles I had. My pastor said this, this book will 138 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:18,320 keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book. Many of you have heard that before. 139 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:27,040 It is true. One of the means that God gives to us to say no to sin and yes to God is this 140 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:35,960 book. When you and I treasure it and we hide it away in our hearts, it has the power to 141 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:44,440 renew our minds and to cleanse our minds. Some of us in our past have allowed our minds 142 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:52,760 to dwell on things that now we regret deeply. For it allowed patterns to be established 143 00:18:52,760 --> 00:19:01,400 in our thoughts. It allowed habitual thought patterns to become grounded in us and we struggle 144 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:08,360 with them. To some degree we will always struggle with those because we allowed them into our 145 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:16,320 minds and we can't simply erase part of our minds like we erase a cassette tape. But the 146 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:25,080 word of God can renew our minds so that those old thought patterns can be displaced in having 147 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:33,640 any power. That's the principle. The principle not of the erasure but of displacement. So 148 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:40,960 that those things that once dominated us dominate us less because the word of God is treasured 149 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:48,800 in our hearts. We treasure the word of God when we read it of course but to really treasure 150 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:55,040 it in the sense that we are talking about now means to go especially to those portions 151 00:19:55,040 --> 00:20:04,800 that deal with the habits of my life. Those scriptures that deal with the patterns that 152 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:14,080 I want to displace and to concentrate and to focus and to meditate upon those texts. 153 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:22,760 To hide it in our hearts by memorization and meditation. I've heard some people say, well 154 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:27,160 I don't like those old thoughts and I am just going to determine in my mind not to think 155 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:35,160 them anymore. That is sincerely said but it doesn't work because when we make that determination 156 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:43,160 what we actually end up doing is reinforcing those bad thought patterns. When we say I 157 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:49,560 am not going to think about that anymore that becomes reinforced and underscored in our 158 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:56,680 minds. It doesn't work. We have to think about something positive and powerful and 159 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:04,800 cleansing and renewing if we really want to see that displaced. What we need to think 160 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:13,080 about is what God says. If you really want to say no to sin in your life then this book 161 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:21,000 has to come on to the front burner of your life. It has to be a part of your everyday 162 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:26,560 and not just in a casual reading of it but really meditating on it. Taking time to see 163 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:32,360 what God is saying to you. What God wants you to learn and apply to your life out of 164 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:46,360 this. The Word of God. And he gives us a fourth means. This is perhaps the hardest one for 165 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:57,920 most of us. As hard as it is to find time to make time to be in the Word of God. As 166 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:02,160 difficult as it is to consciously yield to the Holy Spirit and to get up in the morning 167 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:08,920 and present ourselves to God as an act of faith. This fourth one is really tough. The 168 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:22,400 fourth means is the support of fellowship. If there is an entrenched pattern or habit 169 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:35,320 in your life that is displeasing God and you truly want to say no to that. You can do it. 170 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:42,880 It will involve opening yourself up to someone or someones who love you and who trust you 171 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:49,520 and who will help you by supporting you. I think the Paul touches on this thought in 172 00:22:49,520 --> 00:23:02,160 1 Thessalonians the fifth chapter. He says, and we urge you brethren, admonish the unruly, 173 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:12,080 encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all men. A list of different 174 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:17,640 kinds of folks there who need different strokes. But I want you to notice that he says encourage 175 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:26,680 the faint hearted. I don't know about you but I can become faint hearted in my struggle 176 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:36,520 with sin. He says help the weak. I don't know about you but there are times when I feel 177 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:43,640 very weak in my struggle against sin in me. And I need someone who will come alongside 178 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:53,000 me and who will encourage me and help me. There are some people like that in my life 179 00:23:53,000 --> 00:24:03,960 and I thank God for them. Do you have someone like that? Do you have at least one other 180 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:10,600 person who is a Christian who knows the struggle that you are facing right now today and who 181 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:17,440 is praying for you and who if he or she sees you this afternoon or tomorrow will come up 182 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:24,360 beside you and perhaps put the arm around you and say how's it going? To encourage you? 183 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:33,120 To lift you up? These are the means that God gives us. If we are serious about applying 184 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:41,640 our union with Jesus Christ and saying no to sin and yes to God, these are the means 185 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:48,920 that God provided means by which we may practice that in our lives. They are means that I hope 186 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:58,880 every one of us will begin to put into place. What will happen when you and I do that? I'd 187 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:04,720 like to talk briefly about the result. Because you may think that once you begin practicing 188 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:13,720 these four means very sincerely in your life, you may think that somehow out of a sudden 189 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:20,440 temptation is over. Praise God from here on to heaven there is no more problem with sin. 190 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:27,080 Oh I wish that were true. Not for your sake only, but for this guy's sake. But it's not 191 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:33,520 true. It's not true. What is the result of learning to put into place these means that 192 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:41,520 we've talked about? The first result is you will still face temptation. One thing that 193 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:50,720 we need to learn is the difference between temptation and sin. Some of us have consciences 194 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:58,960 that are so sensitive that the moment we are tempted we feel guilty and we've not even 195 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:07,560 done anything wrong yet. And because we're always facing temptation, we're always feeling 196 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:24,760 guilty needlessly. It is not sin to be tempted folks. Jesus was tempted but he never sinned. 197 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:32,760 I'm of course not encouraging you to play with temptation. For to do that is to sin. 198 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:40,280 But what I am saying that often you and I cannot help the first thought that hits our 199 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:49,720 minds. Whether it be a thought of covetousness or a thought of saying something we ought 200 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:59,480 not or an initial temptation to strike out of anger with that first lustful thought that 201 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:06,280 hits us because of our eye gait and something we saw or something we heard. When that first 202 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:12,680 one hits us, that's temptation. And that is the moment that we need to recognize it for 203 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:20,120 what it is and be done with it. And say no, I'm not going to proceed any further that 204 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:31,320 way. That's sin if I do. It's the second thought. It's acting out what we're tempted to say 205 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:43,040 for to do in anger that becomes sin. Understand that the most godly, saintly Christian faces 206 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:49,800 temptation every day that he lives. You can go off to a monastery somewhere on Mount Sinai 207 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:55,260 and meditate the rest of your life on scripture or ancient scrolls or whatever they meditate 208 00:27:55,260 --> 00:28:01,040 on over there. But I'll tell you something, you can't escape temptation because sin still 209 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:08,440 dwells in you, that is in your flesh. And it seeks to enforce its old pattern of slavery 210 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:15,040 on you. And it will until the day that you either die and go to be with Jesus or you're 211 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:23,560 raptured and changed until you are free from it. At that point, no more temptation. But 212 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:32,760 you will be tempted. Don't be discouraged by that. Don't be discouraged by temptations. 213 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:36,480 Understand that that's part of being human as we are in our sinful condition in this 214 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:43,080 world. Do not be discouraged by temptation, but don't play with it either. Don't allow 215 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:50,640 it to have a place in your life. Don't give it the second thought. So often it's like 216 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:57,280 a piece of candy that we put in our mouths. Instead of realizing what it is, we kind of 217 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:01,080 like the taste of it and it seems sort of sweet and so we begin to roll it around in 218 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:09,380 our mouths and we play with it in our minds. It's sin. But when we realize that we have 219 00:29:09,380 --> 00:29:19,120 touched temptation, then at that moment we are responsible to choose to say, no, I will 220 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:28,040 not think that way. No, I will not respond that way. That will not please God. No, I 221 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:36,920 will not allow that pattern any longer to be established in my mind. No to sin and God, 222 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:47,520 I give myself to you. There's a second result and it's a wonderful result. For as you put 223 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:54,760 these means to practice in your life, you will experience a gradual overthrow of old 224 00:29:54,760 --> 00:30:04,880 patterns and the establishment of new ones. I am not today guaranteeing you victory the 225 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:11,240 very moment that you put these means into your life, victory without any relapse. I 226 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:17,360 cannot guarantee that to you. But I can guarantee you that if you keep practicing these means 227 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:23,680 and when you fail, that you confess it to God and then begin practicing the means again, 228 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:29,560 that you will see the gradual establishment of new victorious patterns in your life. But 229 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:33,800 I should also say this, that your goal in all of this is beyond just having victory 230 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:43,560 over sin. It's beyond that. Your real goal is to establish a positive, fruitful life 231 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:52,640 which glorifies God and reflects Jesus Christ. That's the positive goal in all of this. 232 00:30:52,640 --> 00:31:01,920 The bottom line is this, you can choose to refuse. When a luring opportunity comes, when 233 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:12,800 the old habit knocks and it asks permission for another round, you can say no to it. But 234 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:22,960 you won't. You won't unless before that moment you've prepared yourself. Unless you've 235 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:34,240 determined in advance the refusal and you've armed yourself by the four choices involving 236 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:43,000 an act of faith, choosing to present yourself as alive to God as his servant, choosing to 237 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:50,120 yield yourself to the power of the Holy Spirit so that he can enable your decision to say 238 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:56,760 no, choosing to treasure the word of God in your heart so that it can renew your mind 239 00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:04,960 and cleanse you, choosing to seek out the support of others in a fellowship, transparently 240 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:11,400 asking them to stand with you unless you have made those four choices in advance and prepared 241 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:18,640 yourself the next time around when sin knocks on the door. What you will do is open the 242 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:30,920 door as they come in. So won't you right now, at this moment, choose in advance to say no 243 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:40,440 when sin does come? Won't you determine at this moment to begin putting these four choices 244 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:52,160 into your life actively so that you can displace the old and experience the new? You and I 245 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:59,480 can say no to those actions and attitudes in our lives that displease God. And we can 246 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:09,480 say yes to a Christ-filled life. But it's our choice. Oh, God, help us to make the right 247 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:18,080 one. Let's bow together. 248 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:32,960 Father, how glad I am today for the liberty that the children of God enjoy. Enjoy because 249 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:45,640 of our death with Christ to sin and our resurrection with him to walk in newness of life. And yet 250 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:54,120 I confess, as do all of us who are honest, that often we don't walk in newness of life 251 00:33:54,120 --> 00:34:01,720 but in oldness of life. And there are areas of battle and struggle that each of us face, 252 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:09,800 and you know what they are. I pray that you, by the Spirit, would write this message in 253 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:20,720 our hearts and enable us to put it to practice in our lives. Our heads are bowed, our eyes 254 00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:33,560 are closed. I wonder if in your heart right now you could isolate at least one area of 255 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:44,120 struggle in your life, perhaps an area where you have struggled for a long time, an area 256 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:54,940 where long-time choices have formed habit and pattern, perhaps an area where you have 257 00:34:54,940 --> 00:35:04,320 all but given up ever experiencing the freedom of Christ. 258 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:12,160 I want you to know, Christian friend, that Jesus loves you, and he loves you despite 259 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:18,960 that pattern. But he loves you so much he wants you free from it, and he's provided 260 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:34,280 for it. I want to ask you if right now you will say to him, Jesus, I want to choose obedience 261 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:38,960 and to seek to put into my life these means that you've provided that I might know that 262 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:55,400 freedom you've provided. If that is your choice, to say yes to him and notice then, 263 00:35:55,400 --> 00:36:05,080 I want to ask you to lift your hand in a physical gesture to God saying, God, that is my decision. 264 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:22,760 Many, many hands praise God. Is there no pattern to deal with? Is there no struggle? But if 265 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:36,680 there is, Jesus will show you the way. God is faithful, and with the temptation, he will 266 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:46,200 provide the way of escape that you might be able to bear it. Lord Jesus, I pray that there 267 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:56,360 will be nothing between us and you so that your blessed face may be seen and the joy 268 00:36:56,360 --> 00:37:16,760 of your fellowship every day experienced. Amen.