WEBVTT 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.179 I want to express appreciation this morning to 00:00:05.179 --> 00:00:07.500 my children for sharing their coals with me. 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:11.740 We have tried to teach them generosity, and they 00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:14.019 sometimes practice that in the most unfortunate 00:00:14.019 --> 00:00:23.219 ways. The chief enemy of the child of God is 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:27.640 Satan. He has two allies that work with him, 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:34.189 the world system. and the flesh. The world system 00:00:34.189 --> 00:00:37.990 is the pressure that we feel from without, arising 00:00:37.990 --> 00:00:42.469 from the age in which we live. The flesh is the 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:47.109 pressure which comes from within. It arises from 00:00:47.109 --> 00:00:51.990 indwelling sin in our bodies. The flesh is that 00:00:51.990 --> 00:00:56.390 pattern of actions and attitudes left over from 00:00:56.390 --> 00:01:00.619 the old man. The flesh is the vehicle for sin's 00:01:00.619 --> 00:01:04.439 expression in us. As someone has said, it's the 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:09.480 enemy that is in me that is not me. Paul seems 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:11.599 to have said something similar in Romans chapter 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:16.560 7 when he says, Yet not I, the new I, the new 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:20.920 me in Jesus Christ, but sin that dwells in me. 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.540 All of these enemies, Satan, the world, and the 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:32.090 flesh, confront us throughout life. None of us 00:01:32.090 --> 00:01:35.890 is immune to any of them, but especially is that 00:01:35.890 --> 00:01:38.569 true of the most intimate of the enemies, the 00:01:38.569 --> 00:01:43.890 flesh. None of us escapes the possibility of 00:01:43.890 --> 00:01:47.750 fleshly temptations or even of carnal living 00:01:47.750 --> 00:01:53.250 as we discussed last week. Carnal living is an 00:01:53.250 --> 00:01:58.120 extended period of life. Under the domination 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:03.359 of the flesh. How are we to deal with this enemy, 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:07.939 the flesh? How can we keep ourselves from domination 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:13.759 by this spiritual foe? If I were to ask you the 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:18.500 question, how many of you this last week experienced 00:02:18.500 --> 00:02:21.879 at least one time when the flesh dominated you, 00:02:22.099 --> 00:02:27.099 would probably have all hands go up. if we were 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:31.620 all honest. Because, you see, we struggle every 00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:35.620 day that we live with this enemy, the flesh, 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:40.919 this intimate enemy within us who is not the 00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:46.500 real us as we are in Jesus Christ. The wonderful 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:50.840 news is that God has made provision for the believer 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:55.379 to experience freedom from fleshly living. We 00:02:55.379 --> 00:02:57.400 never get to the point that we don't struggle 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:01.439 with it. But God has made provision for us so 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:05.259 that we can experience consistent freedom from 00:03:05.259 --> 00:03:08.740 fleshly living. I'd like us to think about that 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:10.819 this morning. We probably won't get through the 00:03:10.819 --> 00:03:13.740 whole outline as it's found in your worship folder. 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:17.159 If not, we'll pick it up next week. But first, 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:20.139 let's think about the basis for this freedom 00:03:20.139 --> 00:03:24.509 that God has provided for us. The basis for our 00:03:24.509 --> 00:03:29.110 freedom is our identification with the Lord Jesus 00:03:29.110 --> 00:03:33.270 Christ. The whole of our relationship with God 00:03:33.270 --> 00:03:38.349 rests upon this significant Bible doctrine, the 00:03:38.349 --> 00:03:41.530 believer's identification with the Lord Jesus 00:03:41.530 --> 00:03:45.189 Christ. Now think with me for a moment about 00:03:45.189 --> 00:03:50.349 this. Our identification with Jesus Christ is 00:03:50.349 --> 00:03:58.439 the basis for our salvation. All people of all 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:03.780 ages have been identified with our father, Adam, 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:08.180 in his fall from innocence, which occurred in 00:04:08.180 --> 00:04:13.819 the Garden of Eden. You see, Adam was what theologians 00:04:13.819 --> 00:04:19.040 call our federal head. Now, we live under the 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.439 federal system of government. What that means 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:26.319 is that we have representatives who vote our 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:31.680 wills in Washington. That's the theory anyway. 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:37.000 They represent our will in Washington. They are 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:41.220 representative of us, the people. So when we 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:45.139 talk about Adam being the federal head of the 00:04:45.139 --> 00:04:48.350 human race, we mean that when he was here on 00:04:48.350 --> 00:04:50.910 the earth, he represented all of his descendants 00:04:50.910 --> 00:04:57.250 to come. He represented his children, who then 00:04:57.250 --> 00:05:02.970 inherited from him a sinful nature and condition 00:05:02.970 --> 00:05:10.329 before God. You see, Adam's sin was imputed to 00:05:10.329 --> 00:05:14.769 the entire human family. Let's think about the 00:05:14.769 --> 00:05:20.100 word impute. It is a biblical word that's used 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:25.339 in the book of Romans a number of times. It really 00:05:25.339 --> 00:05:27.600 is not a difficult word to understand. It simply 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.620 means to place to the account of another person. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:38.000 It is an accounting term. When you go to your 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:40.879 bank to deposit a check, you hand them the check 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:44.600 with a deposit slip. And what you are doing is 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:47.839 imputing that amount to your account. You're 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:51.920 placing it on your account so that it is there 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:56.879 for your use. It becomes also your responsibility. 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:05.279 When Adam sinned, his sin was imputed to, put 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:09.980 to the account of, the entire human race. Now 00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:11.839 we'll explain why that's important in just a 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:14.350 moment. But would you turn with me to Romans 00:06:14.350 --> 00:06:17.990 chapter 5, where we have a key text regarding 00:06:17.990 --> 00:06:27.370 this. Romans chapter 5, verse 12. Therefore, 00:06:27.370 --> 00:06:31.569 just as through one man sin entered into the 00:06:31.569 --> 00:06:35.870 world, and who was the one man? Obviously it 00:06:35.870 --> 00:06:40.740 was Adam. and death through sin. So death spread 00:06:40.740 --> 00:06:45.980 to all men because all sinned. Now verses 13 00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:49.339 through 17 really, I think, form a parenthesis 00:06:49.339 --> 00:06:52.860 in Paul's thought. So let's skip on down to verse 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:56.980 18. He says, So then, as through one transgression 00:06:56.980 --> 00:07:03.399 there resulted condemnation to all men. Notice 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:08.660 that, through one transgression, all men. Verse 00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:33.220 19. What Paul is doing here is contrasting Adam, 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:39.920 our father... the first man created, with Jesus 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:45.819 Christ, who is the last Adam, the eternal Son 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:50.860 of God, come in human flesh. Now he says on the 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:54.480 one hand that through our father Adam, we all 00:07:54.480 --> 00:08:00.339 inherited from him sin, condemnation, and death. 00:08:02.029 --> 00:08:05.310 It was imputed to us. It was put to our account. 00:08:06.529 --> 00:08:11.709 He represented us in the garden. You say, wait 00:08:11.709 --> 00:08:16.490 a minute, that's not fair. Why is it that I'm 00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:18.449 held accountable for something that Adam did? 00:08:19.250 --> 00:08:21.269 Let me suggest a couple of things about that. 00:08:22.449 --> 00:08:25.569 First of all, if you were in the garden instead 00:08:25.569 --> 00:08:28.110 of Adam, you would have done exactly the same 00:08:28.110 --> 00:08:35.860 thing he did. So you see what he did was simply 00:08:35.860 --> 00:08:39.840 to represent us. If we had been there in exactly 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:42.860 the same innocent condition, given the same choice 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:46.100 and circumstances, each one of us would have 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:52.059 done exactly the same thing. So it's not just 00:08:52.059 --> 00:08:54.019 that he blew it and we wouldn't have. We would 00:08:54.019 --> 00:08:58.179 have all done the same thing. But God allowed 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:02.389 Adam to represent all of us in that test. There's 00:09:02.389 --> 00:09:04.070 something else that's even more important than 00:09:04.070 --> 00:09:08.629 that. That is that because He represented us 00:09:08.629 --> 00:09:18.029 in His failure and condemnation, so God in His 00:09:18.029 --> 00:09:23.529 wisdom can have one man represent us in paying 00:09:23.529 --> 00:09:27.850 for sin and bringing salvation. Do you understand 00:09:27.850 --> 00:09:33.320 that? It was the wisdom of God that Adam was 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:36.700 allowed to be the federal head or the representative 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:43.539 of the entire human race. He represented us in 00:09:43.539 --> 00:09:47.559 failure and condemnation, but he did represent 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:53.480 us as one man. Consequently, in God's plan, one 00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:58.879 man, Jesus Christ, can also represent all of 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:03.610 us. in one great act of redemption at the cross. 00:10:06.110 --> 00:10:08.190 And that's what I want to talk about secondly. 00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:15.389 Adam, in his failure, in his sin, in his fall 00:10:15.389 --> 00:10:19.789 from innocence, represented all of us. And we 00:10:19.789 --> 00:10:24.970 inherited from him our sin, our nature, our position 00:10:24.970 --> 00:10:29.629 before God. But all of us were represented by 00:10:29.629 --> 00:10:34.269 Jesus Christ as well in His saving work. When 00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:38.750 the Lord Jesus Christ hung upon the cross, our 00:10:38.750 --> 00:10:45.970 sin was imputed to Him. Imputation really has 00:10:45.970 --> 00:10:48.049 three parts. We've talked about the one from 00:10:48.049 --> 00:10:51.129 Adam to us. That's the first act of imputation. 00:10:52.730 --> 00:10:57.720 The second one involves our sin. being reckoned 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:00.639 to the account of the Lord Jesus when He died 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:03.860 on the cross. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians, 00:11:04.340 --> 00:11:10.740 For God made Him who knew no sin to be made sin 00:11:10.740 --> 00:11:16.700 for us. What does he mean by that? He means that 00:11:16.700 --> 00:11:22.139 when the Lord Jesus died on the cross, your sin 00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:27.610 and my sin was put upon Him. It was put to that 00:11:27.610 --> 00:11:30.929 account so that he could pay the price that we 00:11:30.929 --> 00:11:36.190 could not pay. Now the third step of imputation 00:11:36.190 --> 00:11:40.750 is that the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:11:40.870 --> 00:11:46.990 for he knew no sin personally. He lived out a 00:11:46.990 --> 00:11:49.750 life of perfect righteousness because he was 00:11:49.750 --> 00:11:56.970 the righteous one. His righteousness is imputed 00:11:56.970 --> 00:12:02.690 to the account of the believer. For God has made 00:12:02.690 --> 00:12:06.590 him who knew no sin to be made sin for us, that 00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:11.009 we, the apostle says, might be made the righteousness 00:12:11.009 --> 00:12:18.330 of God in him. When the Lord Jesus died at the 00:12:18.330 --> 00:12:23.399 cross, we were identified with him. Our sin was 00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:27.299 put on him. He paid the price. And then his righteousness 00:12:27.299 --> 00:12:31.799 was applied to our account. That is the doctrine 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:34.659 of imputation. And that is the reason that God 00:12:34.659 --> 00:12:40.539 can justify the believer. When God declares us 00:12:40.539 --> 00:12:42.879 righteous in Jesus Christ, it doesn't mean that 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.000 he hides his eyes and holds his nose and says, 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:46.580 well, you're righteous even though you really 00:12:46.580 --> 00:12:51.220 aren't. That's not what it means. It means that 00:12:51.220 --> 00:12:54.620 God has fully dealt with our sins in the death 00:12:54.620 --> 00:13:00.820 of His Son. And now He has given to us the perfect 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:04.299 righteousness of Jesus Christ. So when He declares 00:13:04.299 --> 00:13:07.120 us righteous, it is because we are righteous. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:10.299 We have the righteousness of Jesus Christ in 00:13:10.299 --> 00:13:16.700 our account. So when the Lord Jesus died, He 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:21.350 died as our substitute. We were identified with 00:13:21.350 --> 00:13:26.629 Him at the cross. He died in our place. We are 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:28.990 identified with Him in His resurrection. His 00:13:28.990 --> 00:13:32.549 righteousness is given to us. God declares that 00:13:32.549 --> 00:13:36.190 we are righteous in His Son. When God looks at 00:13:36.190 --> 00:13:39.389 you, He does not see you as John Doe or whatever 00:13:39.389 --> 00:13:43.789 your name is, but He sees you as one who is in 00:13:43.789 --> 00:13:47.769 His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. you are thoroughly, 00:13:47.830 --> 00:13:51.409 completely righteous as far as He is concerned 00:13:51.409 --> 00:13:55.389 legally. God knows that we don't always live 00:13:55.389 --> 00:13:59.330 up to that righteous position that we have. That's 00:13:59.330 --> 00:14:01.129 why we're talking about the struggle we have 00:14:01.129 --> 00:14:05.029 with the flesh. But as far as our legal standing 00:14:05.029 --> 00:14:08.730 before God is concerned, because of our identification 00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:13.169 with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection, 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:16.720 We have been forgiven of our sins. Jesus paid 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.139 the price. And we have now received the righteousness 00:14:20.139 --> 00:14:24.840 of God. We are justified in Jesus Christ. As 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:27.220 Paul says earlier here in Romans, Therefore, 00:14:27.340 --> 00:14:30.100 having been justified by faith, we have peace 00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:33.740 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We're 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:37.220 at peace with God. So you see, this doctrine 00:14:37.220 --> 00:14:40.320 of identification is the basis of our salvation. 00:14:41.610 --> 00:14:44.210 If we had not been identified with the Lord Jesus 00:14:44.210 --> 00:14:46.129 Christ at the cross, there would be absolutely 00:14:46.129 --> 00:14:49.649 no hope for our salvation. We would be condemned 00:14:49.649 --> 00:14:52.789 forever to have to keep on attempting to pay 00:14:52.789 --> 00:14:54.990 the price for our sin by bearing our judgment 00:14:54.990 --> 00:14:59.529 in hell. But thank God, Jesus paid the price. 00:15:00.789 --> 00:15:05.470 He endured our hell for us at the cross. And 00:15:05.470 --> 00:15:08.889 now, as it says here in verse 17, those who receive 00:15:08.889 --> 00:15:12.419 the abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness 00:15:12.419 --> 00:15:18.000 will reign in life through one, Jesus Christ. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:23.279 Now let me go on to say this, that the doctrine 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:26.159 of identification is not only important or vital 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:32.259 or forms the basis for our salvation, it is also 00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:37.039 the basis for our sanctification, our being made 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:39.460 like the Lord Jesus in the way that we live. 00:15:42.250 --> 00:15:44.529 And that is, of course, the real thrust of what 00:15:44.529 --> 00:15:47.750 we're talking about now. Paul goes on to talk 00:15:47.750 --> 00:15:55.129 about that in chapter 6 of Romans. He says in 00:15:55.129 --> 00:15:58.870 verse 1, What shall we say then? Are we to continue 00:15:58.870 --> 00:16:02.809 in sin that grace might increase? May it never 00:16:02.809 --> 00:16:07.129 be. Paul has said that God gave the law so that 00:16:07.129 --> 00:16:11.590 our sin could be exposed. And as the law does 00:16:11.590 --> 00:16:14.610 its work, it agitates even more sin out of our 00:16:14.610 --> 00:16:25.710 lives. It exposes sin upon sin upon sin. How 00:16:25.710 --> 00:16:28.169 is God going to care for that? Well, He says 00:16:28.169 --> 00:16:32.769 His grace abounds more than our sin. However 00:16:32.769 --> 00:16:35.950 much sin is exposed in our lives, God's grace 00:16:35.950 --> 00:16:39.549 is abundantly more to take care of it. That's 00:16:39.549 --> 00:16:42.929 what he says as he closes chapter 5. And so the 00:16:42.929 --> 00:16:45.169 question is, well, shall we then continue in 00:16:45.169 --> 00:16:48.529 sin that grace might even increase more? Apparently 00:16:48.529 --> 00:16:50.809 some people felt that way. And he says, may it 00:16:50.809 --> 00:16:55.450 never be. How shall we, notice verse 2 now, how 00:16:55.450 --> 00:17:01.110 shall we who died to sin still live in it? I 00:17:01.110 --> 00:17:03.350 want you to underscore in your Bible, if you're 00:17:03.350 --> 00:17:11.529 prone to do that, those words, we died. Because 00:17:11.529 --> 00:17:14.250 now the Apostle Paul is going to talk about how 00:17:14.250 --> 00:17:19.829 to know freedom over sin in our lives. He's not 00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:22.130 talking now about the guilt. He's dealt with 00:17:22.130 --> 00:17:27.730 that in chapters 3, 4, and 5. The guilt question 00:17:27.730 --> 00:17:30.309 is settled. Now he wants to talk about the power 00:17:30.309 --> 00:17:34.690 of sin that we still have within us after we're 00:17:34.690 --> 00:17:38.890 saved. So he begins by telling us that we died 00:17:38.890 --> 00:17:41.509 to sin. You say, now wait a minute. When did 00:17:41.509 --> 00:17:45.589 that happen? I don't recall dying. Well, he goes 00:17:45.589 --> 00:17:48.730 on to explain. He says, do you not know that 00:17:48.730 --> 00:17:52.509 all of us who have been baptized into Christ 00:17:52.509 --> 00:17:57.789 Jesus have been baptized into his death? You 00:17:57.789 --> 00:18:02.329 see that word baptized? That is not a translated 00:18:02.329 --> 00:18:07.900 Greek word. That is a transliterated. In other 00:18:07.900 --> 00:18:10.720 words, the translators in coming to this term 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:19.700 chose to bring into the English the Greek word 00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:24.259 by giving those Greek letters an English equivalent. 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:29.359 The Greek word is baptizo, so you can see obviously 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:35.049 where baptize comes from. Now, we often think 00:18:35.049 --> 00:18:39.849 that baptize always has H2O at the end of it, 00:18:40.289 --> 00:18:45.049 right? We spell B -A -P. Have you ever noticed 00:18:45.049 --> 00:18:48.789 how people tend to spell baptize, B -A -B -T 00:18:48.789 --> 00:18:51.670 -I -Z -E? You can always tell someone who's a 00:18:51.670 --> 00:18:53.569 Baptist or not a Baptist by the way they spell 00:18:53.569 --> 00:19:07.460 that. It's B -A -P -T -I -Z -E. That's usually 00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:10.220 how we spell it, isn't it? Because when we see 00:19:10.220 --> 00:19:12.460 the word, we immediately think of that tank right 00:19:12.460 --> 00:19:16.220 there in the water. We need to understand that 00:19:16.220 --> 00:19:20.440 the word baptize is used literally that way. 00:19:20.900 --> 00:19:26.180 It means to dip or to immerse. To place into. 00:19:29.450 --> 00:19:33.089 But it also was used in that day as it is today, 00:19:33.309 --> 00:19:37.930 sometimes, metaphorically. In other words, there 00:19:37.930 --> 00:19:41.970 was nothing literal about the word in terms of 00:19:41.970 --> 00:19:44.150 water or dipping something in something else. 00:19:44.670 --> 00:19:47.450 But it had a metaphorical meaning, a figurative 00:19:47.450 --> 00:19:51.289 meaning. And when it was used that way, it meant 00:19:51.289 --> 00:19:59.079 to identify with or to unite with. You find it 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:01.440 that way not only in the Bible, but you find 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:03.920 it that way in secular Greek literature from 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:09.839 that day. The word baptized had a figurative 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:11.759 meaning, and that is the way that it's used here. 00:20:13.539 --> 00:20:15.740 It is used that way one at a time, and let me 00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:17.819 illustrate it to you by turning over to 1 Corinthians 00:20:17.819 --> 00:20:26.690 chapter 10. Look at verse 1. Paul says, For I 00:20:26.690 --> 00:20:29.609 do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that 00:20:29.609 --> 00:20:32.349 our fathers were all under the cloud and all 00:20:32.349 --> 00:20:35.670 passed through the sea. What's he talking about? 00:20:36.250 --> 00:20:40.289 Well, our fathers would be the Jews of old. When 00:20:40.289 --> 00:20:42.069 were they under the cloud and passed through 00:20:42.069 --> 00:20:46.970 the sea? Only one time. And that was at the exodus 00:20:46.970 --> 00:20:51.769 from Egypt. Now in verse 2 he says, And all were 00:20:51.769 --> 00:20:55.490 baptized into Moses. in the cloud and in the 00:20:55.490 --> 00:20:58.970 sea. Does that mean that they created some baptistries 00:20:58.970 --> 00:21:02.750 back then? Or like we used to do, they got cattle 00:21:02.750 --> 00:21:06.349 tanks from their herds and they dipped people 00:21:06.349 --> 00:21:09.410 in water? Of course not. What he's saying in 00:21:09.410 --> 00:21:12.789 verse 2 is that when they went through the sea, 00:21:12.990 --> 00:21:16.710 there was water, a wall of water here and a wall 00:21:16.710 --> 00:21:19.029 of water there, and there was a cloud overhead, 00:21:19.170 --> 00:21:22.430 which is water. Though they didn't get wet, it 00:21:22.430 --> 00:21:25.690 pictured baptism, number one. But what happened 00:21:25.690 --> 00:21:28.650 was they were baptized into Moses. In other words, 00:21:28.650 --> 00:21:32.069 they were identified with Moses as their leader. 00:21:36.569 --> 00:21:39.750 They were identified with Moses as their leader. 00:21:40.009 --> 00:21:42.829 So that not too much longer after this, he was 00:21:42.829 --> 00:21:46.000 able to go up to the top of a mountain. on behalf 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:48.799 of the whole nation, and there received the law, 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.359 the Ten Commandments and all the ordinances of 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:55.299 the law, on behalf of the nation. He was their 00:21:55.299 --> 00:21:57.839 representative. They were identified with Him. 00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:02.740 Now going back to Romans chapter 6, we see the 00:22:02.740 --> 00:22:06.680 same kind of a figurative meaning. Water is not 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:09.059 here. He is talking about our being identified 00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:14.440 with the Lord Jesus Christ or united with Him. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:19.000 In a figurative way. A real way, but a figurative 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:23.440 way. He says, do you not know that as many of 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:27.160 us as have been identified with Christ Jesus 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:33.519 have been identified with His death? It's a legitimate 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:37.339 way of reading this. He says, therefore, we have 00:22:37.339 --> 00:22:40.859 been buried with Him through identification into 00:22:40.859 --> 00:22:44.740 death. in order that as Christ was raised up 00:22:44.740 --> 00:22:46.680 from the dead through the glory of the Father, 00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:51.279 so we too might walk in newness of life. For 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:55.779 if we have become united with him in the likeness 00:22:55.779 --> 00:22:59.940 of his death, certainly we shall be also in the 00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:03.720 likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, look 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:09.720 at verse 6, that our old self, the old man, was 00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:15.339 crucified with him. that our body of sin might 00:23:15.339 --> 00:23:18.880 be done away with. In other words, that our body 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:25.460 in which sin is still a tyrant, that the expressions 00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:28.720 of sin in our bodies, is what he's saying there, 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:33.759 might be done away with or rendered powerless 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:37.380 or inoperative in us, that we should no longer 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:41.690 be slaves to sin. For he who has died is freed 00:23:41.690 --> 00:23:45.950 from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we 00:23:45.950 --> 00:23:49.529 believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing 00:23:49.529 --> 00:23:51.950 that Christ, having been raised from the dead, 00:23:52.069 --> 00:23:55.029 is never to die again, death has no longer mastery 00:23:55.029 --> 00:23:58.569 over him. For the death that he died, he died 00:23:58.569 --> 00:24:01.509 to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, 00:24:01.529 --> 00:24:04.349 he lives to God. Verse 11, notice this. Even 00:24:04.349 --> 00:24:09.690 so, consider yourselves to be D -E -A -D. to 00:24:09.690 --> 00:24:13.950 sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, 00:24:14.130 --> 00:24:20.250 do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that 00:24:20.250 --> 00:24:24.349 you should obey its lusts. And do not go on presenting 00:24:24.349 --> 00:24:28.869 the members of your body to sin as instruments 00:24:28.869 --> 00:24:33.690 of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to 00:24:33.690 --> 00:24:52.299 God as those alive from the dead. Tell us back 00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:54.000 away from the text for just a moment. What do 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.920 we see here? Number one, we see this, that we 00:24:56.920 --> 00:25:00.960 who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ have been 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:05.700 identified with Christ in His death, burial, 00:25:05.880 --> 00:25:13.460 and resurrection. The result of that is a provision 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:19.940 for our freedom from the domination of sin in 00:25:19.940 --> 00:25:25.079 these bodies. The result of it is freedom from 00:25:25.079 --> 00:25:29.640 fleshly living. Because you see, he says in verse 00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:34.920 6 that our old self, time out, what is the old 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:40.259 self? That refers to the old man that we were 00:25:40.259 --> 00:25:45.819 in Adam. The old us. What we were before our 00:25:45.819 --> 00:25:51.220 conversion. He says that old self, that old man, 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:56.200 was crucified, it was executed with the Lord 00:25:56.200 --> 00:26:02.920 Jesus Christ. And now through the resurrection, 00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:07.950 we have a new self. that has been created, a 00:26:07.950 --> 00:26:12.730 new man, a new person, so that what you and I 00:26:12.730 --> 00:26:16.130 essentially are, what we really are, has dramatically 00:26:16.130 --> 00:26:21.069 changed as a result of our conversion to the 00:26:21.069 --> 00:26:25.589 Lord Jesus Christ. Before we were the old man 00:26:25.589 --> 00:26:30.569 under the domination of sin, held as slaves to 00:26:30.569 --> 00:26:34.849 it, what we were in Adam, we lived out in sinfulness. 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:39.640 We were the subjects of the wrath of God and 00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:46.859 lost on our way to hell. God in His grace reached 00:26:46.859 --> 00:26:50.960 down and revealed to us the truth of the gospel. 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:56.559 And we responded in faith and trusted the Lord 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:01.180 Jesus. And as a result of that, what we were 00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:05.299 in Adam, was nailed to the cross with Jesus. 00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:10.240 And when Jesus said, it is finished, that old 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:13.680 man that you were died at that point and no longer 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:18.180 exists. It's gone. Dead, executed, crucified. 00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:21.920 It died as much as Jesus literally died at the 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:27.839 cross. You say, well, then who am I? Because 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:32.099 I'm still around. In that instant of time when 00:27:32.099 --> 00:27:36.660 you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, that old man 00:27:36.660 --> 00:27:39.759 was put to death and a new you was created on 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:44.359 the inside. A new man created in righteousness 00:27:44.359 --> 00:27:49.180 and true holiness. Ephesians chapter 4. Through 00:27:49.180 --> 00:27:52.700 the power of the resurrection, the Holy Spirit 00:27:52.700 --> 00:27:56.779 entered you and created a brand new you, a new 00:27:56.779 --> 00:28:04.829 self. And he says that this new self, the new 00:28:04.829 --> 00:28:13.710 me, no longer has to listen to sin. Sin is an 00:28:13.710 --> 00:28:17.970 old master. I have a new master, Jesus Christ. 00:28:19.230 --> 00:28:25.569 Can I still hear sin? Oh, yes. Sin still speaks, 00:28:25.589 --> 00:28:31.279 and I can hear sin. It seeks to exert its pressure 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:35.200 in my life. It seeks to work out its desires 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:38.019 through my flesh, that old pattern of action 00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:42.220 that I still retain. It's still there. It's still 00:28:42.220 --> 00:28:47.079 very real. But you see, I am now a new man in 00:28:47.079 --> 00:28:49.920 Jesus Christ, and I do not have to listen to 00:28:49.920 --> 00:29:00.369 sin anymore. Can I? Yes. I can allow sin and 00:29:00.369 --> 00:29:04.250 flesh to dominate me. And as we saw last week, 00:29:04.289 --> 00:29:06.930 I can even lead such a contradictory life as 00:29:06.930 --> 00:29:10.589 to be called a carnal person. It's like Lot was 00:29:10.589 --> 00:29:13.609 in the Old Testament. We examined his example 00:29:13.609 --> 00:29:18.569 last week. I can do that. I can be a contradiction 00:29:18.569 --> 00:29:23.730 and a disgrace to God. But I don't want to do 00:29:23.730 --> 00:29:31.960 that. What I want is freedom. Freedom! God says, 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:34.019 I've given you freedom. Here's the basis for 00:29:34.019 --> 00:29:37.480 it. You are a new person in my son. You are no 00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:40.640 longer related to sin. You no longer have an 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:44.279 obligation to sin. Verse 6 says, you are no longer 00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:47.500 slaves to sin. Verse 14 says, sin shall not be 00:29:47.500 --> 00:29:51.700 master over you. So that now when sin approaches 00:29:51.700 --> 00:29:54.880 me through that old fleshly pattern of the old 00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:58.440 man that used to be, I as the new man do not 00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:01.819 have to respond. That is the basis for my freedom. 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:05.380 It is my identification with the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:09.700 You see, the truth of the cross is that Jesus 00:30:09.700 --> 00:30:14.460 died for me, and I died with Christ, the old 00:30:14.460 --> 00:30:19.380 I. It's a two -fold thing. Because Christ died 00:30:19.380 --> 00:30:25.099 for me, I'm saved. Because I, the old I, died 00:30:25.099 --> 00:30:29.849 with Christ, I'm free. from sin's domination. 00:30:31.329 --> 00:30:34.150 Because Christ died for me, I no longer bear 00:30:34.150 --> 00:30:38.670 the guilt of sin. Because the old I died with 00:30:38.670 --> 00:30:42.210 Christ, I no longer have to subject myself to 00:30:42.210 --> 00:30:46.329 the power of sin. That's the basis for our freedom. 00:30:47.730 --> 00:30:50.769 I want to talk just briefly about the power for 00:30:50.769 --> 00:30:54.970 our freedom. Because once you get a hold of the 00:30:54.970 --> 00:30:58.380 basis, Once you can write it upon your heart, 00:30:58.440 --> 00:31:01.380 what we just talked about, you need to be able 00:31:01.380 --> 00:31:04.400 to get to that next step. How do I then appropriate 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:10.799 this freedom? And by the way, if you're having 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:15.140 a hard time understanding what I just said about 00:31:15.140 --> 00:31:19.240 identification, I want to encourage you to meditate 00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:25.009 in Romans chapter 6. And allow the Spirit of 00:31:25.009 --> 00:31:28.309 God to write those verses on your heart until 00:31:28.309 --> 00:31:32.069 you begin to get a hold of it. That is not going 00:31:32.069 --> 00:31:34.589 to happen between now and 7 .30 in the morning. 00:31:35.549 --> 00:31:39.710 That is going to take time. Remember last week 00:31:39.710 --> 00:31:42.150 we said that this kind of thing takes time and 00:31:42.150 --> 00:31:44.250 the knowledge of the Word of God and experience. 00:31:46.230 --> 00:31:48.869 You have to put all those together if you're 00:31:48.869 --> 00:31:51.470 going to grow. It's going to take time for you 00:31:51.470 --> 00:31:53.789 to meditate. If you want to read another book 00:31:53.789 --> 00:31:55.730 that may be helpful to you, let me encourage 00:31:55.730 --> 00:31:58.210 you to buy the book Birthright by David Needham. 00:31:58.369 --> 00:32:01.769 I have mentioned it before. There are some parts 00:32:01.769 --> 00:32:03.730 of the book that I have a little hard time with, 00:32:03.890 --> 00:32:08.190 but the kind of thing he says in general is exactly 00:32:08.190 --> 00:32:11.130 what I believe the Word of God teaches regarding 00:32:11.130 --> 00:32:15.509 who we really are in Jesus Christ. We have a 00:32:15.509 --> 00:32:20.029 new identity. But now let's talk about the power 00:32:20.029 --> 00:32:23.339 for our freedom. Let's get started on that. The 00:32:23.339 --> 00:32:27.480 power for our freedom comes from the indwelling 00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:32.160 of the Holy Spirit. I've already said to you 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:35.019 that God has created within us a new self, a 00:32:35.019 --> 00:32:39.480 new man. We need to understand that that new 00:32:39.480 --> 00:32:45.680 man is joined with the Holy Spirit. The Holy 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:49.140 Spirit does not indwell us like some foreign 00:32:49.140 --> 00:32:54.759 kind of substance. I have a glass of water here 00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:56.579 and I need to take a drink of it to clear my 00:32:56.579 --> 00:33:02.740 throat. Now that is in my body as another substance. 00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:06.839 And my body will be able to assimilate that. 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:11.359 But you see, the Holy Spirit is not in us in 00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:13.960 that way at all. He is not in us as a foreign 00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:19.319 substance. The Holy Spirit has come in us. and 00:33:19.319 --> 00:33:22.599 created the new man, and that new man that you 00:33:22.599 --> 00:33:25.740 are in Jesus Christ, that new person that you 00:33:25.740 --> 00:33:29.480 are, is inseparably united with the Holy Spirit. 00:33:29.579 --> 00:33:31.880 You cannot pull apart the Holy Spirit in the 00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:40.960 new you. He brings the newness of life to you 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:45.920 as the spirit of the resurrection. He comes to 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:49.599 teach us. how to apply the finished work of Jesus 00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:54.240 Christ in our daily living. So understand that 00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:59.720 the Holy Spirit who indwells you is there to 00:33:59.720 --> 00:34:02.839 teach you how to apply the truth we've just talked 00:34:02.839 --> 00:34:06.180 about so that you in your daily life can experience 00:34:06.180 --> 00:34:10.179 an increasing freedom over sin and the flesh. 00:34:12.010 --> 00:34:14.650 1 Corinthians 2 .12, it says that He has come 00:34:14.650 --> 00:34:17.090 that we might know the things freely given to 00:34:17.090 --> 00:34:24.210 us by God. That's why He's there. Now, I want 00:34:24.210 --> 00:34:26.269 you to skip over a page or two here in your Bible 00:34:26.269 --> 00:34:29.769 to Romans chapter 8, where we're going to do 00:34:29.769 --> 00:34:35.190 the rest of our study for this morning. The Holy 00:34:35.190 --> 00:34:40.230 Spirit operates within us a brand new regulating 00:34:40.230 --> 00:34:46.099 principle. Now we see this in what is said in 00:34:46.099 --> 00:34:49.219 the beginning of Romans 8. There is therefore 00:34:49.219 --> 00:34:53.840 now no condemnation for those who are in Christ 00:34:53.840 --> 00:35:00.059 Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ 00:35:00.059 --> 00:35:05.760 Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and 00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:08.519 death. Do you notice two laws there in verse 00:35:08.519 --> 00:35:13.480 2? These laws are not like the Ten Commandments. 00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:16.099 That's not the meaning of the word law in this 00:35:16.099 --> 00:35:20.960 context. Here the word law is used in the sense 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:24.860 of a principle that regulates. It's like the 00:35:24.860 --> 00:35:30.039 law of gravity. That's not written down in a 00:35:30.039 --> 00:35:33.179 law book anywhere. It is a principle that regulates 00:35:33.179 --> 00:35:35.960 the way that we live in the world by holding 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:41.559 us down. I have decided that I... I am not overweight. 00:35:42.780 --> 00:35:48.800 What I have is a sense of gravity that is overexercised 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:52.800 so that when I get on the scales, it pulls down 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:57.940 harder than it really should. Maybe that's your 00:35:57.940 --> 00:36:02.019 problem, too. You see, gravity is a principle. 00:36:02.179 --> 00:36:06.019 Whatever we do, we're affected by it. It regulates 00:36:06.019 --> 00:36:10.469 us in this life. Now, in the similar kind of 00:36:10.469 --> 00:36:13.429 sense, when he uses the word law in verse 2, 00:36:13.550 --> 00:36:15.949 he's talking about a regulating principle. He's 00:36:15.949 --> 00:36:20.889 saying that before we were saved, we were controlled 00:36:20.889 --> 00:36:24.570 by the regulating principle of sin and death. 00:36:25.929 --> 00:36:31.150 It operated within us. It dominated us. That's 00:36:31.150 --> 00:36:34.150 all the principle we had. There was no other 00:36:34.150 --> 00:36:40.179 regulation in our lives. That was it. But now 00:36:40.179 --> 00:36:43.760 the Holy Spirit has brought to us a brand new 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:50.760 principle, a brand new regulation, and it is 00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:53.760 what he calls here the law of the spirit of life 00:36:53.760 --> 00:37:00.159 in Christ Jesus. This new regulating principle 00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:08.030 is able to overcome the old one. I can still 00:37:08.030 --> 00:37:10.989 live according to that principle of sin and death. 00:37:12.510 --> 00:37:14.670 But what he's telling me here is that when the 00:37:14.670 --> 00:37:16.869 Holy Spirit came into me, he brought a brand 00:37:16.869 --> 00:37:20.690 new principle that can control my life. It's 00:37:20.690 --> 00:37:23.210 the principle of the spirit of life in Christ 00:37:23.210 --> 00:37:28.250 Jesus. And that new principle is able to override 00:37:28.250 --> 00:37:32.570 the old so that I will obey God and live out 00:37:32.570 --> 00:37:36.050 righteousness rather than obey sin and death. 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:39.739 We can illustrate it perhaps going back to gravity 00:37:39.739 --> 00:37:44.059 again, using that as the old law, the gravity 00:37:44.059 --> 00:37:49.199 that holds us down. If the law of gravity were 00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:52.079 the only one that we had, we could never operate 00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:55.659 an airplane because we could never get it off 00:37:55.659 --> 00:37:57.820 the ground. In fact, I'm still amazed they get 00:37:57.820 --> 00:38:01.320 those things off the ground. But they do. Now, 00:38:01.380 --> 00:38:05.239 why is that? Because, you see, they discovered 00:38:05.239 --> 00:38:10.739 somewhere back there. Another law, another regulating 00:38:10.739 --> 00:38:14.880 principle besides gravity, it's called aerodynamics. 00:38:16.340 --> 00:38:18.780 Now it would take an engineer like some of you 00:38:18.780 --> 00:38:21.940 to explain how that works. I'll leave that to 00:38:21.940 --> 00:38:25.519 you. But all of us are familiar with the fact 00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:30.059 that the law of aerodynamics works. And it is 00:38:30.059 --> 00:38:34.099 able to overcome the law of gravity. so that 00:38:34.099 --> 00:38:37.300 an airplane can take off the runway and fly through 00:38:37.300 --> 00:38:40.480 the air to its destination, where it again uses 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:43.440 the law of gravity to lower itself to the ground 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:47.940 and let the people up. So you see, there is an 00:38:47.940 --> 00:38:51.860 example of one regulating principle that is overridden 00:38:51.860 --> 00:38:56.639 by another to accomplish a certain purpose. The 00:38:56.639 --> 00:38:59.099 Holy Spirit brought a new regulating principle 00:38:59.099 --> 00:39:02.940 into your life. It is the principle of life. 00:39:03.480 --> 00:39:09.360 And that new regulating principle is able to 00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:12.460 override the law of sin and death, which is still 00:39:12.460 --> 00:39:16.900 trying to work its way in you. And through that 00:39:16.900 --> 00:39:21.860 new regulating principle, as verse 4 says, the 00:39:21.860 --> 00:39:25.059 requirement of the law is fulfilled in you. In 00:39:25.059 --> 00:39:27.760 other words, the righteous demands of the law. 00:39:29.099 --> 00:39:35.119 The life of obedience. the life that reflects 00:39:35.119 --> 00:39:40.420 what God is in His righteousness, that is able 00:39:40.420 --> 00:39:43.980 to be experienced in your life because of the 00:39:43.980 --> 00:39:47.000 new regulating principle that the Spirit of God 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:50.480 has brought. That's why He says what He does 00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:56.219 in verse 13. If you are living according to the 00:39:56.219 --> 00:40:01.280 flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you 00:40:01.280 --> 00:40:05.300 are putting to death, the deeds of the body, 00:40:05.400 --> 00:40:09.519 you will live. Notice that he talks there about 00:40:09.519 --> 00:40:12.699 putting to death the deeds of the body. We're 00:40:12.699 --> 00:40:15.840 going to talk about that again next week. But 00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:18.500 he says that you and I cannot deal with the expressions 00:40:18.500 --> 00:40:24.179 of sin in our bodies apart from the Holy Spirit. 00:40:24.300 --> 00:40:28.619 He says it is by the Spirit that you put to death 00:40:28.619 --> 00:40:31.880 the deeds of the body. not by the strength of 00:40:31.880 --> 00:40:36.900 your own resolve. You'll never make it. But it's 00:40:36.900 --> 00:40:41.320 by learning how to release the Spirit of God 00:40:41.320 --> 00:40:44.320 in your life so that this new regulating principle 00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:52.980 overrides the law of sin and death and the deeds 00:40:52.980 --> 00:40:58.500 of the body are put to death. It's by the Spirit. 00:40:59.369 --> 00:41:03.690 My friend, the thing that is important for us 00:41:03.690 --> 00:41:06.050 to concentrate on as we close the service is 00:41:06.050 --> 00:41:11.309 this. How free is the Holy Spirit to teach me 00:41:11.309 --> 00:41:16.409 these things? If He is in me to show me these 00:41:16.409 --> 00:41:20.349 things that God has freely given me, how free 00:41:20.349 --> 00:41:25.289 is the Spirit of God to teach me? You see, He 00:41:25.289 --> 00:41:27.550 can never teach me if I'm never in the Bible. 00:41:28.300 --> 00:41:30.559 If I'm not reading it and meditating upon it. 00:41:31.159 --> 00:41:33.940 He can't teach me because this is the instruction 00:41:33.940 --> 00:41:38.579 book. So how much time do you spend in the Word? 00:41:39.860 --> 00:41:42.980 Not as some rule, not as some legalistic thing 00:41:42.980 --> 00:41:45.440 you have to follow, but how much time do you 00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:47.880 spend in the Word allowing the Spirit who is 00:41:47.880 --> 00:41:53.280 in you to teach you the things of God? And the 00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:57.940 second question is, is the Holy Spirit... Free 00:41:57.940 --> 00:42:01.059 to teach you. Because you see, it's possible 00:42:01.059 --> 00:42:04.260 for us to grieve the Holy Spirit, as we saw last 00:42:04.260 --> 00:42:09.380 week, and it's possible also to quench the Holy 00:42:09.380 --> 00:42:16.099 Spirit, to put Him down, to squelch Him by disobedience 00:42:16.099 --> 00:42:20.280 in our lives. Perhaps the most important question 00:42:20.280 --> 00:42:22.659 that confronts us today in light of the message 00:42:22.659 --> 00:42:27.699 is, what is my relationship right now? To the 00:42:27.699 --> 00:42:33.880 Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit squelched and 00:42:33.880 --> 00:42:37.300 quenched and put down in my life? Or am I saying 00:42:37.300 --> 00:42:39.380 to the Spirit of God, I want you to teach me. 00:42:39.639 --> 00:42:42.340 I want you to show me these things. I want to 00:42:42.340 --> 00:42:46.579 yield myself to you. Spirit of God, my teacher 00:42:46.579 --> 00:42:50.760 be, showing the things of Christ to me. You see, 00:42:50.800 --> 00:42:54.019 that's the attitude that's needed if we're going 00:42:54.019 --> 00:42:56.300 to know the freedom that God has provided for 00:42:56.300 --> 00:43:02.949 us. Let's pray. With our heads bowed, our eyes 00:43:02.949 --> 00:43:05.230 shut, and as the Spirit of God does His work, 00:43:05.269 --> 00:43:10.329 in part, and as to bring awareness to us of our 00:43:10.329 --> 00:43:14.550 spiritual condition, I wonder if He's not whispering 00:43:14.550 --> 00:43:19.409 in some ears here this morning, My child, I love 00:43:19.409 --> 00:43:26.980 you, but oh, how you're hurting me. in the way 00:43:26.980 --> 00:43:34.840 you're living. The way you ignore me. The way 00:43:34.840 --> 00:43:38.599 that you let sin just roll over you, have its 00:43:38.599 --> 00:43:42.519 way in your life. The way you turn me off when 00:43:42.519 --> 00:43:46.260 I try to speak to you. My child, I'm grieved 00:43:46.260 --> 00:43:53.300 today. My friend, if that's you, will you right 00:43:53.300 --> 00:43:57.920 now say to the Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, I 00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:03.619 love you. And because I love you, I submit myself 00:44:03.619 --> 00:44:08.639 to you. I acknowledge my sins. I acknowledge 00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:16.199 my independent, selfish way of living. And I 00:44:16.199 --> 00:44:23.000 give you myself right now. Be my teacher. Oh, 00:44:23.079 --> 00:44:28.940 Lord, I pray that in my own life, And I ask that 00:44:28.940 --> 00:44:32.019 it will be the real prayer, the real desire of 00:44:32.019 --> 00:44:38.860 every one of your children here. Spirit of God, 00:44:39.000 --> 00:44:45.280 descend upon our hearts and show to us the things 00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:49.179 of Christ, the things that are freely given to 00:44:49.179 --> 00:44:55.219 us by the Father. Show to us how we can experience 00:44:57.199 --> 00:45:01.900 the freedom from fleshly living that you have 00:45:01.900 --> 00:45:06.019 provided so graciously for us in our identification 00:45:06.019 --> 00:45:07.239 with the Lord Jesus.