1 00:00:12,745 --> 00:00:14,285 Romans 8. 2 00:00:14,285 --> 00:00:17,715 And I'm sure if you are familiar at all 3 00:00:17,715 --> 00:00:18,862 with your Bibles, 4 00:00:18,862 --> 00:00:22,750 you have read the verse that I want to look at. 5 00:00:22,750 --> 00:00:23,930 You're familiar with it. 6 00:00:23,930 --> 00:00:25,276 You know it. 7 00:00:25,276 --> 00:00:29,506 Verse 13. 8 00:00:29,506 --> 00:00:32,238 "For if you live according to the flesh, 9 00:00:32,238 --> 00:00:37,903 you will die." 10 00:00:37,903 --> 00:00:41,049 Now, just right there, 11 00:00:41,049 --> 00:00:42,686 think about what the flesh is. 12 00:00:42,686 --> 00:00:44,437 If you look back up in v. 7, 13 00:00:44,437 --> 00:00:47,354 you see some interesting things about the flesh. 14 00:00:47,354 --> 00:00:48,592 You guys know, 15 00:00:48,592 --> 00:00:51,629 Romans 8 is basically this comparison. 16 00:00:51,629 --> 00:00:53,406 What you have is the comparison 17 00:00:53,406 --> 00:00:55,027 of the life lived in the flesh 18 00:00:55,027 --> 00:00:57,761 and the life lived in the what? 19 00:00:57,761 --> 00:00:58,972 Spirit. 20 00:00:58,972 --> 00:01:01,183 So you have true Christianity 21 00:01:01,183 --> 00:01:03,495 against that which is not Christianity. 22 00:01:03,495 --> 00:01:05,496 That's the comparison back and forth. 23 00:01:05,496 --> 00:01:07,602 As you read through the chapter, 24 00:01:07,602 --> 00:01:09,010 you can see that. 25 00:01:09,010 --> 00:01:13,379 Paul is constrasting very specifically 26 00:01:13,379 --> 00:01:15,281 those in the flesh, those in the Spirit. 27 00:01:15,281 --> 00:01:18,283 Those with the mind on the flesh. 28 00:01:18,283 --> 00:01:20,210 Those with the mind on the Spirit. 29 00:01:20,210 --> 00:01:22,330 Back and forth it goes. 30 00:01:22,330 --> 00:01:25,562 A quick look at v. 7, and you see 31 00:01:25,562 --> 00:01:28,504 what is very characteristic 32 00:01:28,504 --> 00:01:30,263 of those in the flesh: 33 00:01:30,263 --> 00:01:32,986 They're at enmity, depending on the translation you have. 34 00:01:32,986 --> 00:01:33,862 Enmity. 35 00:01:33,862 --> 00:01:35,662 They are hostile to God. 36 00:01:35,662 --> 00:01:39,758 And they not only don't keep His commandments 37 00:01:39,758 --> 00:01:40,986 and do His Word, 38 00:01:40,986 --> 00:01:44,317 the Scripture there says they can't. 39 00:01:44,317 --> 00:01:49,301 Okay, when you come to v. 13, 40 00:01:49,301 --> 00:01:52,057 we've got the people in the flesh. 41 00:01:52,057 --> 00:01:54,412 They die. 42 00:01:54,412 --> 00:01:59,886 So listen, if this basically characterizes your life, 43 00:01:59,886 --> 00:02:02,144 that you do your own thing - 44 00:02:02,144 --> 00:02:05,390 that's what you need to see about v. 7 back up there 45 00:02:05,390 --> 00:02:08,669 is living in the flesh is not just 46 00:02:08,669 --> 00:02:10,105 you go off to the saloon, 47 00:02:10,105 --> 00:02:11,260 hang out in the bars, 48 00:02:11,260 --> 00:02:14,890 and you're involved in the wild parties all the time. 49 00:02:14,890 --> 00:02:19,964 Living in the flesh is just simply this: 50 00:02:19,964 --> 00:02:23,382 you're not going to have God tell you what to do. 51 00:02:23,382 --> 00:02:25,220 I mean, that's it. 52 00:02:25,220 --> 00:02:26,637 That's what you see in v. 7. 53 00:02:26,637 --> 00:02:29,346 That's characteristic of those who live in the flesh. 54 00:02:29,346 --> 00:02:32,625 V. 13, "if you live according to the flesh, you will die." 55 00:02:32,625 --> 00:02:35,304 Lay it down. 56 00:02:35,304 --> 00:02:39,354 He's not opening this up for debate. 57 00:02:39,354 --> 00:02:43,003 It's a straight deal here, folks. 58 00:02:43,003 --> 00:02:45,328 If you live according to the flesh, you die. 59 00:02:45,328 --> 00:02:47,450 Basically, if your life is characterized 60 00:02:47,450 --> 00:02:49,111 by doing what you want to do 61 00:02:49,111 --> 00:02:50,498 and not really having regard 62 00:02:50,498 --> 00:02:51,956 for what God wants you to do, 63 00:02:51,956 --> 00:02:56,073 all you really have to do to live in the flesh, folks, 64 00:02:56,073 --> 00:02:58,181 you can be moral. 65 00:02:58,181 --> 00:02:59,654 You don't have to be wild. 66 00:02:59,654 --> 00:03:03,305 You don't have to be out of control. 67 00:03:03,305 --> 00:03:07,173 Just say I'm going to do things my way 68 00:03:07,173 --> 00:03:10,540 and you're going to die. 69 00:03:10,540 --> 00:03:16,032 Okay, but if you, by the Spirit - 70 00:03:16,032 --> 00:03:18,161 "if by the Spirit, you put to death 71 00:03:18,161 --> 00:03:21,787 the deeds of the body, you will live." 72 00:03:21,787 --> 00:03:26,073 Let me tell you something about the life in Christ. 73 00:03:26,073 --> 00:03:32,842 This is probably the greatest external characteristic 74 00:03:32,842 --> 00:03:35,141 of true Christianity in all the Bible. 75 00:03:35,141 --> 00:03:37,792 You think about it. You go to 1 John, what do you find? 76 00:03:37,792 --> 00:03:40,051 You find: if you say you know Him 77 00:03:40,051 --> 00:03:41,823 and you don't keep His commandments, 78 00:03:41,823 --> 00:03:44,191 what's true about you? 79 00:03:44,191 --> 00:03:45,597 You're a liar. 80 00:03:45,597 --> 00:03:47,396 The truth isn't in you. 81 00:03:47,396 --> 00:03:50,678 I mean, what you have right here is this, folks: 82 00:03:50,678 --> 00:03:53,703 live the way you want to live, you die. 83 00:03:53,703 --> 00:03:56,784 Live the way God wants you to live, 84 00:03:56,784 --> 00:03:59,664 and you live. 85 00:03:59,664 --> 00:04:01,156 Now, just for the sake of it, 86 00:04:01,156 --> 00:04:02,940 since we're right here, I think it's important 87 00:04:02,940 --> 00:04:04,850 that we probably go to the next verse, 88 00:04:04,850 --> 00:04:07,328 lest we have some kind of misunderstanding. 89 00:04:07,328 --> 00:04:09,797 You know, if we just had v. 13 all by itself, 90 00:04:09,797 --> 00:04:12,546 it would almost seem to say what? 91 00:04:12,546 --> 00:04:14,220 You almost have this idea 92 00:04:14,220 --> 00:04:17,193 that if you put to death the deeds of the body, 93 00:04:17,193 --> 00:04:19,605 what happens? 94 00:04:19,605 --> 00:04:21,006 You get eternal life. 95 00:04:21,006 --> 00:04:23,272 It almost sounds like you work it out, right? 96 00:04:23,272 --> 00:04:25,036 Well, Paul realizes that it has 97 00:04:25,036 --> 00:04:28,142 that sound to it, so when he goes to v. 14, 98 00:04:28,142 --> 00:04:30,219 he immediately clarifies himself. 99 00:04:30,219 --> 00:04:32,555 And you see, v. 14 in your Bibles 100 00:04:32,555 --> 00:04:34,934 starts with "for." 101 00:04:34,934 --> 00:04:37,700 Or if you have an NIV, it starts with "because." 102 00:04:37,700 --> 00:04:40,542 It's because he's going to explain. 103 00:04:40,542 --> 00:04:42,465 He's not moving on to a new subject. 104 00:04:42,465 --> 00:04:45,230 He is just going to go in v. 14 105 00:04:45,230 --> 00:04:48,347 to go a little deeper into what he was saying. 106 00:04:48,347 --> 00:04:51,121 "For all who are led..." 107 00:04:51,121 --> 00:04:53,633 All who are thus led by the Spirit. 108 00:04:53,633 --> 00:04:56,702 To do what? To put to death the deeds of the body. 109 00:04:56,702 --> 00:04:59,470 "All who are thus led by the Spirit of God 110 00:04:59,470 --> 00:05:01,841 are sons of God." 111 00:05:01,841 --> 00:05:03,703 Now look, this is what he's saying. 112 00:05:03,703 --> 00:05:09,606 He's saying if you put to death sin, you will live. 113 00:05:09,606 --> 00:05:11,743 Now you don't live because you put to death 114 00:05:11,743 --> 00:05:12,946 the deeds of the body. 115 00:05:12,946 --> 00:05:15,248 You live because you're a child of God. 116 00:05:15,248 --> 00:05:16,535 You've been born again. 117 00:05:16,535 --> 00:05:18,212 That's what he's saying there. 118 00:05:18,212 --> 00:05:23,764 The whole point is 119 00:05:23,764 --> 00:05:27,912 this is an evidence, not a cause. 120 00:05:27,912 --> 00:05:29,866 It's an evidence of those 121 00:05:29,866 --> 00:05:32,420 who have eternal life. 122 00:05:32,420 --> 00:05:34,793 Now look, we can say this about anybody. 123 00:05:34,793 --> 00:05:36,349 Anybody comes to this church, 124 00:05:36,349 --> 00:05:38,110 anybody a member of this church, 125 00:05:38,110 --> 00:05:41,786 anybody that we deal with out in this community here, 126 00:05:41,786 --> 00:05:43,644 we know this, if we come across them 127 00:05:43,644 --> 00:05:45,618 and they tell us they're Christians, 128 00:05:45,618 --> 00:05:48,362 this better characterize their life 129 00:05:48,362 --> 00:05:50,995 because Paul says you live. 130 00:05:50,995 --> 00:05:54,245 John says you're a child of God 131 00:05:54,245 --> 00:05:57,960 if you give this characteristic evidence 132 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,615 that it is common in your life. 133 00:06:00,615 --> 00:06:02,700 It is the general characteristic. 134 00:06:02,700 --> 00:06:04,851 It is the general run of your life 135 00:06:04,851 --> 00:06:07,288 that you kill sin. 136 00:06:07,288 --> 00:06:09,104 Listen, you cannot say - 137 00:06:09,104 --> 00:06:10,889 how many times have you heard this? 138 00:06:10,889 --> 00:06:12,365 We get this in our church. 139 00:06:12,365 --> 00:06:14,234 You guys have probably heard it here. 140 00:06:14,234 --> 00:06:16,781 Well, you know, I was a teenager 141 00:06:16,781 --> 00:06:21,180 and I professed Christ back when I was 14, 142 00:06:21,180 --> 00:06:23,725 but you know I ran off into all this kind of sin, 143 00:06:23,725 --> 00:06:25,522 but I know I was a Christian. 144 00:06:25,522 --> 00:06:26,991 Now, wait a second. 145 00:06:26,991 --> 00:06:28,770 How do you know you were a Christian? 146 00:06:28,770 --> 00:06:29,896 Well, I just know. 147 00:06:29,896 --> 00:06:33,202 Or I had this experience or I did this. 148 00:06:33,202 --> 00:06:34,679 Now listen, 149 00:06:34,679 --> 00:06:40,051 this is not a call to Christian perfection 150 00:06:40,051 --> 00:06:42,124 by any stretch of the imagination. 151 00:06:42,124 --> 00:06:44,081 This doesn't have anything to do 152 00:06:44,081 --> 00:06:45,759 with living day after day 153 00:06:45,759 --> 00:06:47,723 with absolutely no sin in your life. 154 00:06:47,723 --> 00:06:49,798 But what this is is characteristic. 155 00:06:49,798 --> 00:06:51,815 This is definitely a pattern, folks. 156 00:06:51,815 --> 00:06:53,667 And I can look at anybody 157 00:06:53,667 --> 00:06:55,832 and I can make a general assessment 158 00:06:55,832 --> 00:06:58,290 about their life based on this text. 159 00:06:58,290 --> 00:07:00,348 I mean, Paul lays it down here. 160 00:07:00,348 --> 00:07:06,396 There is a vital connection between 161 00:07:06,396 --> 00:07:11,604 putting to death sin and life. 162 00:07:11,604 --> 00:07:14,256 I'm telling you, every single person in heaven 163 00:07:14,256 --> 00:07:16,552 has lived this life 164 00:07:16,552 --> 00:07:21,721 of putting to death deeds of the body. 165 00:07:21,721 --> 00:07:22,837 Now that's interesting. 166 00:07:22,837 --> 00:07:24,774 Obviously, he doesn't mean every deed of the body. 167 00:07:24,774 --> 00:07:27,053 He doesn't mean using your hand to help a widow. 168 00:07:27,053 --> 00:07:28,796 Obviously, he doesn't mean that. 169 00:07:28,796 --> 00:07:35,791 It's plain that what we have spoken about here 170 00:07:35,791 --> 00:07:37,552 is using the body, 171 00:07:37,552 --> 00:07:39,712 using facial expressions, 172 00:07:39,712 --> 00:07:42,187 using the tones of the voice, 173 00:07:42,187 --> 00:07:44,237 using sexual organs, 174 00:07:44,237 --> 00:07:46,099 using hands, using feet, 175 00:07:46,099 --> 00:07:48,271 using the body overall 176 00:07:48,271 --> 00:07:52,106 to carry out deeds of wickedness. 177 00:07:52,106 --> 00:07:54,971 We are to live a life of doing good. 178 00:07:54,971 --> 00:07:56,372 Have you guys ever read that? 179 00:07:56,372 --> 00:07:58,758 I mean, you go to 2 John, you know what you have? 180 00:07:58,758 --> 00:08:00,160 John can say this: 181 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:02,857 Look, we know children of God. 182 00:08:02,857 --> 00:08:04,304 We know those who are saved. 183 00:08:04,304 --> 00:08:05,842 And you know what he says there? 184 00:08:05,842 --> 00:08:07,311 They do good. 185 00:08:07,311 --> 00:08:09,100 2 John. You read that sometime. 186 00:08:09,100 --> 00:08:12,511 He basically says we can know 187 00:08:12,511 --> 00:08:14,473 the saved from the lost. 188 00:08:14,473 --> 00:08:15,713 The saved do good. 189 00:08:15,713 --> 00:08:18,044 These people over here don't do good. 190 00:08:18,044 --> 00:08:20,204 This idea that Christians do good 191 00:08:20,204 --> 00:08:22,711 is a very biblical idea. 192 00:08:22,711 --> 00:08:28,414 You see, being saved is just about 193 00:08:28,414 --> 00:08:30,091 being saved from sin 194 00:08:30,091 --> 00:08:32,183 in its practice right here 195 00:08:32,183 --> 00:08:34,693 as much as being saved from its guilt, 196 00:08:34,693 --> 00:08:37,203 as much as being saved from the wrath of God. 197 00:08:37,203 --> 00:08:40,201 We are saved from the power of sin. 198 00:08:40,201 --> 00:08:42,248 All we have to do is go back to chapter 6 199 00:08:42,248 --> 00:08:43,755 and you read in v. 14, 200 00:08:43,755 --> 00:08:45,876 "Sin will not have dominion over you." 201 00:08:45,876 --> 00:08:48,541 Folks, this is the working out of that. 202 00:08:48,541 --> 00:08:51,407 Sin will not dominate your life 203 00:08:51,407 --> 00:08:52,988 if you're a Christian. 204 00:08:52,988 --> 00:08:54,191 That's what that says. 205 00:08:54,191 --> 00:08:58,844 V. 13 of chapter 8 - you cannot make it say anything else. 206 00:08:58,844 --> 00:09:00,778 Purity of life. 207 00:09:00,778 --> 00:09:05,581 You as a Christian have been led by Christ 208 00:09:05,581 --> 00:09:06,834 through His Spirit 209 00:09:06,834 --> 00:09:08,767 to do battle with sin. 210 00:09:08,767 --> 00:09:11,107 If that is not characteristic of your life, 211 00:09:11,107 --> 00:09:15,008 then your life is not characteristic of the Christian life. 212 00:09:15,008 --> 00:09:17,875 Now look, here's the thing. 213 00:09:17,875 --> 00:09:23,508 Okay, we've got to do this. We've got to kill sin. 214 00:09:23,508 --> 00:09:24,577 You know what? 215 00:09:24,577 --> 00:09:28,545 As I've really thought about this, I realize this: 216 00:09:28,545 --> 00:09:33,054 deeds of the body come from somewhere. 217 00:09:33,054 --> 00:09:35,888 So, it definitely is to our great advantage 218 00:09:35,888 --> 00:09:37,862 to figure out where they come from, 219 00:09:37,862 --> 00:09:39,534 because if you want to attack this thing; 220 00:09:39,534 --> 00:09:40,855 if you're going to do battle, 221 00:09:40,855 --> 00:09:42,876 we need to go to the root of the problem. 222 00:09:42,876 --> 00:09:45,622 And if you go back to chapter 6:12, 223 00:09:45,622 --> 00:09:49,075 you'll see exactly the root; 224 00:09:49,075 --> 00:10:01,154 exactly where these deeds come from. 225 00:10:01,154 --> 00:10:03,999 Romans 6:12, 226 00:10:03,999 --> 00:10:08,684 "Let not sin therefore reign 227 00:10:08,684 --> 00:10:10,152 in your mortal bodies..." 228 00:10:10,152 --> 00:10:12,862 Okay, see, right there you've got the mortal bodies. 229 00:10:12,862 --> 00:10:15,094 Now remember what we have to put to death. 230 00:10:15,094 --> 00:10:17,857 We have to put to death these deeds of the body. 231 00:10:17,857 --> 00:10:19,685 Right here you have the mortal body. 232 00:10:19,685 --> 00:10:24,582 Sin is seeking to reign in the mortal body 233 00:10:24,582 --> 00:10:28,911 to make you it obey, there, the body's passions. 234 00:10:28,911 --> 00:10:30,636 Now that's interesting. 235 00:10:30,636 --> 00:10:32,222 Here's what you've got. 236 00:10:32,222 --> 00:10:36,229 Sin is not plural here. It is singular. 237 00:10:36,229 --> 00:10:39,823 Which means it's not speaking about sins 238 00:10:39,823 --> 00:10:42,125 as in individual sins. 239 00:10:42,125 --> 00:10:45,381 It's speaking about sin as a power. 240 00:10:45,381 --> 00:10:47,344 Sin as a force. 241 00:10:47,344 --> 00:10:51,984 Sin as an evil force seeks to dominate. 242 00:10:51,984 --> 00:10:53,567 It seeks to rule. 243 00:10:53,567 --> 00:11:00,251 It seeks to reign in your body by what? 244 00:11:00,251 --> 00:11:06,606 By making you obey your body's passions. 245 00:11:06,606 --> 00:11:09,695 You see that? 246 00:11:09,695 --> 00:11:12,841 Is that plain? Did I just make that up? 247 00:11:12,841 --> 00:11:14,298 That's there right? 248 00:11:14,298 --> 00:11:15,450 You guys see that. 249 00:11:15,450 --> 00:11:18,889 Well, what's key about that? 250 00:11:18,889 --> 00:11:20,099 Well, here's the thing, 251 00:11:20,099 --> 00:11:22,023 if I'm saved 252 00:11:22,023 --> 00:11:24,087 and the Spirit of God leads me, 253 00:11:24,087 --> 00:11:28,937 and listen, we do it by the Spirit. 254 00:11:28,937 --> 00:11:31,206 But we do it. 255 00:11:31,206 --> 00:11:34,395 This idea of putting to death deeds of the body - 256 00:11:34,395 --> 00:11:40,070 if you by the Spirit put to death 257 00:11:40,070 --> 00:11:42,650 deeds of the body, you will live. 258 00:11:42,650 --> 00:11:44,654 This isn't a kind of hyper-Calvinism. 259 00:11:44,654 --> 00:11:46,024 You know, we sit back 260 00:11:46,024 --> 00:11:48,174 and the Spirit of God's just going to purify me. 261 00:11:48,174 --> 00:11:49,994 You remember, the Scripture tells us 262 00:11:49,994 --> 00:11:52,558 to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. 263 00:11:52,558 --> 00:11:54,756 There's a battle here, folks, and we fight it. 264 00:11:54,756 --> 00:11:57,135 We do it. Yes, we do it in the power of the Spirit. 265 00:11:57,135 --> 00:11:58,917 You can't do it outside of the Spirit. 266 00:11:58,917 --> 00:12:00,722 You can't do it outside of Christ. 267 00:12:00,722 --> 00:12:04,439 But in Christ, that which is impossible otherwise 268 00:12:04,439 --> 00:12:06,303 by nature when you're in the flesh 269 00:12:06,303 --> 00:12:07,766 is very possible. 270 00:12:07,766 --> 00:12:10,635 In fact, so possible that if you have life, 271 00:12:10,635 --> 00:12:12,973 you will put these things to death. 272 00:12:12,973 --> 00:12:15,827 And what you put to death is this: 273 00:12:15,827 --> 00:12:20,618 Sin seeking to rule in your bodies. 274 00:12:20,618 --> 00:12:30,189 Seeking to dominate by making you obey 275 00:12:30,189 --> 00:12:33,556 the passions of this body. 276 00:12:33,556 --> 00:12:35,817 Now listen, as I began to think about that, 277 00:12:35,817 --> 00:12:39,970 I thought, yeah, that's exactly what happens. 278 00:12:39,970 --> 00:12:45,319 I mean, think about when you sin. 279 00:12:45,319 --> 00:12:47,547 Think about the whole chemistry here. 280 00:12:47,547 --> 00:12:50,804 If you begin to dissect this thing, 281 00:12:50,804 --> 00:12:53,655 and you begin to pull it apart piece by piece, 282 00:12:53,655 --> 00:12:55,418 what happens? 283 00:12:55,418 --> 00:12:56,957 I sin. 284 00:12:56,957 --> 00:12:58,674 I use my mouth. 285 00:12:58,674 --> 00:13:00,721 I use my eyes. 286 00:13:00,721 --> 00:13:02,914 I use my hands 287 00:13:02,914 --> 00:13:06,167 in a way that I shouldn't use them. 288 00:13:06,167 --> 00:13:08,406 And I sin. 289 00:13:08,406 --> 00:13:10,072 When I do what? 290 00:13:10,072 --> 00:13:18,019 When I try to gratify some desire. 291 00:13:18,019 --> 00:13:20,196 That's what drives us to sin. 292 00:13:20,196 --> 00:13:22,885 But how? 293 00:13:22,885 --> 00:13:25,181 And you know, as I began to contemplate 294 00:13:25,181 --> 00:13:27,596 both of these things 295 00:13:27,596 --> 00:13:32,856 and just mulling these things over in my head, 296 00:13:32,856 --> 00:13:35,896 I'm thinking okay, 297 00:13:35,896 --> 00:13:38,712 well, let's just look at desires. 298 00:13:38,712 --> 00:13:41,021 So I looked through the entire New Testament. 299 00:13:41,021 --> 00:13:42,753 Everywhere that word came up. 300 00:13:42,753 --> 00:13:44,776 And I'm trying to focus in on that 301 00:13:44,776 --> 00:13:46,527 and trying to find out about the character 302 00:13:46,527 --> 00:13:47,381 of these desires. 303 00:13:47,381 --> 00:13:49,945 And then also sin - not sins plural, 304 00:13:49,945 --> 00:13:51,191 but sin as a power. 305 00:13:51,191 --> 00:13:53,722 Let's look at that and go all the way through the New Testament 306 00:13:53,722 --> 00:13:54,867 and examine that, 307 00:13:54,867 --> 00:13:56,888 and even some places in the Old Testament. 308 00:13:56,888 --> 00:13:58,986 And what's very interesting is this, 309 00:13:58,986 --> 00:14:18,092 turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 4:22. 310 00:14:18,092 --> 00:14:23,552 "Put off your old self..." 311 00:14:23,552 --> 00:14:26,959 I'm reading from the ESV. 312 00:14:26,959 --> 00:14:29,248 But you guys can kind of catch the drift here. 313 00:14:29,248 --> 00:14:31,757 Ephesians 4:22 if you've got a different translation. 314 00:14:31,757 --> 00:14:34,169 "Put off your old self 315 00:14:34,169 --> 00:14:37,628 which belongs to your former manner of life 316 00:14:37,628 --> 00:14:42,586 and is corrupt through deceitful desires." 317 00:14:42,586 --> 00:14:44,346 You see that right there? 318 00:14:44,346 --> 00:14:45,946 The word desires there - 319 00:14:45,946 --> 00:14:50,076 exact same one you've got back in Romans 6:12. 320 00:14:50,076 --> 00:14:52,308 Notice what it calls it: 321 00:14:52,308 --> 00:14:54,590 deceitful. 322 00:14:54,590 --> 00:14:56,289 You know something very interesting 323 00:14:56,289 --> 00:14:59,011 about these desires that sin seeks 324 00:14:59,011 --> 00:15:02,534 to have us obey is they are deceitful desires. 325 00:15:02,534 --> 00:15:05,685 But you know, then as you begin to study 326 00:15:05,685 --> 00:15:08,185 and you begin to think about 327 00:15:08,185 --> 00:15:12,919 the reality of sin. 328 00:15:12,919 --> 00:15:17,196 Turn to Hebrews 3:13. 329 00:15:17,196 --> 00:15:20,415 I mean, basically, this is what we're confronted with 330 00:15:20,415 --> 00:15:21,614 when we sin. 331 00:15:21,614 --> 00:15:25,157 We have sin as a power 332 00:15:25,157 --> 00:15:26,804 who's an enemy in this, 333 00:15:26,804 --> 00:15:30,273 seeking to make us obey corrupt desires 334 00:15:30,273 --> 00:15:31,404 which is the enemy. 335 00:15:31,404 --> 00:15:33,316 Basically, there are two enemies here 336 00:15:33,316 --> 00:15:35,974 when it comes to my sin as a Christian. 337 00:15:35,974 --> 00:15:39,112 I've got sin as a power seeking to reign 338 00:15:39,112 --> 00:15:43,616 by making me obey sinful passions. 339 00:15:43,616 --> 00:15:46,642 And so I've got sin. I've got passions. 340 00:15:46,642 --> 00:15:48,767 If I can deal with those two dogs, 341 00:15:48,767 --> 00:15:51,406 I can nail this thing. 342 00:15:51,406 --> 00:15:54,031 Now, in 4:22 of Ephesians, 343 00:15:54,031 --> 00:15:55,605 what I wanted to show you 344 00:15:55,605 --> 00:16:00,324 is that these desires are called deceitful. 345 00:16:00,324 --> 00:16:02,100 Now what I want you to see right here 346 00:16:02,100 --> 00:16:05,291 in Hebrews, "Exhort one another every day 347 00:16:05,291 --> 00:16:06,851 as long as it is called today, 348 00:16:06,851 --> 00:16:09,284 that none of you may be hardened 349 00:16:09,284 --> 00:16:17,129 by the deceitfulness of sin." 350 00:16:17,129 --> 00:16:19,575 Listen! 351 00:16:19,575 --> 00:16:27,770 Sin's power to have sway in your life 352 00:16:27,770 --> 00:16:31,587 goes only so far in the fact that it has 353 00:16:31,587 --> 00:16:33,929 the ability to deceive you. 354 00:16:33,929 --> 00:16:36,054 What I want you guys to understand 355 00:16:36,054 --> 00:16:38,940 is if I'm to put to death 356 00:16:38,940 --> 00:16:40,471 deeds of the body, 357 00:16:40,471 --> 00:16:43,859 and they come from sin trying to reign 358 00:16:43,859 --> 00:16:46,358 in my body - the sin is deceitful, 359 00:16:46,358 --> 00:16:48,697 the desires are deceitful. 360 00:16:48,697 --> 00:16:50,802 Guess what that tells me? 361 00:16:50,802 --> 00:16:56,120 It tells me I sin when I do what? 362 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:01,144 When I believe a lie. 363 00:17:01,144 --> 00:17:05,386 You know how you put to death sin? 364 00:17:05,386 --> 00:17:07,199 When you stop believing the lie 365 00:17:07,199 --> 00:17:10,425 that you believe every time you do the sin. 366 00:17:10,425 --> 00:17:14,386 I'll guarantee you, 367 00:17:14,386 --> 00:17:19,411 those of you in this room that sin the most, 368 00:17:19,411 --> 00:17:22,926 are the most given to believe a lie. 369 00:17:22,926 --> 00:17:25,241 You're doing it because I'll tell you what, 370 00:17:25,241 --> 00:17:28,659 sin is stupid. It is asinine. 371 00:17:28,659 --> 00:17:30,254 Every time. 372 00:17:30,254 --> 00:17:31,535 It is destructive. 373 00:17:31,535 --> 00:17:32,868 It doesn't help you. 374 00:17:32,868 --> 00:17:34,287 It only separates. 375 00:17:34,287 --> 00:17:35,756 It only damages. 376 00:17:35,756 --> 00:17:38,847 It's only destructive. 377 00:17:38,847 --> 00:17:41,260 And why do you do it? 378 00:17:41,260 --> 00:17:45,148 Because you buy into some lie. 379 00:17:45,148 --> 00:17:47,535 You know what, we see it in our kids. 380 00:17:47,535 --> 00:17:49,267 We see it in the lost. 381 00:17:49,267 --> 00:17:51,981 We've got a young man 382 00:17:51,981 --> 00:17:53,677 who's a member of our church, 383 00:17:53,677 --> 00:17:59,251 and just traded Christ for a woman. 384 00:17:59,251 --> 00:18:01,627 Why? 385 00:18:01,627 --> 00:18:03,791 Was that wise? 386 00:18:03,791 --> 00:18:07,421 Was that to his eternal benefit? 387 00:18:07,421 --> 00:18:09,465 Is that going to be helpful to him? 388 00:18:09,465 --> 00:18:14,085 Is that going to make him happy down the road? 389 00:18:14,085 --> 00:18:16,719 You know it won't. 390 00:18:16,719 --> 00:18:19,687 But see, it's not as though he's some alien 391 00:18:19,687 --> 00:18:21,264 and that's foreign to us. 392 00:18:21,264 --> 00:18:24,289 We've walked that path, folks. 393 00:18:24,289 --> 00:18:26,039 We have chosen sin, 394 00:18:26,039 --> 00:18:27,938 and even now as a Christian, 395 00:18:27,938 --> 00:18:30,170 when you choose sin, 396 00:18:30,170 --> 00:18:33,757 you do so because just like that young man 397 00:18:33,757 --> 00:18:37,674 you believe a lie. 398 00:18:37,674 --> 00:18:40,632 Every single time. 399 00:18:40,632 --> 00:18:45,635 You sin only when you believe a lie. 400 00:18:45,635 --> 00:18:46,812 Your pride is a lie. 401 00:18:46,812 --> 00:18:48,576 Your unrighteous anger is a lie. 402 00:18:48,576 --> 00:18:51,053 Your materialism, obsession with comfort, 403 00:18:51,053 --> 00:18:53,390 your greed, your idolatry, 404 00:18:53,390 --> 00:18:56,197 your covetousness, lust, jealousy - 405 00:18:56,197 --> 00:18:58,714 all lies. 406 00:18:58,714 --> 00:19:01,079 Whenever you give into sin, 407 00:19:01,079 --> 00:19:02,765 mark it down, 408 00:19:02,765 --> 00:19:06,355 you have bought a lie. 409 00:19:06,355 --> 00:19:09,192 And if you'll really come to grips with this, 410 00:19:09,192 --> 00:19:11,704 it will help you. 411 00:19:11,704 --> 00:19:14,144 My brother, my sister, 412 00:19:14,144 --> 00:19:18,983 think about what lie you believe 413 00:19:18,983 --> 00:19:21,779 when you worry. 414 00:19:21,779 --> 00:19:23,705 What lie is it you've bought 415 00:19:23,705 --> 00:19:26,406 lock, stock, and barrel when you look with lust 416 00:19:26,406 --> 00:19:28,338 at a woman? 417 00:19:28,338 --> 00:19:31,743 What lie have you bought into when you interrupt others? 418 00:19:31,743 --> 00:19:34,384 Or feel superior? Or get angry? Or gossip? 419 00:19:34,384 --> 00:19:37,091 Or feel jealous? Or fight? 420 00:19:37,091 --> 00:19:41,255 Fight for comfort in this life? 421 00:19:41,255 --> 00:19:43,272 Or have to have your new toy? 422 00:19:43,272 --> 00:19:44,966 Count on it. There's a lie 423 00:19:44,966 --> 00:19:47,231 behind each one of these. 424 00:19:47,231 --> 00:19:49,219 Your struggle with sin 425 00:19:49,219 --> 00:19:50,706 is a struggle with lies. 426 00:19:50,706 --> 00:19:52,037 I guarantee you this. 427 00:19:52,037 --> 00:19:54,502 Those of you who sin most in this room, 428 00:19:54,502 --> 00:19:55,640 mark this down, 429 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,224 are the ones most given to believe 430 00:19:59,224 --> 00:20:00,313 what is not true. 431 00:20:00,313 --> 00:20:02,912 You're the most gullible. You're the most ignorant. 432 00:20:02,912 --> 00:20:07,414 And you are the most deceived. 433 00:20:07,414 --> 00:20:14,002 Now listen, 434 00:20:14,002 --> 00:20:19,576 I want to leave you guys with this thought. 435 00:20:19,576 --> 00:20:33,628 Because sometimes what happens is 436 00:20:33,628 --> 00:20:35,982 we have some difficulty 437 00:20:35,982 --> 00:20:40,267 getting a grasp on what that is. 438 00:20:40,267 --> 00:20:45,704 You can say, okay brother, I believe that. 439 00:20:45,704 --> 00:20:47,714 You've shown us. 440 00:20:47,714 --> 00:20:51,783 Sin, desires. They're deceitful. 441 00:20:51,783 --> 00:20:55,163 When I buy into them, I'm being deceived. 442 00:20:55,163 --> 00:20:57,245 You see, sometimes what's difficult though 443 00:20:57,245 --> 00:21:03,545 is figuring out what is the lie that I believe? 444 00:21:03,545 --> 00:21:06,796 Do you know one thing that I've seen? 445 00:21:06,796 --> 00:21:09,015 You know one thing that I've seen 446 00:21:09,015 --> 00:21:16,150 in Calvinistic circles, reformed circles? 447 00:21:16,150 --> 00:21:25,395 One lie that is so prevalent. 448 00:21:25,395 --> 00:21:27,056 And I'll guarantee you, the devil will 449 00:21:27,056 --> 00:21:30,256 have you believe this every time. 450 00:21:30,256 --> 00:21:35,743 It's the lie that I can't have victory. 451 00:21:35,743 --> 00:21:41,705 I am just doomed to perpetual failure. 452 00:21:41,705 --> 00:21:45,371 Listen, folks. 453 00:21:45,371 --> 00:21:47,907 You may come to that conclusion 454 00:21:47,907 --> 00:21:50,140 by some distorted hyper-Calvinism, 455 00:21:50,140 --> 00:21:52,249 but you will not come to that conclusion 456 00:21:52,249 --> 00:21:54,364 by the Word of God. 457 00:21:54,364 --> 00:21:57,715 In fact, the verse we just looked at in Romans 8:13 458 00:21:57,715 --> 00:22:00,020 tells me exactly otherwise. 459 00:22:00,020 --> 00:22:04,075 It tells me if the power of God is real in your life, 460 00:22:04,075 --> 00:22:06,015 if you're truly in Jesus Christ, 461 00:22:06,015 --> 00:22:07,547 you have His Spirit. 462 00:22:07,547 --> 00:22:09,845 If you have His Spirit, by that Spirit 463 00:22:09,845 --> 00:22:12,468 you will put these things to death. 464 00:22:12,468 --> 00:22:14,928 And one of the biggest lies that I have seen 465 00:22:14,928 --> 00:22:18,519 that Christians oftentimes fall into 466 00:22:18,519 --> 00:22:21,563 is this idea I am just wretched, 467 00:22:21,563 --> 00:22:22,905 I am just defeated, 468 00:22:22,905 --> 00:22:25,155 I just cannot have victory in this. 469 00:22:25,155 --> 00:22:27,354 I'll tell you what, you read Romans wrong 470 00:22:27,354 --> 00:22:29,009 if you're reading it that way. 471 00:22:29,009 --> 00:22:31,674 You look at Romans 6 472 00:22:31,674 --> 00:22:33,539 and you look at v. 14. 473 00:22:33,539 --> 00:22:35,295 Sin will not have dominion over you. 474 00:22:35,295 --> 00:22:36,757 You look at v. 17. 475 00:22:36,757 --> 00:22:38,781 It says God makes men and women 476 00:22:38,781 --> 00:22:41,441 obedient from the heart. 477 00:22:41,441 --> 00:22:45,523 Sin, if you are a Christian, we are told, 478 00:22:45,523 --> 00:22:49,387 you are dead to sin. 479 00:22:49,387 --> 00:22:52,474 Now, I'll tell you, those are strong expressions, 480 00:22:52,474 --> 00:22:54,263 but that does not just have to do 481 00:22:54,263 --> 00:22:57,047 with our justification before God. 482 00:22:57,047 --> 00:22:59,176 That has to do with the power of sin 483 00:22:59,176 --> 00:23:02,300 in a practical and demonstrable way in our lives. 484 00:23:02,300 --> 00:23:05,412 Folks, if you're not putting it to death, 485 00:23:05,412 --> 00:23:10,166 then you will die. 486 00:23:10,166 --> 00:23:14,331 Now listen, that's one of the great lies that's believed. 487 00:23:14,331 --> 00:23:17,382 But there's another one. 488 00:23:17,382 --> 00:23:20,657 I can remember as a young Christian. 489 00:23:20,657 --> 00:23:23,691 I can remember as I was reading through my Old Testament. 490 00:23:23,691 --> 00:23:25,678 I was raised in a Catholic home. 491 00:23:25,678 --> 00:23:28,325 I was not exposed to the truth of the Word. 492 00:23:28,325 --> 00:23:31,284 And so when was first saved, I didn't have a church. 493 00:23:31,284 --> 00:23:33,721 I was listening to John MacArthur on the radio. 494 00:23:33,721 --> 00:23:35,834 And I didn't have anybody mentoring me. 495 00:23:35,834 --> 00:23:37,380 I wasn't hooked in somewhere. 496 00:23:37,380 --> 00:23:40,544 As I'm reading through my Bible for the first time, 497 00:23:40,544 --> 00:23:42,470 this stuff is new. 498 00:23:42,470 --> 00:23:44,582 I read about David numbering the people 499 00:23:44,582 --> 00:23:46,899 and God came in and brought a plague. 500 00:23:46,899 --> 00:23:49,805 I read about one fellow reaching out 501 00:23:49,805 --> 00:23:50,966 and touching the ark 502 00:23:50,966 --> 00:23:53,507 and God striking him down dead, 503 00:23:53,507 --> 00:23:55,183 and I was scared. 504 00:23:55,183 --> 00:23:57,353 I began to think this God is not like 505 00:23:57,353 --> 00:23:59,364 I thought He was. 506 00:23:59,364 --> 00:24:03,861 In fact, I was finding God to be very terrifying. 507 00:24:03,861 --> 00:24:07,430 Let me tell you something, 508 00:24:07,430 --> 00:24:10,376 there was a day - this struck me too - 509 00:24:10,376 --> 00:24:12,228 as a young Christian, there was a day 510 00:24:12,228 --> 00:24:14,318 when a prophet - you guys know about this. 511 00:24:14,318 --> 00:24:17,081 In Isaiah 6, a prophet, very famous prophet - 512 00:24:17,081 --> 00:24:19,136 probably the most famous one of all 513 00:24:19,136 --> 00:24:20,998 aside from Jesus Christ - 514 00:24:20,998 --> 00:24:23,321 at least Old Testament prophet. 515 00:24:23,321 --> 00:24:25,556 Isaiah. 516 00:24:25,556 --> 00:24:28,185 This man, he's probably one of the godliest men 517 00:24:28,185 --> 00:24:33,232 among the nation of the Hebrews at that time. 518 00:24:33,232 --> 00:24:36,914 He comes in to the temple 519 00:24:36,914 --> 00:24:39,316 and he beholds the Lord 520 00:24:39,316 --> 00:24:41,855 high and lifted up. 521 00:24:41,855 --> 00:24:45,924 And I'm telling you, this guy, he saw this. 522 00:24:45,924 --> 00:24:48,933 You can be sure he went right to his knees. 523 00:24:48,933 --> 00:24:50,824 I mean, he probably covered up. 524 00:24:50,824 --> 00:24:53,198 The glory of the Lord, 525 00:24:53,198 --> 00:24:56,474 the train of His robe filled that temple, 526 00:24:56,474 --> 00:24:57,948 and the doorposts shook 527 00:24:57,948 --> 00:25:00,193 and you've got seraphim and they're shouting 528 00:25:00,193 --> 00:25:01,996 back and forth antiphonally: 529 00:25:01,996 --> 00:25:03,705 Holy, holy, holy! 530 00:25:03,705 --> 00:25:06,467 And the place is just in smoke 531 00:25:06,467 --> 00:25:08,774 and shaking and he's saying, 532 00:25:08,774 --> 00:25:11,788 "Woe is me!" 533 00:25:11,788 --> 00:25:13,791 You know what? 534 00:25:13,791 --> 00:25:16,915 You know what he was not doing right at that moment? 535 00:25:16,915 --> 00:25:19,098 He was not thinking about the young lady 536 00:25:19,098 --> 00:25:21,108 he passed on the way to the temple! 537 00:25:21,108 --> 00:25:23,113 He was not lusting over her! 538 00:25:23,113 --> 00:25:25,122 He was not thinking about going home 539 00:25:25,122 --> 00:25:28,876 and fighting with his wife! 540 00:25:28,876 --> 00:25:33,493 You know why? 541 00:25:33,493 --> 00:25:35,229 Because when you're confronted 542 00:25:35,229 --> 00:25:38,215 by the glory of the Lord - 543 00:25:38,215 --> 00:25:39,724 I'll tell you this, 544 00:25:39,724 --> 00:25:44,591 one of the lies you buy into when you sin 545 00:25:44,591 --> 00:25:49,085 is you buy into the lie that God is not what He is like. 546 00:25:49,085 --> 00:25:50,507 You forget who God is. 547 00:25:50,507 --> 00:25:53,106 You buy a lie that He is somewhat knocked down, 548 00:25:53,106 --> 00:25:55,947 subordinate, sub-standard, sub-biblical 549 00:25:55,947 --> 00:25:57,880 to what He really is in the Scriptures. 550 00:25:57,880 --> 00:25:58,923 You know why? 551 00:25:58,923 --> 00:26:03,653 You know what, he sees this, 552 00:26:03,653 --> 00:26:05,684 and the thought in his mind right now 553 00:26:05,684 --> 00:26:08,438 is not go gossip and back-stab somebody 554 00:26:08,438 --> 00:26:12,292 and be bitter over somebody. 555 00:26:12,292 --> 00:26:16,959 Because when you see God for who He is, 556 00:26:16,959 --> 00:26:19,914 that has a way of burning through 557 00:26:19,914 --> 00:26:22,075 all the falsehoods. 558 00:26:22,075 --> 00:26:25,966 You see, one of the problems, folks, 559 00:26:25,966 --> 00:26:28,710 we buy into a small God. 560 00:26:28,710 --> 00:26:31,584 That is a lie we buy into when we sin. 561 00:26:31,584 --> 00:26:33,711 I'll tell you what, 562 00:26:33,711 --> 00:26:36,571 if the glory of the living Christ 563 00:26:36,571 --> 00:26:38,750 hovered at the end of your kitchen 564 00:26:38,750 --> 00:26:41,384 the way He did in the temple that day, 565 00:26:41,384 --> 00:26:44,337 when you go home tonight, 566 00:26:44,337 --> 00:26:46,219 you might not say the things 567 00:26:46,219 --> 00:26:48,436 you would otherwise say. 568 00:26:48,436 --> 00:26:55,366 You might not do the things you would otherwise do. 569 00:26:55,366 --> 00:26:57,615 And I'll tell you what, 570 00:26:57,615 --> 00:27:00,877 when Isaiah saw himself - 571 00:27:00,877 --> 00:27:04,345 when he saw God, he saw himself as well. 572 00:27:04,345 --> 00:27:06,451 And you see, that's one of the problems 573 00:27:06,451 --> 00:27:07,786 in our sin as well. 574 00:27:07,786 --> 00:27:10,566 We think way too highly of ourselves. 575 00:27:10,566 --> 00:27:11,758 Way too highly. 576 00:27:11,758 --> 00:27:14,406 We think our way. 577 00:27:14,406 --> 00:27:19,231 We think what we want trumps all. 578 00:27:19,231 --> 00:27:22,352 That's true every single time you sin, 579 00:27:22,352 --> 00:27:25,155 you totally blow off and cast off 580 00:27:25,155 --> 00:27:27,335 the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 581 00:27:27,335 --> 00:27:28,892 You despise it. 582 00:27:28,892 --> 00:27:30,398 You count it as a little thing 583 00:27:30,398 --> 00:27:33,068 and you certainly are exalting yourself. 584 00:27:33,068 --> 00:27:34,737 You know pride is behind every sin. 585 00:27:34,737 --> 00:27:36,324 You are exalting yourself. 586 00:27:36,324 --> 00:27:39,056 You know a lie you believe every time you sin? 587 00:27:39,056 --> 00:27:41,187 You believe you're pretty great. 588 00:27:41,187 --> 00:27:44,100 You believe your ways, your agenda, 589 00:27:44,100 --> 00:27:48,824 your needs trump Christ's commands. 590 00:27:48,824 --> 00:27:51,014 Now listen, there may be a lot of other lies 591 00:27:51,014 --> 00:27:52,943 that you believe, but you know what? 592 00:27:52,943 --> 00:27:55,025 This does help. 593 00:27:55,025 --> 00:27:57,824 Listen, some people come along - 594 00:27:57,824 --> 00:27:59,630 Christians will come along 595 00:27:59,630 --> 00:28:02,420 and they'll say, 596 00:28:02,420 --> 00:28:04,706 "I've tried to fight that sin." 597 00:28:04,706 --> 00:28:05,961 And I know they have. 598 00:28:05,961 --> 00:28:08,285 The guy's not lying to me. 599 00:28:08,285 --> 00:28:10,348 The guy's not trying to deceive me. 600 00:28:10,348 --> 00:28:13,665 I know that sin grieves that brother. 601 00:28:13,665 --> 00:28:15,509 I know it grieves him. 602 00:28:15,509 --> 00:28:17,732 I can see the grief on his face. 603 00:28:17,732 --> 00:28:19,657 I know he's prayed over that sin. 604 00:28:19,657 --> 00:28:21,611 I know he struggles over that sin. 605 00:28:21,611 --> 00:28:23,979 I know he's repented of that sin 606 00:28:23,979 --> 00:28:25,539 and he's been sincere. 607 00:28:25,539 --> 00:28:29,511 But then he says why do I keep going back to it? 608 00:28:29,511 --> 00:28:30,546 And you know what? 609 00:28:30,546 --> 00:28:33,024 It's because even though 610 00:28:33,024 --> 00:28:36,483 he may not like that sin, 611 00:28:36,483 --> 00:28:38,842 and even though he may be trying to fight it, 612 00:28:38,842 --> 00:28:43,079 he has never yet gotten to the root of the matter. 613 00:28:43,079 --> 00:28:45,850 He has never really gone after the lie 614 00:28:45,850 --> 00:28:49,060 that he believes every time he commits that sin. 615 00:28:49,060 --> 00:28:52,992 It will really help you, it will help me, 616 00:28:52,992 --> 00:28:58,737 it will help us if we come to grips - 617 00:28:58,737 --> 00:29:01,445 identify the sin. 618 00:29:01,445 --> 00:29:03,183 And then, figure out, 619 00:29:03,183 --> 00:29:06,731 what am I believing every time 620 00:29:06,731 --> 00:29:08,338 I give in to that? 621 00:29:08,338 --> 00:29:10,192 Because there is a thought process. 622 00:29:10,192 --> 00:29:12,023 We don't sin in a vacuum. 623 00:29:12,023 --> 00:29:13,857 There is thinking. 624 00:29:13,857 --> 00:29:15,816 We weigh things out. 625 00:29:15,816 --> 00:29:16,845 We do things. 626 00:29:16,845 --> 00:29:18,554 There's a perception. 627 00:29:18,554 --> 00:29:20,407 We size things up. 628 00:29:20,407 --> 00:29:22,771 We look at things from a standpoint 629 00:29:22,771 --> 00:29:24,500 of what is desirable. 630 00:29:24,500 --> 00:29:27,560 Remember, desires are in this thing, folks. 631 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:29,044 We have to figure out 632 00:29:29,044 --> 00:29:31,744 how is it that those desires, 633 00:29:31,744 --> 00:29:34,952 how is it that sin is deceiving me? 634 00:29:34,952 --> 00:29:36,929 What lie am I buying into? 635 00:29:36,929 --> 00:29:38,342 And I'll tell you this, 636 00:29:38,342 --> 00:29:44,022 once you identify the lie, 637 00:29:44,022 --> 00:29:47,223 how do you battle sin? 638 00:29:47,223 --> 00:29:54,449 How do you battle corrupt desires? 639 00:29:54,449 --> 00:29:56,138 I'll tell you, 640 00:29:56,138 --> 00:29:59,401 if they're both deceitful, 641 00:29:59,401 --> 00:30:08,551 your weapon to kill these things is truth. 642 00:30:08,551 --> 00:30:12,339 If lies and deception are at the root, 643 00:30:12,339 --> 00:30:14,065 truth. 644 00:30:14,065 --> 00:30:15,690 You've got to come to the place 645 00:30:15,690 --> 00:30:17,899 where you have a handle, you have a grip 646 00:30:17,899 --> 00:30:22,791 on what is true. 647 00:30:22,791 --> 00:30:28,238 You think with me. 648 00:30:28,238 --> 00:30:31,012 Nadab and Abihu laying there dead. 649 00:30:31,012 --> 00:30:36,790 They've been incinerated. 650 00:30:36,790 --> 00:30:41,682 Aaron was not all of a sudden prone 651 00:30:41,682 --> 00:30:42,929 to get angry with God. 652 00:30:42,929 --> 00:30:44,690 The Scripture said he held his peace. 653 00:30:44,690 --> 00:30:47,987 You better believe he held his peace. 654 00:30:47,987 --> 00:30:51,037 It didn't all of a sudden occur to him 655 00:30:51,037 --> 00:30:54,715 to get lazy with worship. 656 00:30:54,715 --> 00:30:56,908 It didn't all of a sudden occur to him 657 00:30:56,908 --> 00:30:59,166 to get sloppy as a Christian. 658 00:30:59,166 --> 00:31:01,577 It didn't all of a sudden occur to him. 659 00:31:01,577 --> 00:31:04,369 Why? Because the presence of God 660 00:31:04,369 --> 00:31:06,232 was so real in the midst of that. 661 00:31:06,232 --> 00:31:08,514 And I'll tell you, why do I keep bringing that back in? 662 00:31:08,514 --> 00:31:10,735 Because that has a whole lot to do with truth, folks. 663 00:31:10,735 --> 00:31:13,404 When you begin to see God more clearly, 664 00:31:13,404 --> 00:31:17,927 you begin to see the way things are more truly. 665 00:31:17,927 --> 00:31:20,278 You see, one of the problems we have, folks; 666 00:31:20,278 --> 00:31:22,736 one of the reasons sin is so rampant oftentimes 667 00:31:22,736 --> 00:31:24,475 in our lives or in our churches, 668 00:31:24,475 --> 00:31:26,101 is because the presence of God 669 00:31:26,101 --> 00:31:29,748 is so little felt and experienced. 670 00:31:29,748 --> 00:31:31,755 I'll tell you what, when the glory of the Lord 671 00:31:31,755 --> 00:31:32,931 descends on a church 672 00:31:32,931 --> 00:31:34,918 and the fear of God descends on people 673 00:31:34,918 --> 00:31:36,545 and there is a presence there 674 00:31:36,545 --> 00:31:38,060 and people begin to draw close, 675 00:31:38,060 --> 00:31:41,505 and there's at least some manifestation 676 00:31:41,505 --> 00:31:45,833 similar to that which was experienced by Isaiah 677 00:31:45,833 --> 00:31:47,535 or experienced by Job 678 00:31:47,535 --> 00:31:49,597 or experienced by Aaron - 679 00:31:49,597 --> 00:31:55,408 listen, sin begins to go out of the church. 680 00:31:55,408 --> 00:31:59,518 When people really begin to see God for who He is, 681 00:31:59,518 --> 00:32:06,529 and they begin to take that vision of God through their life, 682 00:32:06,529 --> 00:32:08,595 then putting to death the deeds of the body 683 00:32:08,595 --> 00:32:15,073 becomes something that is going to be more of a reality. 684 00:32:15,073 --> 00:32:21,064 Do you guys see this connection with truth in all this? 685 00:32:21,064 --> 00:32:22,820 I mean, I hope you guys see this. 686 00:32:22,820 --> 00:32:26,411 I hope you guys see, first - 687 00:32:26,411 --> 00:32:27,709 I'm going to end with this. 688 00:32:27,709 --> 00:32:29,588 But just to kind of summarize this, 689 00:32:29,588 --> 00:32:30,819 there's a connection. 690 00:32:30,819 --> 00:32:33,839 You put to death the deeds of the body. 691 00:32:33,839 --> 00:32:36,413 That's evidence you're going to live. 692 00:32:36,413 --> 00:32:39,437 This is life and death, folks. 693 00:32:39,437 --> 00:32:42,117 Putting to death the deeds of the body. 694 00:32:42,117 --> 00:32:44,974 You've got sin. It's deceitful. 695 00:32:44,974 --> 00:32:47,250 Hebrews 3:13 says so. 696 00:32:47,250 --> 00:32:51,112 Ephesians 4:22 says that these desires, 697 00:32:51,112 --> 00:32:52,234 they're deceitful. 698 00:32:52,234 --> 00:32:53,518 You've got these things. 699 00:32:53,518 --> 00:32:55,608 Sin trying to make you obey 700 00:32:55,608 --> 00:32:56,942 these corrupt desires. 701 00:32:56,942 --> 00:32:59,999 This thing is deceitful. This thing is deceitful. 702 00:32:59,999 --> 00:33:02,271 You ought to do battle with this thing, folks. 703 00:33:02,271 --> 00:33:05,137 Truth is your weapon. 704 00:33:05,137 --> 00:33:07,242 You've got to nail truth. 705 00:33:07,242 --> 00:33:09,230 You begin to pinpoint the lies 706 00:33:09,230 --> 00:33:10,965 you believe when you sin. 707 00:33:10,965 --> 00:33:12,906 And you begin to attack that with truth. 708 00:33:12,906 --> 00:33:14,134 You begin to memorize 709 00:33:14,134 --> 00:33:15,882 those Scripture texts 710 00:33:15,882 --> 00:33:20,203 that lie in direct contradiction 711 00:33:20,203 --> 00:33:22,038 to that lie that you believe. 712 00:33:22,038 --> 00:33:24,369 That truth that is in direct opposition 713 00:33:24,369 --> 00:33:26,390 to that lie that you fall for. 714 00:33:26,390 --> 00:33:28,189 You begin to permeate yourself 715 00:33:28,189 --> 00:33:30,085 with the reality of the presence of God 716 00:33:30,085 --> 00:33:32,917 and begin to see Him how He is. 717 00:33:32,917 --> 00:33:35,994 You begin to come to approaching day by day 718 00:33:35,994 --> 00:33:38,354 your Christian life from this perspective: 719 00:33:38,354 --> 00:33:40,146 I can have victory. 720 00:33:40,146 --> 00:33:41,965 No, not only, I can have it - 721 00:33:41,965 --> 00:33:45,239 I must have it. I will have it! 722 00:33:45,239 --> 00:33:49,248 And if I don't have it, I'm going to die. 723 00:33:49,248 --> 00:33:52,450 Not that I gain life by this battle, 724 00:33:52,450 --> 00:33:55,992 but I prove that I have life by this battle. 725 00:33:55,992 --> 00:33:59,379 I get this life to battle 726 00:33:59,379 --> 00:34:02,973 by becoming a child of God. 727 00:34:02,973 --> 00:34:04,762 By being born again. 728 00:34:04,762 --> 00:34:08,251 That's where this power's unleashed by the Spirit. 729 00:34:08,251 --> 00:34:11,930 And listen, the Spirit doesn't do it. 730 00:34:11,930 --> 00:34:17,471 You must do it by the power of the Spirit. 731 00:34:17,471 --> 00:34:19,470 He does it through you. 732 00:34:19,470 --> 00:34:23,714 Not aside from you. Not without you. 733 00:34:23,714 --> 00:34:26,146 He does it as you do it. 734 00:34:26,146 --> 00:34:27,860 He calls us to an impossible life, 735 00:34:27,860 --> 00:34:31,262 but we're given the third Person of the very Trinity 736 00:34:31,262 --> 00:34:34,554 to cause us to carry this thing out. 737 00:34:34,554 --> 00:34:36,335 And listen, this is no small matter. 738 00:34:36,335 --> 00:34:37,829 This is a life and death deal. 739 00:34:37,829 --> 00:34:39,675 This is not only a life and death deal, 740 00:34:39,675 --> 00:34:44,868 this is a really major church deal. 741 00:34:44,868 --> 00:34:49,266 Holiness.