Title: Believer: You're Dead to Sin
Meta: In Romans 6:11 Paul teaches us that we must first think right before we can put sin to death. The Bible does not endorse mindless Christianity; if you're going to be holy, you're going to have to use your head. What truth is it that Paul wants us to be gripped by? That we are dead to sin and that in our union with Christ our relationship to sin has been severed, so that it is no longer master over us and we can say “No!”
Tags: Romans 6:11,regeneration,power,conversion

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Brethren, I don't want to waste any time this morning.

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Let's go right to the matter at hand.

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Turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 6.

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We are not moving away from our present series,

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but we are diving even deeper into it - The Christian's Self-Cleansing.

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That terminology comes directly from 1 Corinthians 7 verse 1.

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But I want us to leave 1 Corinthians 7 today.

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1st week, we basically did an overview of that text.

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Last week, we looked at the fact that there is no holiness

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unless there is first true conversion; true faith and repentance.

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This week, I want to dive into Romans 6

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where the apostle Paul likewise is dealing with the same subject,

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and he brings forth a principle in this quest for holiness

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that I want us to focus our attention on. (P)

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So, Romans chapter 6.

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Paul's focus here; God's focus; what is God's goal in giving us Romans 6?

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Well, we could look right at the beginning of Romans chapter 6 and say this:

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When you say to somebody, "You know what? You can be justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

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No works, no law-keeping, no effort on your own, not by your goodness.

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Unjust, unrighteous, wicked sinners can come to Christ in faith and be counted righteous.

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They can be justified."

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You know what that produces?

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Somebody is going to say, "Well then,

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what is to keep us from just sinning all the more?"

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What do we say?

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Do we continue in sin?

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You know what the goal of this chapter is?

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It's to say to us, "You can't," and to help explain why we can't.

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I mean, answer the question: What's God's goal here?

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Look at Romans 6:6, "We know that our old self (or old man) was crucified with Him

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in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing."

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You know what the body of sin is?

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When we get down to verse 12, we'll see it's where sin desires to rule, to reign,

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by causing you to obey the passions of your body.

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That is how sin seeks to reign in your mortal bodies. (P)

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Jesus Christ was crucified.

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In Him we are crucified to bring this body to nothing,

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so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

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That has got everything to do with this quest for holiness.

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That we're no longer enslaved to sin.

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That we are, in fact just the opposite, enslaved to righteousness.

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Or, Romans 6:12 which I just mentioned.

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Look at it, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,

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to make you obey its passions."

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You get an idea about what it is that God's goal is in giving us this?

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How about verse 13, "Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness,

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but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life,

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and your members to God as instruments for righteousness."

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Or how about verse 19, "I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations.

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For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity

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and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness,

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so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification."(P)

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Now look, I recognize that there are some other things going on in Romans chapter 6.

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But would you not agree, one of God's primary purposes in giving us this chapter

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is that we might be free from sin and devoted to righteousness.

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That seems like what's happening here.

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And, brethren, is that not the same message of 1 Corinthians chapter 7?

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In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, what are we supposed to do?

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We are supposed to cleanse ourselves from all the defilements of body and spirit,

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so that we might bring holiness to completion.

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That's it here; put sin to death.

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What's the defilement? You have no defilement in your life other than sin.

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This is the same thing. It's about our sanctification.

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That's what's happening here. Self-cleansing. Same message.

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Self-cleansing, brethren, not just in the church,

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not just in the little religious corner of your life.

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Notice what it says in Romans 6:6,

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"...the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."

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Do you get the two words there?

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No longer. No longer. No longer. (P)

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This is not simply about a little church going idea,

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"Yeah I got to get my life together when I go to church

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and I'm in front of the brethren on Sunday morning."

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That's not what this is about. It's about all of your life.

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No longer! From this point forward, no longer!

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This is about all of life.

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This is about when you get up in the morning; this is about when you put your clothes on;

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this is about when you brush your teeth;

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this is about when you're thinking in your mind about what you'll do throughout the day;

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this is how you open your day.

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Do you start it in the Word, do you start it in prayer?

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This is about driving to work;

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this is about when you are at school, when you're at work;

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this is about how you interact with your spouse, your children, your friends, your co-workers.

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This is about all of life.

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This is 'no longer'. This is all of it. All of it.

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How you interrelate with authority, how you interrelate with the government,

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what we do with a building, brethren, how we walk.

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This is about day and night.

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This is about whether you're at home or you're abroad.

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This is about whether you're doing yard work or mission work.

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This is how you conduct yourself.

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No longer, brethren, enslaved to sin.

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That's what this is about.

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It's about eradicating sin in all of your life from now on.

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No more. No longer.

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That's it. You see it. (P)

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Now, look with me in Romans 6:12, "Let not sin"

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the 'therefore' connects us backwards and we're going to move backwards,

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but here is a command.

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We have an imperative mood.

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You might just want to take note

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that God doesn't give any commandments at all to believers in the book of Romans,

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prior to Romans 6.

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Romans 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, you know what it is?

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Mainly indicative.

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Paul is saying how it is.

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He is saying how bad man is and he is saying what God has done.

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When he gets to 6, he gives us a command.

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That's what you have here in verse 12, "Let not sin reign."

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God commands us to resist and kill sin, as it tries to get us to obey the passions of our body.

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But remember, there's a 'therefore' there,

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which means it's based on what was just said.

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Go back one verse.

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Romans 6:11, "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin

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and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

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Brethren, that is an imperative.

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That is a commandment of God.

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That is the very first commandment of God given to us believers in the book of Romans. (P)

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You need to recognize something very important to this quest for holiness.

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The very first commandment given in the epistle,

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you have to think about this.

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The first commandments given in the epistle of Romans

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has to do with our battle against sin.

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After all the glorious truths that God gives to us in those first five chapters,

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when it comes to taking those truths and applying them to the Christian life,

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the very first thing God wants you to do is He wants you to go to battle against sin.

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But I'll tell you this: Before you resist its reign in your mortal body, He wants you to think.

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He wants you to consider yourself to be something.

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You have to think.

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And it's so important that God commands you to think right, before He commands you to kill sin.

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Because if you don't think right, you won't kill sin.

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Remember the 'therefore' at the beginning of verse 12.

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You have to think right, and once you think right,

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then therefore, now, thinking right, put that sin to death. (P)

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This is huge.

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I don't even think I can express to you how important this reality is.

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I am going to try.

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But I think it's more important than what you're going to get from the words that I say to you today

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just how important verse 11 is.

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Brethren, God does not tell us to resist sin until He tells us how to think.

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Do you all see that?

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You will never fight the battle for holiness until you think right in your head.

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Now notice verse 11, the term 'consider'; maybe some of your Bibles say 'reckon'.

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Logizomai - It basically has the starting of the word 'logic'

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because this word has to do with logic.

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What does it mean to consider?

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Logizomai - what is that word?

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Well, basically it's this:

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To think according to logical rules, to reckon, to evaluate,

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to keep in mind, to reason, to ponder, to conclude by reasoning.

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Brethren, you've got to think right.

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Paul does not endorse stupid, mindless Christianity.

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The world may think that's what Christians are.

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But if we are the kind of Christians God wants us to be, we are not mindless.

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We are people who think.

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We are people who are rational.

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If anybody in this world is rational, the Christian ought to be.

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We take truth, and we live our lives based on that truth. (P)

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The Christianity of Scripture is truth-driven.

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The Christianity of Scripture is a Christianity that we are given massive amounts of doctrine.

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You got people out there that say doctrine doesn't matter.

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That, brethren, leads people to hell.

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Doctrine is nothing other than the teaching.

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The early Church gave itself to the apostles' doctrine.

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Why? Because in that doctrine is life.

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In that doctrine is what we believe unto life.

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Brethren, you got to believe right. You've got to think right.

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You've got to fill your mind with right thoughts

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before you're ever going to be successful in this battle with sin.

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If you're going to be holy, you've got to use your heads.

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One of the reasons that you may be failing,

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it may be the reason we gave last week, you may not know the Lord.

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You may not have truly repented and believed.

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You may not be trusting the Christ -

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the miraculous Christ of Scripture who has the power to free you from the bondage of your sin,

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like we are seeing here.

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Maybe you are saved and you're floundering, you're backslidden. (P)

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Brethren, I'll tell you, what does Scripture do?

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Any time you find that the apostles, in writing the epistles of Scripture,

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find some Christians that are sliding, slipping away, drifting,

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are not healthy, have sin in their midst,

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what do they do?

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They don't just tell them to get their act together.

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You know what they do? They hit them with truth.

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You ever notice that?

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Lots of truth.

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Why? Because truth is the way you set people right.

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When you get people thinking right, people's reaction will flow out of that thinking.

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You got to use your heads.

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The path to holiness is not just feeling.

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A lot of people have this idea, "Oh! holiness;

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if I am going to be holy, I need another infusion of the Spirit."

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Listen, I am not opposed to the falling of the Spirit upon God's people,

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or baptisms of the Spirit.

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Brethren, I want it. I want more of it.

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I want it to happen in our church.

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But I believe this: That if the Spirit of God falls on this church,

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it will not be just to give you some exciting feeling

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whereby you're going to feel this infusion of power

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and go out and find that you have more power to kick sin. (P)

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Brethren, what happens when the Spirit of God falls is:

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The Spirit of God came into this world to glorify Christ.

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And when the Spirit falls, you know what happens?

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Something happens in the mind.

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Suddenly, your mind just breaks forth with glory of the truth.

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That's what happens.

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The Spirit of God empowers that truth, brings conviction, brings glory.

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It's like Jonathan Edwards said,

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He's all about having people emotional, and having people experience things,

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as long as truth drives those experiences.

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Brethren, that's how we have to be. That's not just Jonathan Edwards, that's the apostle Paul

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as we plainly see here.

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It's not just about some infusion of power, some ecstatic feeling.

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Our minds must be gripped by truth.

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And the question of the hour is this:

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What truth is it that Paul wants us to be gripped by?

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Look at verse 11. What is it?

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He wants us to be gripped by this truth.

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You can see it.

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What is it that we are to consider?

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Remember this is an imperative.

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God requires you to think this way. God requires you to ponder.

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God requires you to know this truth.

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Isn't that amazing? God comes along and says, "I command you to know this."

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Wow! God really is commanding us how to think?

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Yes. We need our minds renewed, brethren.

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What is it that we need to be convinced of?

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That we are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. (P)

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You need to be convinced you are dead to sin.

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Are you convinced?

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Now that's what's happening here.

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If God says that Christians are to consider themselves dead to sin,

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then what is the truth?

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We are dead to sin.

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I mean, you ever notice God doesn't want us to believe things that aren't true?

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Brethren, If God says to us, through the apostle Paul,

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"Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin,"

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it's not because it's a fantasy.

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It's not because it's folklore or myth.

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It's because it is true.

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God wants you gripped by this truth: You are dead to sin.

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And that reality firmly fixed in the mind is the essential preparation for holiness.

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If you've been joined to Christ, if you're a true believer in this room right now,

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you are dead to sin.

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Brethren, you need to say that to yourself, you need to convince yourself of that.

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That is what He wants you to do.

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Perhaps, some of you are just sitting there and you're like,

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"I am not convinced I am dead to sin."

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Well, that's your problem. That is your problem.

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And that is why you have not had the victory that you otherwise could have,

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because your thinking is not right.

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And I'll guarantee you, there are a lot of Christians that run around

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that struggle with having the proper mindset here.

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And I won't say there isn't some very prevalent error in the reformed circles

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that tend to lead people to go wrong even in this mindset.

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I'll get to that in a moment. (P)

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So obviously the question comes, "Okay. okay. You tell me I am dead to sin.

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Scripture says I am dead to sin. God wants me to believe it.

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Okay, I am dead to sin.

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But what does that mean?

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Because if you're telling me that I'm not going to sin anymore, I don't believe it."

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Well, that's good you wouldn't believe that.

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Listen, brethren we are not left in the dark as to what the meaning of this concept is (dead to sin).

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Does it mean no more sin? No, it doesn't mean that.

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But it means something.

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What does it mean?

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Well, brethren, here's a thing about death: when you die, it severs relationships.

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That's the truth Paul is hitting on in these verses.

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Death severs relationships.

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Look at Romans 7:1, "Or do you not know, brothers—

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for I am speaking to those who know the law—

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that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?

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For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives."

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You see, as long as there is life, there is relationship.

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"But if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.

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Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive.

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But if her husband dies, she is free from that law,

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and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress."

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Death severs relationships. That's the idea. (P)

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Look at Romans 6:17,

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"But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin."

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Now did you get that? You were once slaves of sin.

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Sin used to be your master.

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No longer. Why? You died.

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You're dead to sin.

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You see the relationship is severed.

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It is a past tense reality.

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You were once slaves of sin.

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What's happened now?

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"You have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching -

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that's the apostolic teaching, the apostles' doctrine,

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that's Scripture, God's Word, Christ's Word -

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to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin,"

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Do you see that? There's freedom from that relationship.

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It's been broken.

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You're no longer slaves to it.

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Once upon a time, sin was your slavemaster.

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But the once existing relationship between us and sin,

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(by the way, which we held very dear and precious to our hearts, you remember that?

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We liked it. We liked sin as a master.

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It was desirable to us,)

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but that has ended.

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You've died to sin.

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Therefore, your relationship with sin is forever severed from what it was before.

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You can never go back to the way it was before

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because you can never go back to it being master.

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Ever. (P)

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Just like a married woman is bound to her husband until death,

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you were bound at one time in an unholy matrimony to sin, but no more.

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You have died to it.

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It's broken. It's severed.

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You were delivered and freed by what? By union with Christ.

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You're in Him. You're with Him.

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He died, you died.

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00:23:00,004 --> 00:23:04,923
He died to sin - Romans 6:10, what does that mean?

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Not that He was a sinner and He died to it the same way we die to it.

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He died to conquer it.

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He died to pay for it. He died to free us from it.

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We die to what?

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00:23:18,399 --> 00:23:26,975
Romans 6:14, what does it say? Sin shall no longer have dominion - that's mastery.

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That's how you died to it.

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Dominion.

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Not the presence of it altogether,

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but if you are joined to Christ, if you are in union with Christ, you have died to sin.

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Which means it's no longer master.

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It means you can say to it, "No. No."

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It plays on the same bodily passions it did before, but you know what?

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Because you are joined with Christ, His fullness flows into you;

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00:24:02,319 --> 00:24:03,617
there is a power there.

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There is a power and a hunger for righteousness, and you can say No.

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And in fact, you're commanded to resist its reign.

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You're commanded to say No.

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Don't let it reign in your mortal bodies.

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00:24:16,629 --> 00:24:18,389
When you get over to Romans 8:13,

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"If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

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00:24:23,966 --> 00:24:26,012
But brethren, if you're not doing that,

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if you're living according to the flesh, you're going to die.

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Because if you're joined to Christ, you have the Holy Spirit. (P)

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If you have that power within you, that Spirit of God,

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He will give you power to overcome.

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Not perfection in this lifetime, but you are dead to sin and its dominion is broken.

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And that is what He is teaching here.

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Notice Romans 6:7, "The one who has died has been set free from sin."

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Romans 6:14, "For sin will have no dominion over you."

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The absence of dominion, not presence.

347
00:25:06,227 --> 00:25:08,040
But dominion, what does that mean?

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Remember when you were lost? You were a slave.

349
00:25:13,189 --> 00:25:14,783
Carlos and I were talking yesterday.

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He was talking to me about his lost days,

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00:25:16,543 --> 00:25:25,182
and about how he just got in trouble for something, and he went right back to it.

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00:25:25,188 --> 00:25:32,432
I am not boasting this, but brethren, I was a social drug user.

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00:25:32,438 --> 00:25:37,390
And repeatedly I would make this commitment,

354
00:25:37,396 --> 00:25:40,184
"OK when I get out of high school, I am going to stop."

355
00:25:40,190 --> 00:25:42,166
Did I?

356
00:25:42,172 --> 00:25:44,557
"OK when I get out of college, I am going to stop."

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Did I?

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No.

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I never stopped until Christ came and rescued me.

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And you know what? Some people do stop,

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but all they do is trade one idol for another.

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They are lifted up in pride that they were capable of doing it. (P)

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00:26:09,226 --> 00:26:15,071
Brethren, we were slaves, and it led us about on a leash.

364
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But you're dead to that.

365
00:26:17,366 --> 00:26:22,807
You can look sin in the eyeballs, and say, "You have nothing on me.

366
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You do not own me anymore.

367
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I am a free man in Christ."

368
00:26:28,046 --> 00:26:31,975
And you can say no, and you can walk away.

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00:26:31,981 --> 00:26:35,522
Better than that, you can pull out the spiritual dagger

370
00:26:35,528 --> 00:26:39,898
and slide it between the ribs of sin and put it to death.

371
00:26:39,904 --> 00:26:45,579
This is mortification. This isn't just walking away. This is killing.

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And that's what Romans 8:13 is all about.

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It is battle unto death.

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00:26:51,399 --> 00:26:56,325
Notice Romans 6:22, "You've been set free from sin."

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That's the reality here.

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00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:05,458
Now why is this so relevant to all of us? Why is it so critical?

377
00:27:05,464 --> 00:27:20,958
Well, for this reason: Because if you are united to Christ by faith, you have died to sin.

378
00:27:20,964 --> 00:27:24,526
If you've died to sin, it no longer has dominion over you.

379
00:27:24,532 --> 00:27:27,175
You have been set free from sin.

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00:27:27,181 --> 00:27:37,069
If that's true, there is a kind of life that results from that.

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00:27:37,075 --> 00:27:44,671
And that kind of life that results from being dead to sin

382
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is the only life that leads to eternal life.

383
00:27:49,770 --> 00:27:51,815
You say, "How do you know that?"

384
00:27:51,821 --> 00:28:00,946
Because that's exactly the truth that Paul comes to in Romans 6:22.

385
00:28:00,952 --> 00:28:04,618
That's what is at stake here in Romans 6. (P)

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00:28:04,624 --> 00:28:08,471
You have been set free from sin.

387
00:28:08,477 --> 00:28:12,299
You're dead to it.

388
00:28:12,304 --> 00:28:16,153
But that's the negative.

389
00:28:16,159 --> 00:28:18,702
You're alive to God.

390
00:28:18,708 --> 00:28:26,992
Or as it says here in verse 22, "You've become slaves of God."

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00:28:26,998 --> 00:28:30,275
And what happens when you are a slave of God and freed from sin?

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There is fruit.

393
00:28:33,027 --> 00:28:35,589
Not bad fruit, it's good fruit.

394
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That's your life.

395
00:28:38,462 --> 00:28:43,410
That's all those aspects of life that I was talking about before.

396
00:28:43,416 --> 00:28:45,279
That you do righteousness in them.

397
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There is fruit.

398
00:28:46,202 --> 00:28:56,185
And notice verse 22, "The fruit leads to sanctification,

399
00:28:56,191 --> 00:29:01,568
and what's the end? It's eternal life."

400
00:29:01,574 --> 00:29:12,039
Anybody ever comes along and tells you, "I can live the old life where sin has power over me,

401
00:29:12,045 --> 00:29:17,423
because I am saved by grace through faith, and I am going to heaven."

402
00:29:17,429 --> 00:29:20,611
You can tell them that is not what Scripture teaches.

403
00:29:20,617 --> 00:29:27,324
Brethren, this series on holiness pertains to all of us.

404
00:29:27,330 --> 00:29:31,590
You may be sitting there, saying, "Well, I am not a Christian, it doesn't pertain to me."

405
00:29:31,596 --> 00:29:37,808
O, you should think about that.

406
00:29:37,814 --> 00:29:44,295
If you don't want to perish, and you want eternal life, it does regard you.

407
00:29:44,301 --> 00:29:47,034
Because this is the life that goes there.

408
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:53,110
And you're never going to have this life unless you're in union with Christ.

409
00:29:53,116 --> 00:30:00,223
And that happens by the repentance and faith we looked at last week. (P)

410
00:30:00,229 --> 00:30:08,216
The flow of thought throughout Romans chapter 6 is that if you are united to Christ,

411
00:30:08,222 --> 00:30:09,422
you're dead to sin.

412
00:30:09,428 --> 00:30:12,916
If you're dead to sin, you're free from the dominion of sin.

413
00:30:12,922 --> 00:30:15,754
If you're free from the dominion of sin, you're alive to God.

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00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:17,861
You're servant to God.

415
00:30:17,867 --> 00:30:21,668
If you're alive to God, you produce fruit, and that fruit goes somewhere.

416
00:30:21,674 --> 00:30:23,345
This sanctification, that's holiness.

417
00:30:23,351 --> 00:30:25,929
Remember, you're bringing holiness to completion.

418
00:30:25,935 --> 00:30:28,171
That's what this sanctification is all about.

419
00:30:28,177 --> 00:30:31,086
And the end of that, remember the author of Hebrews,

420
00:30:31,092 --> 00:30:34,092
"Without holiness, no one will see the Lord."

421
00:30:34,098 --> 00:30:39,291
So, what? Strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

422
00:30:39,297 --> 00:30:42,318
We're striving, we're fighting.

423
00:30:42,324 --> 00:30:46,826
How do we do it? By the Spirit you put to death the deeds.

424
00:30:46,832 --> 00:30:50,413
It's not in your own strength, remember, it's union with Christ.

425
00:30:50,419 --> 00:30:55,222
You got to be drawing on his fullness or you can never do this.

426
00:30:55,228 --> 00:30:59,683
But brethren, if you're not capable of doing this,

427
00:30:59,689 --> 00:31:04,253
the reason is that you are not drawing on the resources of Christ.

428
00:31:04,259 --> 00:31:07,298
And if you're not drawing on the resources of Christ,

429
00:31:07,304 --> 00:31:09,713
there's good reason to believe that you're not abiding in Him,

430
00:31:09,719 --> 00:31:12,985
and you're not joined with Him, and you're not with Him and in Him.

431
00:31:12,991 --> 00:31:17,707
There's not union with Him, and if there's not union with Him, you're dead.

432
00:31:17,713 --> 00:31:23,170
Christ is the only Savior. There is no other way. (P)

433
00:31:23,176 --> 00:31:26,152
Now, brethren, do you get it?

434
00:31:26,158 --> 00:31:31,108
You got to be thinking this way. You got to consider.

435
00:31:31,114 --> 00:31:36,551
God commands you to consider yourselves dead to sin.

436
00:31:36,557 --> 00:31:43,193
Now look, nowhere in Scripture does it say because you're dead to sin,

437
00:31:43,193 --> 00:31:45,542
that this thing is easy.

438
00:31:45,548 --> 00:31:50,308
Don't get that idea, "Oh I am dead to sin. Therefore I can just kick back, God's going to do it."

439
00:31:50,314 --> 00:31:51,637
No no no.

440
00:31:51,642 --> 00:31:53,901
Scripture doesn't teach that.

441
00:31:53,907 --> 00:31:54,997
No.

442
00:31:55,003 --> 00:31:58,797
You reckon yourself dead to sin in Rom. 6:11,

443
00:31:58,803 --> 00:32:05,226
and then you do not let sin reign (Rom. 6:12).

444
00:32:05,232 --> 00:32:14,001
Now that's all out battle. It's a vicious battle. Vicious.

445
00:32:14,007 --> 00:32:17,915
Paul is not trying to convince anyone that this battle is easy,

446
00:32:17,921 --> 00:32:20,924
BUT, as we heard in the first hour,

447
00:32:20,930 --> 00:32:26,730
he wants to convince you that in Christ, the battle is won.

448
00:32:26,736 --> 00:32:29,226
Brethren, that makes all the difference.

449
00:32:29,232 --> 00:32:30,636
When you go on into a battle,

450
00:32:30,642 --> 00:32:36,760
and you know this is not going to be easy but I am going to win.

451
00:32:36,766 --> 00:32:40,137
When you are convinced of that - you see, that's the idea -

452
00:32:40,143 --> 00:32:45,402
you've got to be convinced, you've got to reckon, you've got to consider.

453
00:32:45,408 --> 00:32:53,372
When you go into the battle with a victorious mindset, it matters in how you fight. (P)

454
00:32:53,378 --> 00:32:57,722
You get knocked down, you don't pathetically say, "Oh, here I am, knocked down.

455
00:32:57,728 --> 00:32:59,085
I guess I am just defeated."

456
00:32:59,091 --> 00:33:01,084
No, you're like, "Well, what's this?

457
00:33:01,090 --> 00:33:04,444
Scripture talks about the righteous man falling seven times,

458
00:33:04,450 --> 00:33:05,973
but the righteous man gets back up.

459
00:33:05,979 --> 00:33:09,234
And I am joined to Christ, and I am going to win this battle."

460
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:12,767
So we get up, and we go back in.

461
00:33:12,773 --> 00:33:16,178
Now, I want to shoot straight with you here.

462
00:33:16,184 --> 00:33:26,697
Some of you aren't going to like this, but this is critical.

463
00:33:26,703 --> 00:33:32,334
This is absolutely critical.

464
00:33:32,340 --> 00:33:39,294
We often hear Jeremiah 17:9 quoted. Often.

465
00:33:39,300 --> 00:33:41,371
Don't turn there, but you know the text:

466
00:33:41,377 --> 00:33:51,150
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick."

467
00:33:51,156 --> 00:33:56,826
A lot of people like to apply that to Christians.

468
00:33:56,832 --> 00:33:59,063
But when you go further in Jeremiah, guess what?

469
00:33:59,069 --> 00:34:03,544
It says you get a new heart.

470
00:34:03,550 --> 00:34:10,339
Lot of people like to go over to Romans 7,

471
00:34:10,344 --> 00:34:14,260
and say, "You know what? As Christians, we are wretched men;

472
00:34:14,266 --> 00:34:18,123
we are people who cannot do the good we want to do,

473
00:34:18,130 --> 00:34:26,157
we are miserably stuck in this rot of always doing the evil that we do not want to do."

474
00:34:26,163 --> 00:34:39,726
Beloved, I simply want to say to you this: Beware. Beware. (P)

475
00:34:39,733 --> 00:34:49,058
If you view Jeremiah 17:9, Romans chapter 7, or any other part of Scripture,

476
00:34:49,063 --> 00:34:58,806
in any way whatsoever that leads you to have a mindset that falls short of Romans 6:11,

477
00:34:58,812 --> 00:35:03,300
run from it like the plague.

478
00:35:03,306 --> 00:35:08,040
You need to take this dead seriously.

479
00:35:08,046 --> 00:35:10,590
Because when you basically walk around in life -

480
00:35:10,596 --> 00:35:15,258
I knew a brother who said, "I am a wretched man,

481
00:35:15,264 --> 00:35:20,758
my marriage is miserable, and that's just how it is" -

482
00:35:20,764 --> 00:35:27,868
brethren, when you walk through life with that mindset, you will be defeated.

483
00:35:27,874 --> 00:35:30,756
You want to take this dead serious.

484
00:35:30,762 --> 00:35:37,754
The very first commandment by God in the epistle of Romans to you

485
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,464
is you need to think right, not just about anything,

486
00:35:41,470 --> 00:35:45,932
you need to think right about your position in being joined to Christ,

487
00:35:45,938 --> 00:35:49,908
and what it means with regards to your relationship with sin.

488
00:35:49,914 --> 00:35:54,352
And you need to think right, and God's commanding you to think right.

489
00:35:54,358 --> 00:35:58,162
And people who think they are nothing but miserable men

490
00:35:58,168 --> 00:36:04,060
with these desperately wicked, sick and deceitful hearts,

491
00:36:04,066 --> 00:36:14,693
I'll tell you this, that is exactly the mindset that God is commanding you not to have. (P)

492
00:36:14,699 --> 00:36:16,539
Listen brethren, I'll just tell you.

493
00:36:16,545 --> 00:36:22,862
Yeah; I am, by and large, a product of John MacArthur's mentoring.

494
00:36:22,868 --> 00:36:26,665
Got saved back in 1990, influenced tremendously by him,

495
00:36:26,671 --> 00:36:30,171
came across Romans 7, bought into that view.

496
00:36:30,177 --> 00:36:37,419
Who hasn't, as a Christian, felt, "O, wretched man that I am"?

497
00:36:37,425 --> 00:36:40,791
But I'll tell you, when Charles Leiter really challenged me,

498
00:36:40,797 --> 00:36:45,441
and I preached through Romans the first time,

499
00:36:45,447 --> 00:36:50,724
it wasn't when I got to Romans 7 I recognized I got a problem.

500
00:36:50,730 --> 00:36:58,138
it was when I got to Romans 6 I recognized I had a problem.

501
00:36:58,144 --> 00:37:04,849
Brethren, if Romans 7 sounds to you to be opposite to Romans 6,

502
00:37:04,855 --> 00:37:11,371
you might just want to ask yourself the question, Why is that?

503
00:37:11,377 --> 00:37:17,274
You see, nothing about Romans 7 is in Christ.

504
00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:22,571
Nothing about Romans 7 is with the Spirit.

505
00:37:22,577 --> 00:37:27,637
But guess what happens in Romans 8:1 when you find 'in Christ' again.

506
00:37:27,643 --> 00:37:30,727
What happens? No condemnation.

507
00:37:30,733 --> 00:37:39,737
Verse 2, what happens? We are set free from the law of sin and death.

508
00:37:39,743 --> 00:37:45,387
You see Romans 8:3, God has done what the law couldn't.

509
00:37:45,393 --> 00:37:47,765
You see, that's the real issue with Romans 7.

510
00:37:47,771 --> 00:37:51,082
The guy in Romans 7 has got the law, but he doesn't have the Spirit. (P)

511
00:37:51,088 --> 00:37:53,460
When you have the law, and you run to the law, and you delight in the law,

512
00:37:53,466 --> 00:37:56,135
but you don't have the Spirit, guess what you do:

513
00:37:56,141 --> 00:37:59,459
all it does is arouse sinful passions, and you spiral down,

514
00:37:59,465 --> 00:38:03,442
and you're weak, and you're impotent, and you can't do anything.

515
00:38:03,448 --> 00:38:07,433
But guess what happens when God does by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,

516
00:38:07,439 --> 00:38:09,540
and for sin, guess what happens then?

517
00:38:09,546 --> 00:38:11,997
Look at Rom. 8:4,

518
00:38:12,003 --> 00:38:14,780
You who walk in the Spirit, now what are you doing?

519
00:38:14,786 --> 00:38:17,038
You are fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law.

520
00:38:17,044 --> 00:38:20,177
Let me tell you, this is not dealing with forensic realities;

521
00:38:20,183 --> 00:38:24,147
this is not dealing with legal realities; this is not dealing with justification.

522
00:38:24,153 --> 00:38:27,310
This is dealing with your walk.

523
00:38:27,316 --> 00:38:29,805
This is what this whole section is about.

524
00:38:29,811 --> 00:38:34,752
Why do Christians not continue in sin? Why?

525
00:38:34,758 --> 00:38:39,499
Because joined with Christ, you walk in newness of life.

526
00:38:39,505 --> 00:38:43,790
That's the reality. That's what's being taught here. (P)

527
00:38:43,796 --> 00:38:47,564
Brethren, I just want to challenge you.

528
00:38:47,570 --> 00:38:50,181
This is no small matter.

529
00:38:50,187 --> 00:38:52,486
Dead to sin.

530
00:38:52,492 --> 00:38:55,788
Not alive to sin and living in it,

531
00:38:55,794 --> 00:39:04,823
and totally and perpetually and miserably failing, like Romans 7:19.

532
00:39:04,829 --> 00:39:09,296
You're dead to sin, which means what?

533
00:39:09,302 --> 00:39:13,325
Romans 6:14 - no dominion.

534
00:39:13,331 --> 00:39:17,083
Romans 6:17 - obedient from the heart.

535
00:39:17,089 --> 00:39:25,694
Romans 6:22 - in this line of progression, dead to sin, servant to God,

536
00:39:25,700 --> 00:39:33,509
fruit leading to holiness, and its end, eternal life.

537
00:39:33,515 --> 00:39:43,302
Brethren, fight to have the right mindset with regards to sin.

538
00:39:43,308 --> 00:39:46,248
Fight for it, brethren, fight for it!

539
00:39:46,254 --> 00:39:55,152
You may not agree with me on Romans 7, but whatever you do with it,

540
00:39:55,158 --> 00:40:01,558
you better not let it cause you to disobey God in Romans 6:11.

541
00:40:01,564 --> 00:40:03,184
You better not.

542
00:40:03,190 --> 00:40:09,831
Because if you do, you will fail at Rom. 6:12.

543
00:40:09,837 --> 00:40:13,911
And be careful, if you fail too much,

544
00:40:13,917 --> 00:40:19,117
you go down to Rom. 6:22 and you recognize there's no eternal life at the end.

545
00:40:19,123 --> 00:40:21,525
You say, "What are you talking about? Losing salvation?"

546
00:40:21,531 --> 00:40:25,685
No, I'm talking about genuine salvation.

547
00:40:25,691 --> 00:40:31,650
And I'm talking about what God does in the minds of His people

548
00:40:31,656 --> 00:40:39,416
that gives them the right mindset to go after sin in the way it needs to be gone after. (P)

549
00:40:39,422 --> 00:40:41,426
Brethren, I want a holy church,

550
00:40:41,432 --> 00:40:46,902
but I recognize from this chapter of Scripture that if our mindset is not right,

551
00:40:46,908 --> 00:40:50,412
we are not going to fight this battle right.

552
00:40:50,418 --> 00:40:52,807
This is battle.

553
00:40:52,813 --> 00:40:59,105
In Christ, you are dead to sin.

554
00:40:59,111 --> 00:41:03,193
Say that to yourselves. Meditate on that.

555
00:41:03,199 --> 00:41:09,124
Take that forth for the rest of your life.

556
00:41:09,130 --> 00:41:12,380
We need to know this. We need to be certain.

557
00:41:12,386 --> 00:41:16,872
God commands us to know and believe and consider it to be so.

558
00:41:16,878 --> 00:41:20,395
This is where the battle begins.

559
00:41:20,401 --> 00:41:26,054
You, Christian, need to know with all certainty what you are in Christ.

560
00:41:26,060 --> 00:41:29,547
And you are dead to sin.

561
00:41:29,553 --> 00:41:30,457
You know what?

562
00:41:30,463 --> 00:41:36,345
When you know that, walk like you know that.

563
00:41:36,351 --> 00:41:44,244
My brothers and sisters, you are dead to sin and alive to Christ.

564
00:41:44,250 --> 00:41:47,633
You need to know that you are.

565
00:41:47,639 --> 00:41:52,520
You need to be convinced that you are.

566
00:41:52,526 --> 00:41:57,533
Christian, in Christ, you died to sin. You have died. (P)

567
00:41:57,539 --> 00:42:02,174
Perhaps you're saying, "If I am dead to sin, why is there any battle at all?"

568
00:42:02,180 --> 00:42:07,016
I'll tell you this: Because the Christian life is a life of progression.

569
00:42:07,022 --> 00:42:11,483
"Well, why is that?" Because God designed it that way.

570
00:42:11,489 --> 00:42:14,134
"Why did He do that?" I don't know the mind of God,

571
00:42:14,140 --> 00:42:17,755
but I can tell you this: God does what He does to glorify Himself.

572
00:42:17,761 --> 00:42:22,791
And I just have to believe that He takes great delight

573
00:42:22,797 --> 00:42:28,224
in taking weak pathetic instruments like us,

574
00:42:28,230 --> 00:42:35,953
and squaring us off against the mighty power of sin,

575
00:42:35,959 --> 00:42:40,480
the passions that seek to wreck our souls,

576
00:42:40,486 --> 00:42:44,280
the world, and the devil himself;

577
00:42:44,286 --> 00:42:48,534
and throw us in there to do battle, and we actually win.

578
00:42:48,540 --> 00:42:51,252
But not because of our own strength,

579
00:42:51,258 --> 00:42:56,094
because He gets the victory working through us and in us.

580
00:42:56,100 --> 00:42:58,595
He takes delight in that.

581
00:42:58,601 --> 00:43:03,469
But I guarantee He is going to see that it comes to pass, and that it happens. (P)

582
00:43:03,475 --> 00:43:10,363
Brethren, you're dead to sin, but that doesn't mean it's easy.

583
00:43:10,369 --> 00:43:15,064
It doesn't mean we go to sleep, or sit back and relax.

584
00:43:15,070 --> 00:43:17,929
God does make us dead to sin, that's true.

585
00:43:17,935 --> 00:43:27,300
But He means to demonstrate that reality by exerting His own power upon us, and in us,

586
00:43:27,306 --> 00:43:36,181
to create within us - what? - a militancy to fight sin and mortify sin and put it to death.

587
00:43:36,187 --> 00:43:39,979
He means for us to have this determination of will,

588
00:43:39,985 --> 00:43:44,248
but it's a determination of will that's based on what we know.

589
00:43:44,254 --> 00:43:45,944
It's based on what we believe.

590
00:43:45,950 --> 00:43:52,449
It's grabbing hold of truths about my being united to Christ, I am dead to sin.

591
00:43:52,455 --> 00:43:54,287
And in the light of that reality,

592
00:43:54,293 --> 00:44:01,822
with a militancy of determination in my will to say, "Yes! I believe I am dead to sin,

593
00:44:01,828 --> 00:44:04,974
I am going to fight this.

594
00:44:04,980 --> 00:44:09,929
That pride that keeps holding on and lingering, I am going to fight that.

595
00:44:09,935 --> 00:44:14,537
That sexual lust, I am going to fight that, controlling my eyes.

596
00:44:14,545 --> 00:44:17,217
I am going to make a covenant with my eyes,

597
00:44:17,223 --> 00:44:21,037
and I believe by the power of Jesus Christ that I can keep control.

598
00:44:21,043 --> 00:44:22,829
And I may fall.

599
00:44:22,834 --> 00:44:25,381
But I am going to get back up and confess that sin,

600
00:44:25,387 --> 00:44:30,680
and I am going to go on in the power of the Spirit of God, clinging to Christ." (P)

601
00:44:30,686 --> 00:44:32,943
Brethren, we've got to have that mindset.

602
00:44:32,949 --> 00:44:34,788
That is what this is all about.

603
00:44:34,794 --> 00:44:37,531
This is war! This is war, brethren.

604
00:44:37,537 --> 00:44:46,417
Those passions of the flesh seek to destroy your soul.

605
00:44:46,423 --> 00:44:48,996
That's what Peter tells us.

606
00:44:49,002 --> 00:44:51,140
You better take this dead serious.

607
00:44:51,146 --> 00:44:56,646
As Owen said, what did he say? "You better be killing sin, or it will kill you."

608
00:44:56,652 --> 00:44:58,354
And it will.

609
00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:01,031
It's one or the other. There is no in between.

610
00:45:01,037 --> 00:45:03,782
There's no neutrality here.

611
00:45:03,799 --> 00:45:10,375
You're either killing sin, or it's taking your life.

612
00:45:10,381 --> 00:45:13,347
This is serious.

613
00:45:13,353 --> 00:45:16,524
The Lord sends all His children, brethren, --

614
00:45:16,530 --> 00:45:18,933
I don't know if you've ever noticed this,

615
00:45:18,939 --> 00:45:24,748
but there are definitely spiritual parallels between Joshua and Israel going into the land of Canaan.

616
00:45:24,754 --> 00:45:26,173
What did God tell them?

617
00:45:26,179 --> 00:45:28,778
"You kill everybody. Go in there and wipe them out.

618
00:45:28,784 --> 00:45:34,563
Young and old, man and woman, children, wipe them out."

619
00:45:34,575 --> 00:45:38,895
That is a spiritual parallel to our Christian life.

620
00:45:38,901 --> 00:45:44,372
No longer, brethren, no longer.

621
00:45:44,378 --> 00:45:46,511
You are dead to sin.

622
00:45:46,516 --> 00:45:50,561
No quarter.

623
00:45:50,567 --> 00:45:52,337
It will plead mercifully.

624
00:45:52,343 --> 00:45:55,745
Those little children and women will plead mercifully, "Don't kill me."

625
00:45:55,751 --> 00:46:00,626
No, you kill them all.

626
00:46:00,632 --> 00:46:02,640
You know what I am talking about.

627
00:46:02,646 --> 00:46:04,560
I am not talking about actual women and children.

628
00:46:04,566 --> 00:46:07,072
I am talking about every sin.

629
00:46:07,078 --> 00:46:12,552
And they will plead mercifully, "Just spare me, just spare me. I'm just a little one."

630
00:46:12,558 --> 00:46:15,965
No quarter. (P)

631
00:46:15,971 --> 00:46:21,169
You got to have the mindset to know that you're dead to sin.

632
00:46:21,175 --> 00:46:24,125
You can do this. You must do this.

633
00:46:24,131 --> 00:46:27,008
And God commands you to think right.

634
00:46:27,014 --> 00:46:32,146
Brethren, this is huge. This is huge.

635
00:46:32,152 --> 00:46:34,936
But I have to say this.

636
00:46:34,942 --> 00:46:42,812
I mean, I have been made aware of something, all the more just recently.

637
00:46:42,818 --> 00:46:46,785
Many of you know, I think I have had this viral meningitis for a month.

638
00:46:46,791 --> 00:46:53,570
Just coming out of it these last few days where I am actually starting to feel better.

639
00:46:53,576 --> 00:46:56,204
It causes swelling of the brain.

640
00:46:56,210 --> 00:46:59,395
That hurt my head.

641
00:46:59,401 --> 00:47:01,151
You guys know I suffer migraines,

642
00:47:01,157 --> 00:47:08,493
but this hurt my head in a way that no migraine ever has.

643
00:47:08,499 --> 00:47:12,693
There were three straight days where I probably should have gone to the emergency room.

644
00:47:12,699 --> 00:47:17,458
I got to the place where I thought, "Ruby, I think you're going to have to take me."

645
00:47:17,464 --> 00:47:21,767
James came and prayed for me, and actually that night it did take a turn.

646
00:47:21,773 --> 00:47:24,413
He wanted me to be here the next day, God didn't answer that.

647
00:47:24,419 --> 00:47:26,491
But it did take a turn at that point. (P)

648
00:47:26,497 --> 00:47:32,006
But after I came out of it, I told Ruby, "I don't know if I am going to die well."

649
00:47:32,012 --> 00:47:37,987
I mean, those three days I did not feel very patient.

650
00:47:37,993 --> 00:47:45,447
And I recognize something. I am one of you.

651
00:47:45,453 --> 00:47:48,061
You say, "What's that?"

652
00:47:48,067 --> 00:47:58,377
I don't mean just Christian. I mean a 21st century American.

653
00:47:58,383 --> 00:48:01,340
You say, "What does that mean?"

654
00:48:01,346 --> 00:48:06,030
That means we are used to softness.

655
00:48:06,036 --> 00:48:10,852
Our towels are soft. And our cars are air-conditioned.

656
00:48:10,858 --> 00:48:14,638
You say, "Mine's not." Yeah, but you have a car.

657
00:48:14,644 --> 00:48:17,665
People in other places are walking.

658
00:48:17,671 --> 00:48:23,642
And probably if it's not working, you've had thoughts about getting it fixed.

659
00:48:23,648 --> 00:48:26,712
Our homes are air-conditioned.

660
00:48:26,718 --> 00:48:33,283
Our food, we can pop it right in the microwave and it's cooked instantly at the right temperature.

661
00:48:33,289 --> 00:48:36,288
We have instant clean water.

662
00:48:36,294 --> 00:48:41,628
Now, it's like these cell phones and computers, instant Facebook,

663
00:48:41,634 --> 00:48:44,514
instant chat, instant e-mail.

664
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:49,614
Instant. Everything is instant. We want it now.

665
00:48:49,620 --> 00:48:56,056
We are a very entertained people. We are a very soft people.

666
00:48:56,062 --> 00:48:58,416
Let's just call it what it is. (P)

667
00:48:58,422 --> 00:49:01,033
Brethren, when you compare us --

668
00:49:01,039 --> 00:49:06,700
John was just telling us in the elders meeting about these guys over in Iraq.

669
00:49:06,706 --> 00:49:09,527
He said we can learn some things from them.

670
00:49:09,533 --> 00:49:12,450
He said they don't know the doctrine we know, but we can learn.

671
00:49:12,456 --> 00:49:14,428
What can we learn?

672
00:49:14,434 --> 00:49:18,307
We can learn about suffering persecution.

673
00:49:18,313 --> 00:49:23,087
Oh yeah, when the thing starts happening that Jeff was mentioning in the Sunday School,

674
00:49:23,093 --> 00:49:27,307
it's going to test us.

675
00:49:27,313 --> 00:49:34,659
The thing is, there is some spiritual conditioning that we really need.

676
00:49:34,665 --> 00:49:40,831
If we are going to fight sin, we tend to be spiritual lightweights.

677
00:49:40,837 --> 00:49:45,669
When things get difficult, you know, we try these little things, new program,

678
00:49:45,675 --> 00:49:47,195
"Oh, I got this book,"

679
00:49:47,201 --> 00:49:49,511
you know, we try this little deal over here,

680
00:49:49,517 --> 00:49:51,852
"Oh, we just discovered this new preacher."

681
00:49:51,858 --> 00:49:55,239
See, we want results immediately. We want things to happen right now.

682
00:49:55,245 --> 00:49:56,535
Now! Now! Now! Now!

683
00:49:56,541 --> 00:49:58,613
And we don't want to think too long about anything.

684
00:49:58,619 --> 00:49:59,881
You know, "Give me that! Give me that!

685
00:49:59,887 --> 00:50:05,385
Look, Facebook! Oh, they're doing this and that, We're going to do this and that."(P)

686
00:50:05,391 --> 00:50:10,250
Brethren, I don't know about the discipline of our generation

687
00:50:10,256 --> 00:50:17,742
to really be able to sit down and just meditate on the fact that we're dead to sin,

688
00:50:17,748 --> 00:50:19,692
long enough for it to do us any good.

689
00:50:19,698 --> 00:50:26,392
Why? Because we put so much stuff in our brain to cause us to forget what's essential so quickly.

690
00:50:26,402 --> 00:50:30,224
Brethren, you know what?

691
00:50:30,230 --> 00:50:35,298
We're not 21st century Americans first. We are Christians first.

692
00:50:35,304 --> 00:50:42,207
And what God commands us to do is, you need to do whatever is necessary in your life

693
00:50:42,213 --> 00:50:47,763
to be able to fill your head with this reality, and have your mind renewed,

694
00:50:47,769 --> 00:50:50,887
and get the garbage out.

695
00:50:50,893 --> 00:50:53,241
Get disciplined.

696
00:50:53,247 --> 00:50:58,977
You know what? It's not a sin not to have a cell phone or a computer.

697
00:50:58,983 --> 00:51:05,468
If you can't govern that thing, if you can't rule over it, if you can't master it,

698
00:51:05,474 --> 00:51:11,057
if you can't obey God because of it, get rid of it.

699
00:51:11,063 --> 00:51:14,919
Some of you can't turn your ringer off. It's amazing to me. (P)

700
00:51:14,925 --> 00:51:18,796
I must offend lots of people these days because of this text thing.

701
00:51:18,802 --> 00:51:24,679
Sometimes, I won't get back for a day or two or five on a text.

702
00:51:24,685 --> 00:51:26,731
Why? Because I don't carry my phone everywhere,

703
00:51:26,737 --> 00:51:31,289
and even when I have it, I do not count it the highest priority to respond to a text.

704
00:51:31,289 --> 00:51:31,871
Why?

705
00:51:31,877 --> 00:51:38,188
Because your mind might be involved in thinking about the fact that I am one with Christ,

706
00:51:38,194 --> 00:51:40,922
and in Him I can beat this sin.

707
00:51:40,928 --> 00:51:42,528
[The phone rings!]

708
00:51:42,533 --> 00:51:44,550
Oh, what's that?

709
00:51:44,556 --> 00:51:47,876
And some of you don't have any self-control.

710
00:51:47,882 --> 00:51:52,815
And what happens? You're a shallow Christian.

711
00:51:52,821 --> 00:51:58,683
You do not have the militancy and the discipline to fight for holiness

712
00:51:58,689 --> 00:52:02,094
the way it needs to be fought for.

713
00:52:02,100 --> 00:52:03,443
Brethren, this is serious.

714
00:52:03,449 --> 00:52:10,475
This is dead serious and dead real about fighting this battle.

715
00:52:10,481 --> 00:52:13,668
I'll tell you, when that persecution comes that was described to us,

716
00:52:13,674 --> 00:52:16,090
you know who the first ones that are going to be falling away?

717
00:52:16,096 --> 00:52:19,359
Those of you that had absolutely no control over these things.

718
00:52:19,365 --> 00:52:23,028
Your minds weren't renewed, you didn't think right, you didn't believe right;

719
00:52:23,034 --> 00:52:27,905
and now all of a sudden you are full of terror and you're going to deny Christ.

720
00:52:27,911 --> 00:52:29,773
Because you're not gripped by the truth.

721
00:52:29,779 --> 00:52:36,387
Because you haven't taken a long enough time in your life to let it sink down and permeate your being. (P)

722
00:52:36,393 --> 00:52:45,293
God commands you to consider yourself to be what you are and what He has made you.

723
00:52:45,299 --> 00:52:52,422
Brethren, part of the reason this is such a fight is because we've got to fight to think right.

724
00:52:52,428 --> 00:52:55,834
That alone is the fight.

725
00:52:55,840 --> 00:52:58,622
That means we've got to be disciplined enough with our brains,

726
00:52:58,628 --> 00:53:03,092
with our heads, with our minds, with our meditating, with our pondering,

727
00:53:03,098 --> 00:53:11,083
that we're actually taking enough time undisturbed, undistracted.

728
00:53:11,089 --> 00:53:16,840
Brethren, I'll tell you, the people who are going to excel in this battle and excel in holiness

729
00:53:16,846 --> 00:53:19,413
are the people that have self-control here.

730
00:53:19,419 --> 00:53:22,722
They can set aside big amounts of time, and say,

731
00:53:22,728 --> 00:53:29,296
"I am going to dwell on the glories of what it means to be one with Christ.

732
00:53:29,302 --> 00:53:31,302
United to Christ.

733
00:53:31,307 --> 00:53:33,072
In Him." (P)

734
00:53:33,078 --> 00:53:35,690
We have an American softness.

735
00:53:35,696 --> 00:53:44,778
Many of you may have heard Andy Hamilton when he said, "He spoke to Elizabeth Elliot -

736
00:53:44,784 --> 00:53:49,085
they had dinner with her before she died -

737
00:53:49,091 --> 00:53:55,904
and she said back in the 50s, (of course her and her husband went down south America.)

738
00:53:55,910 --> 00:54:01,427
But before she got married, my understanding is she inquired of Amy Carmichael

739
00:54:01,433 --> 00:54:04,343
(back in the early 50s, Amy Carmichael was still alive) --

740
00:54:04,349 --> 00:54:12,823
she inquired as to the possibility of working with Amy Carmichael's ministry in India.

741
00:54:12,829 --> 00:54:16,016
She told the Hamiltons, "Sight unseen.

742
00:54:16,022 --> 00:54:20,609
Americans were being turned down by Amy Carmichael's ministry

743
00:54:20,615 --> 00:54:27,065
because they were considered, back then, being too soft."

744
00:54:27,071 --> 00:54:30,768
Somebody like Elizabeth Elliot not even given a chance.

745
00:54:30,774 --> 00:54:36,695
Why? Because Americans, as a whole, were counted too soft in the 50s.

746
00:54:36,701 --> 00:54:41,700
Oh yeah, come forward 60 years with all our devices and gadgets and softness.

747
00:54:41,706 --> 00:54:44,735
You know, they are figuring out how to make towels and blankets softer,

748
00:54:44,741 --> 00:54:49,586
and sheets softer, and pillows softer, and clothes softer.

749
00:54:49,592 --> 00:54:51,659
And you know what? We buy them.

750
00:54:51,665 --> 00:54:53,175
And you know what that does?

751
00:54:53,181 --> 00:55:00,733
It very subtlety makes us into something that I don't think we want to become.

752
00:55:00,739 --> 00:55:02,521
And it's often been talked about.

753
00:55:02,527 --> 00:55:08,666
Before Hudson Taylor went to China, Andy talks about him sleeping on boards;

754
00:55:08,672 --> 00:55:12,196
eating certain kinds of food, not the kind of food everybody else eats;

755
00:55:12,202 --> 00:55:14,520
living in conditions not everybody else is living in.

756
00:55:14,526 --> 00:55:20,138
Look, there is a place for beating our bodies into submission.

757
00:55:20,144 --> 00:55:22,230
Why? Because that makes us warriors.

758
00:55:22,236 --> 00:55:29,454
That gives you a disposition to be warlike. (P)

759
00:55:29,460 --> 00:55:34,349
We got to beat our bodies into submission.

760
00:55:34,355 --> 00:55:37,833
American softness.

761
00:55:38,609 --> 00:55:44,728
Brethren, Romans 6:11 is work.

762
00:55:44,734 --> 00:55:48,362
It's mental work.

763
00:55:48,368 --> 00:55:53,630
God commands us to ponder, consider, reckon, calculate, take into account,

764
00:55:53,636 --> 00:56:00,387
think, evaluate, reflect upon this reality that we are dead to sin by our union to Christ,

765
00:56:00,393 --> 00:56:01,526
and alive to God.

766
00:56:01,532 --> 00:56:06,102
Christian, you do not have to give in to sin.

767
00:56:06,108 --> 00:56:12,739
You're no longer some pathetic slave to it.

768
00:56:12,745 --> 00:56:16,345
I think, God sent us this dog, we took in a stray dog,

769
00:56:16,351 --> 00:56:21,990
and he's afraid of everything. Whimpering.

770
00:56:21,996 --> 00:56:23,463
That's not us anymore.

771
00:56:23,469 --> 00:56:25,422
That's what He is saying to us.

772
00:56:25,428 --> 00:56:33,497
You don't have to cower when the old master comes because he's not master anymore.

773
00:56:33,503 --> 00:56:35,701
You have another Master.

774
00:56:35,707 --> 00:56:37,756
You have a good Master,

775
00:56:37,762 --> 00:56:45,045
and a Master who is determined to give you strength to overthrow the old one. (P)

776
00:56:45,051 --> 00:56:51,735
Oh, brethren, before we're going to get to Romans 6:12,

777
00:56:51,741 --> 00:56:59,667
we must first come to grips with verse 11.

778
00:56:59,673 --> 00:57:02,120
If you're going to be prepared for battle,

779
00:57:02,126 --> 00:57:04,480
you got to have your mind rightly prepared.

780
00:57:04,486 --> 00:57:08,587
And, like I said, that alone is a battle in this day of electronic devices.

781
00:57:08,593 --> 00:57:10,627
They vie for all our attention. (P)

782
00:57:10,643 --> 00:57:16,469
Brethren, I want to end with this.

783
00:57:16,475 --> 00:57:26,976
The real matter in all of this is how we get to the place that we are dead to sin.

784
00:57:26,982 --> 00:57:31,929
And the thing that Paul emphasizes over and over and over,

785
00:57:31,935 --> 00:57:43,484
(notice Rom. 6:3 - baptized into Christ Jesus;

786
00:57:43,490 --> 00:57:51,782
Rom. 6:4 - buried therefore with Him;

787
00:57:51,788 --> 00:57:57,296
Rom. 6:5 - united with Him in a death like His;

788
00:57:57,302 --> 00:58:03,010
Rom. 6:5 again - united with Him in a resurrection like His;

789
00:58:03,016 --> 00:58:11,367
Rom. 6:6 - our old man was crucified with Him;

790
00:58:11,373 --> 00:58:14,944
Rom. 6:8 - died with Christ;

791
00:58:14,950 --> 00:58:17,708
Rom. 6:8 again - we will also live with Him;

792
00:58:17,714 --> 00:58:25,363
Rom. 6:11 - alive to God in Christ Jesus;

793
00:58:25,369 --> 00:58:33,706
you drop down to Rom. 6:23 - the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,)

794
00:58:33,712 --> 00:58:37,900
you know what Paul's real emphasis here is?

795
00:58:37,906 --> 00:58:40,090
Our union with Christ.

796
00:58:40,096 --> 00:58:43,274
This is what he is saying. You're one with Him.

797
00:58:43,280 --> 00:58:44,526
You're so much one with Him,

798
00:58:44,532 --> 00:58:49,008
Scripture speaks about you're seated already in the heavenly places with Him.

799
00:58:49,014 --> 00:58:55,601
Jesus said to His disciples, "If I live, you live."

800
00:58:55,607 --> 00:58:57,703
Why? One.

801
00:58:57,709 --> 00:59:03,039
You see, He died, and we die.

802
00:59:03,045 --> 00:59:05,888
He lives, and we live.

803
00:59:05,894 --> 00:59:08,343
We are one with Him. That's the issue.

804
00:59:08,349 --> 00:59:16,423
Scripture says, "He who is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with Him" [1 Corinthians 6:17].

805
00:59:16,429 --> 00:59:20,614
Scripture talks about us being one with Him. (P)

806
00:59:20,620 --> 00:59:26,968
Brethren, I'll just end with this.

807
00:59:26,974 --> 00:59:33,352
As you're seeking to rightly prepare your minds,

808
00:59:33,358 --> 00:59:37,218
do you want to have this sanctifying power of Christ in your life

809
00:59:37,224 --> 00:59:42,168
helping you to win this battle, and break and overcome the power of sin in your life?

810
00:59:42,174 --> 00:59:47,147
Do you want to pursue holiness, that holiness without which no man will see the Lord?

811
00:59:47,153 --> 00:59:52,316
If so, you know what the real issue is?

812
00:59:52,322 --> 01:00:02,467
Paul clearly would have us to be thinking on, and cherishing the reality of our union with Christ.

813
01:00:02,473 --> 01:00:05,876
That's where the mind really needs to be.

814
01:00:05,882 --> 01:00:13,780
I am one with Him! I am with Him. I am in Him.

815
01:00:13,786 --> 01:00:20,517
I am so much one with Him that, in some mystical way, He's seated up there in glory,

816
01:00:20,523 --> 01:00:21,867
at His Father's right hand,

817
01:00:21,873 --> 01:00:27,757
and I am presently seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

818
01:00:27,763 --> 01:00:38,784
Do you know that little prepositional phrase 'in Christ' or 'in Christ Jesus'?

819
01:00:38,790 --> 01:00:40,399
It is everywhere.

820
01:00:40,405 --> 01:00:42,462
But I want you to know this:

821
01:00:42,468 --> 01:00:46,323
the apostles didn't just throw that terminology around

822
01:00:46,329 --> 01:00:51,692
because they were for a lack of other terms to use, or just as some filler.

823
01:00:51,698 --> 01:00:58,268
It carries one of the most profound realities of your Christianity.

824
01:00:58,274 --> 01:01:05,518
You see it so much because it is just affirming again and again and again,

825
01:01:05,524 --> 01:01:12,188
"You are one with Him. He is in you." (P)

826
01:01:12,194 --> 01:01:14,842
There is a union with Christ.

827
01:01:14,848 --> 01:01:18,214
We need to be convinced of being united to Him.

828
01:01:18,220 --> 01:01:20,752
Brethren, think on that.

829
01:01:20,758 --> 01:01:24,759
Love it! Love being united to Christ.

830
01:01:24,765 --> 01:01:28,056
Dwell on that. Make that a focal point.

831
01:01:28,062 --> 01:01:30,747
Grow in your grasp of that reality.

832
01:01:30,753 --> 01:01:35,199
I am one with Christ. I am one with Him.

833
01:01:35,204 --> 01:01:37,293
And it's real.

834
01:01:37,299 --> 01:01:41,264
This has real consequences about this battle.

835
01:01:41,270 --> 01:01:42,980
Live in the knowledge of this.

836
01:01:42,986 --> 01:01:44,054
Carry it through your day.

837
01:01:44,060 --> 01:01:48,895
When you wake up in the morning, "I am one with Christ, that is why I am dead to sin.

838
01:01:48,901 --> 01:01:53,551
Because He died, I am one with Him. And if He died, I died.

839
01:01:53,557 --> 01:01:57,217
And if He's risen to newness of life, I have risen to newness of life."

840
01:01:57,223 --> 01:02:01,795
Don't take any of that as being about our future resurrection.

841
01:02:01,801 --> 01:02:03,132
That's all about NOW.

842
01:02:03,138 --> 01:02:08,449
He's talking about, Why do Christians not continue in sin NOW?

843
01:02:08,455 --> 01:02:11,692
It's because you are alive with Him NOW.

844
01:02:11,698 --> 01:02:14,985
You are alive to God. You are alive to righteousness.

845
01:02:14,991 --> 01:02:17,198
Make that your meditation.

846
01:02:17,204 --> 01:02:20,354
"I am one. I am in Him."

847
01:02:20,360 --> 01:02:21,888
Think about these texts I've read.

848
01:02:21,894 --> 01:02:26,798
In Christ. In Christ.

849
01:02:26,804 --> 01:02:33,045
And He can say, "Because I live, you will live also."

850
01:02:33,051 --> 01:02:36,154
Wow! If it's true about Him, it's true about me.

851
01:02:36,160 --> 01:02:37,238
I am one with Him.

852
01:02:37,243 --> 01:02:39,132
Where He goes, I go.

853
01:02:39,133 --> 01:02:40,533
Isn't this what we are told?

854
01:02:40,539 --> 01:02:46,011
This mystery; oh, it's not just a man and a woman, a man marrying a bride.

855
01:02:46,017 --> 01:02:47,965
It's Christ and the Church.

856
01:02:47,971 --> 01:02:49,974
We are one. We bear His name.

857
01:02:49,980 --> 01:02:53,619
Just like a wife bears the name of the husband, the wife goes where the husband goes,

858
01:02:53,625 --> 01:02:55,636
they are one, their lives are joined together;

859
01:02:55,642 --> 01:03:00,097
so Christ has joined His life with ours. (P)

860
01:03:00,103 --> 01:03:02,258
We are in Him. We are one with Him.

861
01:03:02,264 --> 01:03:04,389
What happens to Him happens to us.

862
01:03:04,395 --> 01:03:08,722
His name is at stake. His death is at stake. His shed blood is at stake.

863
01:03:08,728 --> 01:03:10,577
The promises of God are at stake -

864
01:03:10,583 --> 01:03:16,317
"Believe Me, it's so real that they are seated in the heavenly places."

865
01:03:16,323 --> 01:03:18,560
Scripture speaks about you already being there.

866
01:03:18,566 --> 01:03:19,782
Yeah, it's mystical.

867
01:03:19,788 --> 01:03:21,665
I know, physically, you're not there.

868
01:03:21,671 --> 01:03:27,972
But you know what it means? It means you're there.

869
01:03:27,978 --> 01:03:31,261
Not in a physical sense, but you're there.

870
01:03:31,267 --> 01:03:33,047
I mean, it is a reality.

871
01:03:33,053 --> 01:03:36,309
We need to soak these things up, not just read about them and say,

872
01:03:36,315 --> 01:03:39,060
"That's too weird, I can't understand that," and move on.

873
01:03:39,066 --> 01:03:40,399
No, you dwell there.

874
01:03:40,405 --> 01:03:42,996
You think on that, "Wow! I am one with Him.

875
01:03:43,002 --> 01:03:47,639
I am one with Him so much that Scripture can talk about my glorification as being past tense.

876
01:03:47,645 --> 01:03:49,865
Glorified. It's already done!

877
01:03:49,871 --> 01:03:51,181
It's already certain.

878
01:03:51,187 --> 01:03:55,136
Scripture can speak about me already being seated with Him in heavenly places.

879
01:03:55,142 --> 01:03:58,288
Dead to sin. Alive to God. Wow!" (P)

880
01:03:58,294 --> 01:04:01,574
These are some of the greatest realities.

881
01:04:01,580 --> 01:04:05,989
We actually have a connection and a union with Christ.

882
01:04:05,995 --> 01:04:07,981
You're never going to fight this battle for holiness

883
01:04:07,987 --> 01:04:10,805
unless you're really dwelling on these things and taking time.

884
01:04:10,811 --> 01:04:13,911
Brethren, that's where I wanted to go today.

885
01:04:13,917 --> 01:04:17,166
The battle starts in the mind.

886
01:04:17,172 --> 01:04:20,715
So much of Christianity is fought up here.

887
01:04:20,721 --> 01:04:25,021
What do you believe? What do you really believe?

888
01:04:25,027 --> 01:04:31,941
Because I'll tell you, what you really believe is going to impact how you live.

889
01:04:31,947 --> 01:04:35,170
I hope you get this.

890
01:04:35,176 --> 01:04:41,633
If your thinking goes wrong, your fight will go wrong.

891
01:04:41,639 --> 01:04:45,984
God commands you. It's an imperative.

892
01:04:45,990 --> 01:04:59,222
Consider yourselves dead to sin, and alive to God, as you are in union with Him.

893
01:04:59,228 --> 01:05:01,000
May God help us. Amen.