We have a guest speaker tonight who's a favorite in the house. He's a genuine prophet to this house But here's the thing if that's not a spooky weird thing. It's a man who is a absolute Bible machine. Welcome up Mark Hulsen's guard It's fun to be able to go to both services and see the entire church in one day because sometimes if you're just at the Five-thirty or the three you forget that there's a whole bunch of other people here So it's amazing to be able to be in both and just see our church together going after the Lord Well, it wouldn't be a five-thirty Sunday with me with the mic if I didn't share a dream We're gonna start off with that On March 1st of this year I had a dream and in the dream I was brought to cafeteria and I walked in there and there weren't very many people in there Just a few people from every day and they're eating their food I stayed there for a period of time before going back out into the foyer and I sat down in the foyer And I knew in the dream that hours I passed away while I was there and I was like, you know what?
I'm gonna head back into the cafeteria and see what's going on So I go back in and this time the cafeteria is jam-packed with people from every day And one of the things that I noticed right away when I walked in is that there was an appetite and a hunger that all the people had there So much so that all of the prepared food in the cafeteria was all eaten and they had to bring more food in Then there was a scene change in the dream now is brought to a classroom And there's two men in this classroom sitting down at desks And I started to observe them the first man that I went up to I looked at and he had a diary sitting next to him And when I saw the diary I knew that whatever was written in there is what this man felt was true about himself And so if someone picked up the diary opened it and read it and what was read out was this I believe that I'm still a slave to sin Then the diaries put down and my focus shifted to the next man So I went over the next man who was sitting down and he had an iPad sitting next to him And when I saw the iPad I knew that this man had been looking at stuff on there that he shouldn't be looking at and I could see a bunch of guilt and condemnation around this person Well all of a sudden the Lord walked in went over and picked up the iPad and when the Lord did that This man actually turned away from the Lord because he was afraid about what was going to happen And because of the shame that he had around what he was doing He didn't want to look well the Lord picked up the iPad and rather than looking at the history He hit a button that said erase all So I woke up from the dream and I started to talk to the Lord about this and I believe this is a very significant dream for our community I believe the first part of the dream is what the Lord is wanting to do with us spiritually at every day He's wanting to develop a hunger an appetite for the things of the Lord And there's gonna start to be shifting away from the appetite of sin and the things of this world And it isn't going to just be a few people. It's not gonna just be the the zealous young ones that are just going after the Lord It's actually going to be a corporate movement all of us together going into the depths of the Lord where there's gonna be hunger for diving into the word for worship for prayer for gathering oil for gathering intimacy with the Lord And that's where the Lord's going to start to take us I believe the second part of the dream was the Lord highlighting what are the hurdles that are being placed before us that are Keep keeping people from entering into that identity in the Lord And there's a host of different things some of them are incorrect and sometimes demonic doctrines and theologies we believe about ourselves Other ones are just not knowing that because of what Jesus did on the cross that we don't have to have guilt or condemnation and we can actually go into the presence of the Lord with confidence and then there's the teaser of the brethren that comes in and Speak stuff to us that oftentimes we like to turn our ear to him rather than to what the Lord has to say about the situation So what I want to do tonight is I want to address those lies What is it that it's keeping us the bride back from growing and maturing into the things that the Lord wants us to walk in So November of last year I give a message titled our bridal identity and in this message I talked about if you look at from Genesis to Revelation You'll see an overarching story of where God the Father promises his son Jesus a bride who would be a helper There would be a suitable helper that he could rule and reign with forever But then we see sin and during the equation and we see the bride turn away and Jesus has to pay an ultimate price to get her back But the beautiful thing is is that at the end of the story We see Jesus comes back fights on behalf of his bride comes to get his bride And there's a beautiful wedding that happens that we then get to deal with him for all of eternity Well in the middle of that story arc Paul comes in and in Ephesians 5 and 27 He says this he says that Jesus himself is going to present her talking about the bride to himself And she's not going to have a spot or wrinkle or any such thing and she's going to be holy and without blemish Now I want to ask this to you if you're to look out at the church today the church at large How many of you would look out and say yeah, what I see Paul talking about there in Ephesians 5 That's definitely what the church is walking in right now Most of us would probably like no it's missing to be quite a ways away from that well. What's Jesus's answer to that? Look at the verse before Ephesians 5 26 Jesus says that he's going to cleanse us with what the washing of the word So we start to see from the very beginning that Jesus is here for all this is what is written in the word And it's our job to start to marinate in it Let it cleanse and wash over us to show us our true identity in the Lord And that's when all these doctrines false teachings accusations of enemy are going to start to go away And we're going to grow up into all things in Christ But even with that if we're being honest How many of you be like that seems to be a pretty tall task of like looking at where things are at right now that yeah I believe the Lord can do anything But that seems to be asking a lot of him to prepare a bride that is going to be pure and spotless But the beautiful thing is we see the end of the story Revelation 19 7 John is in heaven and he hears a multitude of people saying together Let us rejoice and be glad why because the marriage supper of the land has come and what and his bride his wife has made herself ready So we know that it's going to happen and we know that it's in partnership with the Lord and we the bride are going to make ourselves ready Now I want to get us out of a ditch that sometimes people get when we read this verse What John is not talking about here is that we are going to do a bunch of holy righteous acts that are somehow going to make ourselves Right before the Lord and after doing a bunch of things the Lord is gonna look down and be like okay now I approve you now I can come back now you've done enough that is not what John is talking about here But it's actually going back to fusions 526 where when we start to wash our identity with the washing of the word Starting to see what Jesus actually purchased on the cross We start to throw off the things of old the things that we have died to we start to grow up into a mature bride And it's all coming into agreement with Jesus purchase and what he gave us and that is how we make ourselves ready Is how we grow up into that?
So in order to start to dive into this we have to go look at what the scriptures say how we start to see and unlock Some of these things I believe Paul addresses this and starts to tell us a little snippets of it back in Ephesians 5 So if we go on in Ephesians 5 we see in verse 31 and 32 Paul says this therefore a man shall lead his father and mother And be joined together and the two shall become one this is a great mystery, but I speak it concerning Christ in the church Now first thing we have to talk about is what is a biblical mystery? It is not some sort of random equation that only one person can start to figure out and that there's some sort of Like weird revelation that comes out when a biblical mystery is something that is plainly seen in scripture But without the Holy Spirit bringing enlightenment enlightenment to it We wouldn't see that there's a higher thing that the Lord is wanting to talk about So what Paul is saying there when he says in verse 31 therefore a man shall lead his father and mother He's quoting from Genesis 224. He's saying when you read that story Understand that it's just not a cute marriage story of Adam and Eve coming together and saying wow that's amazing He's saying if you're reading that you're missing the point of what the Lord is wanting to talk about at that point And this isn't just a mystery This is the greatest mystery of all because that story talks about Jesus and his bride coming together And how he's going to birth a bride that is going to be holy without spot or wrinkle. So let's go back to Genesis 2 So Genesis 2 verses 21 to 25.
How did God make Eve out of Adam? It says that he caused a deep sleep to come over Adam and then out of his side took a rib Formed the woman then Adam woke up and God brought the woman to Adam and then he says this This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh and I will call her woman and then verse 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined together and the two shall become one again We have to have alarms going off in our brain when we see that it's again It's an amazing story just in the natural but if we're just reading it of oh here's how a woman came about Naturally on the earth we're missing the bigger mystery behind it and the Holy Spirit is saying you have to understand what is going on here The first Adam is a foreshadow of the second and greater Adam to come of just how the first Adam a woman was brought forth The second Adam is going to have the same story arc of that So again, how was the woman brought well Adam was put to sleep by the Lord out of his side a rib was taken and then the woman came up Born of his bone flesh with flesh. How is Jesus going to be making a pure and spotless bride? Well, God the father put Jesus to sleep killed him He was then stabbed in the side that a price then was paid so that when he woke up was resurrected from the dead There was now a price paid for a bride that could come forward that now will be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh And what does that mean for us now?
It means that we now share the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is living in us We now have the righteousness of God living inside of us when we look at Jesus and see who he is That's why it says that as Jesus is so we are in this world There's a work that has been finished because when we get born again, we hear it in the likeness of what Jesus is But then what does it say in verse 25? We look over this all the time it says that the man and the woman then stood there naked and we're on a shame And again a lot of times people just argue about this as like is that what it's going to be like in the new Jerusalem? Is that what it's getting at? All great debates to have but again, we're missing the bigger picture here again We're still in what Paul says.
This is a great mystery Don't miss the main point of it that if you have been born again through Jesus You now come up out of his death and his resurrection You're made in the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus that you can now stand spiritually before the Lord naked and unashamed But how many of us if I were to say hey the Lord is going to stand before you and he just wants to talk with you and like Look at your life. How many of us would again back away in shame and fear? I would say probably every single one of us and it's because we don't know what Jesus rightfully purchased through his death and Resurrection and the transformation that happened the last verse in Romans 4 it says that Jesus died for our sins But was raised for our justification And we see that again in Genesis 2 that we partake in Jesus going to sleep and then in his resurrection is where we come forth Justified and we can stand there unashamed not cowering but running to the Lord Why because we are his bride we are his helper and as a result of that we know that we can be confident being felt loved by the Lord Because he's taken care of our entire past it is with him in his death So how do we then start to grow in this turn of me to James 1 because James 1 starts to lay this out very clearly for us And we're gonna go to verse 21 Now as you're turning there I want to give a little bit of context to what we're about to read if you look at the verses before in James 1 You'll see that James starts off by saying blessed are those who overcome temptation This verse alone should break off a lot of sacred cows that we hold ourselves because again notice what James does not say He does not say blessed are those who after giving at their best realize that you're still a slave to sin and you fall back into it No, because he understands what is true about us because of what Christ actually purchased so you can actually endure temptation Then James hits another point. He says don't get it wrong.
God is not the one tempting you There's this movement that's starting to seep into the church where people that are struggling with sin start to say You know what this is my thorn in the flesh God Just not wanting to take it away The Lord is doing this to me to kind of grow my obedience in him to say that I'm surrendered to him and James is like Get that lie out of there. God is not the one tempting you He actually gave you power to say no to it. You can endure that temptation He then starts to go into saying well how then does sin start to come it comes when desires start to get out of control And when desires get out of control it births in and when sin is fully right it produces death Notice that he doesn't say that all desires are evil There are even godly desires that can come in that we can get carried away with that lead us then in the sin But there are also just evil desires But both of those we've been given power over that we can just say no to down And that's where then he says every good and gift comes from above So don't be deceived why because you are a first fruit of a new creation So he's starting to point to the fact that here's why he can overcome sin You're the first fruits of a new creation now. Let's start reading in verse 21 Because of all of that James says therefore lay aside of filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls again another verse that should start cutting lies off He can doesn't say try to lay those things off James understands that because of Jesus's death and resurrection and that he's now implanted his word into us We now have power to just straight up lay all filthiness and wickedness off to the side It doesn't take some sort of magical intervention the intervention happened two thousand years ago And it's time for us to start just laying stuff off to the side But then notice what he says he brings us back to the word He says look at the implanted word just like in Ephesians 5 where Jesus says I'm going to wash you with the washing of the word Look at the implanted word now.
What is that John says it this way in first John 3 9 he says that if you are born of God God seed remains in you now if you look at the Greek word for seed It's the word sperm and what John is talking about there is that if you're born of God What gets implanted into you what word gets put in you what seed gets put in you is the divine life of the Father that when it comes Into your spirit because what our spirit is now one with the Lord It starts to birth in you creation one that is righteous one that has power to overcome sin because we now share in his glory We share in his power we share in his resurrection And he starts to say look at that implanted word Don't you remember that you have a seed that is living in you and if you're born again that seed will always remain so when temptation comes Your way we don't any longer have to get swayed by it. We can say no I now know who I am and I can say no to it Verse 22, but be doers of the word and not here is only deceiving yourselves for if anyone is a here of the word and not a doer He's like a man observing his natural face in a mirror for he observes himself goes away and immediately forgets What kind of man he was so what's James talking about here? Just like in the natural you have never seen who you truly are outside of looking in a mirror or now with modern technology pictures or videos He's making the same argument for you spiritually. He's saying I don't care what you think you are I don't care what emotions you think you have that you think to find who you are if you want to see who you truly are You need to go look at the word because the word is our mirror that tells us who we actually are in the Lord what this starts to break off then is People who struggle with sin and say I just feel like I'm a slave to sin You don't know the amount of temptation that I've had you don't know that I've struggled with this for 20 years You don't know the amount of really bad sin that I do and James the same if you're a believer Something has happened that has changed and that's not true of you anymore You're not a slave to that anymore that sin doesn't have power over you We can now start to say no to it and it's when we start to look at the word and realize who we are But he says don't just be a here and forget what you look like be also a doer of that So what does that mean?
Well, we're hearing right now. You're free from sin and we'll take a look at some passengers there But we go about our life and notice that James does not say that temptation isn't going to come your way He's not saying that temptation is still going to come our way But now we've been empowered to say no to it. So a man who is a forgetful person sees Yep, I'm free from sin walks away and then temptation starts to come and he goes back into life Yep, you know, I had that thought that's actually who I am. I'm still gonna be a slave to this and yep This has happened over and over.
I'm now going to give myself into it and James is saying you're forgetting who you are Which is why he concludes with look into the perfect law of liberty because when we come into grace It is for freedom that Christ set us free where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom And when you see who you are you'll see that the enemy is barking at you lying to you saying that you're still a slave to this But you'll start to see that he has no power to enforce it And so we need to stop coming into agreement with his lies and going back to the word seeing who we are and starting to walk that out Turn with me to second Peter one when I look at verse five Because there's an aspect and growing up and maturing as brides and making ourselves ready where it's just saying no to sin That's a very helpful tool the Lord has given us but oftentimes we believe that our walk with the Lord is just saying notice and what Peter is addressing here is The Lord has so much more for you. How do we start to walk in that and he's given us the fruit of the spirit He's given us the gifts of the spirit and we're gonna see a long list come out here But what you'll notice is the exact same answer of how to say notice and that same truth that same revelation is how we walk in What the Lord has given us through his Holy Spirit and it's also interesting to know what does Paul say that those who walk in the spirit Won't walk out the lust of the flesh. So this is a important truth that we have to start to understand So second Peter once starting verse five But also for this very reason giving all diligence add to your faith virtue to your virtue of knowledge to knowledge self-control To self-control perseverance to perseverance godliness to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love for these things are yours And abound you will be neither barren nor fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ How many of you when you look at that list? Looking to go man, that'd be great to have that be manifesting in my life Especially let's say self-control because self-control is what overcomes sin and temptation you're able to control stuff How many of you would ask the Lord of saying okay Lord?
I have a checkbook What should I write in there to buy what I can get there? And I'm sure most of us would be like hey, I would give it all to get that But notice what Peter says He's not talking about obtaining something that you don't already have he addresses Why we're not walking in this and look at what it says in verse nine For he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins interesting The reasons why we're not walking in that is because we don't know that we've been forgiven We don't know that no matter what it is that you've done prior to Jesus It's now in the sea of forgiveness your sins of old have been cleansed And that's again why Peter says if you don't know that you're short-sighted or blind again pulling on the very same language That James is talking about of saying you need to look at who you actually are in the word of God Stop being blinded stop being short-sighted stop looking walking away and forgetting who you are stop forgetting that your sins of old have been cleansed Stop forgetting that the Lord has impregnated you with his life and his spirit that gives you power over that because when you know those things You'll say no to sin and you'll walk in all the lists right there that he talked about and we'll walk in and start again become mature brides With Peter saying we have to understand that our sins of old have been cleansed We have to take a look at that in the word and start to nail this down because again This is a theology that most people would probably agree with of like yeah I know that my sins are forgiven But when you play it out and how you communicate with the Lord how you operate in daily life We don't believe that Because how many of you someone comes up to you and goes hey can you pray for me and what immediately do you go to? Well, I did something yesterday I shouldn't have done so I probably shouldn't pray for you because I don't think the Lord is going to move in you And you start to tie yourself back to the old man that is dead for getting that your sins of old have been cleansed and therefore We become ineffective ministers to the Lord because we're sitting in our past rather than what the Lord has made us So we have to start to see what is the Lord think about our past our sin and I think Paul does a great job of laying this out So turn for me to Romans 5 now before we start to read in Romans 5 and we're gonna start in verse 19 I think it's helpful to talk about terms in Romans because how many of you read especially this part of Romans get through it And you're like I have no idea what I just read I Mean Even to this day I read it and I'm like okay slow down mark that there's a lot there and it's confusing But let's define some terms so now when we read it it won't be as confusing We'll start to see the truth of what Paul is arguing and we'll start to get rid of Demonic doctrines that come out of here that skew the truth of what Paul is arguing that people used to justify Continuing and sin and saying I can't ever get free from it because they don't realize what Paul is actually arguing So what are some of these terms the old man? What is the old man that is before you said yes to the Lord that is your spirit?
So in John 3 when Jesus is talking to Nick a team is and he says we have to get born again And the making this is like you're talking about like a physical rebirth He's like no talking about your spirit has to get born again Your old man is your fallen spirit that is enslaved the sin Then he talks about sin in Romans and in some cases he is talking about the actual act of sin But what he's going to argue is that there's something that you don't understand There's an actual force called sin that force of sin came in through the fall and is now waging war Against us he then uses the term the flesh and some parts in the new testament the flesh actually refers to our physical bodies But that's not what Paul's talking about here the simplest definition I can give of what the flesh is is it's our unrenewed mind So it's bad thinking things that we believe that aren't true is the flesh Then he'll talk about the law. What is the law? The law was six hundred and thirteen commandments given to the Israelites And I want to bring some clarity around this as well because this is another thing that when we read these passages in Romans We conflate a bunch of different things Christians believe that the law was given to us to make us righteous And Paul is going to argue almost the exact opposite of that and when we start to confuse these things together We start to bring old with a new and we end up in more and more sin So the law was commandments given to the Israelites And it was actually given to them to keep them in sin and it was actually given to them so that sin would increase It was given to them to strengthen sin Why because the law is Paul talks about relations three was a tutor to bring us to Jesus Then we have grace or the new covenant that Paul will talk about what is that? That's now how after you say yes to the Lord how we engage with the Lord rather than works based of the law that you by the way You'll always fail we now get to enter into a covenant with the Lord that is based upon Jesus's work What he did what he gave to us it isn't based upon anything that we did but we're now empowered by what he did And as a result of that there's a new creation that comes in that we're born again Now I also want to talk about how these relate because you'll see that Paul will lay this all out But I think it's helpful before we start to jump in if you're a non-believer or before Jesus came on the earth as well before the cross So you have the old man the old man was an enslaved to sin and Paul says that you were in the flesh So you're in your unrenewed mind You had the power of sin coming after you but you didn't have power to say no to it But what happened there are people that were like no, I'm good I can be justified by doing good and so what did God do?
He's like no no I'm gonna give you the law to show you that even if you think you're good You actually aren't but the law is going to push you to show you that something needs to change a rebirth needs to happen So we see all of those working together to strengthen sin to bring us to Jesus who's going to change everything So then Jesus comes dies on the cross gets resurrected from the dead and we get to participate in the unis of life So then what happens our old man is gone and we get a new creation But does the flesh go away does the power of sin go away? Paul argues no, it doesn't go away But now you're not anymore in the flesh it wages wargets you but you're not in it You're now in the spirit and he says that you're now no longer a slave to sin but you're a slave to righteousness and Being that there was that death he now says rather than the law that's to strengthen sin I'm going to give you grace which grace teaches us to say no to sin and you'll start to see that Paul argues that apart from the law Sin lies dead so we'll start to see that the shift that happens were made new We're giving power over all the things that used to make us fall the Lord empowered us to say no to it Gave us a new way to relate to him It was all based upon what he did but then that any loves to come in and starts to mingle the old with the new and you forget who you are Well, I know I'm under grace, but I'm still the old man still a slave to sin. No, you're not a slave to sin anymore Yes, sin temptation come come your way emotions can come your way, but don't forget who you are look at the law of Liberty Look at the word look at who you are and start to walk in that All right, so Romans 5 Sorry 19 first by one man's disobedience many were made sinners So also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous again talking about the first verse the second Adam by Adam sin entered in the world The greater Adam many will be made righteous able to stand before him naked and unashamed Moreover the law entered that the offense might have bound But where sin abounded grace abounded much more so that as sin rained in death even so grace might rain through righteousness to eternal life Through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then shall we continue and sin that grace may abound certainly not?
How shall we who have died to sin live any longer in it? Think about that for a second Paul saying right there You have died to sin So if there's anyone here that is struggling with sin, I want just declare this right now. You're dead to it You don't actually want that you can say no to it It doesn't matter how long you've been struggling with it the fact is you're actually dead to it Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father What even so we should walk in newness of life So after the resurrection after we see a sword a newness of life comes in that we can start to move past our old ways and into newness of life For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death Certainly we also in the likeness of his resurrection Knowing this that our old man was crucified with him That what the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves of sin For he who has died has been freed from sin Now if we died with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him knowing that Christ haven't been raised from the dead dies No more death no longer has dominion over him for the death that he died He died to sin once for all but the life that he lives he lives to God So what do you do as a result of that verse 11 likewise you also Reckoning yourselves to be dead and deed to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lust as important passages That's the renewing of the mind. That's the bride making herself ready coming in agreement Reckon yourself dead to sin Paul also doesn't say that sin he says sin can still reign in your mortal bodies But what it doesn't have to because you have died to it There's gonna power that is coming that you can simply just say no Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to Christ This is when we look into the Bible This is the word that gives us power to be free from sin and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin But present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and as members of instruments of righteousness to God Why for sin shall not have dominion over you why because you're not under the law under grace So we see all those things that ensnare us our old man sin the flesh the law Jesus paid the price to get rid of our old man A new creation comes in that's James one.
You're the first fruits of a new creation Therefore saying no to sin now being that we're apart from the law sin now wise dead and we have power We have to start renewing our mind to this and walking it out Roman seven or do you not know brother for a speak to those who know the law that the law has dominion over man as long as He lives for the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives But if the husband dies she is released from the law of her husband So then if while her husband lives she marries another man She will be called an adultress But if the husband dies she is free from that law so that she is no adultress though She marries another man therefore my brethren you also have become dead to the law Through the body of Christ that you may be married to another to him who raised you from the dead that we should bear fruit to God Again that ties back exactly to Genesis 2 Through Jesus's death and being stabbed in the side Our old man got crucified there We get resurrected in the unis of life But in that death Paul is arguing you also died to the law because it does happen to get out of that way and to be a tutor To bring us to the Lord and Paul is saying that that happened when you say yes of Lord because you died with him That's why we get water baptized you go down in water to represent that you're dying with the Lord getting wash free coming up in Unis of life and Paul is expounding on this of saying realize what's happening there the oldest God in the new has come You now have power over the very thing that you think is having power over you Verse 5 for when we are in the flesh the simple passions which were aroused by what the law We're at work in our members to bear fruit to death But now we have been delivered from the law having died to what we were held by so that we should serve in the Unis of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter Then we get to the very famous part in Roman 7 We're gonna what's going on here with Paul. This is again What I would say is one of the greatest injustices and teachings that have come in the church Paul comes on and starts to say hey There are things that I want to do that I don't do and there are things that I don't want to do that I end up doing and even though I don't want to send I end up sending all the time and Teachers come in and start to say see Paul kept struggling with sin or we start to believe lies Okay, if the mature apostle Paul talked about that he could never break free from sin How in the world am I supposed to break free from sin and then when we fall back into temptation when we forget who we are We go back to this passage and justify it to ourselves of yeah, you know I just don't have any control over it Paul did it You know that yeah I just I can't do it anymore and I don't have any control over it And we don't realize what Paul is actually saying here and that he's actually arguing the exact opposite of it You see where people make the flav reading this is they believe that Paul right now is talking about him post saying yes to Jesus and getting born again What Paul is talking about is when the law was introduced to him as a child What it was like under the law How do you know that because he starts in verse 7 we talked about I didn't know how to cover I didn't know what covet this was until the locky then the law came and I actually wanted to do all sorts of company And it started to grow it started to expand again What he said in the prior chapters that the law came so that's sing what about and why Paul's talking about this Was because he was you know one of the holiest of holies But he needed the law to start to show him that he was always falling falling short But then what does he say in verse 14 for we know that the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal sold understand For whatever reason when we read the story in Romans 7 of Paul's struggle we skip over that He's saying the story that I'm about to tell you goes back to the prior verses of when the law was introduced when I was sold Under sin and we forget what he argued the prior two chapters of that you have now become dead this sin Reckon yourself dead this sin so Paul is not talking about the story of after saying yes to Lord becoming a new creation We need to get that light out of us stop using this passage to justify sin in our life Stop using it as something to pat ourselves on the back of hey I gave it a good go against that flight against temptation No, cuz what does he say at the end of it verse one fourth? Oh wretched man that I am who will deliver me from the body of death Who's going to deliver him from this struggle that he's had work? He's always doing sin even if he doesn't want to do it.
He's caught in a body of death What does he say? I think God through Jesus Christ our Lord Because when Jesus enters into the picture power comes in and starts to change things We're now things that he doesn't want to do he can say no to the body of death has been done away with the old man is gone The new one has come wrecking yourself dead to sin so let's stop using that one and let's understand the context of it And ourselves wrecking ourselves dead to sin Romans 8. There's therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus Who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit? So notice there Paul says that there's even a shift because back in Romans 7 he said that when you weren't in the Lord you were in the flesh well now if you're in the Lord you're not in the flesh But in the spirit change for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death For what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh God did it by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account Of sin he condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh But according to the spirit for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh But those who live according to the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded is death But to be spiritually minded is life in peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God for does not subject to the law of God nor can be So Paul again is arguing here.
There's a beautiful change that started to take place And just like it says in James 1 2 Peter 1 Jesus in Ephesians 5 washing us with the washing of the word What if we start to set our mind on things of the spirit? What if we start to look at the perfect law of liberty what's actually true about us and start to walk in that rather than Setting our mind on things of the flesh and he said that that's where you're going to start to produce fruit and prosper Turn up me to Hebrews 10 the author of Hebrews and Hebrews 10 Starts to lay out a lot of arguments of what Paul just talked about here But I think sometimes a little bit more concise as a manner And this is another chapter of scripture that we have to get ingrained in ourselves and understand the arguments that are being made So Hebrews 10 one for the law having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of those things can never With these same sacrifices which they can offer continually year by year make those who approach perfect for them Would they not have ceased to be offering so notice that what's being argued here is that you know that the Sacrificing of bulls and goats didn't make anyone perfect because if it did it would stop So it begs the question of if there is a sacrifice that could be made that was one time forever What would that purchase it would purchase a perfect person and you're going to see that that is what Jesus purchased his sacrifice at one time forever But look at what he says after that for the worshipers once purified would have had no more consciousness of sins But in those sacrifices, there's a reminder of sins every year for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away those sins So he's starting to say okay if a sacrifice is made one time forever not only are you perfected But you don't even have to focus on the things of the past because that's not who anymore You don't have to have a sin consciousness The Lord isn't continually bringing up over and over and over and that was the purpose of the sacrificial law to remind you every single year that you had sin It wasn't ever taken away But what did John the Baptist say when he saw Jesus behold the lamb of God that what takes away the sins of the people But we oftentimes in our identity still believe that we are clothed and filthy robes And we talked to the Lord about that and we don't believe that what Jesus purchased is actually true for us So if there is a sacrifice that could stop one time forever, we could be perfect We wouldn't have to have consciousness of sins. So let's go down to verse 11 and every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices Which can never take away sins, but this man talked about Jesus after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever Set down at the right hand of God Why because the work was finished the priest of old couldn't ever sit down because the work was never finished But what is being talked about here in argument here is Jesus's sacrifice was so big that his one sacrifice took away all past Present and future sins and it takes it all away and we can now have confidence that the work is done Let's let us start to have confidence in that Resort for by one offering what does it say? He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified How many of you know that your spirit is perfect right now if you said yes to the Lord When we go to be with the Lord our spirit isn't going to change at all We have the very DNA of the Lord in our spirit It is what is born again that is given why it says that as Jesus is so we are we in this world?
Yeah, our mind hasn't been renewed But our spirit has been born again and he has perfected us and that should give us peace and confidence that when the Lord comes to us We can don't have to turn away out of shame but can actually face him and embrace him as our bride We're sitting with a Holy Spirit also witnesses us forever he had said before This is the covenant that I will make with them those days says Lord I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds. I will write them then he adds their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more now where there's a remission of these there's no longer an offering for sin I want to hit a couple of things on this because again I think sometimes we read that one says that he puts his laws into our hearts and he's speaking about the new covenant that We believe that that is the law that Paul argued were not supposed to be under because it produces sin that the glorious thing of the new covenant Is that somehow he puts that into us and things just kind of work themselves out? That isn't what is being talked about here John makes it very clear in first John 3 23 What does he say? This is the commandment that Jesus gave us and this is what gets put in our heart and what is it?
To believe him notice How's there's a shift there rather than trying to get justified by your own works rather than trying to break free from sin By your own works rather than trying to grow in righteousness by your own works What if we started to believe Jesus and what he said he's done? It's a lot easier That's why it says in Hebrews 4 it says that we can enter into the rest of the Lord because just as God rested on the seventh day from His works, so can we what if we start resting from our works yet to try to justify ourselves and believe the law that was put inside of us Believe on Jesus believe what he did believe what he said about you look into the mirror see who you are Actually believe that and then go and serve other people Their sins and their lawless deeds. I'll remember no more This is another Doctrine that is entered into the church of the Lord is keeping count of your sin even with communion How many of us have grown up in churches where the elements get passed out and they say sit and think about all the sins that you've done Or how about you need to get right with the Lord or how about this one the Holy Spirit is convicting me of my sin I want to pose this question to you if in the new covenant he remembers your sins no more They're gone as far as the east is from the west What if that voice that we think is coming in that is convicting you of your sin is actually the accuser of the brethren and not the Holy Spirit? Well mark what about John 16?
It says right there that the Holy Spirit will convict of sin again We need to read things and context read what they actually say So what does he is saying when the Holy Spirit comes he'll convict the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment and most of us stop reading there But what does it say after that of sin because they don't believe in me? The Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers of their sin he convicts us of our righteousness He convicts us of what he has done for us to show us that there's a better way Which is why it says that the grace of God appears to all men teaching us to say no to sin the Lord doesn't relate to us about that It is gone as far as the east is from the west So this means that when we have a quiet time with the Lord if you're about to go in and all of a sin consciousness starts to come in Realize who you are realize that there's a sacrifice one time forever that took it away that you no longer have to have a sin consciousness The Lord doesn't remember it pursue him go into the holiest of holies and start to see who you truly are because when you see that Those sin struggles will fall off because you're not a slave to them anymore Verse 19 therefore brethren having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way Which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God Look at what it says here. Let us draw near When you're struggling with sin don't turn away when you see the Lord pursuing you don't turn away that is the old way There's a new way have confidence to approach him have confidence to go to the one that paid the price for you to walk free from all that Let him speak the truth over you But again, we think that it's humility to cower back and fear and feel bad about it And then we end up just sitting in our sin and sin sin even more what if we started to try this? What if we started to try the way Paul laid out of how to actually break free from sin which is knowing our identity So let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from what from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water It's all been done.
Jesus did it all. There's not anything more that we can earn from it He's starting to put inside of us his sea that is producing fruit We need to start looking into the mirror and seeing who we truly are. I'm gonna welcome a band out So mark then what happens when sin starts to come our way because again I talked about that just because all of these glorious things happened doesn't mean that Satan the flesh or the power of sin have All of a sudden stopped So first thing is what we did tonight is starting to see the truth of who we are that we are dead This is where new to God God isn't keeping account stuff. He's not mad at you We don't have to have guilt shame or condemnation So when anything opposes those truths, you know that it is not the Lord's voice But is the user of the brethren let us stop agreeing with Satan and start agreeing with God So then temptation comes our way.
What do we do? There's so many sermons out there on 50 different steps of how to break free from lust pornography swearing Drugs you name it whatever it is the good news of the gospel is that all those have died there isn't a 50-step process It was two steps death and resurrection that happened So what if we started to do these things when temptation comes our way? Rather than falling back into the little man of me like yep, that's true of me. What if we started to say I'm dead to that I'm above that and then walk away That is what the Bible says is the way to say no to sin Temptation and walk in the righteousness and the holiness that the Lord provided And then one way that we can continue to do this is what through communion Which we're gonna do in a second because the Lord gave us communion to remember that exact thing when we drink the blood We're supposed to remember that Jesus's blood Had a higher voice that took away all of our sins as far as the east is from the west.
It's one time forever So if you have lies coming in of yeah, I asked the Lord for forgiveness a couple weeks ago But then I screwed up now I gotta get right with the Lord No, you're right with the Lord shift that doctrine and understand that our relationship with the Lord if you said yes to Lord It's based solely upon Jesus's standing with the Lord because we get grafted into what he purchased And so then it's gonna come up and lead us in communion But I want us to start shifting that then when we take it Thank the Lord for what he did if there are things that you're like, hey I'm struggling with you don't have to lie about that. Well, let's start bringing the truth to that That is not you your you yourself don't have those desires anymore They have been crucified and whether or not you feel free from it the truth is you are free and that is a glorious thing