[00:00:00] What shall we say then? Is the law sin?
[00:00:03] Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law,
[00:00:08] for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said,
[00:00:11] you shall not covet. But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment,
[00:00:15] produced in me all manner of evil desire, for apart from the law sin was dead.
[00:00:20] I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived
[00:00:25] and I died. In the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
[00:00:30] For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
[00:00:35] Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
[00:00:40] Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not. But sin, that it might appear sin,
[00:00:46] was producing death to me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment
[00:00:50] might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual,
[00:00:55] but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand.
[00:01:00] For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do.
[00:01:05] If then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
[00:01:10] But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me,
[00:01:16] that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me,
[00:01:21] but how to perform what is good, I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do.
[00:01:28] But the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do, what I will not to do, it is no
[00:01:35] longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me,
[00:01:43] the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man,
[00:01:48] but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into
[00:01:52] captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me
[00:01:59] from this body of death. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I
[00:02:06] myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Jesus be with us Lord.
[00:02:13] We glorify you and praise you and thank you and honor you. Thank you for your grace,
[00:02:20] thank you for your mercy, thank you for your forgiveness Lord. Forgive us this day and every day
[00:02:27] for the sins that so easily be set us. God set us free from whatever captivity ensnares us.
[00:02:34] Set us free to do your will to follow you wholeheartedly, to pursue you with faith
[00:02:40] and strengthen us for that journey and that task. Call us Lord to a higher calling, instill in us
[00:02:46] and write your word and your law upon our hearts. Lord that we would be given strength each and
[00:02:52] every day renewed and overflowing and vast enough to overcome the temptations that face us.
[00:02:59] God you are good and your mercy endures forever. We lift up our own lives, the lives of our
[00:03:06] families and our communities, our loved ones, our colleagues. We lift up our brothers and
[00:03:11] sisters to you Lord and we pray for breakthroughs, for marvelous majestic miracles, for your will
[00:03:18] to be accomplished in our lives. And Lord thank you for the blessed hope of the new heavens
[00:03:24] and new earth where there will be redemption and restoration and a new creation and the abolition
[00:03:30] of sin. God let your will be done. Help us to fight this battle, help us to represent you properly,
[00:03:39] help us to avoid hypocrisy. Lord we repent, we come to you praying for your forgiveness and for the
[00:03:48] strength to turn from our wicked ways. God we love you and Holy Spirit we pray that you would
[00:03:54] quicken us, quicken your word for us and nourish us Lord with the bread of life,
[00:04:02] the word of God and with the love that you have for us despite our condition. We bless you Jesus,
[00:04:10] we praise you and we honor you in all things. Amen. Brothers and sisters this time needs to be
[00:04:19] redeemed. I'm speaking to myself in my own life but it is something that all of us
[00:04:27] could essentially always use a reminder of and when we read through these passages in Roman 7
[00:04:36] which one of us dares to say that we do not identify wholeheartedly with the anguish
[00:04:45] that is in the apostle Paul as he writes these words. As he observes the differential between
[00:04:53] the law leading us to understand what sin is and the consequences of understanding what sin is.
[00:05:00] Surely all of us has at some point in a cynical moment of reflection thought what if there weren't
[00:05:08] these moral boundaries what if there wasn't this guilt that is felt sometimes on a consistent or
[00:05:17] even constant basis wouldn't it be better to just be ignorant of these things after all people do say
[00:05:25] that ignorance is bliss maybe that is not just for knowledge in general but specifically for
[00:05:31] moral knowledge. After all we have a general excuse that we like to bring forth that well
[00:05:36] if we don't know something is wrong then how can we be blamed for it and it certainly appears that
[00:05:43] to a certain extent that kind of dynamic is what Paul is discussing when he's talking about the law
[00:05:50] saying that apart from the law sin was dead and I don't think we want to say that a lack of
[00:05:58] knowledge of moral principles of right and wrong contains the full measure of absolution
[00:06:04] from that but we don't necessarily at this stage want to get too technical into what it means and
[00:06:13] what it would constitute to truly be ignorant of these things because certainly as beings created
[00:06:20] in the image of God there is implanted into us at least until it's potentially seared by wrong
[00:06:26] doing a conscience that speaks to us and leads us and guides us but in a still small voice and
[00:06:34] we can suppress that we can suppress it in unrighteousness we can move forward in a way that
[00:06:41] dulls that voice and makes it impossible to hear but again we don't need to get into the
[00:06:47] exact semantics and the metaphysics of it all but I think the baseline plain reading principle
[00:06:55] is clear that when we are aware of the nature of sin and the definition of it particularly when
[00:07:04] we are earnestly seeking to follow the Lord that we will more and more readily be confronted over
[00:07:12] and over and over again with our own actions and their consequences sometimes things that have been
[00:07:19] going on and have been buried for a long time and when they are brought up it is
[00:07:25] not without anguish and concern and regret even the proper process of repentance that brings
[00:07:34] the only kind of catharsis that delivers us and heals us because of what Jesus has accomplished
[00:07:41] for us on the cross to provide atonement and reconciliation and just getting into a state of
[00:07:48] peace that is all the best parts of the path forward but in this moment and in the times
[00:07:59] in which we live even for the apostle Paul here we see him drawing this distinct contrast and
[00:08:08] we would look at Paul rightly as a paradigm example a pillar of the faith and so we can ask
[00:08:16] ourselves if Paul is having this kind of reaction then what should our reaction be where are we
[00:08:23] what can what can we do about this and there are a handful of lessons that I think are important
[00:08:30] for each one of us to take in number one there is a progress and a maturity that comes along
[00:08:41] with Christian living with walking with the Lord with being discipled with staying in the word
[00:08:46] with being sensitive to the Holy Spirit with all of these necessary components of our faith
[00:08:52] where you know when Paul is writing these verses in Romans 7 you have to wonder is it
[00:09:01] these major escalating devastating sins that are he's being thought of I certainly don't want to
[00:09:11] think that we would look at Paul and say oh secretly he is doing this that and the other thing
[00:09:16] it is possible as he does elsewhere that he's remembering the activities that he participated in
[00:09:23] before he was saved but Paul understands the nature of forgiveness he understands it well
[00:09:29] he understands it certainly perhaps better than we do and so what Paul is being distressed over
[00:09:37] in terms of a sin might I suggest we don't have biblical data on this but it might be a sin
[00:09:44] that many of us brothers and sisters where we are positioned might say oh well that's just
[00:09:50] something little and yet it's bringing Paul anguish and if this thought experiment is legitimate
[00:09:57] and I think it's a it's a case study even if we don't want to bring any more doctrinal conclusions
[00:10:02] from it from a discipleship perspective sin is sin yes there are gradients discussed in the
[00:10:10] Bible the Bible describes a sin that is unto death and others that are others that are not but
[00:10:17] leaving that aside any degree of rebellion which is what sin is any degree of rebellion from a holy
[00:10:26] god is a manner of life and death when we go back all the way to the beginning of the
[00:10:33] Bible and we see the curse and we see this description the wages of sin is death it doesn't say the wages
[00:10:42] of a little sin is just fine but that the wages of these major you know mortal sins is death there
[00:10:52] is no distinction there and so as we walk with the Lord as we progress as we move forward
[00:11:00] haltingly stumblingly only by the grace of God and only by his power one of the marks of the progress
[00:11:08] of a disciple is to understand and to perceive our own sins the way that God perceives them every
[00:11:19] sin is drastic in its rebellious content whether we through our own perception or
[00:11:26] the lens of our culture or anything else would see it that way or not and I think
[00:11:33] one of the problems of disputation is whether it's within the church or external with respect to a
[00:11:41] secular culture when we identify scenarios where on both sides of the straight and narrow path
[00:11:50] there are different sins and oftentimes there's a division where one group for whatever reason
[00:11:57] is going to prefer one side of that dilemma and over correct against the other and both are
[00:12:03] and ending up in a ditch and it's it's such a challenge here because when we when we move
[00:12:11] forward we need to be extremely careful because we can't say well at least I'm not doing this
[00:12:18] major thing and then have have these quote-unquote minor things on the side I think a mark of maturity
[00:12:26] is understanding that that kind of gradation that kind of accounting for lack of a better word
[00:12:32] is not just insufficient I think it's non biblical so I don't think you need to imagine
[00:12:38] here that the apostle Paul has all this grandiose secret sin that's going on in his life I think
[00:12:45] that he understands the teaching of Jesus and that our own attitude our own mentality our own
[00:12:51] fleshly and carnal desires themselves bring about this temptation and can bring about sin
[00:12:58] in our in our thought life and in and indeed and so we find ourselves in this world and Paul
[00:13:06] is probably in a situation where because of his sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and his knowledge
[00:13:15] of of theology and his practice in discipleship he is likely very sensitive to the to any sin
[00:13:24] that is taking place and so he can rightly bewail these these sins these these acts of rebellion
[00:13:31] and saying I don't want to do these things whether it's thinking about thinking about the wrong things
[00:13:40] and again I would distinguish between an intrusive thought that immediately gets taken captive
[00:13:45] versus you know dwelling on these things whether it's covetousness or lust or even just a
[00:13:55] deprioritization of God's will and favor our own self seeking self-centeredness all of these things
[00:14:02] that are so bound up in the cultural milieu that we find ourselves in that to separate ourselves from
[00:14:09] them is not just tremendously difficult but I would say impossible without supernatural and
[00:14:15] spiritual help but brothers and sisters as we come to this point as we see what the
[00:14:22] apostle Paul is going through we should understand that that in and of itself is actually a mark
[00:14:30] of spiritual maturity of growth and that the Holy Spirit is actively and has been actively working
[00:14:40] on the apostle Paul and the same can be true for us we can get to the point where the
[00:14:46] quote-unquote supposedly smaller things bother us just as much but usually in order to get to that
[00:14:53] point a lot of bigger more obvious more glaring things need to be cleared out of the way but
[00:15:00] you know if we're talking about cleaning a house and you have a room that's just a complete
[00:15:06] and utter disaster and you start to rearrange some things replace things that are broken get
[00:15:13] some things in some semblance of order then there's the next level of arrangement and restoration
[00:15:19] and polishing that needs to take place if you think about the house that belongs to someone who is
[00:15:26] hoarding objects you know you're never going to get to the point where the baseboards are
[00:15:32] clean because there's just mountains and mountains of just junk in the way before you can even
[00:15:39] get to that and so if we find ourselves distressed and really trying to grapple with things that
[00:15:47] we know if we talked about them with others some people would just shrug their shoulders and say
[00:15:52] really that's not that bad on the in the grand scheme of things why is it troubling you like
[00:15:57] this that should actually be a good sign not just that we are in line with the apostle Paul
[00:16:04] here but because it's an indicator that the Holy Spirit has been working to transform our lives
[00:16:12] from image to image and from glory to glory we make more and more progress and so part of it is
[00:16:19] the difference in the psychological perception of sin that too can get changed and to a certain
[00:16:27] extent this feels rather burdensome right and you sense this in the way that the apostle
[00:16:33] Paul is writing and the Holy Spirit is communicating this that when let's say you're someone and you
[00:16:40] have a bunch of big things to deal with and by the grace of God you're able to repent and move forward
[00:16:46] for those to receive forgiveness to receive healing and restoration and all of these things
[00:16:52] but then you just go right to the next level of it and there's all these other
[00:16:56] quote unquote medium sized things and now those medium sized things appear appear just as large
[00:17:02] if we have the right spiritual eyes to see because again sin is rebellion full stop and even though
[00:17:10] there are degrees to these things we should be just as abhorrent to one kind of sin as to another
[00:17:17] ultimately sin cannot stand in the presence of a holy god it doesn't matter what degree we're
[00:17:23] talking about here God is perfectly holy and you know any excuse that we that we have is
[00:17:30] just nothing in the sight of his power and holiness and righteousness and so it can feel
[00:17:37] like we're just being trampled upon right by the nature of by the nature of sin and you know even
[00:17:45] when we make progress there are these other things that get dug up and these other
[00:17:50] things can come up that you know just bring us back into that situation and and do we need to
[00:17:56] continuously be on this endless cycle of repentance and disaster and just feeling down because of this
[00:18:07] seeming seemingly never-ending parade of sin and I would I would encourage you brothers and sisters
[00:18:14] that we have to be judicious here in that there are multiple judgments that we could make multiple
[00:18:22] reactions that we could have that would end up pushing us in the wrong direction the primary
[00:18:28] observation to repeat myself a bit is that when we find ourselves dealing with sin and we recognize
[00:18:37] it and we're troubled because of it number one that should be evidence that the Holy Spirit
[00:18:43] is working in us which should be an encouragement it should absolutely be an encouragement
[00:18:49] number two we have to know the full biblical counsel we have to understand the nature of
[00:18:54] the Holy Spirit's leading sin is traumatic and devastating and rebellious and cannot be overlooked
[00:19:03] but there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus when we are searching for
[00:19:09] the Lord when we ask for forgiveness when we repent he will not turn aside he will not
[00:19:15] shut us down he will see that he will honor that his forgiveness never runs out his grace is never
[00:19:23] emptied his love never fails he is perfect and he is righteous and he is holy and he is true
[00:19:29] and he does not condemn but the Holy Spirit leads in the best way possible but if we are
[00:19:37] not sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit then we won't feel that tenderness that grace
[00:19:43] that loving embrace that God wants to provide us to help us to navigate through these things
[00:19:49] and we can end up feeling crushed by these overwhelming sensations of guilt to the
[00:19:57] point where we just tamp them down and say well I'd rather not deal with that negative emotion
[00:20:02] right now let me flee and go in a number of different directions most of all including
[00:20:07] more rebellion than at the start so we have to know how God deals with his people and the nature
[00:20:15] of God's correction and the conviction of the Spirit and we have to keep our eyes on the ultimate
[00:20:22] purpose of all of these things we are to be sanctified we are to be made increasingly holy
[00:20:30] by our cooperation with the will of God to sanctify us and we aren't going to be able to boast that
[00:20:37] we cleaned ourselves up that we followed the law that we purified ourselves we are going to be able
[00:20:42] to boast in Jesus because of the victory that he has won to allow us to be freed from captivity
[00:20:49] by the agency and his power purely by the grace and love that he shows us and that we
[00:20:55] have just been endeavoring to follow him to pursuing his kingdom to knowing his will and to acting it out
[00:21:04] again only through his power because we understand who he is we understand the nature of the love
[00:21:10] that he has for us because we see what he has done for us at the cross while we were yet sinners
[00:21:16] he gave his life for us while we were still mired in everything that had us bound he showed
[00:21:24] mercy upon us he reached out to us he drew us to himself he saved us by his grace and when we
[00:21:32] place our faith in the Lord when we are truly born again when we receive a new nature it is
[00:21:39] reception of a newness of life that goes directly into this into this battle
[00:21:46] and brothers and sisters why why would we pursue anything else we should be pursuing this repentance
[00:21:56] this cleansing we should say with the psalmist try me God and know my heart know my thoughts
[00:22:03] purify me Lord help me we should be repenting of our of our ways turning from our sinful nature
[00:22:12] and recognizing this struggle and the meaning of it and and what is to what is to become of it
[00:22:19] ultimately and that is all in favor of a huge part of the hope that is within us for the new heavens
[00:22:28] the new earth where there will be no more sin or temptation to sin when Jesus will rule and
[00:22:35] reign when we are glorified when we no longer have a body of death but instead a glorified
[00:22:41] and eternal body of life it's so difficult for us to even conceptualize this because of the
[00:22:49] framework that we're in here it's so like I don't even know apart from the heavenly revelation of
[00:22:56] it which would be so overwhelming overwhelmingly positive it probably wouldn't even be capable
[00:23:04] of being articulated but there will come a time brothers and sisters that God will wipe every
[00:23:12] tear from our eyes there will be a full restoration and there will be no more temptation no more sin
[00:23:18] no more sorrow no more pain in that sense and these are such integral and just ever present
[00:23:29] components of the lives that we lead that it's it's hard to imagine it's impossible to imagine
[00:23:35] a lot of times when people are talking about oh you know God has prepared things beyond our
[00:23:41] imagination God has things in store that we've never dreamed of or perceived you know sometimes
[00:23:48] my mind will go around potentially other people's mind will go I don't want to
[00:23:52] don't want to speak for anyone else but it's like okay well you know what are the blessings
[00:23:55] and we think about these different material things and provisions like well you know
[00:23:59] yes I suppose there could be things beyond that but what about in the moral realm it is
[00:24:07] beyond our imagination to understand what it's like to operate in a world without sin
[00:24:15] even in the context of our own hearts in our own minds how desperately should we desire
[00:24:22] and love and hope for the arrival of this state where this burden is lifted where we recognize that
[00:24:33] Jesus accomplished a victory over sin and death and hell and his victory over sin is just it's
[00:24:43] unfathomable I think to us because like Paul we are embedded in this fight that feels
[00:24:51] so exhausting it's a you know spiritual trench warfare it's you know up into no man's land
[00:24:58] getting pushed back moving back moving forward and like in World War one ending up four years later
[00:25:05] with a with an unfathomable level of casualties and no territory to show for it that's what it
[00:25:12] can feel like sometimes brothers and sisters and if it seems like in Roman 7 Paul is in one
[00:25:18] of those moments and so how do we navigate this because when we when we see that narrow path we
[00:25:25] don't want to become discouraged we don't want to grow weary in doing good we don't want this
[00:25:33] pursuit to overwhelm us and the way that we can allow that allow ourselves to be protected
[00:25:40] from that is by drawing close to God studying the scripture to understand how God deals
[00:25:46] with his people and experiencing the love and the grace of God and the forgiveness of God firsthand
[00:25:54] without that regular time spent in worship and in prayer and in the presence of God
[00:26:00] we just don't have the strength we we're not going to be able to be sustained to go through
[00:26:06] this we will end up in a place of cynicism a place of just saying well I guess this is
[00:26:13] inevitable so we're just going to have to deal with it it's a place that can be difficult to make
[00:26:19] progress from and it's only by surrender to understanding the nature of sin as a captivity
[00:26:26] that we can break out of that that Jesus can set us free from these things so
[00:26:34] again there are so many different pitfalls here the pitfall of stacking one sin against another and
[00:26:43] putting that in you know in the balance and in the scales and making a judgment that
[00:26:48] one thing is fine but but another is not of that's the pitfall of not seeing sin for what it is
[00:26:55] and then there's the pitfall of just feeling this burden that is so dramatic that
[00:27:01] it doesn't seem like there's there's any way out and that pitfall can be avoided by
[00:27:10] just walking more closely with the Lord and his word and understanding more about who God is
[00:27:16] and then part of that dynamic is as we go along as we actually make progress
[00:27:24] the the sharp two-edged sword of the word the prompting of the Holy Spirit cuts a little deeper
[00:27:31] gets a little more pointed gets more precise instead of a blunt instrument that's necessary to take away
[00:27:40] whole chunks of things the tools and the expressions and the the finer the finer things
[00:27:49] have to get dealt with in a in a different way and those things then become amplified so
[00:27:55] as we go through this process of sifting of purifying of cleansing of healing of repentance
[00:28:04] this ongoing journey for a Christian that we see we need to understand that again that journey
[00:28:12] itself that struggle itself that fight itself that battle itself is evidence of the working
[00:28:20] of the Holy Spirit in our lives and so rather than being downtrodden by it rather than seeing
[00:28:26] what Paul says here and then just throwing up our hands and saying well if that's what's happening
[00:28:31] to the apostle Paul then I'm never going to dig my way out of this hole it's a true statement
[00:28:35] because we can't dig our way out of that hole on our on our own merit or on our own
[00:28:40] righteousness or on our own strength it has to be the power of God that is transforming us
[00:28:46] Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith and he is still in that process with you
[00:28:52] he is still in that process with me and it will be all glory to him for the transforming power
[00:28:59] that he has enacted in our lives until we achieve the state of glorification upon his return
[00:29:08] and the resurrection and the new heavens and the new earth and so at the end of it all
[00:29:14] brothers and sisters when we when we recognize this process we should receive the courage and the
[00:29:22] strength to not get just so beaten down by this it should ultimately be an encouragement to us
[00:29:31] when we recognize this battle that's going on and we say that you know this is not foreign
[00:29:39] to anyone this is something that is a universal human experience and the thing that we should not do
[00:29:48] at any point is say I wish I just didn't care about these things I wish I were like
[00:29:56] those who aren't following God and who these days seem to take pleasure and freedom in
[00:30:03] you know any type of activity I wish I didn't have this judgment in my spirit that said
[00:30:10] this is right and this is wrong I wish I were free from my conscience like Paul says God forbid
[00:30:17] the law is not sin it points us to it it is a it is a tutor in that fact but we should not
[00:30:27] yearn for or seek this all together more pitiable state of being free from those guiding principles
[00:30:38] in such a way that leads us so far adrift that we're just completely off the road without a map
[00:30:47] with no guidance with no way of coming to grips with true reality in a moral nature
[00:30:56] even if the we see people appearing to be pleased or happy or joyful or even ecstatic in those in
[00:31:06] those sorts of states where they're just carefree like it doesn't it doesn't matter if you
[00:31:10] don't have any moral standards and you don't experience any guilt or or punishment or any
[00:31:18] feeling of regret for anything that you do it is it is tempting in many cases to say
[00:31:26] I wish I had I wish I had that kind of attitude then I wouldn't feel so bad then all this guilt
[00:31:31] would be gone but that is precisely part of the deception that the that the guilt that we experience
[00:31:41] is actually something that if it is if it is controlled and understood properly through the
[00:31:48] guidance of the Holy Spirit is actually moving us in the right direction and even if there is
[00:31:53] this appearance of happiness from people who are out operating outside of moral bounds and
[00:31:59] don't acknowledge any moral codes or restrictions we should understand that for what it is its escapism
[00:32:07] it is empty it is ultimately fruitless and the appearance of being carefree can be can be deceiving
[00:32:16] because after all we are made in the image of God we are made with a conscience we are the type
[00:32:23] of beings who benefit substantially from direction from what is right and what is wrong or at the
[00:32:32] very least understanding that there is that kind of a framework otherwise we are simply
[00:32:36] a slave to our desires and caught in a prison of not just delusion but complete confusion we
[00:32:45] lack any proper orientation and without that kind of orientation we can I suppose convince ourselves
[00:32:54] delude ourselves into thinking that there is something being accomplished well like at least
[00:32:58] we're free from guilt but you don't achieve true freedom from that sort of thing by abolishing the
[00:33:04] category altogether the category exists for a reason and as Christians and as reasonable people
[00:33:10] we want to say yes there are of course moral absolutes and that that comes with it the the
[00:33:18] scenario where guilt arises when those moral absolutes when those commands are not followed
[00:33:24] to their fullest extent not followed properly but that is something that the Holy Spirit is
[00:33:29] there to help us manage brothers and sisters we don't have to shoulder this burden on our own
[00:33:35] not only that we can't we don't have it in our power to not be encumbered not just to the point
[00:33:42] of fatigue or exhaustion but complete collapse from the battle between the body of death the law of
[00:33:50] sin that's in our members versus the law of God we understand what we want to do and we see ourselves
[00:33:57] doing the opposite in many cases we understand what we're not supposed to do and yet all
[00:34:02] of a sudden here we are doing it yet again yet again and again and again potentially and so
[00:34:09] this is just such a crucial part of the battle that we're fighting if if people are saying out
[00:34:16] there that you know faith is easy that it's that it's an opiate for the masses just a
[00:34:21] complete misunderstanding of the nature of what it means to believe in a moral and a righteous
[00:34:29] and a just and a holy God it is far from being an opiate of the masses in a in a sense that people
[00:34:38] are therefore dulled from their sensibilities it is the height of a call to challenge and
[00:34:47] rigor and perseverance but it's a fight that we can't manage without supernatural assistance
[00:34:55] and so if you're in that kind of fight right now if you have repented for something and
[00:35:00] you're struggling and it just feels like you have to repent again and again if you're burdened
[00:35:05] by this guilt go to the word go to worship God enter his gates with thanksgiving and enter
[00:35:14] his courts with praise and say thank you father that I feel this way help me to see if there's
[00:35:23] anything that's condemning and help me to separate what is coming from the enemy versus my own mind
[00:35:30] versus what is coming from you for I know that whom you love you chasen and that you are in the
[00:35:36] process of reforming me and delivering me and healing me and helping me so thank you Lord
[00:35:43] that I have this burden because I can cast it upon you Jesus and your yoke is easy and your
[00:35:50] burden is light and I don't have to shoulder this myself because it would be too overwhelming
[00:35:56] so I surrender Lord and I pray that you would guide me in this process I want to seek you
[00:36:03] I'm asking and you said whoever seeks will find whoever knocks will be open to them
[00:36:10] and Lord you hear us you know us you have given us this moral sensibility you have given us
[00:36:17] this indefatigable notion of right and wrong that can only be suppressed by just an incredible effort
[00:36:27] of denying our own nature and the the nature of everything God and so go to the Lord brothers
[00:36:35] and sisters go to the Lord for help with perspective on this I don't I don't claim to
[00:36:41] have all the answers but I can point you in the right direction it's to the Bible it's to
[00:36:45] Jesus it's to the proper spiritual disciplines and it's to understanding where the various pitfalls
[00:36:53] lie as we go upon this path but know that there is one who is with us God will never leave you
[00:37:00] nor forsake you brother God will never leave you nor forsake you sister he is there his
[00:37:07] grace and his mercy and his love are never ending they can will should and must be yours
[00:37:14] because his word is true and he is faithful to his word Jesus is his word there is not something
[00:37:21] in there that will not be honored by the Lord when done according to his principles and according
[00:37:27] to the way that he prescribes it so brothers and sisters if you're burdened if you're weary
[00:37:35] if you are laden with guilt and with this battle that the apostle Paul is describing
[00:37:41] in anguish terms here in roman 7 this battle between the law of God and the law of sin
[00:37:48] this battle between the mind that we have that wants to serve God and this body of death that
[00:37:55] we abide in go to him go to Jesus he will receive you he will embrace you whether you are as far
[00:38:07] away as the prodigal son was to his father or whether you are close but still dealing with this
[00:38:14] whether you're cleaning up the baseboards and you're you're getting the dust out from the cracks
[00:38:22] in the floorboards with the toothpick or you're just looking at a mountain of junk in a particular
[00:38:28] room the answer is in one place in one place alone and that's at the throne of God
[00:38:35] where our glorious savior sits ready to receive you ready to hear you ready to lead you ready
[00:38:45] to transform you from image damage and from glory to glory because of his love for you he made
[00:39:04] you receive the rest that he has promised he is faithful God thank you that you are faithful
[00:39:12] to us thank you that you are merciful to us thank you that you are loving to us thank you God
[00:39:22] that you understand us that you know everything about the struggles that we have thank you
[00:39:32] that you have foreknowledge of what is going to happen thank you that you see us through the
[00:39:40] righteousness of Christ you see us for who we can and will be as transformed by your grace
[00:39:47] as opposed to who we are thank you lord for the way that you correct us and chasing us
[00:39:55] thank you for the power of your word thank you for the opportunity that we have lord
[00:40:01] to fellowship with you to come into your presence thank you lord for this opportunity
[00:40:07] for your holy spirit to lead us all together in the way that we should go thank you Jesus
[00:40:14] thank you for healing us and for setting us free who will deliver me from this body of death
[00:40:23] you will you will Jesus thank you in your name amen