First Baptist Church in Amboy,IL Podcast
O Wretched Man That I Am
Let's see if we're in Romans chapter 7 and 8 tonight and continuing the notebook and I'm not sure. I want God's people to get engaged and sometimes I feel so burdened and so heavy about things and I think of the prophet and there's a song. I'm thinking of verses and songs now. Every time I think of verse, I'm thinking of songs. Thanks, Linda, for starting me on that. Is it nothing to you, O ye that pass by, that our freedoms would die? And I look what's going on in our world today. Every time we have an election, I'm just sharing with some of the men that we've prayed with before the service that every election we've had, since I've been a Christian, I'm thinking in the back of my mind, this may be the last. And I'm actually thinking right now that last one we had might be our last. I don't know what in the world our world's coming to. It is well, I know what it's coming to you. I know where it's all going to end, but I was not sure how we're going to get from here to there, but if we realize how real and then people that I meet from week to week, the burdens that they carry are so heavy and so confusing. And I go away scratching my head thinking, what in the world could I possibly say or do to help them? This world is such a mess. Our homes, our community, everything around us is such a mess. And then the internet that's supposed to make the life so much better has multiplied. I mean, every month, it seems like it's twice as bad as it was before. But we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and realize that we are in the end time. You know, it can be discouraging, but it ought to be encouraging just as the days when Jesus first came into this earth, the world was a mess. And people were discouraged and defeated and down thinking, we need somebody to deliver us from their own empire. They didn't realize what they were living in. We look back now and think, well, we would have liked to have been living back then. If we were back then, I guarantee you, we would not want to be living at that time if we really know what the world was like and the same things through the Second Coming. And God's people have fully rejected him. And I realize in my own life how much and what God has taught me in recent years and Romans 6, 7, and 8 is the center focus of it. And I'm just trying to share some things and I don't want to get too deep because I feel like just covering the surface is deeper than some people want to go. But living the crucified life and Galatians chapter number two, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. I think that's the verse that's all you have is. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God that loved me and gave Himself for me. There's so much in that verse. And that really in a nutshell, that's like saying John 3 16 is the gospel in a nutshell. There's a whole lot to the gospel, we understand, don't we? We say well, John 3 16 is a Psalm in Galatians 220 is a summary of everything that God wants us to know as a Christian. There's so much in that verse. And we look at Romans chapter 6, 7, and 8 and I gave this to you this morning. I mentioned it this morning and I also put in the bulletin this microphone on and my ears are playing a funny trick on me. So I'm not sure if you're hearing me, if I'm hearing myself. But the reason we cannot fully, and I looked at Romans 8 this morning and we're headed there, but I fear that most of us have such a shallow understanding of Romans 8 that we never really get the depth of the meaning of that chapter because we have not applied Romans 6 to our life. And we've never wrestled through Romans 7. And tonight we're going to wrestle through part of Romans chapter number 7 and step into chapter number 8. Lord willing, we get that far. Father, we pray that you would teach us from your word, teach us what it is to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh. Lord, we've lived our entire life in the flesh and much of our Christian experience. If we were honest and real and allowed you to work in our lives, we would have to admit that much of our Christianity has been in the flesh. And the reason our churches are such a mess, the reason our homes are such a mess today is because Christians are living in the flesh and walking in the flesh rather than in the spirit. That's why there's strife, that's why there's division, that's why there's anger and all the things that we see popping up in our world. And the sad reality is what we see in Christianity is not really much different than what we see in the world because we're living under the influence of that same flesh rather than walking in the newness of the spirit of God. And God, I pray that you would help us to understand some simple truths tonight to draw us closer to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you look at Romans chapter 7, we're starting in verse 12 and go down to chapter 8 in verse 11 in this section. I don't know if we'll get all the way through it. My wife's in the nursery so I don't want to go into extra innings tonight if you know what I mean. And I think Carson's the only one down there. Oh, we especially don't want to know. I shouldn't tell to get the truck out and take him for a ride. He'll be content there. Let him drive for a while. That'd be all right. But Romans chapter 7 and a lot of us are familiar with some of the things at the end of chapter 7, say, and it's really kind of comical in a sense what he says there. But the Lord gave me this thought this week and I shared it this morning and I put it in the bulletin. I think I worded it a little bit different after I had the bulletin run off. But I once was lost in sin, I was under the condemnation of death. And I got that meditating on some things this week and some of these verses that I want to share. There was a time when I was lost in sin under the condemnation of death. And then now, and we rejoiced in this, now I'm found in Christ. I'm forgiven. I have eternal life. That's good, isn't it? Aren't you glad you're forgiven? You have eternal life? Aren't you glad you're saved tonight? All right, I want to make sure you're still waiting. I didn't put you to sleep yet, did I? And I'm glad that I'm saved. I'm glad I'm lost, but now I'm found. But the truth is, I want to be lost. I want to be lost. I long and desire to be lost in Christ. I came across that state and actually that was in the song that I sang this morning. I was meditating on all week and looked at it last. They're probably a few weeks ago. These words are great in that song. And I lost in Christ. As a new Christian, really, for years, in my first few years of my Christian life, I was like, that's kind of a funny statement. Lost in Christ. I'm not lost. I'm found. Lost is those that are lost. But I want to be lost. There's a lot of words that define that in the Bible. That's what the Bible is talking about walking in the Spirit. It's what it's talking about and it says to put out in the new man, to live according to the second Adam, to rest in Christ, or just to be in Christ. To be sanctified, to be filled with the Spirit, to be holy, to be quickened, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the unction of the Holy One. Some are quoting from 1 John tonight. And the unction of the Holy One spoken to that book. To walk in the newness of life back in Romans chapter number six. And as living stones that Peter talks about, anointed of God. And I love that little three-letter word in the Bible that is one of the most important words for a Christian to let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Let his mind be in me. And it's talking about the blessed life, the beatitudes. Let's start the poor in spirit. We talked about the first beatitude this morning. We mentioned that with nathibil shep. And I wanted to spend a little bit of time Gary this morning. I've been enjoying Gary's Sunday school class. I'm enjoying it partially because I just get to sit and listen to somebody else eat Sunday school for a while. And when he was talking about depression this morning, and I want to mention something about that, that depression, and I said something this morning, I want to preach a whole mess, a series of messages on that, depression and brokenness can look the same. A lot of folks don't understand what I mean there. It's very hard to distinguish between the two. And I will say that I have experience. And while Gary was talking about, I spent the first six months of my Christian life. Well, before I was saved in the first few months after I got saved. In very deep, dark depression, I know what that's like. In fact, I could give you things that were pretty dark. I'll just say that. Much worse of what, and I know what that's like. And I've been there. But I have also learned and experience being broken. And some people don't understand what the difference is. By the way, for both of them, I do know this. Developing a scripturally based relationship with God through Christ Jesus can lead us out of one. But it also leads us into the other, of brokenness. Now, I understand when we talk about depression, I didn't understand this for the first few years of my Christian life because God just gave me victory over that through the Word of God. And I've heard of many other people and I've learned of a lot of other preachers that have experienced the same thing, gone through the same experience, have got victory the same way. But I don't want to be little or ignore the fact that there are some very real physiological reasons for depression as well as spiritual. Mine was a total spiritual thing. And God can surely give you victory over that. But to say, and somebody, and I know I'm getting into something here that some folks don't understand. I'm not trying to be a psychiatrist or anything like that. But a lot of folks don't understand, and I didn't understand for a long time, that there are some physiological reasons why people go through depression. And some people, of course, they think that's all it is. And of course, a lot of preachers, I think, well, it's all a spiritual thing. For me, it was a spiritual thing. And for many people, it is a spiritual thing. Sometimes it's a mixture of those two things, but I don't want to go into depth with that right now. But I do want to mention this, that depression, as far as spiritual depression, and much of the time there's more than involved than we want to admit, originates from pride. And you get that? I want you to fill that in. I want you to see that. Somebody already looking at the paper, so I'm assuming you're not following along, whatever. So, maybe you know more than me, I don't know. But it originates from pride, and it focuses on self or on man. Man's got their man-made remedies. But brokenness, and by the way, pride is the most dangerous thing. That's the origin of depression and the cure for depression, as far as the world's going, will take pride in yourself. That's the worst thing you could do. It's like, I got a fire over here, so what I'm going to do to put that fire out is throw gasoline on it. That's not helping anything. But I try to take pride out of my vocabulary when it comes to somebody who says, "Well, there's good pride and there's bad pride. No, there's all bad pride." I never tell my children I'm proud of them. I know people say that all the time, "Well, I'm proud of you. No, I'm grateful for you." And there's a big difference between pride and acceptance. And I would say that this, that acceptance is realizing who we are, that we are the worst sinner in all the world, but still God loves us. There's no room for pride there. And I would say this. I know I'm not going to get all the way through this, so I've already determined that. Brokenness originates from acceptance, and it focuses on God. God is the only one worthy. He is the only one right. I am wrong, and He is right. I am not loving, but He is all loving. And the only love I have is a reflection from Him. I don't have any faith. It's His faith. Notice that verse in Galatians 2. It's still up there. The life that I live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. It's His faith. It's not even My faith. I don't even have enough faith to live the Christian life. It's His faith that He's given everything we have. He mentioned earlier, "God is love." God, I don't have any love. I'm the most unloving person, and by the way, you are too. Our heart is filled with pride and sin and hate. That's all we are inside. If you were to dig down inside, that's all you would find. The only love we have is what God has given to us, and it's just a reflection of His love. We love Him because He first loved us. I think that was the last verse, Pam, got to. And first, John, wasn't it? We love Him because He first loved us. And I know the verse, but I don't know the reference. So chapter 4, was it Pam? Help me out there. Chapter 4. Okay. And the God is love, and I am, I have no love. And then, let me say this, brokenness, many great Bible characters illustrate brokenness. I just got thinking about this, and Gary was talking about this, and even some of the people that he mentioned in Sunday school, and I've looked at this, and I've studied it, and I think, well, they suffered depression. No, they were broken. And it ended up being a positive. Now, from the outside, we would see the same thing. For example, Moses was broken. God had to break him before he could use him. They said, well, Moses really went through the trial. Well, he was really down in the scurry. He wasn't able to know. He was just broken. And the difference is God breaks us, and He focuses on Him. And Elijah was broken. He wasn't depressed. He was broken. He said, well, it looks like depression to me. Yeah, clinically, maybe. If you're in the psychology, it might look like depression, but biblically, God broke him so he could use him. And each one of the Bible character, you think of David. Oh, my. Wasn't he broken? He was broken in more ways than one. Many different times, he was broken. And there again, there's one of the keys in getting over spirits of depression, spending time studying the life of David and reading the Psalms and seeing the brokenness of David. And again, it's far different than being depressed. You see, depressed, there's no hope. But when we're broken, by God, there is hope. He's breaking us, so we would learn to look at him. Methible chef was broken. We talked about him this morning. When he came to that point, we realized, hey, I don't deserve anything. Well, that's where God wants us to be. And I don't know if I will ever get to that point. I'd like to say that I'm there with Methible Chef, but Methible Chef. I would say T8, Methible Chef. And we say, well, I'm there. I'm not. I'm a long ways from there. And God's still breaking us. So we get to that point where we'd say, all I care about is my king's on the throne. It doesn't matter where I am, doesn't matter if I live as a pauper, doesn't matter. I'm crippled living off in a shed somewhere the rest of my life. I'm fine with that as long as my king's on the throne. That's all I care about. And how many of us can say, and I don't know if there's a person I've ever met that can honestly say I'm fine with being in the condition that Methible Chef was. He was broken, but he wasn't depressed. John the Baptist, I don't believe he was depressed. I've heard a lot of people preach on him. Oh, he's depressed. No, he was broken to teach us what it is to be broken. Peter was broken. Paul was broken. Paul who told us these things. And some of the things you say, well, they were very stressed. And and I noticed this. There's two prerequisites. I used to always emphasize one, but now I in recent years, I realized there's there's two things. And it's so clear. Two prerequisites of being used of God. If we're ever going to be what God wants us to be, we've got to understand these two things. And we've got to experience these two things. God will either sometimes willingly, sometimes unwillingly, he'll put us through these two things in order to make us what we ought to be. First of all, every Bible character you'll ever read about, every great Christian biography you'll ever read, you'll find out somewhere in their life, maybe just for a week, maybe for months, maybe for years, they had to stand all alone. They had to stand all alone. No one there with them, no family to rely on, no one to lean back on, no one to fall back on, just me and God. And until we get to that place, God brings us to that place. So we can get to the next one. And that is they had to be broken. They had to be broken. And oh, we ought not to despise being broken. I've recently realized that the great value in understanding that principle more through some things that God has helped me understand and to learn. But I want to look at something in Romans chapter 7 and 8, and I'm going to take my text and title from chapter 7 and verse 24. You see the title there. And what does chapter 7 and verse 24 say, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? O wretched man that I am." You know, in today's world, Paul, he ought to go see somebody. You know, he's got some problems there. He needs some counseling, doesn't he? Oh, the wretched man that I am. I am as bad as you can get. I am the worst of the worst. Oh, wretched man. Now we're going to go back and look at that statement. In Romans chapter number 7, and we'll get to two points, and I don't know, we'll start on the first one. I don't know if I'll get to the second one or not. In chapter number 7, and go back to verse number 12 in chapter number 7 in verse number 12 through 14. Look at those verses with them. Wherefore, and we talked last week about chapter number 7, the first 11 verses of chapter number 7. I won't go back into that. I didn't give you a handout, but I was focusing on that last week. In verse number 12 is, "Wherefore the law is holy, the commandment holy and just and good, was then that which is good may deafen to me, God forbid, but sin that it might appear sinful, working death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." Well we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold, understand. Notice what God says in these verses, and you see what goes in those blanks there. The law is holy, in verse number 12, just and good. We talked about an unholy marriage last year with the law and the picture that God gives in chapter 7, how a man was married to the law, and he was good, he was always right, but she just couldn't get along, and the only way out of this was death, and his death wasn't ever going to happen, so she realized she had to die. And Paul is finishing that teaching here. The law is just and good, and the reason I have trouble with the law is that in verse number 13, I am what? Exceeding sinful, that's an interesting word. I am exceeding sinful. I excel at sin. You know that's it, that's what every child, when your child goes to school, you go to a teacher and what's our homeschool parents here. So you know the parent teacher, as there are some kids over there, mom and dad go to a home school or to a parent teacher conference, Julie, and you want them to come back, do you want them to hear from the teacher, your child is an exceptional child. I don't think your parents have ever heard that had they, Julie. I know my parents never did. My parents would say, boy, he's got quite an imagination if he would ever come out of a shell. Boy, if he could ever, don't know if he'll ever mount anything, but that's kind of what, and I'd like to look at the old report cards from my wife. Carol is pretty chatty. She's down in the nursery. She might be listening. And I was the opposite extreme. But anyways, except what he's saying, I am above average at sinfulness. Paul said later, I am the chief of all sinners. I am as bad as you can possibly get. And that's the spirit that Paul had when he was writing this. And then he says in verse number 14, the law is what? Spiritual, but I am carnal. I'm what? Sold under sin. Again, an interesting choice of words sold as a slave is bought and sold. I had no say in this matter. I'm sold. I'm possessed with sin. There's nothing I can do to escape my situation. I'm sold under sin. And that's the doctrine. And then we get into the practical reality in the rest of chapter number seven. I think that's as far as we're going to go tonight is through chapter number seven. We'll save the second part. I'm not sure what page, how your pages are. My pages are not lined up the same way as yours are. But I want you to see something. This is where we would say where the rubber meets the road. I was thinking of that. The rubber meets the road. I remember when you never heard that before, Ben. No. He's heard it. He doesn't listen to anything. Sometimes a spinning wheel needs to fall in his head to get his attention. I'm going to give Ben a hard time for that. But I remember when I was a little kid we used to go to different, my dad used to take us everything. I remember going to the Rockford Dragway. I think that's still there, isn't it? Todd wouldn't know. It's not there anymore. They close it down. I remember going there with a kid a while back. In fact, then things were so different. You know, you go to ball games or we go down and talk to the players and go out on the field if you want to. We got there before the game and things like now you get security and all this stuff and everything. And I remember going to a race after the race. We got to go by and look at all the cars. Touch the car. Talk to the drivers and everything. And I remember going by the cars and dad said don't touch the tires on those cars. I said don't touch the tires. So that's the first thing I do. I touch the tires on the car. And you know what I found out instantly? Those things are hot. How could a rubber tire ever possibly be hot? Well it just ran a bunch of laps on how far they went around the race. Well that thing was hot. And you know where the rubber meets the road there's a whole lot of friction there. There's a whole lot of controversy. There's a good Bible word. And this is where the rubber meets the road. This is where doctrine collides with practicality. Our everyday inner struggle is dealt with here. And everyone that's ever attempted to live for God has faced this struggle. Now the sad thing is a lot of us think that we're winning the battle but in reality we're losing the battle. We're completely lost in the battle but we think that we're in. It's almost like when you're running a race. How many ran track cross country? Oh and I ran track in high school just because the football coach thought it would make me faster. It might have if I would have participated or if I would have tried. And they needed somebody to jump in. I think I probably told this story before but I like to tell it so I'll tell it again. And they had a two mile relay. That means each runner had to run a half mile. Half mile no big deal. I can do that. And they needed one more first. Somebody was sick or something. They needed somebody so they called me out of the bushes where I was hiding from everybody and said well you ought to run a half sure I can run a half mile. So of course they gave me a baton and I was just trotting along and went the first quarter mile, the first lap and I was keeping up with everybody but I was out of breath and they were just starting to pick up the speed a little bit. And I was starting by the end of that. I didn't know if I was going to make that second lap or not. I was ready to crawl. I was ready to hey catch this baton. I'm going to throw it the rest of the way. Forget about this stuff. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it or not. And I think they even laughed me. But you know sometimes folk getting a race and they get lapped in that track and you see them. Oh I think I'm ahead of the race but I've been lapped two or three times by somebody. But I'm out in front of everybody but they've gone around two more times than I have. And we think that we're ahead but we're much farther back than we realize. And I realized that I spent much of my life. I was lapped but I thought I had this all figured out. And we think we've got to figure it out but we really don't. Romans 7, look at verse number 15 through 20. I'm going to read the whole verses just because they're fun to read if you can keep up with it. All right. And verse number 15 will start out. For that which I do, I allow now. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it was good, that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not put the evil which I would not that I do. You've got to read this slow. Don't you? You've got to think about it while you're reading it. Now if I do that which that I would not, it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me. Notice the devil didn't make me do it. All right. Flip Wilson didn't have that right. Again. I'm looking at Linda when I say that because she understands but but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Oh wretched man that I am. Now Paul got done with this and he's like whoa what in the world is he saying. I remember some years ago he said well I don't like the King James version because I read that passage of scripture and I don't understand what he's saying. So I said well let me see it in your Bible and I read it to him and I said do you understand what it's saying now? No I still don't understand what it's saying. It's not the word. It's the whole concept. I don't get what we're saying here. In other words I have a few questions here and it's not necessarily the wording but I have some questions here and let me ask you these questions and see what you can come up with. Where does sin originate at? Where sin originate at? Where sin come from? Where does my sin come from? Not Adam's sin but where does my sin? Notice the verse number 17 and 18. Now then it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth. Where? In me. If I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Is there anything good in this heart of mine? But you ever hear something they've got a good heart? No they don't. They've deceived you or I think I have a good heart I've deceived myself. James 1 says every man is tempted when he is drawn away of what? His own lust. Well that thing came in front of me and I was tempted no I was tempted because of my lust that's where sin comes from from me from within me and it's still there there's no good thing that's not a pretty picture that God paints for us. So where does sin originate? It originates in my heart, in my flesh, in my body, in me, in my heart, in my soul. When the choice is between good and evil which one am I going to do? When I have a choice between good and evil which one am I going to do? I already said when I was a kid and I remember I walked by the race guard dad said don't touch those what's the first thing a child does? What's the first thing every one of us does? Don't do that well we're going to do it. That's just who we are. That's not something a child has to be taught. That's just something that is a part of our life. That's our nature that we were born with. Which one do I desire to do? Look at verse 19 to 20. For the good that I would do I do not. I know I should do that but I just don't do it. But the evil that I would not do what I don't want to do that every time I do it. How can I stop this? And verse number 20. Now if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me. That sin that is in me I am sold under sin. I'm owned by sin and there's no way I can get victory over that sin. You ever know someone and I can name a few people that have a disease for which there is no cure for that disease. And the best the doctors can do is to maybe control some of the symptoms of that disease. Or maybe someone and I have known a number of people that have gone through cancer and I can think of a couple right now that are struggling and there's nothing they can do but keep them comfortable until they die. Try to ease their pain. There's no cure. The best we can do is to ease their pain and to give them the best quality of life that they can have because they're coming to the end. And that's exactly where we are spiritual. There's no thing we can do to get rid of this sin. There's no program not even an app that we can put on our phone to make us a better person. I can't make myself be better. I'm sold under sin. When the choice is given to me though I know I shouldn't do it. I do it. Can I train or discipline myself to do right? Can I train myself to do right? Well yeah I've kind of got victory over this and I think I'm okay but as soon as I think I'm okay let him that think of these say and take heed let's see fall. I'm never going to be okay. I'm never going to get complete victory over it until I'm in heaven and no longer in this flesh. Jesus said in John 633 I think I put that reference or 663 it is the spirit that quick enough that gives life the flesh prophetess in nothing. Now we use the word prophet a little different than the way it's used in Bible writing. Prophet means to help out. The flesh helps out in nothing when it comes to salvation and when it comes to sanctification there's nothing I can do in my flesh to overcome sin. Well I just need some better character. I need some character training. I need some anger management. I need to control. I need to drink responsibly. You know we can name all the sins. Well we just said we're going to do that. We just all have a responsible immorality or whatever the world wants to call it. Just you're going to do this but just be careful when you do it and don't let it take you too far. You know all the gambling commerce I'm amazed at how our world is so crazy over gambling. Every corner you look at anymore there's a gambling machine and it wasn't that long ago when gambling was illegal but now it's not only it's ridiculous and I like what was said back when the lottery was first introduced by Paul Harvey he's no longer alive but so do you remember listening to Paul Harvey gambling the lottery is a tax on ignorance. We got a whole lot of ignorant people paying a lot of extra taxes. I don't care if it's a 50-50 drawing. Everybody's got a 50-50 drawing for this or that and I'm still a little bitter because I didn't win the 50-50 drawing. No I'm just kidding. Nathan always thought I don't know if he ever did it. He wanted to buy lottery or the 50-50 tickets and put the deacons names on them just to see if they would win. But he was too poor to do that otherwise he probably would have but you know the gamp the foolishness and of course all the commercials if you got a problem gambling call this 800 whatever my name yeah you got if you do it you got a problem if we send it we've got a prop there is no cure there's nothing I can do well I can control it I can manage it no I'm stuck with it I don't want to but I do. Can I train and discipline myself to do right? No I can't. Can God use my talents and abilities for his glory? I'm kind of getting in a different direction here but Louvers number 18 I was thinking this is looking at this for I know that in me that is in my flesh well we're going to come back to this thought here a bit not today though because I'm not going to get that far in chapter 8. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not. Can God use my talents my natural abilities for his glory? I'm going to park there for a minute. I say this because a lot of folks say well and I threw this at God a lot of times when when God saved me and called me to preach and I gave God a list of candidates that would be a whole lot better preacher than I am and out of my whole family I was the one that I wanted it and I still would be comfortable just being invisible I don't want to stand I could not stand in front of anybody to tell them my name I couldn't because just that I remember in school folks they would say well you're staying up in front of people you're not going to die have a heart attack nobody's ever done that I'm going to be the first one I know what and I just couldn't do it and I say God I can't do you know my brother so and so what if you would save him and call him to preach he'd make a great preacher if you do this but they got a great talent they could be used of God if you'd use that talent if you'd save them and use that talent they could do great things for you but Paul said no in my flesh well it's no good thing can my talents or natural abilities be used to the glory God only when I give them up for God what do you mean by that you know a lot of people tell the story of Moses remember the fire at the burning bush the fire you know the burning bush and he started making excuses and he said God I I'm not what eloquent speaking a lot of folks I've heard people preach well he has he stuttered he didn't know how to speak in public I don't believe there's anything that's further from the truth than that Moses was trained in the house of Pharaoh he had the best education that was possible in his world I can guarantee he was an eloquent speaker he was just grasping for excuses just like the rest of us do but he had to come to the point and I think this was a positive thing in Moses life that I can't do it I've got the education but I can't do it when I tried to do it on my own I messed up and I've been living in the wilderness for 40 years I try to get rid of my past but God said no I want you to die to your past so I can use you under new management the apostle Paul was a very again one of the most intelligent people of his day one of the most gifted speakers of his day but he had to die to himself and he's the one that wrote God's chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise he had to get to the point where he did not trust his intellect he did not trust his knowledge and understanding in other words all their natural abilities had to die but God I'm really good at this put it aside and forget it and if God wants to use you he'll bring it back to you again and you'll pick it up and use it again but until I'm dead because otherwise there's a whole lot of room for pride isn't there God you sure got a deal when you got me oh boy nobody could do this like I can do it and and God use my natural abilities only when I give them up to God God has to break us first he used the foolish to confound the wise he used the simple things of this world to confound the mighty God's not impressed with the things that we're impressed with I find this so silly in our world today say a movie star athlete that's more common an athlete because the movies have gotten so raunchy and wicked but when an athlete claims to be a Christian you know I made a touchdown whoopi praise God oh he must be born again or he made a profession of faith now we put him on a preaching circuit look at the influence they can be and then we are surprised when they fall into sin where they've lived their life in the flesh and we're encouraging to go on in the flesh and to allow God know if God's going to use them first of all he's going to have to break them our natural or learned abilities and talents spiritual gifts you know I'm going to get the spiritual gifts events today I want to take some time in Romans 7 or 12 one of the chapters I talk about most of that a funny idea of spiritual gifts what we call spiritual gifts are our talents our abilities are our desires that we kind of okay God bless this that's my spiritual gift that's not a spiritual gift and if it was there's a whole lot of room for boasting verse number 25 says I think God through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with the mind I serve the law of God but with the flesh the law of sin in other words anything that I can do on my own and ask God to bless it that is done in the flesh that's not a spiritual gift now God can use that but a spiritual gift by definition is in fact in first Corinthians the the word spiritual gift in our Bible if you look at it you'll always notice the word gift is always an italicized writing because the the the literal meaning of that or the wording is that the spirituals but they put the word gift in there and that kind of has given us a false idea of a spirit the the spirituals and I'm not teaching on spiritual gifts but now we kind of get chasing that rabbit so I'm not sure where to turn around but we'll let them go down the hole here in a little bit but the the spirit that if I could do this say I can you know we go back to the at its football season I make a touchdown that well bless God that's my spiritual gift I can play football and and glorify God by playing football I can get to the end zone kneel down a prayer and and say hallelujah praise the Lord and everything is good and that's great and God's going to use that that ain't a spiritual gift that is in the flesh a lost person could do the same thing there's nothing spiritual about that but you take somebody like oh take a I'll use Addie but she's asleep there and take somebody like like me that's a little uh run you know I see these guys are well I could I could I could play football I'm almost that guy's size he's a little runt out there uh and uh you take somebody like me and uh and uh put him out in the football field and these guys that make Jacob look like little little pipsqueaks watching a game the other day is 400 pound lineman I know hello I just go home buddy uh a spiritual gift would be me taking the ball and running by that guy that can run probably three times faster than I can and five times the size of me well maybe not quite that much but uh and that would be a super a spiritual gift is a supernatural ability or talent it's not something I can do on my own I spent more time I wanted to on spiritual gifts but what I'm hitting at here in the emphasis is here paul was saying there's nothing in me that merits any favor any warning uh in any good these there's nothing good that I can do apart from the spirit of god I'm really gonna have to stop here but I want to want to include the first few verses and I really up to verse number 11 I think it is and in chapter number eight the spirit spiritual life is only in the spirit and not in the flesh I'm getting at as most of us and I'll just conclude with this we'll come back to this we'll pick up here next week Lord willing bless you uh if I can if there's something that I can do without god then it's in the flesh if I can discipline myself you know some of us grew up in a very moral home we could live a pretty good Christian life without god even being in it morally speaking because we grew up with morality some of us grew up living learning how to discipline our body so we can discipline ourselves to doing things in fact that was my focus for the first five or ten years of my Christian life I'm going to apply all those principles I learned growing up doing sports to my spiritual walk with god I'm just going to make myself get up and do it and look back now and realize that was the flesh doing the things of god and reality is that's the way we live most of our Christian life isn't it well I'm going to just do this I'm going to try and and even when we pray god help me to get victory over this so that ain't the way we should pray for things god I can't get victory teach me to die teach me to accept I am crucified with Christ and now Christ raised me up and teach me to walk and make me walk in the newness of life in the spirit of god where the spirit is in control and not my flesh well we've gotten so good at making ourselves do things because we're supposed to do them it's expected of us and we become very self righteous boy I'm better than you because I've never fallen into that sin and god dies we're probably more wicked because we've lived above sin in the flesh but it's easy to say look at me I'm this great spiritual giant you know I'm living in the flesh the spiritual life is only in the spirit we're going to pick up in chapter number the last verse in chapter seven and into chapter number eight next week oh how we need to learn that living the Christian life is not something that we do it's something that god does in us when we die that I am crucified and we'll come back to that I'm going to have to stop here. Father.