First Baptist Church in Amboy,IL Podcast
O Wretched Man That I Am - Part 2
21 last week and I feel like sometimes I'm personally struggling trying to comprehend and understand something that I liken it to if you grew up in a different church, a different religion, you understand what an adjustment it is to transfer from a religion that's based on works to one that's based on grace and one that's based on faith and trusting God. In reality, even if you've been brought up in a church like ours that teaches whereby grace are you safe through faith. There's a struggle that each one of us have, we just don't recognize what it is and that is learning to walk in the spirit rather than in the flesh. Now when I say walk in the flesh, what do we normally think of? Somebody that's walking in the flesh, what do we think of? A lost person, someone that's living in what's their lifestyle like, worldly living carnally immorality and that's what we have in our mind as somebody is walking in the flesh. And that's not all that it means to walk in the flesh, in fact that's just a, for example when we think of a lost person, how many you know and you picture somebody in your mind right now that as lost as can be, if they were to die they would spend eternity in hell, but they are the best person, maybe a family member, maybe next door neighbor, a co-worker, you couldn't ask for a better friend, a more devout even in their religion, but they're not saved. Do you know somebody like that? Can you picture someone like that? In reality, and I guess making that parallel in our Christian experience, and this is something that I've just been awakened to I guess by the Holy Spirit of God and it's something that I can't, it's hard to define, it's hard to explain and I'm trying to focus on Romans 6, 7, and 8 because those are the chapters that clearly define what I'm talking about that I don't want to overburden you or confuse you to the point where it gets sheer frustration. And sometimes when you witness to people, you try to share with them how God has transformed your life and they look and say well what difference, I'm a good person and they can't comprehend what it is to believe to get to heaven. They think we've got to work, we've got to earn our right to heaven, we've got to do something, we've got to keep the law, do whatever it is and the same thing's true when it comes to walking in the Spirit. And I don't believe I'm alone, in fact I see in Romans 7 and 8 that the Apostle Paul struggled with the same thing. Now to be quite honest with you, when it comes to a lost person, when it comes to salvation it's easy to say well I just want him to think about that. I have some folks that I witnessed too that I don't even want to think about that right now. I'm just going to put it out of my mind, I can't comprehend that, that doesn't register so I'm just going to, and I'm afraid that that's very easy to do in our Christian walk when it comes to walking in the Spirit rather than walking in the flesh. And Paul came to the conclusion in chapter number 7 and I used for a title here in Romans 7 and into chapter number 8 so I plan to get into the first few verses at least in chapter number 8. In verse number 24 of chapter 27 Paul says oh wretched man that I am. And you're familiar with the verses, we kind of went over them last week in Romans 7. I want to do good but I can't do good. I try to but there's this thing inside of me and of course it's we call it our sin nature, it's called the number of things in the scripture and it says the will is there but how to do that I can't find it. I was picturing in my mind and looking through the verses again today of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. And remember when just before his crucifixion before Peter came with the Roman soldiers to arrest him or not Peter before Judas came with the Roman soldiers to have him arrested Peter, James and John went off to pray with him and he came back three times and found them sleeping every time because they weren't on the same page that he was spiritually. And to be quite honest with you I like what a great author said, I read it a quote a few years ago that we as Americans are just politely bored with God. Peter, James and John were not bad people, they were just politely bored. Jesus was over there pouring out his heart to God and talking to God and he came back and what could you not pray for an hour? You fell asleep? Well it didn't mean much to them. And not that they were bad people, not that they were lost people but they just didn't have the burden that Jesus had. And then Jesus made a statement to them the last time he came back and I forget which one of the gospels, I didn't look it up, I was just going by memory. He said the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. There's where our struggle is right there. The spirit is willing, Paul said I want to do good but I can't. Because I've got this flesh that controls me. Father, I pray that you would bless as we look into the scripture this evening and help us to see some simple yet complex truths and to learn to apply them to our lives. That we might be the people that you called us to be. We live in a wicked and dark day and Lord we see the sin broadcast and advertise the lusts of the flesh and the sad reality is if we're honest we'll see that what we see in Christian homes is not a lot different than what we see in the world's homes. Sometimes some of the homes that know not the Lord Jesus Christ seem to be in better condition than those that have a saving knowledge of Christ. The Lord teach us what it is to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh. Bless now as we look into the Word of God in Jesus name, amen. O wretched man that I am, he says in chapter 7 verse 24, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank 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." Now I'm going to pick up in chapter number 8 and we're on page number 21 I guess where it says the spiritual life is only in the spirit. The spiritual life is only in the spirit and we're going to go down to verse number 11 I think tonight I think we can get that far. But you understand in verse number 25 Paul said, "I thank 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 I want to do right. I know what's right but I can't do right." And I notice this that when we walk by grace when we understand what grace is it eliminates all pride. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself it is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. We come to that place and say, "Well I'm more spiritual than you because I can do this or I do this and you do that and we have our list of things to do and don't we?" In fact I'll put it this way when I first got saved because I grew up in sports and learned to discipline my body and I found texts in the Bible that I've learned to keep my body and subjection and to control the appetites and at least the things that people saw on the outside and learn to do the right things and it's very easy for me to kind of change some habits and do some right things on the outside but the inside was something different and we can do all the right things and say all the right things, learn to talk right and learn but but the truth is we can do all that in the flesh. Here's an interesting study it just came across to me this week as we go through Second Samuel David and Joab compared and I just mentioned it to you now see if you can find anything by Sunday night. If you look at David and Joab you see they were so similar in the way they lived their life both men of war, both did some really dumb things and some really great things didn't they? David and Joab they were what were they uncle and nephew and uncle and both military leaders but there's something that just dawned on me when I was looking at the life of David David was a man after what codes on heart try to find something spiritual said about Joab and then watch where their lives ended. I don't see and I don't know if there was nothing there or God just doesn't point it out of any spiritual decision that Joab ever made help me out see if you can find something I think the thought just came to me actually Friday and I didn't have time to go back and dig it I want to dig into that a little bit and Joab and I think the picture here is this we can do all the right things and serve God and live for God and be completely in the flesh and we don't even know ourselves and in this journey that I've been on I look back in my life and I realize a lot of things that I've done has been more in the flesh than in the spirit. I just mentioned a couple of things tonight and I won't go into great detail here but I'm just trying to bring this down to where we can see what we're looking at what I live the Christian life by my strength my discipline my determination etc I'm still living under the condemnation of the flesh everything of that look at verse number one through three chapter eight there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus and this is not talking about salvation and growing up in the Lutheran church the Lutherans that claim to be saved use this verse to and Martin Luther was famous for his study in Romans and they use this to the ones that were saved or are saved use this to talk about salvation this is not talking about salvation for them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus had made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own son into likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh Jesus is the model of what it is to truly walk in this of course he did not have a sin nature that you and I struggle with Jesus could not have said what Paul said in chapter number seven because he did not have that struggle that you and I struggle with the Paul struggled with and if I am living the Christian life by well I ought to just do right this is my religion this is what I've learned to do I can do all that in the flesh and some folks are a little more disciplined than others and they can do it in the flesh but then to come to the realization that just like I cannot save myself I cannot live a spiritual life on my own and there's the the emphasis here and notice in verse number four says for the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit the righteousness of the law is fulfilled or revealed that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law the revelation of the law it's revealed in us through the person of the Holy Spirit Jesus came to fulfill the law that that we might be made righteous in him he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God that we might walk in his righteousness in fact that second Corinthians five twenty one that he might I've got the right verse there I might have quoted it wrong for he has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him we're put in him by faith and we're walking in his grace through faith I want you to look at something here and again I'm not going into everything that I like because I'm not sure if I fully grasp it myself and I'm not sure how I can explain it to you when God's still teaching and instructing me in this process to to be quite honest with you's been very humbling experience to struggle through this and wrestle through this in my own mind in my own heart in a humbling realization of what Christianity really is and what we've missed and that's why I like to look back at the old time Christian I'm talking about a couple hundred years ago they had an understanding of some things that we have missed in the last few generations because we're and I think it has to do something and that's a lot of things that contribute to it it's kind of like what what do you can why is it that people go out and blow people away every day it seems like somebody's taken a gun and shooting somebody up and and there's all kinds of things we can't put our finger on one thing that contributes to that but I think there's a whole lot of things that contribute to this and I think one of the main culprits is the I call it the industrial revolution where we're so emphasis on doing this we've got a certain time amount to the time period to do this and even the way we present salvation you'll hurry up get saved right now this might be your last opportunity and I'm not against that but everything is so punctual and so precise and the way we think has everything you know I don't see that in the scriptures I don't see that in Jesus ministry now we try to make some things fit in our concept and take verses that make them fit but we get so well I got saved here I started living for God here I got victory over this there that one's done I got victory over this and now and now I'm a mature Christian now I'm the perfect Christian Paul never said that I'm struggling there's no good thing in me there's nothing good in me but Paul I thought you had the victory way back then that's the way we would think today isn't it but they struggled with it all through their life and and that's we get that mindset because well yeah that's done I know it's not but he had made a we are made the righteousness of God in him now look at verse number five few seven I was reading the verses and when I asked something you're filling the blank there if you haven't figured out what goes in there verse number five for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh now the problem with living things the way you know we've got to have you I remember when I was first saved the frustration that I felt for example when I went to Bible college they had all these rules I mean some of them were just kind of silly when you think about it but and and a lot of folks that I went to Bible college with some of them were like me they just got saved and they went out to Bible college some of them you know left their family behind and were thrown out of their family so to speak and other ones the majority of them grew up in church they were like some preachers call them Baptist brats but I've got some Baptist brats that we've read they've known this stuff all their life they're the ones that were always bucking it through why do we have to do this yeah we don't have to do this and and and and and and all the complaining and the murmuring and everything that goes on and I folks thought I was crazy because I was just the opposite I said I want to live for Jesus I want you to tell me what I'm supposed to do I want you to tell me what I should wear what I shouldn't wear I want you to tell me what kind of music I should listen to I want you to tell me what I should do what I should be doing in my spare time what I should not be doing in my spare time I want you to tell me everything because that's the way I thought I want to live the Christian life and I set out to live the Christian life and I found that I was a little bit odd that way but the truth is when we get right with God okay what's the list of things I should do and I shouldn't do that's the way we think isn't it right and that's not what walking in the spirit is all about and by the way if you walk in the spirit God's going to lead you to the right places and you're going to do the right thing but that's another thing but I want you to see something here because we think and because we had that mindset I found myself very soon and very quickly and I see this multiplied I don't know how many times today amongst Christians because we do certain things in this group over there doesn't do that so we're more spiritual and they're thinking we have they call it liberty we we do this and they may do some things that we don't do and they're more spiritual than we are and I want you to look at these verses here and Romans chapter 5 but look at verse number five for they that are in after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and I love that word what's that word peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be I believe what Paul was struggling with in the last chapter is the same thing that you and I struggle with whether we realize it or not we're trying to do what we should do because it's right I shouldn't do that so I'm not going to do that and we even pray God help me not to do that we teach our children God help me to be a good boy help me be good but girl Jack's a good boy right now he's sleeping I was going to use Jack for an illustration there right now and we pray that way like it Lord help me to be good tomorrow you know and with everything's about what we do and what we don't do and that is the carnal mind the lost people think the same way as we as believers do right they with me and we're trying to do think and where does this is really in verse 5 to 7 I won't go into detail but I do want to read the verse I think I put the verse in James 4 this is the cause of strife in our life this is the cause of strife in Christianity this is the cause of strife in America where we got this party against that party and nobody can speak to each other because I'm right and you're wrong no and we as preachers are we as Christians I'm right and you're wrong well our church is right and your church is wrong well my pastor's right and your pastor's wrong you might say their pastor's right and your pastor's wrong whatever but you know we've got it right and they've got it wrong it's always us against it and that is the cause of strife James says it this way in James chapter number 4 from whence come wars and fighting among you come they not hence even of your lust that war in your members that strike that carnality is from within you lust and you have not you kill I die to get that you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain you fight and war yet you have not because you ask not oh that's talking about prayer always much more than that you ask and receive not because you ask amiss that you can that you may consume it upon your lust why do we ask for most of the things we pray for is it because it's God's will we're gonna get into that later in chapter number eight are we praying in the spirit or praying according to our will and even our prayer requests are they any different than the lost I pray with I just got to have it a praying with everybody that has a need I just pray with them and I'm amazed at the needs that they bring to me the same ones the lost people bring the same ones of the Christian people pray for my pray for from folks this week that have a son-in-law that's they thought he was going to die when they pull the plug because he had a stroke where they pull the plug and the next day they saw me said I believe in miracles God now I don't know if they're saved they're probably not saved but they're praying for the same thing you and I are praying for what about the spiritual needs what are most of our prayer requests about and not that we are not to pray for those things but the truth is we pray for things that we desire don't we well I want you know grandma to live to be six hundred and forty five years old you know I don't want them to ever die you know whatever you know we want everybody to be healed we want this to work out and we want this you know everybody to live happily ever after but we you you ask amiss that you may consume it into your own lust you adulterate now listen to this the adulters and adulterers is no you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God who's whoever therefore will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God and by the way this whole flesh is a friend of the world isn't it this whole flesh is and it enjoys the things of the world doesn't it I think your flesh does too doesn't it we enjoy the same things the world does because we are at enmity our flesh is at enmity with God who server therefore will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God do you think that the scripture say of the name the spirit that dwelleth within us lusteth to envy but he give it more grace he say of God resisteth the proud but give it grace to the humble we desire to have things like the world does because that's our flesh we want things we want possessions we want a happy life we want a healthy life we want enjoyable things in our life we want you know a family with four and a half kids and a white picket fence around the old farmhouse and everything we want all those things are the same things that the you got four and a half which one's half I think you got two halves right there so and we you know we want the same things of the world and not that they're bad but if that's our focus and if we're trying to live the Christian life in our own strength it's the spirit that quickened the flesh profit of that word profit he studied out you find out helps out in nothing I can't live for God in my flesh the only hope I have is to die to my flesh I'm crucified with Christ to reckon myself dead to my flesh that I might live and tried and the only thing that pleases God Hebrews 11 verse 6 let me know the verse if I started you could probably finish say it with me but without faith it is impossible to please God for he to come with the God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him without faith it's impossible to please God we don't live the Christian life through discipline through character but by faith now look at verse number eight and I hope I'm not making this more difficult instead of simpler but verse number eight says so then they that are in the flesh can not please God let me tell you something that is one of the hardest pills in all the Bible for a Christian to swallow but what if I'm doing all these things for God in my own strength it's not pleasing to God what and I tell you that's that's a tough one there and the reason it's not pleasing to God is because we're doing it they give you this example and somebody mentioned I heard it this morning I don't know if there's a prayer or verse that somebody shared at the beginning of the service or maybe before the service I don't remember who it was but what they they mentioned the fruit to the spirit the works of the flesh and the fruits of the spirit relations chapter number five says the fruit of the spirit is what are they love joy peace long suffering gentleness meekness faith temperance patience they get them all goodness I don't know I got them all I came up with nine but I think I put I double one up or something but one of them is and by the way they're all the same fruit they're not different fruits we say well I'm good at this one but I'm not good at that one but I've got a lot of these fruits on my tree it's kind of like when I grow gourds I got these kind of gourds over here but I don't know how many of this kind over here but you know they're all the same it's the same description of the same thing but one of the that what we call the fruit one of the descriptions of the fruit of the spirit is temperance what is temperance if you look up the word temperance in the Bible and most Bible commentaries will have this as a definition of temperance how would you say the definition of temperance now somebody's gonna mess me up because I've said this before and you might remember what I've said before but what is temperance how would you define temperance what's the normal definition of temperance self control that is not a spiritual fruit that is a work of the flesh self control and there is a world of difference between in fact somebody who is big on this and when I say the names of wow but look at what he did well look what David did Steve Currington talked about and he emphasized this the difference between self control and spirit control and that's what Paul's dealing with here well I got help me to do this no just do it just die to yourself and God will do it to you and spirit control is when the Holy Spirit takes control of our life and does something in us that we cannot do on our own it's the disciples on the day of Pentecost they got up and started speaking languages that they'd never learned before they were able to heal people that they had no power to do it and they asked Peter well who's who gives you the authority that we just do it in the name of Jesus he's the all powerful one it's just through him that we do it we understand how this works even but it's God doing it that but we think sometimes that temperance is so all I've got to control my spirit I've got to control my actions and the two kinds of temperance is self control that's a work of the flesh that's what I put in your paper or spirit control that is a fruit that's a part of the fruit of the spirit when God takes over and that's what God now let me just very quickly and I'll be done here and again there's so much and so many different directions I could go with this I'm trying to just hit the highlights and move on but I want you to notice in verse number nine through 11 the tools for walking in the spirit what does it take to walk in the spirit I mean a lot of this sounds really kind of confusing it sounds a little bit creepy almost so most spooky what it means and even the Holy Spirit the term you know we don't like to use a term Holy Ghost do we but the same word that's translated Holy Spirit Holy Ghost is the same word and the ghost in the spirit the new moss is something that's invisible something we can't see it's a force that we can't understand and it's a person at the same time it's a person of God but how what are the tools for walking in the spirit and I think there's some three simple little things that are mentioned here in verse number nine 10 and 11 verse number nine says for a year not in the flesh in other words it's not just about flesh you've got well let me read the verse here but in the spirit if so be that the spirit of God dwelleth in you now if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his let me ask you something and by the way this is saying I guess I got the answer there on your paper the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when you get saved the Holy Spirit comes inside of us right does that mean we no longer sin no that means we've got two natures now that are at each other the flesh and the spirit and that's exactly what Paul's dealing with in these chapters but we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and we have the ability that same spirit that raised up Christ from the dead lives inside of us ever think of that the Holy Spirit's the one that raised him from the dead and that same spirit lives inside of us well I just can't do that well I don't know if I can change that in my life no you probably can't change it but God can am I still with me we have the Holy Spirit inside of us we need to understand that and then secondly in verse number 10 and if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness we have a flesh that is dead or separated from God that may be trying to do the right thing but it's going about doing the right thing and we might even do the right thing but when we do it in our own there's no reward you know we get this idea and we just use this picture we get this idea when we get to heaven every good thing we're done we're we've done there are crowns that we've earned right and we're going to lay our crowns at his feet right and we're going to get rewards for all the good things that we've done the truth is there's nothing good that I've done and when I lay the rewards at his feet it's just giving recognition that any good thing that's ever happened in me it's been through the Spirit of God doing it in me I can do that in me that is in my flesh well there's no good thing there's nothing good I can do not only for salvation but for service we need to reckon ourselves dead with Christ I love that hillbilly word reckon but that is a great word reckon account ourselves dead with Christ we died with him and were raised with him to walk in newness of life where we started back in Romans chapter number six in the first few verses we need the tools for walking in the spirit first of all is we understand the indwelling we have that we have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit speaks to us of the word of God that's why it's important to read and study and to memorize and meditate in the word of God because that's how the Holy Spirit works in our life as through his word he will guide you in the truth and God's word is truth Jesus said in that same message referring to the Holy Spirit and we need to reckon ourselves to count ourselves dead God don't let me instead of praying God help me to get victory over the sin of lust the sin of anger the sin of whatever it is a drunkenness or tobacco be good of some of you quit chewing the tobacco right if I quit but help me to get victory over that help me not to do that anymore no reckon myself dead you know a dead person doesn't drink any alcohol dead person never loses temper does he dead person never gets drunk never even touches alcohol that doesn't smoke he doesn't cuss he doesn't because he's dead reckon ourselves our flesh is dead and we are alive in Christ the only good thing in me is the spirit of God and then number three in verse number eleven I said Romans 9 10 11 give us the tools for walking in the spirit number nine said is understanding and dwelling of the Holy Spirit if any man have not the spirit of God he is none of his we're saying we have the Holy Spirit in us we might not realize it but we have the Holy Spirit verse number 10 if Christ be in you the body is dead reckon ourselves dead and the spirit is life because of righteousness because of the righteous plan of God the scheme of God for God's redeeming us back to him verse number 11 for if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also what's that word quicken what's it mean to quicken move fast right no to make a lie he shall also make alive your mortal bodies by your discipline no by his notice of capital S by his spirit by the Holy Spirit that dwelleth in you God's quickening power comes the same in sanctification as it does through salvation you have he quickened who were dead the trespasses and sin when you put your faith and trust in him he made you a lie he gave you life he gave you eternal life God's quickening quickening power that comes the same way it came for salvation through confessing my sin being broken repentant calling upon him and saying God I need you I'm a sinner in need of salvation God and this is how we ought to pray as a Christian God I can't without me you can do nothing but in the same hand I can do all things through Christ that strengthen with me it's not I but Christ and if I'm trying to do it on my own that's what Paul in Galatians talks about resisting the grace of God God wants to transform us but we try to do that work on our own don't we well I just need to do I need to be a better soul winner I need to be better at praying I need to be better in my Bible study time I need to do better in this area I need to quit doing this I need to be a better you know whatever it is wrecking myself dead I can't do it but God can make us alive just like he saved us who were lost in dead and our trespasses and sins and we realize that in this flesh there was no good thing it's only the spirit of God that wants to transform me and make me what I ought to be now this may sound theoretically it might sound pretty simple but in practicality and reality it takes a lifetime and we still never quite get it I don't think you'll find a more spiritually minded Christian in all of history than the Apostle Paul and if Paul still struggled with this when he wrote the book of Romans which was later in his life later in his ministry I think you and I are going to struggle with this and it's a daily struggle that we have to learn to die to ourselves that we might be risen with Christ through the Holy Spirit of God working in us we may look pretty good on the outside we may do pretty good and folks might think well you're a good Christian no I'm really not because my heart's filled with sin and wickedness and violence and everything that God says is terrible and corrupt you know I was thinking of this the other day that in the days of Noah men's hearts were only evil continually and how many times you heard preacher say well it must have been terrible back then everybody was only evil continually you know that's still true about us today our hearts are deceitful above all things and there's nothing but good there nothing but wickedness violence corruption there's all our thoughts are evil and rebellious against God and that's what Paul was saying in me that is in my flesh there's nothing good but Christ is everything or teach me to be subject unto you to rest and you would find strength and grace find mercy and grace to help in our time of need because I cannot live the Christian life and I say it sometimes and there's certain people gimbal hotel is one of them I remember when he was first he you heard me say this before when he came said I didn't want to become a Christian because I was afraid I couldn't live the Christian life and I said don't ever lose that that is a healthiest attitude every one of us ought to have well I can't live the Christian life because we can't live the Christian life and when we think we can we're living in the flesh and it's our pride that's really keeping us from being what we ought to be and when we're walking realizing who we are and what we are and who he is we have no reason to ever get upset at somebody else for mistreating us we have no reason to ever get offended we have no reason to not be able to forgive somebody because I guarantee you nobody's ever going to do anything to me that I haven't already done to Jesus Christ and thank God he's forgiven me all right and there's nothing that you know if we can get to that place and by the way we're all going to struggle with it aren't we none of us are ever going to get that place and when we think we got to that place it's because of our pride God help us to see our pride for what it is and to see Christ for who he is I'm going to ask you to see