1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:01,320 All right, good morning, church family. 2 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:06,960 Let me invite you to your seats, and as you find your seats, if 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,920 you would open your Bibles to the book of Romans. 4 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:13,120 We're going to be taking a short little break from the book of 5 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:14,680 Genesis. What we've been going through 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,400 for the past few weeks, being that it's Easter, I want to say 7 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,480 happy Easter to all of you on Good Friday. 8 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,840 I preached in Romans chapter 5 and this morning we're going to 9 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,640 be in Romans chapter 6, verses 4 to 11. 10 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,080 I, I'm going to do my very best to make it through the sermon 11 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:35,200 with my voice. I lost my voice on Friday. 12 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,200 I've got maybe got a little bit of a back, but I'm not sick. 13 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,240 In case anybody's wondering. I, I, I, I feel totally fine. 14 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:49,320 I just, I lost my voice and, and so I will do my best to make it 15 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:53,280 through. But Romans 6 this morning we're 16 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:54,920 going to be in verses 4:00 to 11:00. 17 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,000 So if you follow along in your copy of God's Word, let's read 18 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:00,800 from the Word of God. This is what the apostle Paul 19 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:07,040 writes to us. We were buried, therefore with 20 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:11,880 Him by baptism into death. In order that justice Christ was 21 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,360 raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too 22 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:22,320 might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with 23 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:26,720 Him and a death like His, we shall certainly be united with 24 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:32,000 Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was 25 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,120 crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought 26 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,880 to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 27 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,360 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 28 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,040 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also 29 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,680 live with Him. We know that Christ, being 30 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,080 raised from the dead, will never die again. 31 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,840 Death no longer has dominion over him for the death he died. 32 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,920 He died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to 33 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,280 God. So you also must consider 34 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:15,400 yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 35 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:32,200 If you will pray with me. Father, I pray this morning that 36 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,440 You would set us all free from sin. 37 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,080 I know that there are many in this room who I've already been 38 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,000 set free. But I pray God, by Your grace, 39 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,680 that all of us in this room would know what it feels like to 40 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,680 be set free. That all of us would know what 41 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:55,680 it feels like to have a new life and to walk in this life. 42 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:02,360 I know that some may have come in this place, still on in the 43 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:07,680 bondage of sin, still hearing the the iron chains. 44 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,720 And we pray, Lord, that you would release them, You would 45 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:19,960 break them, You would free them from the bondage of sin. 46 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,000 We know that this is possible. We have tasted it, God. 47 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,800 We know that the resurrection accomplished this, that Jesus 48 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,760 not only died for our sin, but he also rose to set us free from 49 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:37,760 it. It's power, it's it's control of 50 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,240 our life. And so Lord, I pray that this 51 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,200 Easter morning, we would all taste freedom. 52 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,960 We would all taste what it feels like to have a new life. 53 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:57,720 Thank you, Jesus, for freeing us. 54 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:01,200 We love you. We pray in your, your name, 55 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,560 Amen. We have a lot to get to this 56 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:07,760 morning. I'm going to be weaving together 57 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,200 the exposition of and the application of the text. 58 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,040 So we're going to jump right into the sermon. 59 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:19,440 Romans 6 verse 4, Paul writes, we were buried therefore with 60 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:24,480 him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was 61 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,520 raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too 62 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:34,120 might walk in newness of life. Now we have not been going 63 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,640 through the book of Romans. And so the context of this 64 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:42,800 passage is that Paul had said at the end of Romans chapter 5 that 65 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:48,160 where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. 66 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,400 Now this is a very dangerous statement for Paul to make, and 67 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:55,080 I think he realizes it because the temptation will be for some 68 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,680 in the church to hear this and say, well, if that is true, then 69 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,200 why don't we just continue in sin so that grace will abound? 70 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,920 If the more we send, the more grace abounds, let us continue 71 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,440 to sin so that grace will abound even more. 72 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:13,720 To which Paul replies to the church, By no means how can we 73 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,400 who died to sin still live in it? 74 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,600 We were baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. 75 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:26,680 And so we pick up his argument here in verse 4 where Paul 76 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:31,560 writes we were buried with him by baptism into death. 77 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:37,680 What that means is that to be a Christian means to identify with 78 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:43,000 Christ. To be a Christian means to 79 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,120 identify with Christ, not just his teachings. 80 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,880 We do not just identify with his teachings or his moral example. 81 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:57,040 We identify with his life, his death and his resurrection. 82 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,200 We we have what's known as a union with Christ. 83 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,560 The apostle Paul gives us several ways in which we 84 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,840 identify with him. He says we were crucified with 85 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,440 him. Galatians 220 We died with him. 86 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,200 Second Timothy 211 We were buried with him. 87 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,800 Colossians 212 We were made alive with him. 88 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,920 Ephesians 2 Five we were raised with him and we sit with him in 89 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:22,400 the heavenlies. Ephesians 26. 90 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,040 We are Co heirs with him, Romans 817. 91 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:31,240 We are shares of his glory, Romans 817 and we will reign 92 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,240 with him. That's what it means to be a 93 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:40,480 Christian. We are fully identified with 94 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:46,600 Jesus. The purpose of joining Christ in 95 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:53,880 his burial, Paul writes, is so that just as Christ was raised 96 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:59,240 from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in 97 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,440 newness of life. In other words, what he's saying 98 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:07,000 is that just as the resurrection testifies to the glory of God, 99 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,720 it does The resurrection. That is, the primary testimony 100 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,360 to the glory of God is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 101 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:18,480 But not only that, our new life testifies to the glory of God. 102 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,640 So you know what people say, well, can't see Christ raised 103 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,120 from the dead. When you can see me, you can see 104 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:32,360 that I was raised from the dead. Our new life testifies to the 105 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,120 glory of God. God raising Jesus from the dead 106 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:41,240 was a miracle, but so is God giving us new lives. 107 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:49,560 Your new life is a miracle. How often do you see somebody 108 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,400 completely change their life? I mean often. 109 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,960 Do we actually see that? We might see an alcoholic decide 110 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:59,760 to become sober. We may have seen that before. 111 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,280 We might see a prostitute leave her life of immorality. 112 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:08,960 But how often do you actually see someone who changes their 113 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:15,480 entire life? Your newness of life is a 114 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:20,160 miracle by God that testifies to His glory. 115 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,240 I want to draw your attention to this word walk that we to my 116 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,640 walk. It implies a way of life. 117 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:33,400 Not that we would just dabble a new life, not that we would 118 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,960 taste a new life as an appetizer or something that he says that 119 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,240 we would walk in a new life. You ever heard someone say like 120 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:48,960 he eats drinks and sleeps mountain biking or he bleeds 121 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,600 golf? It implies that this person has 122 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,880 a single devotion that they give their life to. 123 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:03,320 Like man, that's their life. This is what Christ was raised 124 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,960 for. Christ was raised for the from 125 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:14,040 the dead, for this new life. He was not raised to make us 126 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:21,280 professing Christians. Christ was not raised that we 127 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:26,760 would be professing Christians. He was not raised so that we 128 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:32,480 would identify as Christians. He was not raised so that we 129 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:38,520 would attend church. He was raised that we might walk 130 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:43,960 in newness of life, that we would have a new life. 131 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:52,240 The way we testified to the world that Jesus is alive, the 132 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:59,040 way that the world will know that Jesus is alive, is by 133 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:07,440 living like we are alive, living like we have new lives. 134 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:15,560 Everything about us is new. We go to Costco every week 135 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:22,400 because we have four sons. One of my least favorite things 136 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:27,080 about Costco, by far least favorite thing, is they always 137 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,800 keep changing where things are in the store. 138 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:36,360 It drives me nuts. The chips have always been at 139 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,680 the front of the store. They've always been there. 140 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:40,920 For years they've been there and the other day they're now in the 141 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,400 back of the store. The lawn detergent was always on 142 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,560 the left side of the store. Years it's been there and now 143 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:48,720 it's on the right side of the store. 144 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:56,440 It's always something new. I like Safeway a lot better. 145 00:10:57,680 --> 00:11:01,400 It never changes. I go into Safeway. 146 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:04,280 The peanut butter is always in the exact same spot. 147 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:10,040 Same aisle, same row, same spot. I know where it is. 148 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:11,800 I probably could find it blindfolded. 149 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,520 The milk is always in the same freezer. 150 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:24,960 Always. Jesus was not raised from the 151 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:29,240 dead so that we would look like a Safeway. 152 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,480 One year later, nothing has changed. 153 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,760 Five years later, nothing has changed. 154 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:51,480 We look exactly the same. He was raised so that we would 155 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:59,600 look like a Costco. Always something new, always 156 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:05,000 changing, always. He was raised that we would have 157 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,880 new life. Look at verse 5. 158 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,760 For if we have been united with him and a death like his, we 159 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,720 shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like his. 160 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:24,720 I think Paul's point here is that nobody wants a life of 161 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:27,400 death. To be a Christian means to be 162 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,680 united with Christ. And to be united with Christ 163 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,040 means to be united with him and his death. 164 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,560 But why would anybody choose this, right? 165 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,800 Like if, if, if you're not a Christian, you're here visiting 166 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:42,080 with us. And I told you, hey, would you 167 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:43,640 like to become a Christian? And you said yes. 168 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:45,680 And I said, what am I signing up for death? 169 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:48,520 Well, give me some time to think about it. 170 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,960 I wonder if at the beginning of Jesus's ministry when he called 171 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:57,080 his first 12 disciples to follow him, if they knew that it would 172 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:00,000 end in a cross, would any of them followed him? 173 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,680 When I get he told him up front, he said, hey guys, follow me by 174 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:08,840 the way, I'm going to a cross and you're going to join me in 175 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,080 that with any of them followed him. 176 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:14,760 If they knew that they were what they were signing up for was 177 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,240 death, would any of them signed on the dotted line? 178 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:24,040 And yet here we are 2000 years later and people are still 179 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:28,200 signing with their blood. Why? 180 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:34,200 Because Paul says if we have been united with him and a death 181 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:39,800 like his, we will also be united with him and a resurrection like 182 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:43,960 his. Jesus invites us into his death, 183 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,600 but he also invites us into his resurrection. 184 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:54,600 And this is a glorious reality because death comes knocking on 185 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:59,960 everybody's door. There's a lot of talk these days 186 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:04,440 about equity and equality. Some people are rich, some 187 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,840 people are poor. Some people are privileged. 188 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,520 Some people are underprivileged. Some people have opportunities, 189 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:11,320 some people have lack lack of opportunities. 190 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,240 And for all this talk, there really is just one great 191 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:19,040 equalizer, though there's one great equalizer. 192 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,400 It doesn't care what gender you are, doesn't care what your net 193 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:27,040 worth is, doesn't care who your parents are, doesn't care 194 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,520 whether you're college educated, doesn't care where you are from. 195 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:35,000 Death comes knocking for all of us. 196 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:42,440 There's no way around it. Science can't solve it. 197 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:47,000 Riches can't buy out of it. Politicians can't filibuster it. 198 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,960 Lawyers can't defend against it. Judges can't overrule it. 199 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:55,760 But there is one who conquered it. 200 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:03,400 There is one who conquered it. There is one who went to battle 201 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,760 with death and came out victorious. 202 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:10,320 And he invites us to be united with him. 203 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:17,400 Look at verse 6. We know that our old self was 204 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:21,240 crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought 205 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:26,680 to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 206 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,640 Paul writes that our old self was crucified with Christ. 207 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,720 The old self is how Paul refers to our life prior when we were 208 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:37,200 lost. I want you to notice the 209 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,320 contrast here. Christ was raised from the dead 210 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,960 that we would walk in newness of life. 211 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,160 Our old self was crucified with Christ. 212 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:49,160 Notice the contrast. New life, old self. 213 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,760 In other words, what he's getting at is that there is a 214 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:56,160 clear difference between who we were apart from Christ and who 215 00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:00,120 we are in Christ. There's a clear distinction. 1 216 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:05,760 is old, one is new. The thing about crucifixion is 217 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,400 that you can't just crucify a hand. 218 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,200 There's no such thing as crucifying someone's hand. 219 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,840 You can't just crucify a foot. So such thing as crucifying a 220 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,600 foot that crucify the entire body. 221 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:27,360 Likewise, our entire old self was crucified. 222 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:34,680 Every part of your life is to be crucified. 223 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:44,400 Our old emotions, our old emotions, our old thoughts, our 224 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:48,400 old habits, our old addictions, our old proclivities, our old 225 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,640 tendencies, all of it was crucified with Christ. 226 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,720 Paul writes that it was crucified for a purpose. 227 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,200 What was the purpose? He says look at it in order that 228 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:06,040 the body of sin might be brought to nothing literally so that the 229 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:11,200 body of sin would be rendered ineffective or inoperative. 230 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,960 Literally the this body of sin will be rendered ineffective or 231 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,240 inoperative. I was reading an article this 232 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:25,599 past week that Lauren sent me called Beacon Hill Drug Camps. 233 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:28,600 That was the name of the article, Beacon Hill Drug Camps. 234 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:33,680 It was sharing how homelessness and affordable housing is not 235 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:39,880 the problem, Drugs are. There are several neighborhoods 236 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:42,080 in the Beacon Hill area that have just been overrun by drug 237 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:44,320 camps. There are several parks that 238 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,800 virtually no longer exist because of these drug camps. 239 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:51,960 And they were saying how the city's solution to the problem 240 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:56,080 isn't working and never will because as long as there are 241 00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:00,920 drugs, it'll never change. You can. 242 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,720 You can build houses, you can move, you can be. 243 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,080 But as long as there's drugs, it'll never change. 244 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:08,640 We could even take it one step further. 245 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,360 As long as there is sin, it'll never change. 246 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,520 It'll never change. Addiction is too powerful. 247 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:24,440 It's too powerful. You can remove the drugs, but 248 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,160 how do you remove the desire for the drugs? 249 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,240 Even if you were to go in and just remove all the drugs, the 250 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,760 desire is still there. How do you get rid of the 251 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:40,360 desire? We've all seen it, people 252 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:46,920 walking around like zombies. Isn't that all of us in our sin? 253 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,880 Aren't we all zombies and our sin? 254 00:18:54,720 --> 00:19:02,080 We may not be addicted to drugs in our lostness, but perhaps 255 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:08,600 we're addicted to pornography or lust, or sex, or riches or 256 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:12,720 possessions or financial security, exercise or image, 257 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:18,360 video games, sports, social media, alcohol, food, travel. 258 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:25,520 Apart from Christ, Everybody's addicted to something and it 259 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:31,880 will never change. It will never change until 260 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:39,000 something or someone renders it ineffective or inoperative. 261 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:47,440 The desire will always be there until something or someone comes 262 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,600 and renders it ineffective or inoperative. 263 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,800 You ever had a simple desire as a lost person or even as an 264 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:00,400 immature Christian, and now in Christ you can confidently say I 265 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,080 don't desire it anymore? You ever had that happen? 266 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,320 You can look back at your life as a lost person or maybe even 267 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,440 as an immature Christian and this desire for something simple 268 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:15,680 was so strong in your life. But now in Christ, or maybe 269 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:20,800 mature in Christ, you can confidently say I don't desire 270 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,640 it anymore. This is what happened when our 271 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:27,720 old self was crucified with Christ. 272 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:35,520 Our body of sin was rendered ineffective in operative, and 273 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:40,680 look at what Paul says so that we would no longer be enslaved 274 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,360 to sin. Isn't it interesting that the 275 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:46,440 world sees Christians as being enslaved? 276 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:50,520 They see us as being enslaved to morality, or enslaved to the 277 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:54,160 church, or enslaved to a set of rules, when in reality we are 278 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,800 all slaves to something. We're either a slave to Christ 279 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:04,520 or a slave to sin. Prior to Christ, when someone 280 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:08,440 offended me, I was enslaved to my offense. 281 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:15,160 When someone irritated me or bothered me, I was enslaved to 282 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:19,560 my anger. When someone got praise that I 283 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,960 deserved, I was enslaved to my jealousy. 284 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,960 When I didn't receive what I wanted most, I was enslaved to 285 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:32,160 my discontentment. When someone sinned against me, 286 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,560 I was enslaved to my unforgiveness. 287 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:40,080 When something felt good, I was enslaved to my pleasure. 288 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,240 When others did well, I was enslaved to comparison and 289 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:50,480 competition. But in Christ, we are no longer 290 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:55,360 enslaved. We are set free. 291 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:02,840 Look at verse 7. For one who has died has been 292 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:08,440 set free from sin. Brother scissors, if you have 293 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:14,840 died with Christ, you have been set free from sin. 294 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:23,440 When you are offended, you are free to overlook that offence. 295 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:32,400 You are free to overlook it when you are irritated or bothered. 296 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:38,840 You are free to be patient when someone else gets the praise 297 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:43,120 that you deserve. You are free to humble yourself 298 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,920 when you don't get what you want most in this life. 299 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:54,120 You are free to be content when someone sins against you, You 300 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:59,400 are free to forgive them when something feels good. 301 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:07,120 You are free to find a greater pleasure when others do well. 302 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:10,600 You are free to rejoice with those who rejoice. 303 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:18,480 The resurrection of Jesus Christ set us free. 304 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:27,960 Now Satan's going to come to you and convince you that you're not 305 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,120 free. He's going to tell you that you 306 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:33,960 don't have a choice. This is who you are. 307 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,760 We often hear this in the LGBTQ community. 308 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,320 They will say, this is my identity. 309 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:44,440 You can't just ask me to give up my identity. 310 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:46,640 This is my identity. This is who I am. 311 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:49,640 But it's not just that community. 312 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:54,920 It's every community. It's every community Satan tries 313 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:59,160 to convince us of the lie that we are the sum product of all of 314 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,760 our choices. If you take all of my desires 315 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,880 and all of my proclivities and all of my background and 316 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,320 somewhere that I am the sum product of it. 317 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,120 And then you know, and he convinced that you can't just 318 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:21,040 pretend that doesn't exist. You can tell yourself that you 319 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,480 don't have this desire, but it's there, Matt. 320 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,720 You can't just pretend like it doesn't exist. 321 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:31,480 Yet in Christ, one of two things happens. 322 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:38,160 Either a Christ changes our desires so that we're set free 323 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,280 from them. We no longer have the sinful 324 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:43,440 desire. Or B. 325 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:49,800 Christ gives us the power to choose a greater desire so that 326 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:54,240 we're set free from them. I want to be very clear that 327 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:58,520 being set free doesn't mean that Christ will always change your 328 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:03,680 desires in your flesh. You may always desire a 329 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:08,400 particular sin when you become a Christian. 330 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,200 It's not as though Christ is going to change every single 331 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,240 sinful desire you have in your flesh. 332 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:18,680 You may always have have a particular desire for a sin, but 333 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:24,200 in Christ He sets you free to choose a greater desire. 334 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,680 Do not believe the lie that you have to wait for the desire to 335 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,560 go away before you'll be set free from it. 336 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,960 You don't. The desire may never go away, 337 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,040 but a greater desire will replace it. 338 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:54,560 Think of verse 8. Now if we have died with Christ, 339 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,600 we believe that we will also live with Him. 340 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,360 If we have died with Him, we believe also live with Him. 341 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:09,360 Notice this phrase with Christ. This is one of Paul's favorite 342 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,120 phrases with Christ, where we get the idea of union with 343 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:14,720 Christ. He says if we have died with 344 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,920 him, how did we die with Christ? Right. 345 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,080 How do we die with Christ? Let me give a very imperfect 346 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,120 analogy. Suppose a husband's wife grew 347 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:29,760 sick, so sick that she couldn't get out of bed. 348 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:36,040 She needs to be cared for 24/7. This husband loves his wife, 349 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:43,280 loves her more than more than his own life, and so he stays by 350 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:50,480 her side. He is with her in her sickness 351 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,720 even though he himself is not physically sick. 352 00:26:55,080 --> 00:27:03,920 Her sickness is his sickness. Her suffering is his suffering. 353 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:10,360 He does not leave her and go and live his life. 354 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:17,520 He does not just check in with her once a week and say, hey, 355 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:26,440 I'll be here from 10:00 to 11:30 on Sundays and then I got things 356 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:35,460 to do. He identifies with her in her 357 00:27:35,460 --> 00:27:41,500 sickness. In the same way, when Christ 358 00:27:41,500 --> 00:27:45,280 died on the cross, we died with Him. 359 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:51,600 Yes, we were not physically on the cross, but when we take up 360 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,600 our cross daily, we die with Him. 361 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:59,160 When we stay near the cross, we die with Him. 362 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,440 When we put our sin to death, we die with Him. 363 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:10,360 His death becomes our death. We identify with Him in this and 364 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:14,960 look what Paul says, Those who have died with him, we believe 365 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:22,760 that we will also live with him. It is only those who have died 366 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,560 with him that will live with him. 367 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:32,280 The cross is the ticket to living with Him. 368 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:40,880 The only ones who are given access to living with Christ in 369 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:45,160 the next life are those who smell like the cross. 370 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,680 Paul is reminding us that death has a purpose. 371 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,200 Death is an invitation. It's an invitation to life, 372 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:03,400 friend. How do you know what your 373 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:04,920 address will be in the next life? 374 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,400 How do you know what your address will be in the next 375 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,800 life? Here's how you know. 376 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:19,520 Where did you live in this life? There's only one street that 377 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,760 populates heaven and it's called Calvary Rd. 378 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:33,040 Have you built your home on this road or have you gone out into 379 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:42,280 the suburbs of this world, into a comfortable, comfortable 380 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:47,440 suburb of this world? I don't like that road. 381 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:59,480 The road is lonely, it's difficult, it's painful at 382 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:05,520 times, it's dark. But those who live on this road 383 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:09,880 get their mail forwarded to heaven's gates. 384 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:18,440 Verse 9. We know that Christ, being 385 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,440 raised from the dead, will never die again. 386 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,360 Death no longer has dominion over Him. 387 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:30,040 And notice he says, we know that Christ was raised from the dead. 388 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,960 He will never die again. This is important because Jesus 389 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:35,920 was not the only person in history to be raised from the 390 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:39,120 dead. The widow of Zarephath's son was 391 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:42,040 raised from the dead. The Shunammites woman and son 392 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:45,120 was raised from the dead. The man in the grave who was 393 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:48,160 buried with Elisha's body was raised from the dead. 394 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,400 The widow of Nain's son was raised from the dead. 395 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,000 Jairus's daughter was raised from the dead. 396 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:55,960 Lazarus was raised from the dead. 397 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:57,760 Tabitha was raised from the dead. 398 00:30:57,840 --> 00:30:59,680 Eunuchus was raised from the dead. 399 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,040 So how is Jesus being raised from the dead any different than 400 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:07,000 these 8 individuals? What's the difference? 401 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,240 Because all eight of them died again. 402 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:15,920 They were born. They died. 403 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:21,240 They were raised from the dead and then at some point later 404 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:25,600 they died again. But in Christ. 405 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,360 Christ when he was raised from the dead, he didn't die again. 406 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:34,720 He will never die again. Jesus says in Revelation 118. 407 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:39,480 I died and behold I am alive forever more and I have the keys 408 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:40,400 of death. And Hades. 409 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,960 I was reading this website that has satire comics. 410 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,160 It's kind of like dark comics. I like dark humor. 411 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:54,680 I was in this website that has satire comics on it and one of 412 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,160 them was this picture of two grim reapers. 413 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:00,320 One of the grim reapers looked fine. 414 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,360 The other grim Reaper was like holding his head and was all 415 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:09,080 bruised and beaten up. And the one who looked fine said 416 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:10,600 to the bruised and beaten up one. 417 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,640 How does it feel to be the one who finally brought in Chuck 418 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:21,160 Norris? Chuck Norris was a martial arts 419 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:22,480 expert. He was a movie star. 420 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:25,120 Jokes about him have become legendary, as though he was 421 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,920 invincible. He may have seen those memes 422 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:29,840 online like he's he's, he's invincible. 423 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:35,000 He can't die. But even Chuck Norris lost to 424 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:39,800 death. The reality is that all of us go 425 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:44,160 to battle with Death and every one of us loses. 426 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:48,600 You ever heard the phrase Father Time is undefeated? 427 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:54,560 So was Death. Since the beginning of Time, for 428 00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:57,600 thousands and thousands of years, Death has been 429 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:01,160 undefeated. Kings have battled him and lost. 430 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:03,600 Philosophers have battled him and lost. 431 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:05,680 Rich men have battled him and lost. 432 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:07,680 Doctors have battled him and lost. 433 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:11,520 Death was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the 434 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:20,600 world until Jesus came along. And Jesus went to battle with 435 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:26,000 this ancient foe, and three days later he came out victorious. 436 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:33,640 The Grim Reaper is not just bruised and beaten up, he is 437 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:37,320 dead. Jesus killed Death. 438 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,600 Look what Paul says. Death no longer has dominion 439 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:47,120 over him. Death has been dethroned. 440 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:51,720 He has lost his crown, and now Jesus takes his seat and death 441 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:53,960 throne. And this is good news for us, 442 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,960 because if death no longer has dominion over him, it also means 443 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,040 that death no longer has dominion over us. 444 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:06,160 We can't lose to death. We can't lose. 445 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,000 I heard someone the other day speaking to a sick person. 446 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:16,120 This is what they told them. Fight, fight, fight. 447 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:26,120 There's no fighting needed, The fight has already been won. 448 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:32,560 No fighting needed. The fight has been won. 449 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:39,520 If we die in this life, whether we are 35 or 85, it's not a 450 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:45,080 loss, it's a win. To live is Christ and die is 451 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:49,960 gain. We can't lose because death no 452 00:34:49,960 --> 00:35:02,060 longer has dominion over us. The verse 10 for the death, he 453 00:35:02,060 --> 00:35:07,060 died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to 454 00:35:07,060 --> 00:35:10,680 God. The death he died, he died to 455 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:12,360 sin. What does that mean? 456 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:15,480 Here's what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that Jesus had 457 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,240 to die for his sin. It doesn't mean that we know 458 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:19,960 that Christ had no sin to die too. 459 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,960 So what does this mean? I think it means that Christ not 460 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,960 only went to battle with death, he also went to battle and went 461 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,440 to battle with death and 1 he also went to battle with sin and 462 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:34,120 1. He took on 2 enemies, one of 463 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:38,880 them death, the other sin. Part of why Jesus needed to come 464 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:43,840 to this earth and take on flesh is because He needed to identify 465 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:46,880 with sinners. He needed to identify with this 466 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:51,640 fallen world. He needed to go to battle every 467 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:53,080 day of his life. And He did. 468 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:57,480 All 33 years of his life He went to battle with sin every single 469 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:02,200 day, and every day He won. There was never a day he lost a 470 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:06,600 sin. He beat sin every single day. 471 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:08,440 And he was tempted just like you and me. 472 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:11,760 It's not as though you're like, oh, we weren't really tempted. 473 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:13,480 He was God to it. He was tempted. 474 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:19,400 He was hungry in the desert. I'm sure women were attractive 475 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:28,280 to him. He was tempted except every time 476 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:33,280 he defeated sin. But Jesus was not simply a model 477 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:35,080 to show us. He didn't just live this life to 478 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:36,880 show us. Hey guys, wanted to show you 479 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,000 that living a sinless life is possible. 480 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:44,280 That's part of it. But he also came to remove the 481 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:49,600 power of sin for us. He said I'm going to battle 482 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,520 against sin so that I will remove. 483 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:55,200 He's not going to make a sinless life, but he says I will remove 484 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,520 its power from your life on the cross. 485 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,600 God made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. 486 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:04,880 And when he died, he not only took on death, he also took on 487 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:07,000 the power of sin. And when he was raised from the 488 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:10,000 dead, he not only defeated death, he also defeated the 489 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:14,560 power of sin. And notice once for all, Paul 490 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:19,840 says once for all, we don't need to add to this you. 491 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:27,800 You don't need to add to this fight of like how to how do I 492 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:37,240 gain power over my sin Christ. This is not a spiritual battery 493 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,600 that we need to go and recharge it to make it effective. 494 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:44,960 My old van's battery died the other day. 495 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,000 We have we have two vans or they're both old. 496 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:52,600 My, my older, older van, my, my, my really like 22 year old van's 497 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,680 battery died the other day. I've been driving it. 498 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,200 It's just not comprehensive. So it's just sitting there. 499 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:00,840 I'm keeping it in case the boys need it when they start driving. 500 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,120 I've been driving it once a week because just for a few minutes 501 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:06,760 around the neighborhood because I read online that I shouldn't 502 00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:08,240 let it sit idle for months on end. 503 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:11,280 So I was like, all right, so once a week I drive around the 504 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:14,440 neighborhood. While I was doing this in hopes 505 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,440 to maintain the van, what I actually was doing was draining 506 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:22,200 the battery because it turns out I didn't realize that I was not 507 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:24,840 giving the alternator long enough time to recharge the 508 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:26,920 battery. It you have to get up to like 45 509 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:29,440 miles an hour and drive for like 15 minutes for the alternator to 510 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:31,880 fully recharge the battery. So every time I was driving it, 511 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:39,000 I was just draining the battery. In the Christian life, we don't 512 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:46,280 need an alternator. We don't need an alternator. 513 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:54,600 Your battery is always charged. I'm not denying that we don't 514 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:56,200 grow weak. We do grow weak. 515 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:02,200 But what I am saying is this. You always have power over sin. 516 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:09,520 There is never a time where you go to start your spiritual 517 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:11,760 battery and you're like, man, it's dead. 518 00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,560 I guess I'll just go for a simple walk. 519 00:39:20,710 --> 00:39:24,870 You always have power over sin. Always. 520 00:39:29,990 --> 00:39:33,590 I can't defeat the power of sin in my life because it's already 521 00:39:33,590 --> 00:39:38,150 been defeated. We have access to everything we 522 00:39:38,150 --> 00:39:41,790 need to be victorious in this life, Paul writes. 523 00:39:42,350 --> 00:39:48,120 Life he now lives, he lives to God, meaning Jesus is not 524 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:50,000 continuing to die for the sins of the world. 525 00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:53,080 He's not dying every day in order to rinse into powerless 526 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:54,880 right. You say, well, maybe I don't 527 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,200 like Jesus doesn't need he doesn't die every day saying, 528 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:01,440 hey guys, I got to keep dying every day to keep this charge 529 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,480 going to make sure that you've got power over this. 530 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:10,120 No, that one time, that one act, was enough for all time, for all 531 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:13,440 Christians to have power every day of their life over sin. 532 00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:19,720 When he died, he said it is finished, and when he said it 533 00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:21,760 was finished and he ascended into heaven, what did he do? 534 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:23,640 He sat down at the right hand of God. 535 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:29,760 His life is now lived unto the Father, meaning He accomplished 536 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:32,120 all that the Father had willed for him. 537 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:37,920 If you want to be reminded that sin has no dominion over you, 538 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:41,560 that sin has no power over you, then look no further than the 539 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:43,600 Savior sitting at the right hand of God. 540 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,880 He is not in heaven up there biting his nails and pacing back 541 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:50,720 and forth. Oh my gosh, how do I get this 542 00:40:51,720 --> 00:40:53,080 Mat? Stop sitting like what? 543 00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:55,320 What I need to do. Like oh gosh, I got to come up 544 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:57,160 with a plan. He is not doing that. 545 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:06,160 He is sitting there telling us by the Holy Spirit, you have 546 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:11,800 what you need. You have what you need to kill 547 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:19,640 this sin in your life. Christ has defeated the power of 548 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:21,960 sin. Look at verse 11. 549 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:29,120 So also you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive 550 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:32,920 to God in Christ Jesus. Paul says you must consider 551 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,040 yourselves dead to sin. What does it mean to be dead to 552 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:37,880 sin? What does that mean to be dead 553 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:39,960 to sin? I'll give you a practical 554 00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:46,360 example, not a theological 1. As a pastor, I like to check the 555 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:48,640 news. I actually don't like to check 556 00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:52,080 the news, but I feel like I have to because I'm a pastor, because 557 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:53,600 I want to engage in conversation with you. 558 00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:56,280 I don't want to be like what? We're in war with Iran. 559 00:41:56,280 --> 00:42:01,760 I had no idea I I want to be able to engage in conversation 560 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:03,040 with you. So I, I checked the news. 561 00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:09,000 There was a popular news website that I used to check daily, but 562 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:12,600 this particular website would always have inappropriate 563 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:14,640 articles and inappropriate thumbnails. 564 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:19,760 For years I justified it because I thought it's a conservative 565 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:22,640 network and I don't want to read the liberal news. 566 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:28,600 But finally, about a month ago, I talked to my wife and I told 567 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:30,840 her that I actually made a vow to God. 568 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:33,440 This is true. I made a vow to God that I would 569 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:37,720 never check this website again and I intend to keep it. 570 00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:45,000 I am dead to this website and the website is dead to me. 571 00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:48,840 Now. I recognize you can't do that 572 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:53,040 with everything in your life. Marriage will cause you to sin 573 00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:56,000 and you can't consider yourself dead to your marriage. 574 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:00,560 Your job will cause you to sin, and you can't consider yourself 575 00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:05,800 dead to employment. Parenting will cause you to sin, 576 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:07,760 and you can't consider yourself dead to your children. 577 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:15,200 But how much of our life are we able to consider ourselves dead 578 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:19,840 too? Is there a constant source of 579 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:24,320 temptation in your life? Is there something in your life 580 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:27,160 that you have just been battling over and over again and for one 581 00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:29,120 reason or another, you've made justifications for it? 582 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:39,600 Video games, sports, entertainment, social media, 583 00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:48,480 alcohol, food, school shopping, relationships. 584 00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:57,320 One way to consider yourself dead to sin is just cut it off. 585 00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:03,480 Just cut it off. Don't even try to fight it 586 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:09,080 anymore, just cut it off. If you can't remove it from your 587 00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:11,080 life, you're like, well I can't remove this from my life. 588 00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:13,920 If you can't do that, can you make changes to this area of 589 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:19,240 your life? If school is an idol in your 590 00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:26,160 life, can you change majors? Do you have to get a degree in 591 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:32,600 this? If dating is causing you to 592 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:39,800 engage in sexual immorality, can you get married ASAP or break up 593 00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:46,280 ASAP? If parenting is causing you to 594 00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:51,000 sin, can you seek counsel or can you make changes in your 595 00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:55,720 parenting? But the sisters, don't make 596 00:44:55,720 --> 00:44:58,880 peace with your sin. Don't accept that it is what it 597 00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:00,800 is. This is just how it's going to 598 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:04,840 be. Don't make peace with your sin. 599 00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:08,560 Consider yourselves dead to your sin. 600 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:13,680 Do whatever is necessary to consider yourself dead to it. 601 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:17,520 And let me be very clear about this. 602 00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:22,640 The Christian life is not about just being dead to sin. 603 00:45:25,560 --> 00:45:28,400 The Christian life is not about just being dead. 604 00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:35,120 In fact, it is far more about being alive to God in Christ 605 00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:39,920 Jesus. I want to exhort you, don't be a 606 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:45,080 Christian Buddhist. This is someone who makes 607 00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:49,720 Christianity about all about removing of desire, that 608 00:45:49,720 --> 00:45:52,200 Christianity is just. I need to get rid of this desire 609 00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:54,840 that is only part of the Christian life. 610 00:45:55,080 --> 00:46:00,040 Christianity is far more about being alive to God in Christ 611 00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:04,240 Jesus, living with new desires and new pleasures. 612 00:46:06,320 --> 00:46:10,120 Christ died and rose again, not simply to kill our pleasures, 613 00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:15,360 but to transform them. Our pleasures are very much 614 00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:18,240 alive. Be careful. 615 00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,360 Don't hear this is saying man. Sounds like you're preaching, 616 00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:25,360 you know, just asceticism here. Don't enjoy anything. 617 00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:32,520 No enjoy all good things. Be alive to God in Christ Jesus. 618 00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:35,760 Our joy is very much alive. Christians should be the 619 00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:42,920 happiest people in the world. I wonder, I thought about this 620 00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:45,320 thing and I must say this true for me, but I wonder, like if 621 00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:48,720 you were to stop, go home today over lunch and say, name the top 622 00:46:48,720 --> 00:46:52,760 five people in your life that you know are the happiest people 623 00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:54,640 you can think of. How many of them are in this 624 00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:58,720 room? Are any of them in this room? 625 00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:08,560 Are you on anybody's list? We should be the happiest people 626 00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:18,920 in the world. Jesus rose from the dead and 627 00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:22,640 because of this we have a new life. 628 00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:28,120 We will be resurrected. We are no longer enslaved to 629 00:47:28,120 --> 00:47:30,880 sin. We have been set free from sin. 630 00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:33,960 We will live with Him. We are dead to sin. 631 00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:37,040 We are alive to God in Christ Jesus. 632 00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:42,720 Show the world that Christ has made you alive. 633 00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:44,960 Let's pray.