1 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,360 This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd. 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,240 Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,320 striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:21,560 our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,360 at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message. 6 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:32,560 Romans 8 called by many scholars the the greatest chapter in the 7 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:36,240 Bible, meaning that it wouldn't just be then the greatest 8 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,400 chapter in the Bible by default, it would be the greatest writing 9 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,120 in all of human history and in literature. 10 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,160 If that's true, I what do you say? 11 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,600 How do you how do you even start that, Matt? 12 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:59,000 Maybe you should have let out. Well, how about this, I suppose 13 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,760 that we could say we could start out by saying that if a person 14 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,200 were to examine this word and by faith they take that into their 15 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,400 heads and their hearts. I can promise you and I can 16 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,120 guarantee that that person would be different by the end. 17 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,280 You would not leave the same as what you've arrived. 18 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,880 If you spend time in Romans chapter 8. 19 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:25,000 And, and the reason why that's true is because the overarching 20 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:30,600 theme of being in Christ, well, that is quite possibly the most 21 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,720 important concept that we can ever get into our heads and our 22 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:34,960 hearts. Why? 23 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:41,160 Because in Christ we become free, in Christ we gain 24 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:46,200 forgiveness, and ultimately in Christ we gain life and we gain 25 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,080 life everlasting. So, man, I got to tell you 26 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,760 again, Romans chapter 8, kind of a, a huge thing to swing at, but 27 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:56,520 I'm, I'm excited to do this with you. 28 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:01,240 And so I guess, you know, for me to say that I'm happy that 29 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,960 you're here to, to, to start this process of Romans 8. 30 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,000 And I hope you come back every single week to mine the depths 31 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,080 of it. But for me to say I'm happy 32 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,120 would be a massive understatement. 33 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,480 I really do mean that for each and every single person in this 34 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,520 room right now and and who will come during the second service. 35 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:23,000 Because I understand that this chapter, not only can it change 36 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,800 our lives right now, but it has the potential as God word, as 37 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:28,680 God's words penetrates our hearts. 38 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:31,720 It has the potential to change eternity as well. 39 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,240 And I'm not being dramatic when I say that I know it has that 40 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,040 much power in it. And so therefore today we will 41 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:43,240 kick off this series not by going slow, not with a very long 42 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,680 winded introduction. In fact, I'm just about done. 43 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,120 We are going to Sprint. We are going to Sprint into the 44 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,080 fire. We are going to run towards the 45 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,520 a hard reality that I think a lot of us don't necessarily feel 46 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:01,160 comfortable dealing with. And as the person who has to say 47 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,760 this to you, I probably feel less comfortable than you. 48 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,440 So you're lucky. Congratulations. 49 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,240 But here's the reality that we have to deal with. 50 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:16,320 The reality that we have to deal with is often times we want what 51 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,240 sin offers or what we think sin offers more than what? 52 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,240 More than we want God. Let me say that again, maybe a 53 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,360 little bit more clearly. We often times want what we 54 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,880 think sin will offer us more than we want God. 55 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,600 And that is a real problem. That is a problem that makes us 56 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,160 captives. That is a problem that draws us 57 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,280 into slavery and holds on to us and, and puts chains around us 58 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,240 and creates a bondage in our lives that is not easily broken. 59 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:53,240 And in fact, it is not broken at all by self help books or, or 60 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:55,520 any, you know, popular psychology. 61 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,480 It's not broken by any of those things. 62 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:02,680 It's only broken by the gospel. And so as we examine this today, 63 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:05,960 I want us to break free a little bit. 64 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:07,680 And some of you are already there. 65 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:09,600 Praise the Lord, you're already there. 66 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:10,880 You're already walking with the Lord. 67 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,160 And, and although there is sin present in your life, you still 68 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,360 walk in freedom because you know that there is no condemnation 69 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,120 for you because you're found in Christ Jesus. 70 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:20,519 Amen. Good. 71 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,280 I'm glad a lot of you are already there. 72 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,160 But for those of you who are not, you're about to get hit by 73 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,720 a pitch. So we are going to start 74 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,440 actually in Romans Chapter 7 and we have to start there because 75 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,120 the beginning of Romans chapter 8 starts with the. 76 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,240 Therefore, anytime you see a therefore in the Bible, you 77 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,200 ought to immediately look backwards and say therefore, 78 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:44,720 from what? From what? 79 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,000 So we actually have to start towards the end of Chapter 7, 80 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,520 and we will be picking it up in 721, and then we will read only 81 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,320 four verses in chapter 8. And that is too much content. 82 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,240 It's too much material. So as Kristen so squarely 83 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:05,080 pointed out, please listen to Leftovers for for more insight 84 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:06,920 into that because we don't have time today. 85 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:08,960 Here's what we do have time for today. 86 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:11,720 And I think this is a clear line of logic that we get through 87 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,920 this text, first and foremost, that we are in fact captives of 88 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,120 sin. Second of all, that will draw 89 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:21,480 out the conclusion that there is a serious problem with our will, 90 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,160 but then finally that there's a solution in that we can have 91 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:28,880 freedom in Christ. OK captives to sin a problem 92 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,240 with the will and freedom in Christ. 93 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:35,360 That's where we're going. So if you have your Bibles, Oh 94 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:37,160 my gosh, I just remembered in this moment. 95 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,480 What page is it on? You guys are good. 96 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,040 You're really good man. He's really good. 97 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,960 I, I just, you know, I did, I have the filter is gone. 98 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,600 If you guys keep me higher till I'm 70, Lord knows what's going 99 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,600 to happen. It, it may go over, it may get 100 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:04,000 really weird, but if you, if you want to pull out a Bible from 101 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,400 behind the chairs, it's on page 944. 102 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:13,120 And so you can follow along that way or please, if you're not 103 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,360 doing that, please check into your Bible app. 104 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,320 I have not forgotten and I hope that you've not forgotten that 105 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,400 Lord willing, we will have 30,000 daily check insurance on 106 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,480 that Bible app, meaning that we are daily in the word of God 107 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,040 together. So page 944 in the Pew Bibles or 108 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,760 your Bible app or your personal Bible, however that works. 109 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:36,720 But we start in Chapter 7 verse 21, and we read all this in 110 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:43,080 Jesus name. So I find it to be a law that 111 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,960 when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 112 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,480 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 113 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:55,600 But I see in my members another law waging war against the law 114 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:01,840 of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in 115 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:05,320 my members. Wretched man that I am, who will 116 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:09,680 deliver me from this body of death, but thanks be to God 117 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,720 through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself serve the law 118 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:19,000 of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. 119 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,160 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are 120 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,920 in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of 121 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:30,960 life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and 122 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,240 death. For God has done what the Law, 123 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:39,240 weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending His own Son in the 124 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,320 likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. 125 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:47,760 He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous 126 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:53,080 requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in US who walk not 127 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,440 according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 128 00:07:57,200 --> 00:07:59,720 Here ends the reading of God's Word. 129 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:10,960 A long time ago there was a young ish merchant woman and her 130 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,880 name was Mary. Mary was well respected, well 131 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,680 liked in her village, known by everybody who knew her as 132 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,360 somebody who was honest and kind and good. 133 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:30,480 Well, problematically for Mary, the shop, the the booth that she 134 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,240 worked in, it had not been doing terribly well lately. 135 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:36,679 The economy was kind of down in, in her little part of the world. 136 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,600 And so her family was really struggling. 137 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:43,640 I mean really struggling. And it was well known by 138 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,960 everybody in that village that the king of the land had decreed 139 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:51,680 that there would be severe punishment for any merchant who 140 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:54,720 used a false scale or false weights. 141 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,680 And so as Mary stood there, stressed out about her family 142 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:04,600 and anxious about what the day might bring, she was grabbing on 143 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,560 to this little lightweight in her pocket. 144 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,600 She was just kind of moving around with her hands. 145 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:17,240 And she thought, man, I, I, there's nothing in me that wants 146 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:19,840 to deceive these people. I love the people who come here. 147 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,680 I love my community. But my family needs help. 148 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:27,920 I need help. And so, seemingly before she 149 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:31,200 even could stop her hand, before she could even agree or disagree 150 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:33,960 with her hand, her hand quickly came out of her pocket and 151 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,320 switched the weight on the scale, making it ever so 152 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:42,480 slightly imbalanced. Well, as the day went on, it got 153 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,280 busy, and her booth and, and the wares that she was selling, it 154 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,240 got really busy and the coin purse kept getting more and more 155 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:52,760 full and more and more heavy. And as the day wrapped up and 156 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,480 she kind of drugged that coin purse home and she was counting 157 00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:01,480 it, my goodness, she had the best day that she'd had in more 158 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:03,880 than a month. In fact, she'd made more money 159 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:05,960 in that one day than she had in three weeks. 160 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,360 But there was something wrong. There was something, some 161 00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:14,600 darkness, some tension welling up inside of her, and she 162 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,920 couldn't even enjoy the fact that her family was going to be 163 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,600 doing better now. Something was brewing. 164 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:23,240 She couldn't quite put her finger on it. 165 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,880 Well, the next day she goes back to the booth and she sees the 166 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,000 steward of the king walking around. 167 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,400 And from about 20 or 30 yards away, the steward makes eye 168 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,280 contact with her and he makes a straight line for her. 169 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,040 And he stands next to her. And he just looks at her for a 170 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:44,160 little bit and then he says this. 171 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,760 The king does not watch your scales to see your profit, but 172 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:53,880 to see your heart. A dishonest measure may enrich 173 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:57,080 your purse, but it impoverishes your soul. 174 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:05,760 You see, The thing is, I believe that just like Mary in that 175 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,320 little parable I just told you that we have all experienced 176 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:11,800 something similar to what she experienced in that. 177 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,720 Not precisely the same, but what I mean is, we've all experienced 178 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,720 a movement within our hearts and our minds and even our bodies to 179 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:21,960 do something that we know is wrong. 180 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:27,120 We absolutely know it's wrong, and yet we find ourselves ever 181 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,480 so slowly moving towards it until eventually we have just 182 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,640 straight out arrived at the conclusion of the wrong thing 183 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:39,640 and we've done it. And I'll tell you what, the fact 184 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:44,080 that that is such a common experience, it's what we would 185 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:48,280 call the common human sin experience, that although we 186 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,800 know what's right, it's not a knowledge issue. 187 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:53,720 We know what's right, We don't do it anyway. 188 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:57,000 And when we know that something is wrong and we don't really 189 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:01,360 want to do it, we end up doing that anyway, which not only 190 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:04,360 hurts us, but it hurts our family, it hurts our friends, it 191 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,520 hurts our community. It has a wide effect that we 192 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,640 probably don't even understand completely. 193 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:15,480 And so here's what I want to do. I want to point something out to 194 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,120 you that I think will help make this make a lot more sense. 195 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:25,040 Paul says that there is a war raging in that we have become 196 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:29,080 captives to it. Now, I think in the most literal 197 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:33,320 sense, the most obvious sense, most of us probably don't 198 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,000 actually, or we haven't probably experienced war in captivity in 199 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,440 that literal sense. However, that doesn't mean that 200 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,640 it's not real and that doesn't mean that it's not happening to 201 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:46,560 all of us on a daily basis, right? 202 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:51,520 If, well, let me make an aside for a second. 203 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:56,520 If that war, if that fight isn't happening in you, there's two 204 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,840 options. You are either Jesus himself 205 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:06,720 resurrected and you're doing a great job of hiding, or, or you 206 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,000 have completely subverted the law of God. 207 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,760 You have so quenched God's law inside your mind and in your 208 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,120 heart. You have burned his conscience 209 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,720 out of you. And just like Pharaoh, who was 210 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,560 flirting with the fires of hell as his heart was hardened 211 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,920 against God and against his people over and over, if that's 212 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,640 you, if you are not in a fight, you are flirting with hell 213 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,320 itself. Now modern psychologist, they 214 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,360 would probably call a person who's kind of like that. 215 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,680 They would just call that person like a narcissist, right? 216 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:39,960 They only think about themselves. 217 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,560 They only care about themselves. They don't, they don't really 218 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:44,200 worry about what happens to other people. 219 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,560 It's all about me, me, me. That's what a narcissist is, and 220 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:49,760 that's what a modern psychologist would call the 221 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,280 person I'm describing. However, the Bible would more 222 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,440 aptly tell you that that person, without repentance and faith 223 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,320 getting in their way, they are on a road straight to hell. 224 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:08,320 Now, I hope that's not you. If it is you, the Lord help you 225 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,800 because you need him to drop a Mack truck on your head. 226 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,480 You need a change. You need to feel the weight of 227 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,960 your sin. I hope the Spirit does that. 228 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:27,080 Now for the rest of us who do struggle with sin, who do, who 229 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,080 are in the fight, we have to, I think we have to ask, what are 230 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,600 we really dealing with here? How does this work? 231 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:37,400 Well, the Greek word here that's translated as captive, really 232 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,200 what that means in its most literal sense is that we have 233 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:44,600 become prisoners of war. You have become a prisoner of 234 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,800 war in the fight against sin. You have somehow been brought 235 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:50,880 into bondage. And The thing is, as we 236 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,880 understand this word in its original language, this is not 237 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,120 just like, hey, there's this casual temptation to sin, and 238 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,400 sometimes I mess up. No, absolutely not. 239 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,200 This is far more serious than that, because this is so serious 240 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,600 that it goes against your very will. 241 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,760 Even when you will yourself away from the sin, it always finds 242 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,600 you and you act on it anyway. This is a serious problem. 243 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:17,400 This is a very serious problem because it works against our 244 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:19,640 will. And that actually brings us to 245 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:23,960 the question, why can't we just will ourselves to be better? 246 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:28,080 Why can't we just do that? Why can't I hear enough Ted 247 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:29,320 Talks? Why can't I get enough 248 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,120 motivation to just pull myself up by the bootstraps and say I'm 249 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,840 not doing that anymore? Why doesn't it work that way? 250 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:42,600 I mean, that would be awesome. That would be so cool. 251 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,520 In fact, I think it was like 2 weeks ago, Pastor Matt said 252 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:47,520 something. He's like, just stop sinning. 253 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,760 And all I wanted him to do was to walk off the stage and be 254 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:52,800 done. Not because he was saying 255 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:55,240 anything bad, but because I'm like, wouldn't that be great if 256 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:59,200 that's how it worked, that he could just tell us just stop 257 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,120 sinning and we'd be like, oh man, you're right, I should 258 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,960 totally not do that anymore. Good deal. 259 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:09,840 But that's the thing. We have a problem with the will. 260 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:18,080 Let me let me say it this way. The will follows the heart, not 261 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,720 the other way around. Take that in for a second, 262 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:26,840 because it took me a minute too. The will will follow the heart, 263 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,120 not the other way around. Augustine said this. 264 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:35,600 He said that your love, your heart, determines the direction 265 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,400 of your will. Just as gravity pulls a body 266 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:44,000 downward, love pulls the will toward what the heart desires. 267 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,960 That's interesting, isn't it, man? 268 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:52,120 He also goes on to say that the will is in fact desire, and a 269 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,960 man does not will what he does not desire. 270 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:00,160 So think about it. When you are sinning against 271 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:04,200 your will, all you're doing is chasing what your heart wants 272 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,960 anyway. So we have a major problem, 273 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:09,800 don't we? We have a problem that the, the 274 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:14,400 I, that the will cannot overcome the idolatry on its own. 275 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:21,319 And here's the thing, because it's a heart issue, we have to 276 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:23,680 address that and we have to attack that first. 277 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:25,800 And, and what does that actually look like? 278 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:31,080 First of all, it's acknowledging that we love a lot of things, 279 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,520 right? We love big, but it's when the 280 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,600 order of our loves is out of whack and they're out of place 281 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,640 that everything goes sideways, right? 282 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:45,240 There is a very real reason why the very first commandment that 283 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:49,880 God gives is that you shall have no other gods before me. 284 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:53,960 Because the Lord knows that when we have any other God before 285 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,600 him, that lowercase G God will turn us into a slave. 286 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:03,360 We will become captives to the will of whatever that thing is. 287 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,680 And my goodness people, I'm being honest. 288 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,480 We love a lot of good things. I don't think most people love 289 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:13,760 bad things. You would have to be a sociopath 290 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:17,520 hoping there's none here because then they'll probably come to my 291 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:23,640 house later. Lord help me. 292 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:29,080 But honestly, like people don't generally love bad things, but 293 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:33,400 we do bad things and it's because the the the loves of our 294 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,640 heart are disordered. It's because we have not put God 295 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:38,920 first. I have not put my relationship 296 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,840 with with him first. I have not loved him with my 297 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,920 heart and my soul in my mind. I have instead loved money or 298 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,800 comfort or my family or a job or something else. 299 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:52,520 I have put something else 1st and it causes my heart to be 300 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,320 corrupt and then my will moves towards my corrupt heart. 301 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:58,400 Do you see the problem of the will? 302 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,680 It doesn't work. John Calvin rightly said that 303 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:08,640 the human heart is a perpetual factory of idols, meaning that 304 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,600 we constantly elevate created things, good things, into 305 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,840 ultimate things, which we become captives to. 306 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:21,640 We we are prisoners of war and The thing is our will. 307 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:27,440 It cannot dethrone idols. It can't, since the will follows 308 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,400 the position of the heart. Our will cannot resist the 309 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:33,040 idols. Now here's the thing. 310 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:37,200 I understand that you might be able to resist that sin 311 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,440 temptation for a little while. Believe me, I'm preaching to the 312 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:42,920 choir. You might be able to do it for a 313 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:47,480 little while and you might even have a streak on your phone, but 314 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,680 at some point, if your heart is not changed towards Jesus Christ 315 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,240 and towards the gospel, your will will break because your 316 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,880 will is still following your heart and it will not work. 317 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,040 You will not be able to resist what your heart is chasing. 318 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:05,520 And so we have to ask the question, what can we do about 319 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,560 it? What can we do about it? 320 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:10,840 How? How do we have any hope when our 321 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,240 will fails us? Because our our heart is just 322 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:17,920 constantly making idle after idle after idle? 323 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:25,600 Well, as it's been said elsewhere, not by me, the 324 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,560 solution comes when we accept the fact that we cannot change 325 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,240 by willpower alone. We can only change by worship. 326 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,640 Let me say that again, because it's smart and I didn't come up 327 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,600 with it. We cannot change by willpower 328 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,480 alone. We can only change by worship. 329 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:46,000 And so we can become free and our hearts can become liberated 330 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:51,800 when by the power of the gospel, Jesus Christ becomes the love of 331 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,480 our life, the love that we constantly seek after. 332 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,280 And it is only by the power of the gospel that that happens. 333 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,320 Now, I want to pause here just for a moment before we get to 334 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:07,160 our last point because I need to make it ridiculously clear that 335 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:13,720 it is through the power of the gospel, because here's what I 336 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,000 think you could walk away with. And I've been thinking about 337 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:21,080 this for days based on what I've said you could walk away with. 338 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,000 All right, Pastor was good today. 339 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,280 He said some things. I don't remember what it was, 340 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,480 but I do remember I need to love Jesus more. 341 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,480 I need to love Jesus more. I need to love Jesus more. 342 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:33,360 Oh, I'm going to love Jesus more. 343 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:38,240 Do you know what you just did? You just went back to a 344 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,320 willpower thing. Because at that point it's not 345 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,280 about a heart change, it is about the fact that I'm going to 346 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:47,520 will myself to love Jesus more. Good luck with that. 347 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:54,680 It won't work. So what are we going to do? 348 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:02,240 Well, let's read a little bit through the power of the gospel, 349 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:04,840 through the power of the Word, through the power of the Spirit, 350 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:09,000 God can change us, and He does. And I know that because I am one 351 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,400 of those changed people. So let's read this one more time 352 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:14,400 because there's power in His words. 353 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,080 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are 354 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,840 in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of 355 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:26,560 life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and 356 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,080 death. For God has done with the law 357 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:33,880 weakened by the flesh could not do by sending His own Son in the 358 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,400 likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. 359 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:43,200 He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous 360 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:48,040 requirement of the law might be fulfilled in US who walk not 361 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,520 according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 362 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,240 It says that he condemned sin in the flesh. 363 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,200 What is he talking about? Well, here's the thing. 364 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:07,920 If a phony, false, terrible trial was not enough, if 365 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:12,400 spitting on him, if kicking him around, if punching him when 366 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,440 they when they blindfolded his eyes, if that wasn't enough, 367 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:21,000 before Jesus went to the cross, they lashed him over and over 368 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:29,040 and over again. 39 lashes exposing muscle, exposing 369 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:33,200 tissue, exposing bone, him bleeding out everywhere, only 370 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:37,760 then to be taken and hung on a cross by his hands and by his 371 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:42,720 feet. This is the condemnation of sin 372 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:47,840 inside the flesh. This is how God has taken your 373 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:52,960 condemnation that we constantly activate in our flesh and he has 374 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:57,920 made payment for it. That's how 39 lashes in a cross. 375 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,880 That's how he did it. And, and the reason why he had 376 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:07,000 to do that way is because we in ourselves can make no atonement. 377 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,680 We can pay no price for the sins that we commit. 378 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,520 There is not a thing we can do to make that better. 379 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:18,880 We can't pay that price. So therefore, God through Jesus 380 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,360 Christ paid the price in His body, and He was condemned in 381 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,640 the flesh. And because He was condemned in 382 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:28,960 the flesh, there is therefore now no condemnation for those 383 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:33,320 who are found in Christ Jesus. Because in Christ Jesus we have 384 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,440 been declared innocent from the punishment of the law in Christ 385 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,880 Jesus. We have been given the Spirit of 386 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:44,280 God to move through this life, not in thoughts according to the 387 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,960 flesh, but in leading by the Spirit, loving God and loving 388 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:52,040 our neighbor. And in Christ we obtain life. 389 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,840 We obtain life because Jesus was not held down by the grave. 390 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,720 Jesus beat the grave on the third day and because he has 391 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,760 life, because that was His reward for faithfulness, that 392 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:05,800 reward is credited to our account. 393 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,000 Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are 394 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,760 found in Christ Jesus. Amen. 395 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:21,360 Friends, if we want to walk in the Spirit, if we want to not be 396 00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:25,720 held captive by bondage of sin, man, it's going to take a heart 397 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:30,400 change. Not heart change comes from you 398 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,760 going straight to God, not to me. 399 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,960 You can talk to me, but I'm not what you need. 400 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:42,120 You need Jesus Christ, you need a friend who will pay the 401 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:44,840 penalty for you. And that only person who can 402 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,320 stand up for you in that way is Jesus Christ alone. 403 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:54,040 Let's pray our Father in heaven, you are good and you are 404 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,360 gracious so far beyond what we deserve. 405 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,560 Lord, it is by the gospel that you have set us free. 406 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:08,120 I pray, Lord, that through Your Spirit You would convict us deep 407 00:26:08,120 --> 00:26:12,320 in our soul of our sin, but Lord, that we would not stay 408 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:17,560 there, That because of the power of the gospel You would set us 409 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,480 free, that we would know that there is no condemnation for us 410 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:23,680 and that we would live accordingly. 411 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:30,440 Lord, help us to change. Help us to move away from that 412 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,320 which holds us so tightly. Lord, we want to be held tightly 413 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:36,480 by You. We want to be held tightly by 414 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,080 the truth of the gospel. So Lord, work through your 415 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,480 Spirit in each and every single one of us to make that a reality 416 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,880 in our hearts that we might move through that in our lives. 417 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,720 Father, we pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, who is our 418 00:26:48,720 --> 00:27:00,240 Lord and our King, Amen. Thanks for listening to the ERC 419 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,400 Sundays To support the work God is doing and Amazed Rd. 420 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,320 Church, visit amazedrdonline.org/giving.