Are you Struggling Against Sin or a Slave of Sin? - Tim Conway

now I'm going to tell you who this is but listen to it [Music] imagine you have somebody come to you like this because a friend of mine emailed me this week and he wanted my take on this guy whether I would think that this man is regenerate or unregenerate this man says this permit me to tell you a little not what I have read but what I have felt and I'm not I'm not quoting every bit of this I'm giving you some of his quote he said I would not be the sport or prey of wild vain foolish and vile imaginations but he says there is evil present with me he says my heart is like an open highway to all this evil like a city without walls or gates nothing is so false and so frivolous no absurd so impassable or so horrid but it cannot obtain access to my heart and that at any time and in any place neither the study the pulpit nor even the Lord's table exempt me from their intrusion but if this awful effective heart depravity cannot be wholly avoided in the present state of human nature yet at least I would not allow and indulge it yet this find yet this I find I do in defiance of my best judgment and best wishes I find something within me which cherishes and Cleaves to those evils from which I ought to be horrified by and flee from as I would if a toad or a serpent was put in my food or in my bed nah how vile must the heart at least my heart be that can hold a parlay with such abominations when I so well know their nature in their tendency he says this is only a faint sketch of my depraved heart so what do you think I mean basically a pastor friend of mine asked me based on my interpretation Romans 7 whether I would count such a person as unregenerate now I answered this way I said I told them that you know when you quote men from history men from history even good men can be misunderstood they can be wrong or if we just take a little snapshot of their theology we can miss the entire picture of what a man really believed but and when I told him I I didn't really want to pit myself against this guy because I saw that to be to no advantage I said I just basically want to stick close to the word and here's my basic take and in the end the as far as I'm concerned I told him because because he was asking me to expound on those who battle with sin and what I said trying to stay close to Scripture is that what we don't want to do is define slavery to sin as a struggle with sin because there's a life-and-death difference between the two and so I want to ask you tonight oh right I mean do you agree with that statement that there are people who are slaves to sin the Bible tells us anybody can can anybody think where the Bible talks about somebody being a slave to sin a lost man being defined that way as being a slave to sin John 8 what would it say there he who sins is a slave to sin but can a Christian sin so when a Christian sins is he a slave to sin I'm not denying the fact I'm just saying let's let's look at a text that defines the lost man basically as a slave to sin first John 3:9 what does that one say no one born of God makes a practice of sin he cannot keep on sinning he's been born of God right that's a good place where is it romans 6 is another place where that's spoken about Romans 6:22 is just as a tremendous picture of the Christian life what is what is Romans 6:22 say there it is you've been set free from sin become a slave of God there's fruit sanctification the end is eternal life the way you get to eternal life is down a certain Road and it's down the road of slavery to God being set free from sin back up in verse 14 what is it saying sin will no longer have dominion so if you're a true Christian the power of sin is broken in your life and we can say this is the you know this is old stuff we've looked at this we must consider ourselves dead to sin we have been freed from sin if we're a true Christian now will there be a struggle with sin if we're a Christian can somebody give me verses that would verify that which says sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against they wage war against the soul so when the Christian become when a person a sinner who's in bondage to sin now is saved what happens is rather than being a slave and basically led about by their passions they go to fierce battle but here's the problem when people are in fierce battle with sin they often mistake it for slavery to it and those who are slaves to it often mistake the slavery for a struggle with it that happens it happens all the time and that's what creates a lot of the confusion but then we've had people in our own church wrestling with this kind of thing because their sin in the life and actually what this pastor was asking is in the light of such wrestling with sin because he told me that this experience right here describes him you want to know who this was I quoted anybody know well here's if a toad or serpent was put in my food or in my bed that right there is probably the most nobody knows who said that it was actually the author of Amazing Grace anybody know who that is John Newton John Newton said that now here's the thing John Newton could look at himself and say at any time in the pulpit at the Lord's Supper at any time this evil that I don't want to do I find has access to my heart that's how depraved it is now you look at that and you say what I would say about that is I don't necessarily like his his his choice of words because I don't think that they stand up biblically but brethren I want to be biblical in the way I describe things but can anybody tell us look even if we grant that even if you were to grant and I don't want to get into all this right now but even if you were to grant that my interpretation of Romans seven though I say mine I say you know the basically the way that I understand it the way that others have understood it if if it's if we just bypass that all together is there some place in the scriptures that just give a picture of the Christian we've already seen it the Christian is waging war fare against passions of the flesh but is there somewhere where it just says we as Christians groan where does it say that Romans eight we groan and tell what happens the redemption of our bodies because we're in fallen bodies still and because we are we are prone to the very things that Newton describes but here's a thing here's the thing how many of us whatever that our interpretation of Romans seven might be and it's so obvious why people want to fight tooth and nail my whole argument is look at context I'm just arguing for context that's it whether or not true Christians say out of the depths of their soul Oh wretched man that I am and groan in the inner innermost parts of their being goes without question brethren that I have never argued against that all I'm arguing for is a proper interpretation of Romans seven I am NOT arguing for Christian perfection nor am i arguing for the fact that that the Christian doesn't groan but here's the thing if we have people who are slaves of sin and rather than like I said it's a life and death difference a person who's a Christian in struggles with sin is on a path to heaven a person who is a slave to sin is going to perish if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death and this is mortal all-out putting to death that doesn't say it's gonna be easy it says it's warfare nobody that came off fighting the Battle of the Bulge nobody that no with none of our American troops that were on the front lines taken Italy during World War two or that landed on the beaches of Normandy will tell you that warfare is easy when the scripture says it's warfare it doesn't mean that it's easy when it says that it doesn't have dominion over you it's not like we we just float through the Christian life and all beds of ease that's not it it's it speaks of radical amputation of groaning but here's the thing as I was saying if Christians mistake that for slavery and if those in slavery actually can mistake that slavery for struggling and fighting and warfare what are some good biblical evidences by which we can tell these things apart because listen John Newton can say what he said but like I say men in history can be misunderstood and men in history can talk outside of the realm of biblical language because you know what I can leave I am NOT going to question John Newton's salvation not even remotely I am NOT a I'm not even going there but would it would somebody possibly question David Salvation when he said this see now this is Bible Psalm 7 verse 8 the Lord judges the people's judge me O Lord according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me now see some people that are very much of this wretched man mindset when they hear that kind of thing I've heard it I've heard it from good men I've earned it from good men that you know that to shy away at least at times and speak this way is presumption and that if we speak this way we don't know our own hearts did David not know his own heart when he made that statement brethren a true Christian can talk that way too now I grant you this is the same man that could come along later and say cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me why because he recognized created me a clean heart Oh God why because he recognized he recognized I mean he would say from my mother's womb he knew that he was conceived in iniquity and he could feel that sometimes in the depths of his soul but other times he could say the Lord give consideration to my integrity into my righteousness so brethren that's Bible Newton is in Bible but that is no that's not to take away from the fact that we grown as well but what I'm wanting to get at here is how can we tell how can we tell when somebody comes along and they say because see I get this all the time I get these phone calls I I think I'm a Christian they either come out and they say well I know I'm a Christian but then they go on to identify a life that has enormous amounts of depravity in it or they say I thought I was but now I'm questioning because look at my life and I just don't know and then I'm getting these calls on a regular basis in light of a teaching that I did on Hebrews six and Hebrews 10 and people are scared to death they think that they were Christians but they think that they've or they were enlightened or something and they've committed some kind of aggravated sin now they're afraid that they've gone too far and there's no return now a true Christian can get there because look if you're a true Christian and you have a fall just like David did what you see what David did was he ran back to the Lord Mersey remember what Mac brought to us he saw mercy he was pleading with the Lord but you know what if you don't have that kind of confidence the devil can come in right there and say you just committed the unpardonable sin and God doesn't want anything to do with you how can a man know or when somebody comes along when we're dealing with people or even if we're dealing with ourself what what what's the difference I mean what can we look for that is biblical evidence of whether somebody we're dealing with is still dead in their sin they're on their way to hell they're lost as anything now they might say they're Christians because brethren if Jesus says many are gonna say to me in that day Lord Lord and they're not really gonna know him and he's gonna tell them to depart then we know this we have a lot of people that think they're Christians and they're slaves of sin now if you were to talk to them since they think they're Christians they would just say well yeah I've not perfect and I struggle with sin but how does it look different from the Christian who really does struggle with sin and I mean I've had this coming at me various times over the last couple weeks and so I thought how do we know that how can we biblically tell how can we discern this what can we look for in ourselves what can we look for in others that will help us to discern whether somebody calls themselves a Christian or not I mean typically it's not a problem if they don't call themselves a Christian but if somebody comes along saying they are a Christian but really they're still dead in sin they're slaves of sin what does that look like over against a Christian who may struggle like crazy with assurance but they're a true Christian and in their struggle with sin sometimes they just have grave doubts about themselves but they're really in because that they are different they're radically different situations [Music] well lots of them are but I've I've seen lost people get really worked up about their sin I've seen him weep in ways that would make you think they were the most repentant broken people in the world and then run a week later right off into the most wicked obviously lost lifestyle and stay there it's it's like Jesus says there are those that can come along and receive the truth remember the four types of soil you get those who receive it gladly but they have no root and so for a season they just look spectacular but all the while they were still slaves of sin and yet it's amazing or you get Jesus that says this you get the man who's delivered from the demon and the demon goes out and walks through all these dry places and comes back to that same person with seven demons more wicked than itself and the later end of that person is far worse and so people can in some ways give very radical appearances of deliverance at least for a season why would the demon comes back is it the man's lack of faith well the house was swept and I would say that probably that's the same kind of picture that you have in that second soil type where you have somebody that receives the truth gladly they they come under the preaching of the word they come into the realm where the spirits working they come within the church they probably sit under truth they're being exposed and there's some kind of reformation in that person but it's short-lived and when they go out away from that truth and out of that light then all hell breaks loose and it would have been better that they had never known than once knowing well bit like scripture says they have no root in them well basically the root comes by being born again the root right well there was something defective because you know what you know why they leave do you remember the parable of the soils do you remember why they leave why do they leave that's the third the second one is the Sun comes out and withers the plant the Sun is a picture of trial so here's the thing when the Sun comes out and the trial comes why will somebody leave Christ when trial comes but exactly they value comfort more than they value Christ why will the true Christian not leave Christ when trial comes because Christ is worth more to them and you see what Jesus said in one of the parables is it's a picture of a man who discovers treasure and he goes and sells all that he has that he might have Christ jesus said unless you forsake or renounce all that you have you can't be my disciple and that's always the issue if a man has sold everything to have Christ when discomfort comes or some allurement of the world he's gonna stand by Christ because he wants Christ more than he wants that and so it does come back to being our fault it were blameworthy if we walk away from Christ if things heat up too much and the Sun be two bright and intense because we're told that through much tribulation will inherit the kingdom of God and God takes us that way and see if our faith is genuine it'll stand that test in fact the trials only make it pure so that's the issue here's the thing the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians to examine yourselves now listen to this listen to this verse second Corinthians 3:5 13:5 examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith test yourselves or do you not realize this about yourself that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you fail to meet the test well here's the thing he's obviously saying we can test ourselves there are tests we can take the scripture has enough light that if anybody wants to deal honestly with the situation even if you're lost if you want to deal honestly with the situation you can ask yourself these questions now listen all this test is to determine whether you're entering whether you're out if you're out a person can come to Christ if you will you can come and so it's not like if you take the test and you fail it well now you're doomed and you're damned if you take the test and you fail you want to flee to Christ but the what the big thing is if many are on the broad way and in the end they're gonna find out they were dead wrong then you want to take this test and be honest with yourself because listen what in the world good does it do you to have a false profession what good does it do you it does you no good whatsoever what do you get for having it I mean you yeah you get greater condemnation in the end and what is there well way you're gonna get you're gonna get the acceptance of a few people here in this lifetime that you wouldn't have otherwise got but to be rejected by Christ in the end what is all that matter it's no good so here it is because this has to do with the battle with sin this is really what this comes at this is where I started asking myself this in the battle what does the battle with sin look like that's different from what the man who's dead in his sin looks like what does the the real Christian battle with sin how does that look different and here's one first Timothy 4:15 I've got ten of them we're just gonna fly through them that's all that will ramp up first Timothy 4:15 practice these things what things well obviously godliness that's what he's been talking about to Timothy godly things righteous things biblical things practice these things immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress now let me ask you this here you are and you're suddenly overcome by doubts you've thought in the past you were Christian but now all of a sudden you've got doubts well why do you have doubts you've got doubts because you feel that some sins got it's death grip on you and you read in Scripture sins not supposed to have dominion over me and so you've got this idea that because it's got this iron grip on you right now not that weight if you're in slavery it's got an iron grip and so there is a possibility that you could be lost and you're wrestling with this and you say it just feels like there's a certain sin in my life that it feels like it's got a death grip on me and I have tried and it is slammed me face down time and again but here's the thing the Apostle says this to Timothy let your progress be known to others and I can tell you this a lot of times the true Christian because they become more discerning of sin and more sensitive to sin they actually begin to view themselves as worse and worse much like Newton did but I would say this too you have discerning people discerning people in your life been able to see growth in your life and I'll tell you who when I say discerning people I mean Christians who truly have discernment and lost people because they lost people can smell Christians they don't like the smell of it but if there's anybody that can smell a Christian its lost people and if they can smell people that are like themselves they can smell that brethren I remember when God saved me and I've told you this story and I've emphasized that the first time it hit me I was saved was when a guy in the drafting department whispered across the aisle to another guy what happened to him well I've told you how I walked through that doorway into the engineering department and it struck me wow that's what happened but brethren back up that lost guy was whispering across the aisle to somebody else what happened to him they recognized that something had happened in fact I had a guy come to me one time and say hey I was just in the break room they were all talking about you in there they were all talking about what's happened to you listen I would ask you this there may be listen if you would have asked Newton's closest friends is that a man that's growing in righteousness there to said we don't know men more we don't hardly know any men more righteous than that guy I would ask you this dude discerning people in your life smell that you're a Christian or do you basically fit in with lost people because listen people that are in bondage to sin that are controlled by sin that are slaves to sin they're following the course of this world and the world knows it and discerning people can sniff that out and so is your progress apparent to other people that would be one thing jesus said this Matthew 5:14 you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden brethren that's gonna be a reality so yes I know you groan I know there are seasons you feel like you are the most wretched thing on the face of the earth but the truth is this do loss people in your workplace lost people in your family can they smell the difference you got religion but do they know there's something totally different about you and can discerning people in the church see it well those are some things to ask second thing let me ask you this what has it cost you to follow Christ look this is a there's a clear picture here we're we're in this battle with sin and we've been thrown down by some sin and here we are and the Devils in there and you may have doubts and you're playing you or you're in the midst of this and you're wondering am I in am i out you're taking the you know what tests do you take one of the tests I would have you take is this what's it cost you to be a Christian because what I find is this Jesus said unless you renounce all that you have you can't be my disciple and when that rich young ruler came to him and said Lord I would have eternal life what do I have to do he said okay and he put his finger on it now look when we come to Christ it costs us something and when we walk with Christ it costs us something do you remember what it says in Ezekiel 36 concerning the New Covenant what's one of the things God promises he says I'll sprinkle you with clean water but then what does he say does it say I'm gonna cleanse you from your idols can I tell you this you may be in the Death Grips waging war with sin but I can tell you this if you look back across the landscape from the time you believe you're saved until now if you were truly saved you can look and mark it out that following Christ has cost you something and you may not have all the victory you want and there may be seasons where you're groaning and where it's so dark you can't hardly tell what you are but look at your life brethren I can tell you this when I came to Christ it cost me my friends it costs me my motorcycle it costs me the Detroit Lions and you say you look at those things brethren telling you this when I came to Christ I knew my motorcycle had been a God to me and I sold it I put it up on the market and sold it I knew it hit me one day that I need you know what I need to let these Detroit Lions go I used to watch all the games it was a Sunday and I remember the specific moment it hit me and I got up and I walked away and I didn't come back I I I knew one of those things I was wrestling with in coming to the Lord is that my old lifestyle and the way I ran with my friends and the life I lived with all the sports and the hunting and the wildness and all that there was in that I don't I just say goodbye to it brethren you ever heard paul Washer say that you ever heard him there's one of his messages where he says he said oh I think it might have been with with regards to Matthew 13:44 unless it we're for the treasure that was found he went and sold everything and Paul was quoting somebody else that he had heard who was preaching and somebody said you know Jesus Jesus demands that you let go of everything but he doesn't necessarily come and take it and this man Paul was quoting said oh really I have found that in my life Christ has come and taken taking everything what several times couple times I mean I may be just botching that all but have you guys heard that some of you familiar with that brother and I found the same thing I have found that if something gets too tight a grip on my heart the Lord comes calling for it now you may be in the battle throws and you may have difficult time to know exactly where you're at right now but if you take the test you're gonna say that's the case if following Christ has never caught you anything you're not following him because guaranteed he came to that rich young ruler and he comes the same way to us and he'd go one thing about Jesus unlike us we can't tell where another person's idols are he knows he is the man who knows the hearts of all men he's the god man he's omniscient and he knows and when he comes to a man when a sinner comes to do business with Christ Christ knows what's in that heart he knows what's in their brethren we need to ask ourselves this what does it cost you because if you're a true Christian it's cost you something I'll go 1/3 where is your heart even in the battle we can see where our heart is how can we see where our heart is brethren let me tell you this you may be in a battle some of you guys you may be battling with lust in a way that you feel like your life is hanging by a thread you may feel like you are powerless against it at some times I the different there's nothing new Under the Sun the battles that God's people have you get some Idol that lay hold on your heart and you just feel that it it it's nails are dug in but look Jesus says it's possible to know where your heart is where is your heart where does he tell us your heart is it's where your treasure is let me ask you this since the time that you claim you've been saved have you found that heaven is such a reality that you have cared to even slightly begin to invest there listen if you're just as selfish now and your approach to giving towards those who sit in darkness and giving to the widow and giving to the orphan and giving to the stranger and giving to the very giving to those who labor in the gospel if your heart is just the same I mean if you're just as greedy with your money and just as selfish with your money and just as self-centered well that tells us where your heart is listen if one of the things that is so clear from the Scriptures Jesus says this do not lay up for yourselves matthew 6:19 do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy where thieves break in and steal lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also do you know what I find when when Jesus Christ began saving sinners as his disciples went forth proclaiming the gospel what happened the poor had no need among them you know why because all these 3,000 Christians that were saved begin immediately to invest in heaven and they came and they sold their goods and they laid the money down at the feet of the disciples and they distributed it to the poor brethren this is one thing you need to ask yourself not whether you struggle with sin but in the struggles of it where's your heart as John MacArthur said one time when he was doing a series on finances he said show me your checkbook ledger and we might say credit card statement or just show me where your receipts are from you show me your receipts your credit card statement your checkbook ledger if we could just put together a list of every thing that you spend money on I guarantee it is an infallible test because you say well I only have two pennies in my pocket okay yeah show me where they went I can show you a woman that with two little coins in her pocket and I'll show you exactly where they went and I'll tell you where her heart was and Jesus set her up as a model I'll show you tax collector who was wicked is anything and God saved him and he gave half of it away and I'll tell you where his heart was and brethren this is infallible I guarantee you on Judgment Day where your money went in this life is going to prove whether you were on your way to heaven or not it's I guarantee it that's why Christ said so much about it and that's why that rich young ruler went away grieved and he did not enter the kingdom brother that's it is there war yes are there times were grieved yes other times we groan yes are there times that we feel like all wretched man that I am and we just feel all over again like that tax collector we know you want to lift our head to heaven yes yes yes yes but where's your heart where's your money fourth what do you love brethren listen when Jesus looks at all of mankind on Judgment Day when all the nations are there and we're given a glimpse in Matthew 25 who was at his right hand and received into glory what did they do then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed by my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world for I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you welcomed me I was naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me then the righteous will answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you and thirsty and give you to drink and all that listen to this in 1st John chapter 3 verse 17 John says this if anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him how does God's love abide in him little children let us not love in Word or talk but in deed and in truth by this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him okay you're in this battle you're struggling sexual temptation why I made a covenant with my eyes and I can't keep it there and why I keep going back to this and these things I struggle with and there's bitterness sword something I got this problem I'm trying to forgive I just feel I can't forgive somebody and you've got this thing covetousness yeah or there's Envy somebody is in your life and you are so envious you are jealous of them and you are trying to throw off this but brethren here's the thing by this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him by what of course you're gonna battle with sin but here's the thing since the time you believe that you were saved till now has God done something in you that has caused you to love people in a way that you never did before because you see Jesus says this is the way Judgment Day looks and so if Judgment Day looks this way a guarantee of this he doesn't come and say who didn't struggle with sin at all if you didn't struggle at all well then come on in he says did you love I guarantee you all those people that loved they had some fierce battles with sin but in all of it they loved they were concerned with others brethren you need to ask yourself that a fifth test in all in all your wrestling's and Ray jeans has the Word of God become a different book to you all brethren 1st Corinthians 2:13 we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the spirit interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual verse 14 the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for their folly to him he is not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned I remember when I was lost I had a Bible that I kept more as you know a good-luck emblem on my dresser when I was lost I kept it there kind of keep evil spirits away seriously I mean I'm not the first person to do that by any stretch so and I remember looking in it before and it was just it was like unintelligible right I mean did anybody else have that experience but I remember when God saved me it was as though it just suddenly came to life first Corinthians 1:18 the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it's the power of God suddenly the gospel in the Bible becomes amazing it comes alive that I would ask you that look from the time you claim that you've been saved till now has the word of God become an incredibly different book a living book a powerful book if it hasn't if it's basically virtually just remained unchanged to you then something's desperately wrong in the midst of all of your struggles do you have a hunger for that word because a person that's in bondage to sin I mean they're a slave there is no heartfelt passion to be in the word they may have desires to get in it that are purely intellectual but I mean a hunger to be in it something inside them compelling them like Peter says a baby that's just I mean it's passion is to get to its mother's milk if you don't know if something akin to that a will battle and it will rage and you'll be defeated at times but in all of it is there something there that just draws you again and again and again back to that word or in your sin in your supposed struggles can you just dry up and go weeks week two weeks you don't really have an urge to be there you're in trouble you're in trouble don't don't fool yourself one of the things that is absolutely certain is that when God comes along and saved somebody he gives them a different perspective on the Word of God man does not live by bread alone and I guarantee the Christian feels that in the very inner workings of his beam he needs to live on the word oh I'm not saying everyday we have the same heat and passion and draw and urgency but it's regular it's there and there are seasons when it grows more passionate than others right brethren this - this is read this is what the Bible says and this is a reality how about this a six Tests in the middle of the raging 'he's ask yourself this is there any evidence of the Spirit of God within you listen we're told this that if we're in Christ were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it listen to what 1st John 4:13 says by this we know that we abide in Christ by what because he's given us his spirit do you know what that implies it implies that if you go from being dead in sin where you were controlled by the devil following the course of the Prince of the power of the air and you go to being indwelt by the living spirit of god it is so drastic it is so life-changing that you'll know what happened and by that you will find assurance that you belong to Christ that's what he says by this we know that we abide in him and he and us because he has given us of his spirit brethren if his spirit is in you you know it there are evidences you guys throw some of the evidences at me what are some of the evidences you fall in love with God listen the first and most primary evidence of the fruit of the Spirit is love and the chief love is not for man it is for God himself you fall in love with God suddenly God is everything to you suddenly you I mean where God was kind of a you know you tipped your hat to him when you were covetous you prayed to him that he'd give you the next Idol when you were in trouble most of the time you took his name on your lips because it was a profanity but now there's an awe about God there's a there's a glory about God rather than one of the things that the Spirit does is he cause us us to cry Abba Father you know what immediately happens when a person saved God is no longer this far away distant God he is suddenly near he is close he is a father and we have a sense of him in a way it's no longer this old man upstairs it's suddenly God is the most glorious thing I mean he excels all creation he excels sunsets he excels grain canyons so much more than the maker is above his creation we suddenly begin to see God in an all-new way whether it's brethren one of the things that the Spirit of God does this begins to compel us to pray and to cry Abba Father there's a spirit of Prayer that a erupts in us that's different I mean brethren do you find that do you find that in the midst of the fiercest battles it still father helped me father father father father father were crying brethren when that spirit of god was in us there's there's reality there remember what our our brother said to his two weeks ago who a quote he McShane when you're on your knees all alone with God in that place what you really are becomes evident you say where's there's a scripture that would tend to lend that perception I would say in Matthew 6 you know what it says there it says don't pray like the hypocrites how do they pray they pray to be seen oh I'm certain we're gonna find that there are some people that come into our prayer meetings that pray and on Judgment Day we're gonna find that that was the best praying they ever did when they were at home alone they did not pray because they mainly prayed to be seen brethren here's a thing if your faith is real you believe when you're in that private place all alone that God is there and he hears and he rewards you I would say this and your fiercest battles with sin do you pray is there an evident prayer life in the midst of your battles with sinned test yourselves he was he was right what you are when nobody's watching is who the real you is I mean if you're down on your knees and you're pleading with the Lord this is where the reality is oh you may feel hellish you may feel like a wretched man you may groan you may long for that final deliverance you may just be desperate with the battle you may feel like there is why is there no victory why is there no victory you fought with a certain sin for year after year after year why does it still keep coming back what is wrong here am I lost look at if if you're I mean if you're the kind that will lay hold on the Lord just like Jacob and you will not let go brethren that is an indication what you really are but if in the midst of all your sin you can just wallow in it you have no real desire to be in that word you have no real desire to pray you have no real desire to lay hold on the Lord you have no real desire for his help you can just kind of coast away and coast back into your idolatries and in your worldliness and just tip your hat to the Lord just don't deceive yourself you're you're in a real bad place I would I would say this as a seventh first John two three by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his Commandments I would just ask you this in all of your wrestling's and all of your groanings can you say this the will of Christ has impact on you I mean you find not I'm not saying that you always want to do what he wants you to do but when that's the case do you find that there are wrestling's do you find that Christ will impacts you that you find that you have to go through seasons of wrestling that you find that there are times when all of a sudden you find you want to go to the right and Jesus says go to the left and you're not so ready to go to the left but his will impacts you you know it you'll like it you wrestle against it you resist it but it's not something you can just walk away and just go on your way it's something that as long as you try to do that coldness comes in as long as you try to do that there's dryness in the bones like with David when he's ain't committed that sin with Bathsheba and that you just don't feel well you can't enjoy anything you can't enjoy life you know something's wrong you try to go on like there's nothing wrong but there's a it's goading you you know it his will is something you just cannot walk away from brethren that's a good indication how about this name this Christ thrill your soul we are that we are the true circumcision Philippians 3:3 who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh brethren do you glory in Christ you remember what it is like when when there in Matthew 6 or Matthew 14 rather in the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified said it's a ghost they cried out in fear immediately Jesus spoke to them saying take heart is I do not be afraid and brethren when when Peter was there and Peter and he and they were walked on the water and they both got into the boat and then the wind ceased and the waves stopped and it says those in the boat worshiped him look what's worship what's what's the basic element of worship it's acknowledging the worth of Christ that's what it is comes from an old English word called worth Skype that idea of worth is in our English word worship brethren ask yourself this in all your in all your these passions of the flesh and as they wage war in all of it is there something in you that can that still boughs down to Christ I mean you have an adoration in your heart for him all that is a good test if you don't feel that I mean if you basically can you know kind of walk through life and you just don't feel in the inner part a desire to glory in Christ something is very wrong and then and then here's the tenth Jesus says this come to me all you who labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest Galatians 5:22 the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace rather let me ask you this if in the midst of the greatest raging zuv the devil and sin in your life is it possible for you to find just like David did blessed is that man to whom God does not count sin where's that psalm 32 maybe it's quoted there in romans 4 brethren when the war rages can you still come my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross no condemnation can you in the midst of the greatest most intense battles with sin still come and find your conscience put to rest and I'm afraid a lot of times that is the dead giveaway that something is wrong with people when in the greatest battles they can't find rest for their soul because there's something there that speaks to me of no access to Christ come to me and I will give you rest and see brethren I have found this in my own life that with all the regions of sin I can still come to Christ things things in our life brethren that have the enormity of what David did and we can still come to Christ and find rest because if we have the Spirit of God one of those marks of his fruit is peace brethren he came into the world to save sinners and if he came to save me in the beginning he came he's gonna keep saving me to the end and if he saved me when I was neck deep and dead in trespasses brethren though I fall into sins of the caliber of the chief of sinners himself though I fall into sins the same as David's just like with Paul and just like with David they found rest for their souls nonetheless and brethren that's it can i still find rest in the cross is there rest there

Channel: I'll Be Honest

Views: 75,441

Rating: 4.8472552 out of 5

Keywords: tim, conway, slave, sin, struggle, born, again, examine, self, test, assurance, saved, salvation

Id: rkrlPP8s3_o

Length: 63min 50sec (3830 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 28 2010