(SDA Sermon) Mark Finley - "Victory Over Your Sin" - 2019

John Wesley was the famed Wesleyan Methodist preacher it was a point in Wesley's life where he did not have the strength to go on in his preaching he was exhausted his health was failing and when death stared him in the face Wesley wrote about it later he said that he was fearful and he found very little comfort in his religion the day was May 24 1738 and Wesley had confided in a friend he said to his friend I just don't think I can carry on any longer I'm gonna give up ministry forever can't preach another sermon that night as he went to sleep he couldn't sleep and he woke up about 5 o'clock in the morning and as God often does he led Wesley to a Bible text have you ever found a time in your life when you were struggling and God led you to a specific text the text that John Wesley read that morning in the early morning hours was found in 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 4 so if you have your bibles i invite you to take them in turn to 2nd Peter 1 verse 4 now get the context Wesley's really struggling Wesley's really discouraged Wesley wonders whether he can go on in his ministry his strength is gone his health is failing and that morning he got up and began looking in Scripture and as he did he read 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 4 by which have been given to us exceeding great and precious promises now notice the Bible doesn't say that God gave us promises it says he gave us what kind of promises precious promises but not only precious promises but great impressionist promises not only great impressionist promises but what exceeding great and precious promises that through these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust Wesley began to think about that and he began to think gave us great and precious promises and there was a new joy in his life but yet through that day he felt somewhat discouraged that evening he felt impressed that he should go to England to London he was living of course outside of London and go to a little chapel called the Aldersgate chapel so Wesley went to auto sketch a polite for the evening service there was a layperson who was reading the preface to Martin Luther's commentary on the book of Romans and as Wesley sat in that little simple Chapel listening to the commentary on the book of Romans he later wrote in his diary and these are our Wesley's words he says it was about 8:45 p.m. and Luther was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ I felt my heart strangely warmed I felt I did trust in Christ Christ alone for my salvation and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins even mine and saved me from the law of sin and death Luther's rather Wesley says as I sat there my heart was strangely warmed what's my prayer this morning that we will find our hearts strangely warmed that as we look at the book of Romans again that will sense the Spirit of God working in our own hearts that where there are burdens they will be lifted where there is darkness it will give way to the dawn of a new day where there is despair it will give way to wings of Hope where there is doubt it will give way to faith and where there's weakness it will give way to new strength I invite you to take your Bible this morning and turn to Romans the eighth chapter in our Bible study this morning we will focus particularly on Romans 8 verse 1 to 4 here in Romans the eighth chapter the Apostle Paul begins some of the most sublime verses in the entire New Testament Romans chapter 8 we're looking there at verse 1 there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit now notice there is no what there's no what there's no what condemnation the scripture says that there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus now the word condemnation in Scripture is a very fascinating word it means guilt but it means more than guilt it means punishment but it means more than punishment in the New Testament the word condemnation has to do not only with the guilt from a broken law but it has to do with the person who is under condemnation is actually receiving the sentence of punishment so if you're under condemnation you are not only filled with guilt but there is no escape from the punishment that comes with that guilt so if a judge sentences you for breaking the speed limit for example and you've been going for it you've been going 60 miles an hour in a 40 mile an hour zone you not only aren't receive the the guilt of that but you have to pay the penalty for that guilt namely a hundred and thirty dollar fine or whatever that is so when Paul says there is no condemnation what's he speaking about he means that the judgment against somebody for breaking God's law including the penalty for that is removed it means that the punishment from the guilt that should be executed is gone what is Paul is saying is this that he in Christ and through Christ and because of Christ we've been delivered from the old order of bondage and condemnation in slavery to a new life of pardon of power of Liberty he then continues by describing two ways of life now notice the text verse one first there's no condemnation we're not under bondage the guilt of sin is gone we've been released from the penalty of that sin to those that are Christ who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit so he outlines two ways walking according to the flesh and walking according to the spirit so what does it mean to walk according to the flesh what is the divine understanding in the book of Romans when it talks about walking according to the flesh now it's quite clear Paul's not simply talking about our body as his flesh and blood he's not simply saying don't walk in harmony with your fleshly bodies that's not what he's talking about he really means human nature with all of its weakness in all of its vulnerability to see him he means that part of the human nature that gives sin its beachhead he means the sinful human nature apart from Christ that everything that attaches human beings to the world instead of God so to live according to the flesh is to live a life dominated by the dictates and desires of sinful human nature instead of our life dominated by the dictates and desires of the love of God that's what it means to live according to the flesh the flesh is the lower side of our nature the it has to do with our inclinations our passions our drives our appetites our carnal sinful selfish nature so if you're controlled by the flesh you controlled by a desire that wants to satisfy self if you're controlled by the flesh and walking in the flesh you're controlled by your feelings so you're prompted you're governed by the feelings of human nature rather than governed by the Spirit of God if you controlled by the flesh and controlled by your passions they're out of control if you're controlled by your flesh and controlled by your desires you choose to do what you want to do when you know what God wants you to do if you're controlled by your flesh and controlled by your appetite so your appetites dictate so to be controlled or to walk in the flesh is to be controlled by the human nature with its appetites its lusts its passions and desires apart from the living Christ now what does it mean to walk in the spirit now it's really fascinating in Romans chapter 8 for the first time in the book of Romans you have the holy spirit introduced so in Romans chapter 8 the spirit is mentioned 20 times 20 times in the book in Romans 8 alone now though the Spirit has a very specific connotation in none of the book of Romans but in all of Paul's writings it's not only the word for spirit you see in Hebrew in the Old Testament the word for spirit is Ruach can you say that with me Ruach and this word spirit can also be translated as something else do you know would know what else the whole the word spirit can be translated in the in the Old Testament one can be translated breath or wind so when Paul's thinking of the spirit when he says there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh after the desires after the appetites after the passions after the incarnations of the human heart but after the spirit when he uses the word spirit II uses Ruach and what Paul means by that word is Ruach it's the word for wind now when you think of wind when you think of a hurricane like the recent hurricane Dorian what do you think about wind when it has 200 miles an hour you think about what power so when Paul is thinking about not walking on the weakness of the flesh the human incarnations or desires but walking in harmony with this in the spirit he first thinks about power now the second thing that you notice about this word Ruach in the Old Testament is this that it always has to do with something divine so when Paul writes about it what's he's writing about is this that when you walk in the spirit you're walking in the divine power of God which is a supernatural power which is stronger than the power of your in Canaan your desires your passions and the appetites so what Paul is saying in this passage is this there was a time that the Christian was at the mercy of their appetites there was a time that the Christian was at mercy to their inclinations there was a time that the Christians at the mercy of their passions desires but at that point the law of heredity and the law of human nature simply moved them to sin but through the gift of God the surging power of the Holy Spirit comes into the life and as the result there is a new life of victorious living that leads us to Romans 8 verse 2 so in Romans 8 verse 1 there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus because they are no longer living in harmony with the law of the flesh the appetites inclinations passions and desires but now there is a new law that has entered into their life that is the law the spirit then he says in Romans 8:2 for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin death so you have to raise the question then what is the law of sin and death now you go to Romans chapter 7 and it explains what the law of sin and death is in Romans seven and eight there are three laws there's the law of sin and death there is the law of God and there is the law of the spirit so if you're going to understand Romans seven and eight you have to understand the three laws the law of sin and death what are the three laws everybody the law of what sin in death the law of the Spirit and the law of God okay so Romans chapter seven we're looking there to begin in verse five what is the law of sin death for when we were in the flesh we were in what the flesh the passions of sins which were aroused by the law were at work in our burrs to bear fruit to death so the law of sin and death is the law in my members it's the law of heredity it's the law of the human drives and inclinations it's the law of the sinful fallen nature then pull drop your eyes down now to verse 12 let your eyes drop down to verse 12 Paul is talking in verse 7 about frustration about failure he is saying that there's this struggle between the law of heredity within me the law of the fallen human nature within me and there's a struggle between that and the law of God without me he says therefore the law is holy the commandment is holy and just and good so the Apostle Paul is simply saying this look there's a law inside of me that is the law of human weakness it's the law of human nature it is the law of heredity it's the love my passions but the law there's a law outside of me and that's the law of God but the problem is I don't know how to keep the law of God he is saying is there's these two laws the law outside of me which is the law of God that is just holy and good that says you shall do this good thing and this good thing and this good thing but he says the law within me says I can't do the thing I would so he's saying there's this fierce battle that's taking place in my life between the law of God and the law within me and he says the law the inward man the law of my members the law of heredity the law of fallen human nature is prevailing in my life and so I have to cry out because I find myself sinking deeper and deeper into sin and I try as hard as I can and I'm constrained and tracked down by the law of sin because it's so powerful in my life and so what does Paul say in Romans chapter 7 and verse 24 Romans 7 verse 24 here's what Paul says if you look there he cries out at the end of Romans 7 and and you look there at verse 24 and he says this a wretched man that I am who be able to deliver me from the body of death can you identify with the Apostle Paul this morning Paul says we've got fallen human nature's and in these fallen human nature we may desire to do what's right we want to do what's right but the appetites the passions they seem at times to be out of control there's the law of God that is holy just and good now here is the fascinating thing in Romans chapter 7 from verse 9 to 24 the word eye occurs 27 times the word eye occurs 27 times in Romans chapter 7 in Romans chapter 8 the word eye occurs twice and the word spirit occurs 20 times you see here's the point that Paul is making in Romans chapter 7 his desires are right but he tries to live the Christian life in his strength he tries to live the Christian life in his power he tries to live the Christian life and he tries to be to be the man that he wants to be but he cannot achieve that ultimate goal because the law of heredity is greater for him and doesn't provide him the strength to keep the law that's just holy and good now there's nothing wrong with the law it is just holy and good the problem is with the weakness of human nature so the question then is what breaks this dilemma what breaks this bondage between what I want to be and what I am Paul says Romans chapter 8 we're looking there enrollment Paul is concerned he says the laws about righteousness which you can't achieve in your own strength by the power of your own will the righteousness that the law demands is incapable to achieve on our own because of the weakness of our fallen natures verse 3 Romans 8 for what the law could not do what the law could not what do why not who is there some problem with the law not at all what the law could not do already said it was holy just and good in that it was weak through the flesh so the problem is not the law the problem is what it's me it's you the problem is not the law but the problem is the weakness of our human flesh because of our inherited genetic predispositions to sin so Paul says verse 3 what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh God did by his own son in likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin he condemned sin in the flesh so Paul says first what we could not do Christ has done now Paul is very careful he's very careful first he's careful to point out there's no problem with the law it's holy just and good secondly he says although I'm totally incapable of meeting the laws demands and I'm a debtor to the law I've broken condemn my Trent by my transgressions held in bondage to my sin nature Jesus came and he met Satan exactly in the arena of human failure and because Jesus overcame we too can be overcomers that's the point he's making here Paul is making the point that Jesus did not come in a nature in which he did not have to battle sin as we have to battle it look please in your Bible and notice Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter 2 now Paul is very careful notice what he does not say Paul does not say that Jesus came in sinful flesh did you notice that because if Paul said Jesus came in sinful flesh who give the impression that Jesus sinned and Jesus never sinned so Paul says Jesus came in what the likeness of sinful flesh what does that mean that Jesus came with all of the weaknesses of human nature he came to battle the enemy in the same nature that we have to battle the enemy in that's the point Paul's making so you look at Hebrews chapter 2 verse 17 I pray today that your heart will be strangely warmed by John Wesley's heart was he an older gate chapel that day I pray that your heart will be strangely warmed by the love and the power of Christ by the moving of the Holy Spirit that that scales will fall from our eyes that we will see what Jesus wants to do in our lives in a new way Hebrews chapter 2 you're looking there at verse 17 therefore in all things and how many things in all things he Christ had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people so it says in all things Jesus had been made like unto his brethren did Jesus have similar struggles to what we have did Jesus have a struggle with appetite did he have that struggle he fasted for 40 days in the desert and every inclination within him cried out to indulge his physical body you know somebody said to me well well did Jesus have ever have a struggle with cocaine did Jesus ever have a struggle with drug addiction how could Jesus be my perfect example if he never struggled with cocaine somebody says and I struggle with that when Jesus fasted in the desert his inclination to eat was stronger than any inclination that any cocaine addict would ever have because the physical temptation to satisfy the desires of the flesh were so intense in Christ that they encompassed all intensity of any physical intensity that anybody would have so if Jesus could confront every physical Drive desire and passion through the power of the holy spirit and come across victorious praise God in the power of the Spirit we can walk not in the flesh and to its desires and appetites and inclinations but through the power of the Spirit we can be victorious as well now notice again I've had people say no pastor Mark Jesus was not married Jesus never went through the trauma of a divorce so how could Jesus how could Jesus ever understand rejection how could he ever understand when your heart is breaking so hard you can't sleep at night and you pillows wet with your tears when Jesus hung on Calvary's cross the disciples forsook him the Jews rejected him and hanging on that cross he experienced rejection that is greater than any woman ever could possibly experience that any man could ever possibly experience so in the life of Christ in the physical pain of the Cross in the mental agony of the Cross in the temptations in the wilderness Jesus experienced the accumulated focus of all temptations of human behavior in human life now there's an interesting statement in the book desire of Ages and if you're taking notes please note it desire of Ages page 49 it would have been in almost infinite humiliation for the son of God to take man's nature even when Adam stood in in its innocence in Eden but Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by 4000 years of sin like every child of Adam he accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity so when Jesus came to earth he came in the stream of time where heredity had weakened the human nature by 4000 years of sin so he had a weakened physical mental and moral nature so he faced humanity in like with all other humanity you'll notice that again in Scripture Hebrews 4 verse 15 Hebrews 4 verse 15 whatever temptation you are facing in the area of physical appetite or the indulgence of passions whatever physical temptation you're making facing whatever battle you're going through with discouragement or depression however darkness clouds your heart whatever you are going through Jesus has already walked those footsteps in through the power of the Living Christ by the Holy Spirit he was victorious Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14 to 16 seeing then that we have a great high priest who's passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses how many you feel weak sometimes in your life and I see your hands how many you tell the truth we have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses lord I am so weak I can resist anything except Eminem's no lord I am so weak I can resist anything Lord please help me Lord except that chocolate cake except those and on and on and on and on Lord I'm so weak I can resist anything except to gas it out go cigarette you know these passions in our bodies remember how many laws are there in Romans seven and eight how many laws three there's the law of what the law of sin the law of the flesh the law of heredity that cries out then there's the law of God which is holy Justin and good and so the flesh struggles against the law of God but there's a third law and that's called the law of what the law of the spirit that enables me to be obedient to the law of God and Christ models that so notice Hebrews chapter four seeing then that we have our great high priest who's passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God verse 15 for we cannot we do not have a high priest and cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points how many points all points tempted like we are yet without sin so because he understands because he experienced the weakness of human nature because of that what can we do verse 14 can you read it with me rather verse 16 let's read it verse 16 Hebrews 4 let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need so we can come I love that statement desire of Ages page 25 says this if we had to bear anything that Jesus did not endure then upon this point Satan would represent the power of God is insufficient for us so if we had to bear anything that Jesus did not endure then Satan would come to God and he'd say God God look the power of God is insufficient because they have to bear great a temptation then Jesus had to bear but because Jesus bore it and in the power the spirit overcame we can overcome Jesus exercise no power in his behalf that we do not have freely offered to us you know if our greatest need had been information God would have sent an educator if our greatest need had been technology God would have sent a scientist if our greatest need had been money God would have sent an economist if our greatest need had been pleasure and God would have sent an entertainer but our greatest need was freedom from the penalty and power of sin so God sent a savior praise God Romans eight verse four Romans eight verse four what is the purpose of all this we're going to look at the first three verses again we'll summarize them eight verse one no condemnation we don't live in guilt we don't live under the sentence of death because now we're in Christ Jesus we're not walking according to the flesh the earthly appetize desires passions but according to the spirit the law of the spirit of life that law the surging power of God that comes in verse two has made us free from the law of sin and death the law of sin and death and our members for what the law could not do that is the law of God it could not do it was good holy just when it was weak through our human flesh God sent his own son he modeled for us an example and the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin he condemned sin in the flesh so were delivered from its penalty its power its condemnation why why did all this happen so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us see when we come to the end of ourselves when we fully realize our inability to keep the law of God when in utter helplessness we look to the Holy Spirit to do for us what we can't do for ourselves when we surrender every thought every purpose every desire every action in all of our appetites and passion to his absolute control the Holy Spirit takes control but as long as we war in our own strength we fight a losing battle but in Christ we are more than conquerors this is one of the reasons it's so difficult to overcome in our own in our own strength now look I've got a glove here the simple glove I need the floor swept and I think the I think though wait a minute I think our cleaning people miss this section of the platform so glove glove go sweep that what you sitting there for glove I told you go sweep that glove glove get that broom take that broom what's the problem what's the problem now glove go sweep that what's the difference what's the difference see your life in sweeping the dirt out of your life is like an empty glove but when the Spirit of God comes in there's a new power there there's a new power there now look what if there's a thorn in one of these fingers what if there's sawdust in one of these fingers what if one of these fingers are filled with rocks the only way that this glove is gonna sweep that floor is if the glove is empty and what Jesus is saying to you is look open your heart to my spirit let my spirit fill that place in your life so that you can see in your life those miracles of God's grace you see what Paul is introducing in Romans 8 is this it's a whole new paradigm for Paul the Christian life is no longer frustrated defeat for Paul the Christian life is no longer one of failure repeatedly on the same point again and again and again and again for the Apostle Paul although the warfare between the the fleshly nature and the law of God still goes on so that war does not cease until we enter into eternity see there are some Christians that expect this war to cease it's not gonna cease as long as we have fleshly human natures and as long as the devil exists the war is gonna still go on but the difference is we have a new power to face the enemy living in the power the Holy Spirit does not mean we'll be free from struggle means we have the assurance of victory in struggle here is the promise of God as he kiyul 20 36 verse 26 Ezekiel 36 verse 26 here is the promise of God God can do for us and in us what we cannot do for ourselves I love what Charles Spurgeon said when he said without the Spirit of God we can do nothing we're as ships without the wind branches without SAP and like coals without fire we are useless Ezekiel 36 you're looking there in the scripture and here's what Paul is talking about as Ezekiel echoes it Ezekiel 36 verse 26 and 27 let's go back and pick up 25 the Prophet says Ezekiel 36 starting with 25 then I will sprinkle clean water upon you you'll be clean I'll cleanse you from all your filthiness and for all your idols I'll give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you I'll take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh verse 27 I will put my spirit within you here Paul says I'll put my spirit within you and then he says and cause you to walk in my statutes you'll keep my my judgments and do them I will put my spirit within you and cause you the glove does not sweep flaws by itself I will put my spirit within you and cause you to sweep the floor see God says when he puts his spirit within us there is a new power in our life and the Christian life is no longer great your teeth and clench your fists and just bear it until eternity it is rather there's a new power that surges within your life the Spirit of God throws the the gates open that the Spirit of God delivers us from from bondage the Spirit of God can change any stony heart from flesh the new life he can break the bondage that holds us he can crush the negative habits that govern our life in our appetites and our passions and our inability to live in harmony with the laws of health or any other law the Spirit of God can make the most difficult things seem easy the Spirit of God can take the mightiest objections and let them melt like snow the Spirit of God can break the shackles and unlock prison doors and throw them open and triumph the Spirit of God can take a Jew the bitterest enemy of Christianity the fiercest persecutor true believers the strongest stickler for pharisaical notions the most prejudiced a poser of gospel doctrine and he can turn that man into an earnest preacher of faith and the one of the greatest evangelist the world has ever known in the Apostle Paul the spirit can take a Roman Catholic monk brought up in Romans Romans dition trained from his infancy to believe false doctrine and obey the Pope and steeped in the errors of that church at that time and he can make that man one of the clearest upholders of Christian faith and justification by faith he's done it already because he did it with Martin Luther the Spirit can take an English common laborer without learning patronage or money a man who was notorious for his drinking and his blasphemy and make that man write a religious book that was standing unrivaled and millions had read the book his name was John Bunyan and he wrote pilgrims progress the spirit can take a sailor drenched in worldliness the profligate captain of some old slave ship and make that man a successful minister of the gospel a writer of letters and books and hymns the spirit did that for John Newton the power of the Spirit is not limited the power of the Holy Spirit isn't for a select few it's not for simply some people in the early church the power of the Holy Spirit is for you and for me to fill us like my hand filled that glove this morning what is romans 8 verse 4 said what is romans 8 verse 4 say let's go back to it romans 8 verse 4 there is a new paradigm in romans 8 romans chapter 7 the word i is mentioned how many times 27 times in romans 7 romans 8 it's mentioned twice and the holy spirit is mentioned 20 times in romans 8 and that's why the apostle paul says in romans 8 verse 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be filled fulfilled in us who do not walk that is who do not live in harmony with the passions the appetites the inclinations of the human nature who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit verse 5 for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things on the flesh where is your mindset today is it set on the things of the flesh or is it set on the things of the Spirit verse 6 for to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life in peace look at verse 11 but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies Jesus triumphed over the principalities and powers of hell he's overcome it in the same nature that we overcome in and that's human nature he was victorious so we can be victorious by his strength what does it mean to walk in the spirit it means to saturate our minds daily with the Word of God Jesus said the word I speak to you they are spirit in their life what does it mean to walk in the spirit it means to spend time in his presence daily to have our hearts and minds open to his spirit as he speaks to us through prayer what does it mean to walk in the spirit it means to create a spiritual mind set where daily I enter the presence of God and allow his Holy Spirit to do in me what it's impossible for me to do for myself once I begin to live in the flesh and live in harmony with its appetites passions and desires I live a life of frustrated defeat as a Christian I live a life in which my desires control but when my heart and mind is open to the Spirit when I come to Christ and say Lord my mind is open to you whatever is in my life that is not in harmony with your will you show me Lord I've already committed everything I am to you every thought to you every action to you everything I look at to you every word I speak to you everything I hear to you lord my eyes are consecrated to you my my ears are consecrated to you my feet are consecrated to you my mind is consecrated to you Lord take this person totally fill me I do not want any thorns in the finger of that glove I do not want any sand in one finger I do not want any rocks in one finger when one comes to that total absolute commitment the Spirit of God fills their life and the Spirit of God makes easy what otherwise has been difficult many years ago there was a African village that experienced a spiritual revival and evangelist came to that village it wasn't a large village three four hundred people opened the Word of God and as that evangelist preached the Spirit of God came down and people began coming forward they began kneeling and weeping and crying thievery and robbery gave way to honesty and lust gave way to purity and anger in bitterness gave way to gentleness and kindness and self aggrandizement gave way to self-sacrifice and there was a spiritual revival in that village now the village was in an area where they had a lot of this large so fond of grass and the huts were built in the center and out there in the savanna you'd see like gazelles and you'd see elephants and so forth and the villagers because the village was very close knew they needed private time with God and so very often they would walk through this savanna grass and find a quiet place where they could seek God for the Holy Spirit every day they would find this quiet place where they could pray every day for a placement study the Word of God so pretty soon if you're a visitor in that village or you're a villager you would see a path going here a path going there a path going here path going here these were all prayer paths you see and these people would walk through the savanna trampled down the grass and every day they'd go to their spot here their spot there there's but there now if a person was neglecting spending time with God if they were neglecting spending time in the word or they expect neglecting spending time with seeking the Holy Spirit grass would begin to grow on their paths so the other villagers would come along and put their arms around saying my dear brother grass is growing on your path grass is growing on your path is grass growing on your path this morning this grass growing on your path are you living the Christian life or trying to live it in your own strength are you battling again and again and again but yet seeming to be overcome walking in the spirit living in the light of Christ's presence is to be a conqueror I'd like you to take your Bible and turn to Romans 8 verse 37 Romans 8 comes to an end Romans 8 comes to an end and notice Romans 8 verse 37 where as Romans 7 comes to an end in verse 24 and Paul cries out in Romans 7:24 all wretched man that I am who can deliver me from this body of death so Romans seven comes to the end with frustrated defeat Romans eight comes to the end with glorious victory because we've made the transition from I to the holy spirit we've made the transition from what we can do to what God can do we made the transition from our weakness to his strength from our humaneness to his almighty power romans 8 verse 27 yet in all these things paul says or what things paul verse 34 35 36 what things who is he that condemns in condemnation verse 35 in truth shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation and all these things what in our trials and tribulations in our de-stresses in our persecutions in our famines and our nakedness in our peril our sword in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us in Christ Jesus this is the glorious triumph of the gospel Christ in you the hope of glory through His Holy Spirit giving you power over appetite over passion over criticism over gossip over lust over those distressing clouds of darkness that come over our head the Spirit can break the chains the Spirit can give us new life many years ago there's a Persian general that took delight in executing anybody in his army that was found disloyal on one occasion this Persian general captured a spy and he brought the spy before the military court and he said you have been found guilty of spying as the result of that I'm going to give you one of two choices you can either face execution by the firing squad or you can take your choice and walk through that large black door you can choose one of the two death by the firing squad or walking through that large black door the spice stood there began to think what is on the other side of that door if I walk through it soldiers with their machetes may hack me to death if I walk through it I may be put in a hole buried with just my head up and the ants may eat me if I walk through that door possibly he'll have wild beasts there and they'll eat me the spy looked at the general and he said sir sir shoot me by the firing squad soon the general in his court left and they heard the sound of rifles if that man's blood was shed on the sand that day one of the generals closest allies came to him and he said to him I have a question for you general what's behind the black door and the general said freedom but very few will take it freedom but very few will take it Jesus says to you this morning do you want to live in bondage to your appetites your desires or do you want to walk through the door walking through the door takes courage because there are certain habits that God calls us to lay down there are certain attitudes that God calls us to lay down walking through the door takes courage because at times we don't know where that journey is going to take us and at times the present is more comfortable than the future time at times what we know is more comfortable than the unknown but beyond the door there is freedom beyond the door there is new power in Christ beyond the door there is deliverance in Christ we hope you enjoyed this sermon by Pastor Mark Finley if you're interested in learning more about the Bible we have a new online Bible study group anyone can join and it's free so if you're interested in studying with the hope lives 365 pastors and Bible instructors go to hope lives 365.com forward slash Bible study also if you're not subscribed to our youtube channel already be sure to subscribe and click the bell so you get notified of new videos you

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Keywords: sda, seventh day adventist, seventh-day adventist, who are seventh-day adventist, what do seventh day adventhist believe, 7th day adventist, mark finley, hopelives365, hope lives 365, christian, christianity, Ellen White, seventh day adventist church

Id: 9wQ65fX1Rcs

Length: 49min 34sec (2974 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 13 2019