Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] I was talking to a friend of mine in Main street this morning, and the place was crowded and happy people everywhere and kids jumping around and people wearing funny costumes.
[00:00:22] I said to my buddy, this is not the way church was when I was a boy.
[00:00:30] Probably be a better Christian if it was.
[00:00:39] So I want to thank every one of you for sharing the love of Christ with each other.
[00:00:47] It makes the church a beautiful place.
[00:00:51] Our dear Heavenly Father, we are.
[00:00:57] We are trying to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
[00:01:04] We're trying to learn how to escape the law of sin and death and live the triumphant life under the law of Christ Jesus.
[00:01:18] So we pray again that your Holy Spirit would do his perfect work.
[00:01:24] You would not only help us to think clearly, but you would recreate the desires of our hearts.
[00:01:32] And we ask this so we can glorify Jesus Christ in Christ's name. Amen.
[00:01:43] In Romans, chapter seven, Paul has a thesis.
[00:01:50] And in his thesis, he. He wants us to understand the nature of being a Christian.
[00:02:00] The nature of being a Christian is not a list of activities.
[00:02:08] The nature of being a Christian is not a set of rules.
[00:02:14] The nature of being a Christian is what law directs my inner life, or in another way, what encoding within me directs my thoughts, my feelings and my choices.
[00:02:40] Life is more than a series of events.
[00:02:44] It is a.
[00:02:46] It is a following of an internal coding.
[00:02:54] And when I'm living under the internal coding of Jesus Christ, I am a different person and I live a different life.
[00:03:04] When I'm living under the encoding of sin, I end up being a person that I don't like, I am ashamed of, and I have regrets about.
[00:03:17] So Paul is trying to teach us there are these two laws of life, and then he's going to do his best to show us how to escape living under the law of sin and death and how to fully engage in living under the law of life in Christ Jesus. Jesus. So that's what we're studying. All right.
[00:03:39] This morning we were on chapter 7, verse 13.
[00:03:44] Did that which is good then bring death to me?
[00:03:48] By no means.
[00:03:51] It was sin producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
[00:04:08] Paul is a genius, but I can say this in an easier way, I promise you. All right.
[00:04:15] Remember last week we talked about there's the law of sin and death, and there's the law of life in Christ Jesus, and then the law, and then religion puts the law of Moses between the two, and that should never happen. Because it just helps the law of sin and death. It keeps me from focusing on Christ.
[00:04:37] So Paul is saying, if the law of Moses supports the law of sin and death is what was supposed to be good, did it turn out to be ruinous to me?
[00:04:54] So the question is, did what is good then bring death to me?
[00:05:00] And he answers it, no.
[00:05:03] And then he says what? What God wanted to do. Excuse me.
[00:05:10] What God wanted to do was to help us all to understand how tragic and ugly sin really is.
[00:05:22] We all have a tendency to underestimate how bad sin really is and how much damage it really does to us.
[00:05:35] Ah, I want to, I want, I want to use some words that. To help you think about the ruinous nature of a sin.
[00:05:50] I want to start with the first word. Corrupt.
[00:05:54] Everything sin touches, it corrupts.
[00:06:00] Everything it touches, it corrupts.
[00:06:03] Ah, I thank God for whatever they did.
[00:06:09] When I was a boy, cars rusted out in four years you could. Anybody here, anybody remember the 70s? They. That car wouldn't be off the car lot and would have holes rusted in it.
[00:06:23] Sin is like rust.
[00:06:26] It corrupts and ruins everything it touches.
[00:06:34] So the law is to help me to see that every time I let sin in my life, I am corrupting myself.
[00:06:47] I am, I am infecting myself with ugliness.
[00:06:52] I'm weakening myself.
[00:06:55] All right, the second word I want to say is vile.
[00:07:02] Sin is a vile thing.
[00:07:08] We don't use vile as much as we used to, but the word filthy is still in our vocabulary.
[00:07:15] Sin is a filthy thing and everything it touches it makes dirty.
[00:07:22] Do you see?
[00:07:24] I've done a lot of weddings in my life, but I have retired from doing weddings. So if you're gonna get married, you missed it. All right?
[00:07:35] Ah, I've been at weddings where something happened and the bride got something spilled on her dress before the wedding ceremony.
[00:07:48] A coffee or cookie or something. All right?
[00:07:55] It is like the world comes to an end. The wedding dress has a spot on it.
[00:08:03] What are we going to do?
[00:08:05] People are running around panicking. They're.
[00:08:08] They're doing old wives tales about taking out stains from things.
[00:08:14] Nobody wants to get married in a filthy wedding dress.
[00:08:19] All right?
[00:08:21] Sin has a way of taking something that is supposed to be clean and beautiful and pure, making it filthy.
[00:08:36] Ah, sin is detestable.
[00:08:41] Ah, it is.
[00:08:45] It is abhorrent.
[00:08:49] And just one more word.
[00:08:54] It's noxious.
[00:08:57] It is a poison.
[00:08:59] There it.
[00:09:01] When sin has its perfect influence, it kills.
[00:09:07] The wages of sin are death.
[00:09:11] All right. The problem is we under estimate the ugliness and the corruption of sin.
[00:09:25] And we kind of end up making bargains with sin.
[00:09:30] And we try to say to sin, I want this much of you, but no more.
[00:09:40] I don't mind having stains on this part of my soul, but I don't want stains on this part of my soul.
[00:09:48] Or we play this game with sin, Ah, I will protect you if you don't out me.
[00:09:56] Because nobody wants their friends to know how ugly they can be.
[00:10:03] Do you see what I'm saying?
[00:10:05] So we end up making these bargains with sin.
[00:10:09] And Paul said, we gotta have something in our life that says to us again and again, this is bad for you.
[00:10:21] This is ruinous to you.
[00:10:24] This is corrupting to you.
[00:10:26] This is making you filthy and vile and noxious.
[00:10:31] And we need to be reminded that we can't make these little bargains with sin, because every time we do, we live under the law of sin and death, and we corrupt ourselves.
[00:10:44] That's what Paul is trying to make the point.
[00:10:48] Life in Christ grows to find sin insufferable.
[00:10:54] Do you get this? The more I grow in life in Christ Jesus, the more insufferable my sin is.
[00:11:03] When I am not living life in Christ Jesus, my sin doesn't seem that bad.
[00:11:10] We play this game, the sins I don't do, they're the bad ones. The sins I do, they're mediocre.
[00:11:21] Or we play, I know somebody worse than I am, okay?
[00:11:29] And Paul is trying to say all of that thinking empowers living the life under the law of sin and death.
[00:11:42] And something has to come along and it has to jar us, it has to startle us.
[00:11:50] And we got to see sin as an insufferable thing.
[00:11:58] Verse 14.
[00:11:59] For we know that the law is spiritual, But I am of the flesh sold under sin.
[00:12:07] For I do not understand my own actions.
[00:12:11] For I do not do what I want, but I do everything I hate.
[00:12:17] The law of life in Christ is spiritual. It is an internal coding.
[00:12:24] It is my nature, seeing the beauty, the strength, the goodness of Christ and aspiring to have more of that in my life.
[00:12:36] That's the law of sin, and that's the law of life in Christ Jesus.
[00:12:40] All right?
[00:12:42] Ah.
[00:12:44] It is a valuing of things that are spiritual, eternal, divine.
[00:12:56] The law of sin and death is material.
[00:13:00] It focuses on material things.
[00:13:03] And Paul said, sadly, we were born under the law.
[00:13:09] We were sold out by fallen humanity.
[00:13:13] Everybody in this room, everybody online, we were all born under the law of sin and death, and something has to happen to set us free. From the law of sin and death. So we have the opportunity to live under the law of life in Christ Jesus.
[00:13:32] And that thing that happens, we call faith in Jesus Christ, we call conversion, we call coming to a moment where we say to Christ, I can't do this by myself.
[00:13:48] Sin always wins. I'm asking you to forgive me and I'm asking you to create the law of life in Christ Jesus within me and day by day by day to empower the law of life in Christ. So I grow to be more like you and less like the sinner I was born.
[00:14:10] Church.
[00:14:18] Functioning under these two laws leaves us confused.
[00:14:24] That's what Paul says.
[00:14:26] I do not understand my own actions.
[00:14:31] Have you ever been confused by this conflict between the law of sin and the law of life in Christ Jesus?
[00:14:41] Have you ever had a moment where you really wanted with all your heart to be good, to do the right thing, to say the right thing, to be a blessing to the people around you?
[00:14:56] You went with that intention and then something happened and you got drugged back under the law of sin.
[00:15:08] And now you're driving home saying that is the direct opposite of what I wanted to happen. Anybody?
[00:15:16] Thank you.
[00:15:18] The law. The conflict between life in Christ and the law of sin is a confusing thing.
[00:15:27] Ah, it would be nice if my intention to live under the law of life in Christ Jesus was powerful enough to make it happen.
[00:15:41] But here again I want to say we can have the best intentions in the world and still be drugged down by the law of sin.
[00:15:53] It takes more than good intentions when my focus is not right.
[00:16:01] The law of sin compels me to do what I end up hating and regretting. Paul himself said I do things that I hate.
[00:16:14] All right, for life groups.
[00:16:20] This is an important point if you're going to talk about this in your life group.
[00:16:27] Life in Christ is not me finding the strength to overcome temptation in the moment.
[00:16:36] Life in Christ is a changing of what I honestly desire.
[00:16:43] Do you see?
[00:16:45] The desires that I have under the law of sin are not right.
[00:16:52] I need a changing, a recreating, a re encoding of what I really want.
[00:17:01] Under the law of sin, I desire what is wrong and spiritually unhealthy.
[00:17:08] Under the law of Christ, I desire what is right and spiritually healthy.
[00:17:14] All right, so there is a difference between what I intend to do and what the desires of my heart really are.
[00:17:28] I can intend to do something, but if I have. But if I'm really honest in my heart, I wish I could do something else and it just wouldn't be Bad.
[00:17:50] You see, it's one thing to say, I have no intention of arguing with this person.
[00:17:58] I have no intention. All right.
[00:18:02] It's another thing to say, I don't want to argue with them, but I sure would like them to know this, this and this.
[00:18:11] Do you see?
[00:18:13] My intention is not to argue, but my desire is to make them understand how wrong they are and how right I am.
[00:18:23] Do you see? I can intend not to argue, but if my desire isn't right, that intention is never going to over overcome the desire. All right.
[00:18:36] Ah, I want to ask you, are you self aware enough to know if your desires are healthy?
[00:18:51] Do I really want what is best for this other person or do I want what is best for them?
[00:19:01] When it overlaps what is best with me and if there's a competition, what is best for me and what is best for this other person, I really hope I get what is best for me.
[00:19:16] Are we humans? Church, Isn't this how it is? All right. Now Paul is saying this is where the tension of living the Christian life is.
[00:19:27] I have to start paying attention to what my real desires are. Are my desires being created by Christ Jesus?
[00:19:38] Or are my desires really stuck under the law of sin?
[00:19:43] But I just want to do it all in a civilized way.
[00:19:49] Ah, I want to do what I want to do. I just don't want people to think I'm a jerk.
[00:19:56] Church, Are your desires healthy?
[00:20:05] Even though sometimes you do what is not good?
[00:20:10] All right.
[00:20:11] If my desires are moving toward life in Christ Jesus, if my desires are moving toward the beauty of Christ's character, ah, I'm going to make mistakes.
[00:20:27] But these mistakes are mistakes of strength. They're not mistakes of character.
[00:20:34] If I'm living under the law of sin, they're not mistakes of strength. They are mistakes of character. I'm just living out who I really am.
[00:20:47] A second important point.
[00:20:50] Life in Christ is more than willing and choosing.
[00:20:57] We have to deal with thought patterns and affections that powerfully influence our life.
[00:21:05] It is okay.
[00:21:07] Life living under the law of life in Christ is more than just an act of will because I have thought patterns and I have affections and my thought patterns and my affections always influence my will.
[00:21:26] My will is going to follow my dominant thought patterns. My will is going to follow my dominant affections and my thought patterns get recreated in Christ Jesus. My affections get recreated in Christ Jesus and my choices get recreated in Christ Jesus. Or my thought patterns are dominated by the encoding of the law of sin and I have a sinful thought Pattern I. Okay. You work with somebody, you don't like them, they get on your nerves. All right?
[00:22:06] If I'm living under the law of sin, I let myself think anything ugly about them I want I just say to myself, you're not allowed to say it.
[00:22:18] I let myself think every ugly thing about them I want. But I think I'm a good guy because I thought this and I didn't say it wrong.
[00:22:33] Wrong.
[00:22:34] If I'm going to live under life in Christ Jesus, I have to say this thought pattern is not a thought pattern that's pleasing to Christ.
[00:22:48] This is not about what I say or don't say. It's about I want to live under the law of life in Christ Jesus. And I can't think like that and live under the law of Christ Jesus. Do you see?
[00:23:04] Our affections are the same way.
[00:23:08] There are things that I cannot permit myself to like.
[00:23:14] They are corrupting, they're vile, they're noxious. I cannot permit myself to like them.
[00:23:23] Here's an example.
[00:23:26] Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount, I'm gonna preach a whole series on the Sermon on the mount. Matthew 5, 6, 7. It's gonna be great. You're gonna love it.
[00:23:35] Ah.
[00:23:37] Jesus said, you have heard it said, do not commit adultery.
[00:23:44] Don't cheat on your spouse. All right, listen what Jesus said. But I say to you, don't lust after someone.
[00:23:55] Do you see what he's saying? When you're living under the law of sin, you deceive yourself and say, well, I've never committed adultery. I'm okay.
[00:24:05] And Christ said, if you want to live under the law of life in Christ Jesus, you got to start messing with those affections. And even though you've never cheated, have you permitted yourself to have sinful affections?
[00:24:19] Do you see what Paul is saying? Paul is saying, if I'm gonna live under the law of Christ, it has to be more than just an act of will. I have to get disciplined about thinking the way Christ wants me to think. And I have to get disciplined about liking the things Christ wants me to like and not liking the things Christ doesn't want me to like.
[00:24:47] The encoding of sin dwells within our material lives, just as the encoding of Christ dwells in our spiritual lives.
[00:24:58] Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good.
[00:25:05] So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
[00:25:11] For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh.
[00:25:17] For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
[00:25:23] If I make mistakes, living under the law of sin, but I name them as sin instead of making excuses for them, I'm moving toward living under the law of Christ Jesus.
[00:25:39] All right, we're all gonna make a mistake this week.
[00:25:42] We're gonna all sin in some way.
[00:25:46] I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure I'll find a way.
[00:25:50] All right?
[00:25:52] All right.
[00:25:53] When I make that mistake, I have the opportunity to do two things.
[00:26:00] One is I get to minimize it.
[00:26:05] I get to say, oh, it's not a big deal.
[00:26:08] It's not as bad as this.
[00:26:11] I get to say, ah.
[00:26:13] Everybody does this.
[00:26:15] Ah. I get to say, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
[00:26:24] Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.
[00:26:27] Oh, okay.
[00:26:30] Then I'm living under the law of sin. Or I get to say, I'm living under the law of life in Christ Jesus, and this is not consistent with the life in Christ Jesus.
[00:26:46] And so I'm going to confess my sin because he's faithful and just to forgive my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness.
[00:26:56] In the moment of awareness, I'm gonna say to God, this is not right.
[00:27:01] I'm gonna do exactly what I'm supposed to do. I'm gonna say, this is. This is a vile. This is filthy, this is hideous. It's noxious, it is unhealthy for me.
[00:27:17] Dear Christ, please forgive me for this failure.
[00:27:23] And now I'm thinking about everything that is good and beautiful and perfect about who you are. And I'm praying that more and more I would want the good I see in you more than I've wanted the bad and corrupt things around me.
[00:27:43] You see what happens? I'm moving consciously from living under the law to living under the life in Christ Jesus.
[00:27:54] If sin. If I sin and make mistakes and recoups to call my sin sin, I'm living under the law of sin.
[00:28:04] If my sin bothers me and compels me to seek Christ for forgiveness and renewal, I'm living under the law of life in Christ.
[00:28:17] If my sin does not bother me and I hope to be able to engage in it more without any consequences, I'm living under the law of sin.
[00:28:28] We have to do a desire check.
[00:28:31] Paul says, ah, Ah. I recognize the desire in me is present.
[00:28:40] It's the working out of good that's hard.
[00:28:43] Living under the law of life in Christ. I genuinely desire the right, the healthy and the good. But sometimes I fail to live up to these desires.
[00:28:54] Living under the law of sin. I desire to please my lusts, to satisfy my selfishness, to increase my stuff, but be socially acceptable.
[00:29:06] You see the difference?
[00:29:08] Under the law of sin, I want to get away with it because I don't really think it's that bad.
[00:29:17] Under the law of Christ, I want to get away from it because there's something much more beautiful, there's something much more healthy, there's something much more desirable.
[00:29:31] I am not defined by my mistakes, defined by the law that I'm committed to.
[00:29:40] I'm either defined by the law of sin because I'm committed to pleasing myself and I'm just going to try to do it in a socially acceptable way, or I'm living under the law of Christ and I'm saying I am not putting up with being this two souled person trying to keep trying to please myself, but keep it socially acceptable.
[00:30:09] All right.
[00:30:12] Living under the law of life in Christ, I genuinely desire to be like Christ, to live in his presence, to be pleasing to him.
[00:30:28] Ah, let's talk about the problem of entanglement.
[00:30:33] Why is it so hard to live under the law of life in Christ?
[00:30:38] Why can't it be easier?
[00:30:40] Why can't I just get up on Monday morning and say, dear God, I love you? I want to be a good man today. I want to live in the law of life in Christ Jesus.
[00:30:52] I want to be a blessing to everybody I meet.
[00:30:54] I want the joy of the Lord to be in everything I do. I want to have faith, hope and love.
[00:31:03] And because I want it, God says, twinkle, twinkle little star waves his magic wand around me and it all automatically happens. Wouldn't that be beautiful?
[00:31:18] That's not what happens. Because there is the problem of entanglement.
[00:31:25] My life in Christ is entangled with a bombardment of evil thoughts and enticement, of evil affections and the deception of evil inclinations. I want to talk about all three of these.
[00:31:46] It sometimes shocks me how many evil messages you get bombarded with in a single day.
[00:31:55] Ah, ah, it's easy to illustrate.
[00:32:02] Ah, these candidates aren't telling you.
[00:32:08] This is what I believe, this is what I want to do. This is how you know what they're doing, find the worst insult they can about their opponent.
[00:32:20] So all day long on the news you get bombarded with these evil messages.
[00:32:29] And in the end I want to say, well, I don't want to vote for anybody.
[00:32:33] Everybody's corrupt. Okay, all right, that's just an example. We get bombarded all the time with evil Thoughts.
[00:32:44] Ah.
[00:32:47] I know you're gonna think I'm a whack job.
[00:32:53] We gotta be careful. The games our kids play, that's affecting their thought patterns.
[00:33:00] Church, I don't think it's healthy for junior high boys to have games that you kill everybody in sight.
[00:33:10] I just don't think that creates a healthy mind.
[00:33:16] Okay. If you play those games. I'm not. I'm just saying.
[00:33:22] All right.
[00:33:23] We are bombarded day after day after day with all these evil thoughts.
[00:33:32] We watch TV shows bombarded with evil thoughts.
[00:33:37] We read the news. If it bleeds, it leads. Bombarded with evil thoughts all day long in this broken world, my thought patterns are bombarded with evil thoughts.
[00:33:54] I. And I am entangled.
[00:33:57] Even though I want to live life in Christ Jesus, I can't avoid the bombardment of all these evil thoughts day after day after day.
[00:34:08] And if that's not enough, I'm pretty good at creating some all by myself. I don't even need any help from the outside.
[00:34:22] So I am committed to living life in Christ Jesus.
[00:34:28] But day by day, I am entangled and I get bombarded with all these thoughts. All right.
[00:34:34] It's not just thoughts. It's also evil affections.
[00:34:42] Ah.
[00:34:47] Ah.
[00:34:48] It's insane. Ah.
[00:34:51] Ah.
[00:34:53] Sex sells everything.
[00:34:57] Everything.
[00:34:59] Ah.
[00:35:00] Ah. There are commercials that are almost pornographic and we're getting bombarded with that.
[00:35:09] There are billboards that are almost pornographic and we're getting bombarded with that day after day. Our affections are bombarded with all these messages and they're not healthy for our souls.
[00:35:24] Do you see?
[00:35:26] Ah. Ah.
[00:35:30] All right.
[00:35:32] And then there is the deception of evil inclinations.
[00:35:36] The thoughts I'm getting bombarded externally. The affections I'm getting bottom bottled with externally. But I have to admit I have dispositions of the soul that entangle me.
[00:35:51] It's easy for me to get angry about some things.
[00:35:57] Okay.
[00:35:59] Have you ever woke up grouch? Grouchy for no reason at all.
[00:36:03] You just woke up and you were grouchy.
[00:36:06] Anyone? Please. Could there be one more sinner left in this church? Thank God.
[00:36:15] It's not like I have some reason to be annoyed.
[00:36:20] I just have an inclination to be annoyed.
[00:36:24] And that affects my ability to live life in Christ Jesus.
[00:36:29] Okay, now we're starting to understand that there is going to be a tension. There's going to be a struggle to live life in Christ Jesus, no matter what our intentions are because we are entangled in a material world.
[00:36:48] But that doesn't mean there isn't hope.
[00:36:54] Because the law of sin is a law.
[00:36:57] It produces results we do not like.
[00:37:02] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing.
[00:37:09] Now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
[00:37:18] The confession and the lament of the soul. Living life in Christ Jesus is.
[00:37:25] I desire good, but I make mistakes, Church.
[00:37:32] But I want you to know that is different than I desire bad.
[00:37:37] But once in a while I do the right thing.
[00:37:41] When I'm living under the law of sin and death, I really want the wrong thing.
[00:37:48] But once in a while I do good.
[00:37:51] When I'm living under the law of life in Christ Jesus, I really want what's good.
[00:37:57] But sometimes I just fail to do it.
[00:38:03] I just fail to live up to what I said I would be.
[00:38:07] Do you see? Those are two very different things.
[00:38:12] The law of life in Christ is a continuing enrichment of of my desires. So that more and more what I really, really want is what is found under the law of life in Christ Jesus.
[00:38:29] Remember last week we had to go to Galatians. Well, we're going back to Galatians again this week. Galatians 5.
[00:38:35] Listen to what Paul said.
[00:38:38] But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
[00:38:46] For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.
[00:38:54] For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
[00:39:01] All right, Because I'm entangled, because I live in a broken world.
[00:39:08] Because the law of sin stays even after the law of life in Christ Jesus becomes my longing and my desire.
[00:39:18] All right, so when I am entangled and I find the stress between life in Christ and life under the law, I have to quickly do what Paul said. I have to walk by the Spirit. That means I have to quickly turn to Christ and not rely on myself.
[00:39:42] Can you hear this, Church?
[00:39:44] My biggest mistake is I get entangled. I think a thought I shouldn't think. And instead of in that very second turning to Christ and saying, I want to live life under the law of life in Christ Jesus. I want to think your thoughts.
[00:40:06] I want my mind, I want the meditations of my heart to be pleasing to you. And I rely on the Spirit to overcome these bad thoughts. Instead, I play games with them.
[00:40:20] You see?
[00:40:21] I play games with them.
[00:40:24] Ah. Ah. I'll let myself think about this a little bit.
[00:40:30] I'll let myself say five things about a person in instead of ten, do you see?
[00:40:37] That is the pathway to failure. That's why we fail.
[00:40:42] In every moment where I am aware that my thoughts, my affections and my will is being entangled by the law of sin. In every single case, I have to pause on the inside, and I have to turn instantly to Jesus Christ.
[00:41:02] I have to look onto Jesus, the originator and the perfecter of my faith, the same one who got the life of Christ started in me. He's the same one who's going to empower it and enrich it and strengthen it.
[00:41:23] Paul goes on to say, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
[00:41:31] Focus upon the spiritual more than the immaterial.
[00:41:35] In these moments of entanglement, in these moments of tension, I can focus on the thing, the material thing, or I can pause and I can focus on there is something more beautiful than this.
[00:41:54] Ah, And I'm going to give you the very ideas to turn your focus on.
[00:42:01] When you are tempted, when you are entangled, say to yourself, how will this affect my soul?
[00:42:09] If I allow myself to say the angry things I want to say, how will it affect my soul?
[00:42:18] Well, it'll corrupt my soul.
[00:42:22] It'll make my soul filthy.
[00:42:26] It will make me have regret.
[00:42:29] Ah. I never wake up in the middle of night, regret saying something nice.
[00:42:34] I wake up in the midnight regretting that I said the ugly thing.
[00:42:39] Church.
[00:42:40] It corrupts my soul. I have to say in that moment, how will this affect my soul?
[00:42:48] And I have to turn quickly to the source of it all.
[00:42:54] Those who are led by the Spirit, they are the children of God. I have to allow the Holy Spirit to lead me away from the law of sin and toward the law of life in Christ Jesus.
[00:43:06] Back to Galatians 5. Now the works of the flesh are evident.
[00:43:10] Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions and divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgy, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. You know what Paul just did there? He labeled sin as horrible and ruinous.
[00:43:41] He didn't make any excuses for it.
[00:43:43] He labeled it as horrendous, as noxious, as a polluted.
[00:43:51] Ah, but here we go. I want to turn my mind from that. And now here's what I can turn. Toward the fruit of the Spirit.
[00:44:01] Ah, some of you should write this down.
[00:44:03] Galatians 5:22. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
[00:44:18] All right, I'm entangled.
[00:44:22] I recognize I'm thinking the wrong thoughts.
[00:44:25] And I know if I allow myself to think those thoughts, I'm gonna be living under the law of sin.
[00:44:31] It's gonna corrupt me.
[00:44:33] It's gonna make me a person I don't wanna be.
[00:44:37] But I gotta turn my mind away from that. And I have to turn my mind to life in Christ Jesus. So what do I think about?
[00:44:45] Well, let's just start down the. I just. I think about love.
[00:44:50] How much does Christ really love me?
[00:44:52] What does the love of Christ look like in my life?
[00:44:56] How much do I love Christ?
[00:44:59] What does my love for Christ look like?
[00:45:02] See what I'm doing? I'm turning my thoughts from the law of sin to the law of life in Christ Jesus.
[00:45:10] I have an ugly thought.
[00:45:13] I turn from that ugly thought and I say, that thought will bring no joy in my life.
[00:45:20] What brings me joy.
[00:45:23] And then I start thinking about the beautiful things that bring me joy.
[00:45:29] Ah. Ah.
[00:45:30] I have an ugly thought.
[00:45:32] And with ugly thoughts, there's always tension, right? You can't think ugly thoughts and not have more tension.
[00:45:40] Ah. But I'm turning away from that ugly thought and I'm turning toward peace.
[00:45:47] Dear Heavenly Father, I prayed this a million times. I pray that the peace that passes understanding would guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
[00:45:56] You see what I'm doing? I'm turning toward life in Christ Jesus. I got entangled. I had a moment. My thoughts were in the law of sin and death, but I'm turning in the very instant. And I'm focusing upon the peace that passes understanding.
[00:46:15] I say to Christ, you said that you would leave your peace with me and your peace is not like the peace of the world. And that my heart didn't have to be troubled. I'm praying in this moment of entanglement that the peace of Christ would rule in my heart.
[00:46:30] Do you see what we're doing?
[00:46:32] All right.
[00:46:33] Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
[00:46:38] I want to live under the law of life in Christ Jesus.
[00:46:42] But there is a law of sin that still abides in me. That law of sin is prompted and entangled with the world I live in.
[00:46:52] And so in these moments of entanglement, I just pause and I turn away from the law of sin and death. And I turn toward the beauty, the goodness, the virtues, the health of life in Christ Jesus.
[00:47:11] Our dear Heavenly Father, I ask that this truth would be resonant in our hearts.
[00:47:18] I pray that we could begin to develop this lifestyle where we recognize the moment.
[00:47:25] And instead of living under the law of sin, we turn quickly to the Lord Jesus Christ and we allow what is best and most beautiful from him to call us back to life in Christ Jesus.
[00:47:40] Amen.
