Fill our pastor with your Holy Spirit, Lord God,
guide him through the scriptures,
and help us, Lord God, to be attentive as well
to the preaching of your word.
We pray in all these things in Jesus' name, amen.
You may be seated, song number 17,
song number 17, one day.
Song number 17 is our second song.
Song number 17.
We'll see you on that first verse.
One day when heaven was filled with his praises.
One day when sin was as dark as can be.
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin.
Twelfth amongst men, my example is he.
Living he loved me, dying he saved me, Rising he judge me, by stands far away,
Rising he justified, really forever, One day he's coming, oh glorious day,
him of Calvary's mountain. One day they inhaled him to die on a tree. Suffering
anguish, despised and rejected. Bearing your sins, my redeemer is he. Living he
loved me, dying he saved me. Buried he carried my sins far away.
He justified freely forever One day He's coming, oh glorious day
One day they left Him alone in the garden One day He rested from suffering grief
Angels came down, oh His name
Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He.
Living He led me, dying He saved me.
Buried He carried my sins far away.
Rising He justified, really forever.
One day He's come.
One day the Crave could conceal him no longer.
One day the stone rolled away from the door.
Then he arose over to the atonkert.
Now is ascended my Lord evermore.
Living he loved me, dying he saved me.
by sins far away. Rising He justified, really forever. One day He's coming, oh glorious day.
On that last, one day the trumpet will sound for His coming.
One day the skies with His glories will shine.
Wonderful day my beloved ones is bringing.
Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine.
Living He loved me, dying He saved me.
He carried my sins far away Rising He justified
really forever One day He
Excellent singing everyone. Good evening.
We're on just some announcements before we sing our Jack's song, which will be a song 197.
Singing I Go, song number 197.
We'd like to welcome you back to our Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m.
On Thursday, so many teams and times are here below.
Continue to pray for our expecting mothers as always.
Tonight we have our...
Mediterranean food is being delivered to us and just some announcements from that.
We'll make the line going out of this out of our old four-year and then that'll be coming around here
Parents, please make sure that you guys that you serve your children
Just some other announcements here as well.
We have our beach bonfire Friday, August 1st.
This Friday, there's a food sign up there
and mats are for the adults.
So please make sure you guys take one.
Ladies' prayer breakfast will be Saturday, August 9th,
meeting at the building at 10 a.m.
If you have any questions,
you can reach out to Ms. Janelle.
And then we have our Tijuana Mission Strip Saturday,
August 30th, leaving at 9.15.
And last announcement here is our
is our church anniversary. Sunday, September 14th, obviously we've had the church started in 2017
and so this is our eighth anniversary here and so it's a blessing to be able to be a part of this
church and and all the great works that we're able to do here. That's it for the announcements,
please silence your phones to not be a disturbance to the service. Please open up your hymn notes
to song number 197, sing and I go. Song number 197.
So, number 197, we'll see it on that first verse.
The trusting heart to Jesus clings, nor any hill forbodes.
But at the cross of Calvary sings, praise God for lift and loathe.
Singing, I go along life's road, praising the Lord, praising the Lord.
Singing, I go along life's road, for Jesus has lifted my load.
The passing days bring many gears, fear not I hear him say.
And when my fears are turned to prayers, the burdens lift away.
Singing I go along life's road, praising the Lord.
praising the Lord singing I go along life's road for Jesus has lifted my
load he tells me of my father's love and never slumbering high my ever-lasting
King above singing I go along life's road
Raising the Lord, raising the Lord, singing I go along the road.
He's astounded by God.
When to the throne of grace I flee, I find the promise true.
The mighty arms upholding me will bear my burdens too.
life's road, praising the Lord, praising the Lord, singing I go along life's road for Jesus has
lifted my load. Amen. Wonderful seeing you and at this time our ushers will be receiving the
offering and please turn your bibles to Romans chapter 7.
Good evening tonight, we're in Romans chapter 7.
Romans chapter 7, the Bible reads,
Know ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law,
How that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth.
For the woman which hath and husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth,
But if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
So then, if, while her husband liveth,
she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress,
but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law,
so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that
ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in
our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law.
For I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
But sin, taken occasion by the commandment, Rotten me all manner of concupiscence.
For without the law, sin was dead.
For I was alive without the law once, But when the commandment came, sin revived,
And I died.
The commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
For sin, taken occasion by the commandment, Deceived me, and by it, slew me.
Wherefore, the laws holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."
Was then that which was made good, death unto me, God forbid, but sin, that it might appear
sin, working death in me by that which is good.
That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
For that which I do, I allow not.
For what I would, that do I not.
But what I hate, that do I.
If then I do that which I would not, I can send it to the law, that it is good.
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.
But to wills present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not.
For the good that I would do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that, I would not. It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law that, when I would do good, evil is present with me, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man.
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin.
Let's pray. Dear Lord God, just thank you for this time we have here. You're the preaching of your word Lord
Please bless the message that pastor is prepared for us Lord
Please fill up with the spirit Lord and give him boldness Lord tonight, and I pray this on Jesus name. Amen
Amen
Okay, we are in Romans chapter 7 this evening and I'm going to be preaching through this
particular chapter here. It's a very powerful chapter, a lot of great truths. Now, let me
preface what I'm preaching on tonight based upon some of the previous chapters in the book of
doctrinal book.
It emphasizes the doctrine of justification.
It talks about replacement theology.
It has a lot of great content found within it.
And when you read the book of Romans,
chapter one deals mainly with the power of the gospel.
It has the power to save.
It is the power of God and to salvation,
to everyone to believe it to the Jew first
and also to the Greek.
And so we see that the gospel has power
to justify an individual,
but it also has the power to blind an individual.
and cause them to be beyond the hope of salvation
as the book of Romans talks about
towards the latter end of chapter one.
Chapter two and chapter three
really focus in on the condition,
should I say, the sinful condition of man,
the fact that we are all under sin
for all I've sinned and come short of the glory of God,
that there is none righteous, no not one,
that we have essentially broken God's laws
and whether you are a Jew or a Gentile,
categorized every single human being in this world as being a sinner chapter 4 and
chapter 5 really focus on salvation and the doctrine of justification obviously
they're one in the same justification is focused mainly in chapter number 5
and how essentially through Adam we received our sin nature but it's through Christ that we receive
the gift by grace and how we are justified.
Romans 6 and 7 really focus in on the sanctification process.
So you have chapter 4 and 5 that talks about justification.
Romans 6 and 7 talks about sanctification.
And then Romans chapter 8 deals mainly with glorification,
the fact that we shall receive our glorified bodies.
redemption of our bodies so this is very systematic when it comes to the book of
Romans but I want to focus on chapter 7 dealing with sanctification and as I
mentioned you know if you've read Romans chapter 6 is a very powerful chapter
dealing with the fact that we are no longer under the power of the law right
what shall we say then shall we continue in sin
that grace may abound, God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?"
And what the chapter is essentially addressing is the fact that when we get saved,
we're no longer under the curse of the law.
It doesn't mean that we shouldn't adhere to the rules of the law.
Thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not bear false witness.
It's essentially telling us that we are no longer under the curse of the law
because anybody who tries to abide by the law for salvation will receive the curse of the law, which is death.
Okay, and so chapter six is telling us we're not under the law, we're under grace,
we need to make sure that we don't subject our flesh to be ruled over by the law, by the flesh,
we need to recognize that we need to walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Well, this thought of not being under the law is carried over into chapter seven.
And look at verse number one, if you would.
I love chapter 7 because, you know, when you begin to read chapter 7 you're like, what does this have to do with not being under the law?
You know, this seems kind of, you know, outside of the narrative of what's being stated here in chapter 6 and chapter 7, look at verse 1.
It says, No ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth.
So obviously, this is a thought that's being carried over from chapter 6.
And in chapter 6, he tells us in verse 16,
know ye not that to whom ye yield ye yourself servants to obey,
his servant ye are to whom ye obey,
whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness.
But then he carries on in chapter 7 by saying,
hey, don't you know that the law essentially has power
and has dominion over you as long as you live?
And what's the implication?
Once you die, the law no longer has power over you, right?
But look at the example that he gives here in verse 2.
He says, for the woman, which hath been the husband, is bound by the law to her husband
so long as he liveth.
But if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
this concept of being under the law
and being bound by the law,
he uses the concept of marriage
in order to communicate that.
And what he's saying here in verse number two
that essentially a woman,
and obviously we can replace this with a man,
it works interchangeably with either or,
it says that the spouse essentially is bound
by the law to their spouse
as long as they're still alive, okay?
What does that mean? It means that when you got married and you made a covenant before God,
that covenant will be made null and void the day that you die or the day that your spouse dies.
This is not a permission for a murder, by the way, or anything of that nature.
It's just saying there's no way out of marriage but through death. Okay?
And he goes on to say in verse three,
so then if, while her husband liveth,
she be married to another man,
she shall be called an adulteress,
but if her husband be dead,
she is free from the law,
so that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another man.
Now I'm gonna get into the specifics
of what he's addressing in Romans seven in just a bit,
but let's talk about this concept, shall we?
And it's always good to emphasize
the importance of marriage in our church, right?
and the fact that the Bible teaches
against divorce and remarriage, right?
And here's a clear example of that.
I mean, the apostle Paul's pretty clear,
and he's saying here,
that remarriage is not a thing in the Bible.
It should never be a thing in the Bible.
It's till death do us part.
And where does that come from?
It comes from the Bible.
The only thing that can separate me and my wife from being married is death itself because the Bible specifically says that we're bound one to another until one of us dies.
And he says here, you know, if a woman be married to another while her husband lives, she shall be called an adulteress.
What is this talking about?
It's referring to the fact that if a woman decides to get married to another man,
While she's married or even if she ends up divorcing her current husband and getting married to another
According to biblical standards, she shall be called an adulteress. Okay?
Who cares what the culture says?
Who cares what the liberal church says?
Who cares what the compromising pastor says where he tries to twist the way scriptures into claiming that it's okay to divorce if
you know this this exception clause exists in the Bible according to the Bible itself if she shall be married to another while
She's still married. She's bound by the law to her husband
She's called an adulteress and you know what, this jives with the rest of scripture,
this jives with what Jesus said and it jives with the rest of the Bible in regards to marriage.
Now go with me if you would to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7
and if you ever want to just do a deep study on this particular topic, it's very easy to do
if you just compare these two chapters because you have Romans 7 and then you have
1 Corinthians 7, right? So it's very easy to remember these particular
Uh, uh, subjects here. Look at First Corinthians 7.
And 1 Corinthians 7 deals a lot with marriage.
Obviously, it's mainly talking about marriage and
forbidding to put away your spouse and forbidding departing from your spouse.
But it's giving some instructions here in this regard. Look at verse number 9 if you would.
It says here, in verse number 9, but if they cannot
contain, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn. It goes on to say in verse 10,
and unto the married I command,
Yet not I, but the Lord.
So the reason he says that is because there's instances where the Apostle Paul kind of gives his opinion
as far as what is it that you should do.
And he clarifies like the Lord's not commanding this, it's me who's commanding this.
But here he specifically says, you know, I'm not the one commanding this,
it's actually the Lord who says that you should do this, right?
So he's basically saying, you know, take this with authority, don't take this with a grain of salt.
He says unto the Mary that command, yet not I, but the Lord.
Let not the wife depart from her husband.
But, and if she depart, let her remain unmarried.
Now, please understand here that what he's saying here is
a woman should never leave her husband and vice versa, obviously.
She should never get divorced.
Okay, this should never break, this should never become covenant breakers.
Which is exactly what divorce is.
But when it says, but, and if she departs, this is not giving permission for them to depart.
Why is the apostle Paul even saying this?
He's saying this because, you know, the natural tendency for some is to depart, to disobey the commandment, right?
So therefore, God, he commands them, don't depart, don't divorce, don't separate,
but because he knows some of you will, okay, let me give you another commandment to those who did depart and disobey that first commandment, okay?
You know, God has to create like a plan B, plan C, plan D, sometimes, because people just don't obey plan A.
He says in verse 11,
But, and if she depart, let her find another husband.
Let him find himself another wife.
You know, if he, as long as it's in the Lord,
he finds her in a fundamental Baptist church,
and they both love the Lord, they're soul winners, they're King James only.
Oh, I'm sorry, that's not in the verse, is it?
let her remain unmarried, the Bible says.
So let me just give you an example here, okay?
You know, let's just say, you know,
two individuals who are married,
one decides to divorce another based upon
grievous sins of the husband and or of the wife.
Let's just say adultery, for example, right?
adultery, just gross sin, perpetual adultery,
unrepentant, we believe that the Bible tells us
that these people should still remain married,
according to the word of God.
Because it's for better or for worse,
and you know what, adultery is worse.
It's horrible.
I'm not an advocate of it.
I think it's super wicked, it's super evil,
but this is what the covenant essentially stands for.
It's like, till death do us part,
even if it's, you know, with these gross sins
that the Bible highlights as being wicked.
Well, you know a woman or a man might think to themselves well, this is justification enough for me to get divorce
Now obviously the Bible does not give that permission, but let's just say for example
He writes her a bill of divorce man. She divorces him
The alternative is not to find yourself a new spouse
according to the Bible
Now look, folks, there's no way around this.
This is literally what the Bible teaches.
Why?
Well, it says there, let them remain unmarried.
So he says, if you made the mistake of getting divorced,
which the Bible is clearly against,
because the Bible specifically says
that he hates putting away,
and putting away in the Bible is another way of saying divorce.
Okay, divorce meant putting away,
they're used interchangeably in the word of God.
So the Bible specifically says that God hates putting away and if you decide to disobey the
Lord and do it anyways, okay, plan B, stay unmarried. Don't remarry. Okay. Here's or here's the other
option. He says if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.
So he's saying, look, here's your options. You could either remain unmarried,
Don't look for another spouse. Why? Because according to the Roman 7, you shall be called an adulteress.
Or you can do the next best thing, which according to the word of God is permissible,
you be reconciled to the spouse that you divorced.
Now the only exception to that rule, according to the Old Testament, is that the spouse you divorced gets remarried.
And if they get remarried and they divorce, God forbids for you to marry that former spouse
that you had who is now currently divorced from another person.
Now look, to just avoid all that, you know, connecting the dots and doing the minority
report thing where you're just going all over the place, just stay married.
And look, if you've made a mistake of doing this,
this is not a sermon against you.
I just want to raise up a generation in our church
of our children valuing the importance
of just staying married for better for worse
and learning how to work through things, okay?
And I need to keep preaching this
so it can get ingrained in our church
and you can become educated and recognize
this is not something that we just do.
This is something that I personally believe
because the Bible actually teaches this, okay?
And it's not like, well, divorce is wrong, well, how do you know?
Well, because the Bible says the Word doesn't say,
I can't really tell you that, let me just show you the sermon.
No, just open up 1 Corinthians 7 and show them.
Just open up Romans chapter 7 and show them what the Bible says about it.
And look, we have way too many churches and Christians
making permission for divorce nowadays, okay?
I mean, I posted something the other day online
and tons of people DM me to like, oh, this is wrong.
I like your other stuff.
Your stuff is really good,
but you're wrong on this particular point.
Oh, pray tell, explain to me how I'm wrong.
You know, show me a verse in the Bible.
Look what it goes on to say.
He goes, it says, be reconciled to your husband,
which by the way is a great thing.
But if they did not get remarried, and they're still single, so to speak, they have not made
a covenant with another individual, okay, then that's great, let them be reconciled,
let them be remarried, let them join once together in holy matrimony.
And it says, and let not the husband put away his wife, okay.
Let's keep reading here, it says, verse 12,
but to the rest speak, I, not the Lord,
if any brother hath a wife that believeth not,
and should be pleased to dwell with him,
let her not put her away.
You know what this tells us?
That you shouldn't divorce your spouse
just because now you're saved.
And you're like, oh, I just made a mistake.
I didn't know that there were, you know,
I don't know, I wasn't supposed to marry
an unregenerated person.
I made a mistake.
Therefore, I need to find myself
a regenerated individual.
And no, it says don't put them away
just because they're not saved.
And in fact, if you're so spiritual now,
Listen to me, if you're so spiritual now, you recognize the importance of marrying a spouse.
Well, why don't you just get your spouse saved?
And then you could have a Christian spouse.
And in fact, that's literally what the Bible is teaching you.
Look at verse 13,
And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not,
If he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
So understand this, is that if you have a spouse that's unbelieving, the Lord loves your spouse.
And in fact, all things work together for good.
Obviously, it's not God's will for Christians to marry unregenerated individuals,
but He knows it happens.
And if it happens, guess what?
It's a blessing to the unsaved person,
because now it's more likely that they can get saved.
How do we know that? Look at verse 14.
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife.
and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband
else where your children are unclean but now are they holy the Bible says.
This is simply saying that if you have an under-regenerated spouse, they're not saved, they're not Christians,
they're more likely to get saved now because they have a believing spouse.
And this is why 1 Peter chapter 3 explains to the wife how to win over the husband.
through her conversation, through her godliness,
through her virtue, she can get her husband safe.
And let me just say this, this happens my friends.
I know sometimes it doesn't, but sometimes it does though.
There's examples of people in our church
of spouses who were saved, who had an unregenerated spouse.
They brought their spouse to church,
that spouse got saved, they got baptized,
they're plugged in, they're reading the Bible,
they're soul winning now.
Why, because the spouse was sanctified
by their wife or husband.
It can happen. Don't lose hope just because, you know, oh, you're in that situation.
No, according to the Bible, do not depart from your spouse just because they're unregenerated.
If you're that spiritual, be spiritual enough to recognize that God now puts you in their life to get them saved.
And in fact, according to the Bible, it's more likely that your children will be saved now.
Because they have the Christian element within the home, okay?
I know what I'm preaching tonight is not popular, but you know, we're gonna make it popular, okay?
Says a verse 15, but if the unbelieving depart let him depart a brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases
But God has called us to peace now. What is verse 15 referring to?
Well, verse 15, when it says if they depart and that the brother or sister is not under
bondage, I believe the bondage it is referring to is verse 3 and verse 4.
The fact that the husband and the wife is to render due benevolence unto their spouse,
they're obligated to fulfill that physical relationship of their spouse within marriage,
but if they depart, they're not necessarily under that obligation anymore, now are they?
And he says here that God still has called us to peace.
What he reiterated from before about reconciliation.
Okay?
And of course, as I mentioned, you know,
he reiterates this regarding saving the spouse.
And verse 16 says, for what knowest thou, O wife,
whether thou shalt save thy husband?
Or how knowest thou, O man,
whether thou shalt save thy wife?
In other words, hey, spouse, you know, have some hope.
that because you're saved, and yeah, maybe your marriage seems to be on the rocks,
maybe you're going through a tough time, it's likely that your spouse will be saved.
You say, well, you don't know my wife, yeah, but I know the Bible though.
You don't know my husband, yeah, but I know the promises of God though.
And according to the Bible, it is likely that they can get saved.
We have to follow and have faith in the Bible that it is true, okay?
Let's skip down some verses here. Go to verse number, go to verse 39, if you would.
Actually, go to verse 26, sorry.
Verse 26, it goes on to say here,
art thou bound unto a wife, seek not to be loosed,
art thou loosed from a wife, seek not a wife,
and this is the verse that everyone misconstrues, okay?
Verse 28, but and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned.
So people often misinterpret this to say,
well, it's saying here that we shouldn't get divorced,
but if we do get divorced and we get remarried, we've not sinned.
Because it says here that, you know,
if you're loose from your wife, seek not a wife,
but and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned.
But that is not what the passage is teaching.
And folks, let me explain to you why it's not teaching that,
because if it did, it would be contradicting
the actual chapter itself and the rest of the Bible.
Okay, the Bible does not contradict itself.
What is it saying here?
Well, let me interpret it for you.
In verse 27, he goes on to say,
Art thou bound unto a wife, seek not to be loosed.
In other words, if you are married,
you're bound by the law,
you shouldn't be looking for a way out.
Oh, let me just figure something out.
Let me just finagle my way out of this marriage.
Let me just look for an excuse to leave my spouse. Let me just look for an excuse to leave my wife seek not to be loosed
But then he says art thou loose from a wife seek not a wife now in its context
To be bound means that they're bound by the law and how what's the only way to be loosed from that boundary death
Right, so he's saying here if you're loose from your wife meaning your wife died
Okay, he's saying here. Don't seek another wife. Now
He goes on the same verse 28 though, but if they'll marry that house not sin
Why because he's allowed to if he wants to
If he wants to remarry because his spouse has died, according to Romans chapter 7, he's been
loosed from the law of his wife, therefore he is given permission to once again marry.
So if that's the case, why does the apostle Paul say in verse 27, Arthur, I loosed from
my wife, seek not a wife?
Let me explain to you.
Look at verse number 6.
He says in verse six of 1 Corinthians seven,
but I speak this by permission and not of commandment,
for I would that all men were even as I myself.
Now, what does he mean by that?
Single.
Apostle Paul never married, right?
And he's like, if we're up to me,
I think everyone should just remain as I am single.
Now, that's crazy, and I'm glad it's just his opinion,
Like Paul, you're writing a lot of stuff, bro,
but you know, I don't know about that.
He says for I would that all men were even as I myself, but every man had this proper gift of God
One after this manner and another after that now the reason he's saying it's better to remain as he is
It's because of the fact that
Because he's single he's able to tend to the things of the Lord without distraction
He's able to go on missions trips and win a bunch of people to Christ
He's able to suffer persecution and not have to worry about his wife worrying about him dying or whatever
He doesn't have children that he has to provide for he has more time to invest into the things of God
Because he's unmarried you understand what I'm saying. So that's the reason he says in verse 28
Art thou loose for a wife seek not a wife. Why because if you're unmarried you can do more for God
However, if you decide to get married after your spouse died, you have every right to
do so because you're loose from the law of the boundaries of your spouse.
You're no longer under those rules.
And then look at verse 39.
Skip down to verse 39.
It says, the wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives.
Isn't that what we saw in Romans chapter 7?
But, and if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will only
in the Lord.
So God is specifically saying here, if the husband dies, if the wife dies, she has the
liberty, she has God's blessing to get married to someone else, someone else, he has the
liberty to get married to someone else.
The only stipulation, the only condition is that she has to get married to a Christian.
He has to marry a Christian, right?
Okay, and and folks let me just say this save means like you've checked on their salvation and they have the right gospel
Not just because they have Christian in their bio or something like that. Okay?
But then he look what he says in verse 40, but she is happier if she so abide after my judgments
And I think also that I have the spirit of God
So he's basically saying yeah, they can remarry, but I'll just be honest with you'll be better
She just remains single like I'm single and you know, you know, I just think that I just got the spirit of God
I know what I'm talking about. That's what he's saying now obviously
Thousands of people millions of people have not listened to the apostle Paul
in this particular regard some have some have not and it's okay because the Bible gives wiggle room
in this particular area for people to remarry if their spouse has passed away go to Romans chapter
seven if you would Romans chapter seven now of course this coincides with Matthew chapter five
it coincides with Matthew chapter 19
the fact that Jesus Christ himself was against divorce.
He was against putting away.
Romans 7 and 1 Corinthians 7 just gives more details
regarding the specifics of what were to happen
if a spouse dies, if they're allowed to marry thereafter.
But I think we can all walk away from this sermon
recognizing it's never permissible
to get remarried after a divorce.
Amen.
Okay.
And again, I know there's people that are divorced in our church and you know for a fact that I'm not preaching against you
I hope you know that okay?
You better know that because I'm not
It's just something that is so prevalent in our society
That if I don't preach on it if I don't educate the church on it
Then all of a sudden people start getting these wild ideas
They start making permission for getting remarried and look folks. I understand well
I don't understand but I get it that you know divorce people are lonely. I get it
For sure, okay. I know that that's the case. I know it's hard, but it doesn't make it right to do though
Okay, it doesn't make it right and
You know, I'm pastoring your church of a lot of first-generation Christians
And I thank God for that, but let's just be honest
You know, we need to make sure that we prepare the next generation to have these built-in convictions
Where this is not an issue in the coming years
Because unfortunately, folks, it is an issue right now.
Even in our churches, it is an issue sometimes.
It is.
I hate to be that blunt about it, but it is an issue.
And we want to make sure that we just drive this home,
that you're teaching your children.
You're teaching your children not to quit on marriage.
You're teaching your children till death do us part.
This is what the Bible says.
It's not just mom and dad's preference.
It's their conviction.
But kids, let me show you what the Bible says about this.
One day you will marry.
You're going to go through problems.
You're going to experience hardships.
And the answer is not throw in the towel and get a divorce.
That's not the way it works.
Don't quit your marriage the way you quit a job,
just because it's hard.
Okay. Oh, you don't know my wife. Yeah, but you know what other people have had worse wives
You don't know my husband true
but you know other people have had a worse husbands than you've had and
You know what there's people who've been married for decades on end going through some of the worst possible trials the worst
Tribulations and they pushed through and you know what they had the conviction till death do us part. Okay
Now what does that have to do with Roman 7?
Well, nothing is just really good to preach about. Amen. I'm just kidding. It has a lot to do with it
Okay, because what the apostle Paul is getting at here is that?
He's giving a parallel between being under the law with being married
Okay, so just as the woman is bound by the law unto her husband
until he dies, then she's loose from that law and she could be married to another in like manner because we have died, right?
We are crucified with Christ. We're no longer under the bounds of the law either.
Now we have the liberty, so to speak, in a symbolic manner to be married unto Christ and to bear fruit unto him.
You say, I don't know, that's a stretch. Well, it literally says that in verse 4.
It says, wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ.
That ye should be married to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that
we should bring forth fruit unto God, the Bible says.
So just as the woman whose husband died, now she's no longer under that
Old Covenant so to speak in like manner. We're not under the Old Covenant either because we've been crucified with Christ
We are married into Christ
Which is why the New Testament refers to Christians as being the what the bride of Christ
Who is essentially given to Christ as a chaste virgin? Okay, so it's a beautiful picture here to help us to realize
Like hey, don't be an adult a spiritual adulteress
by continuing to go back under the law obeying the works of the flesh being someone who is
essentially taking themselves from out from under grace and allowing yourself to be subject to
the desires of the flesh and of the mind okay that's what he's saying here look at verse number five
he says for when we were in the flesh the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our
But now we are delivered from the law that being dead wherein we were held that we should serve in newness of spirit
And not in the oldness of the letter again making the connection of the oldness of the letters referring to the old covenant
Old Testament we should serve in the newness of the spirit as it says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3
Verse 7 what shall we say then is the law sin now?
This is an important question because you know obviously we know that we're not under the law we're under grace
We understand that we're not saved by the law
We understand we're not justified by the keeping of the law
But we never want to have this attitude that the law is evil though
Right. We never want to think oh man because I'm not under the law. I'm under grace. Therefore the law is bad
Okay, because he says that which I would say then is the law sin. God forbid
Nay, I had not known sin
But by the law now let me explain to you why I love verse number seven
because sometimes you'll run into these Hebrew roots type people
who will say, well, when the Bible says that we're not under the law,
it's referring to, you know, it's not necessarily referring to like sin,
it's not referring to the breaking of the Ten Commandments.
Well, here it says,
for I had not known lust,
except the law has said, thou shalt not covet.
That's the Ten Commandments right there, right?
So he's saying here, you know, we should not despise the law because the law, if it weren't for the law, we wouldn't have known what sin is.
By definition, according to God, we wouldn't have known the standard of God were it not for the law.
And what I believe that the Apostle Paul is addressing here is the age of accountability, okay?
And a lot of people, you know, they have navel-gazing questions about the age of accountability.
What age is it?
You know, is it five?
Is it six?
And the answer is we don't know because the Bible doesn't give us a specific age.
The age is whatever age you're at when you realize I've sinned against God.
And for some it's different than others, right?
Some people come to that knowledge of sin earlier in life, some later on in life.
Some never come to that understanding.
right who have a child a mind of a child and they're 30 years old they never
understand what sin is and this is why I believe the Bible says that he's the
savior of all men but especially those that believe
because someone who is mentally handicapped,
they can't necessarily,
they don't have the mental faculties
to understand the concepts of sin and salvation,
God is their savior.
So if that person dies, they will go to heaven
because they're incapable of believing,
because they're incapable of understanding what sin is.
Okay, that make sense to everyone?
So we're saying here, you know,
I had not known sin were not for the law,
essentially expressing what sin is,
what covetousness is, what lust is, verse number eight.
taken occasion by the commandment,
raw in me all manner of concupiscence,
for without the law sin was dead."
And what he means by without the law sin was dead,
he's essentially saying that he wasn't awakened to sin,
so to speak, because he didn't necessarily know
what the standard of God was.
Once he was exposed to the standard of God,
then he recognized how much of a sinner he actually was.
This is what it means when it says that it takes occasion, it took the opportunity by
the commandment to bring within him all manner of concupiscence.
You see, most people in this world understand that lying is a sin.
They understand that adultery is a sin, murder is a sin.
But when you actually bring the standard of God to them and explain them the standard
of God, then they realize how much of a sinner they actually are.
But what if you show them that it's so simple that it was actually punishable by death in the Old Testament?
Then they're like, oh dang it's exceeding simple, right?
So the laws never meant to save anybody it's just meant to essentially strip you of your righteousness and
Help you to realize how bad the situation actually is
Because everyone agrees that we're sinners. I mean most people that we run into out door knocking
We talk about that first point. It's not hard at all
And let me just say this,
you shouldn't spend too much time on that first point, right?
Cause it just doesn't need to be like driven in so much.
It's just like, hey, for all I've seen
and come short of the glory of God,
lying is a sin, I've lied, you've lied.
Can we just move on with our lives
and recognize there were sinners?
And most of them, they're just like, yeah,
that's it for sure.
The only time, you know,
you don't run into someone like that
is when they're self-righteous.
They're like a Pentecostal or something like that.
And they're not willing to admit it or something.
They're just like, oh, I've never seen it in my life.
And there's people out there like that, but in general people are willing to just concede to that and they recognize I'm a sinner
However, it's when they actually begin to see the laws of God and how wicked lying is in the Bible how evil
Fornication is how evil adultery is, you know, whosoever keepeth the whole law yet offend in one point. He's guilty of all
You know James 2-10 then they realized like oh man, you know God's standard is essentially perfection
Okay, he says in verse 9 for I was alive without the law once
Now I do believe that he's referring to himself in this particular verse
possibly as a child
Because what this is teaching here is that he's saying that the law is essentially responsible for killing him
Okay
Because once the law is brought to him, hey, you know, thou shalt not covet, the law essentially, you know, brings concupiscence.
It helps him to recognize the standard of God and thereby slays him, which is why Ephesians 2 says that we are what?
Dead in our trespasses and sin.
Now, you're not born dead, right?
When a child comes into this world, they're 100% innocent.
They don't know, obviously they have the corruptible flesh, but they don't have the knowledge of sin.
And so they're essentially alive unto God still.
And this is why we don't baptize babies.
Catholics and Presbyterians, Lutherans, they all practice the ungodly practice of baptizing babies
because they believe you have to wash away the original sin of the baby
because if the baby dies in that condition without getting baptized, they're going to go to hell.
But that's obviously complete nonsense.
There's no example in the Bible of any baby in the Bible getting baptized.
There's zero examples of that.
Only adults.
And look, folks, the prerequisite to getting baptized in the Bible is believing.
A baby cannot believe.
They can't understand these biblical concepts.
So, therefore, God essentially allows them to be born innocent, alive, and it's when
they grow up at whatever age their conscience is awakened by the law that their spirit is
slain.
And this is why all babies go to heaven.
When children die, obviously, I'm specifically referring to babies, they go to heaven.
We have that example in the Bible of King David losing his son.
He said, I shall go to him, but he shall not return unto me, indicating that the child
was saved, not because he believed in the Lord, but because he was alive, spiritually speaking.
Okay, so the Apostle Paul saying here I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came meaning the commandment was given to him
Sin revived and I died. He didn't die physically. He died spiritually. His spirit was slain
Verse 10 and the commandment
Which was ordained to life I found to be into death now. What is he talking about verse number 10?
Well, obviously the Apostle Paul prior to salvation was a Pharisee
And as a Pharisee believed that the commandment could give life,
he was depending on the keeping of the commandments
for life, right?
But it's not until he realized that the commandment
actually slew him, it revived, he died,
and that which he thought was ordained to life
was actually something that killed him,
which is what he says in verse 11,
for sin taken occasion by the commandment,
deceived me and by it slew me.
Now it's not the law's fault,
that he's deceived, right?
It was Judaism's fault.
It's the false teacher's fault.
Misusing the law to essentially teach
that you can be saved by the law.
But the Bible clearly says,
therefore we conclude that it managed justified by faith
without the deeds of the law.
So there's enough in the Bible
to essentially show us that the law cannot save us,
that the law is our school master
to bring us unto Christ
that we might be justified by the law,
It's those who take the law, those who desire to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm, they abuse the law and try to teach that you need the law in order to be saved.
And this is something that was prevalent in the Apostle Paul's day, but it's also prevalent today. People saying that you have to keep the law in order to be saved, okay?
So he's saying there that it deceived him and it slew him, meaning it killed his spirit.
It goes on to say, verse 12,
wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy
and just and good.
Was then that which is good made death unto me,
God forbid, but sin that it might appear sin,
working death in me by that which is good,
that sin by the commandment might become,
listen to this, exceeding sinful.
And look, folks, this is why it's important
that we talk about the laws of God.
Why? Because people obviously understand what sin is, but we want them to know the exceeding sinfulness of breaking the law, though.
He says, by the commandment, sin became exceeding sinful.
And look, when we were out zoning in Mexico yesterday, I was witnessing to a group of three people, and they're about 55 to 65 years of age.
Two of them got saved, the male did not get saved.
He was a major scornor and he was interrupting me
the entire time and I had to like just sharply rebuke him
and just kind of shame him in front of the ladies
because the dude was just not letting me preach the God
and these ladies were very receptive
like they wanted to hear the truth.
And you know, somehow he just brought up
the subject of sodomites.
And you know, I'm just like, oh man,
And I'm just I'm and I just quoted Leviticus 2013 to them like well, that's what the Bible says and they just they just lost their minds
Like no way you just said that
I'm like what's what the Bible says
And he's like are you trying to tell me that you would kill a homeless?
I'm like I never said I would kill any homeless. What do you the Bible says that that's what they deserve
through the hand of a righteous and just government
who would institute that punishment
for that capital crime.
That's what the Bible's teaching.
And he was just like livid.
He could not believe it.
And I said this, I said,
I said, you know, you understand the sodomy is evil.
It's wicked.
They're like, yeah.
I'm like, but showing you Leviticus 23 and 13
shows you how wicked it really is though.
Because it's showing you that it's exceeding sinful, you know, as proven by the fact that it deserves the death penalty
You know people like oh, it's a city. It's not just the sin. It's a capital crime
Punishable by death according to the Bible, okay, and I know a lot of Christians they know I can't believe that you know
Because they got you know a queer cousin or something like that folks. It doesn't chase what the Bible says
But see like if that offends you it's because you knew it was sin
But you didn't until was compared to the commandment of the Lord now you recognize the exceeding sinfulness of that sin
So that's why it's important for us to read the Word of God because naturally instinctively we know what sin is
Because as it says in Romans chapter 2 that the law of God is written in our hearts
Right their conscience also bearing witness their thoughts to meanwhile accusing us excusing one another
We know what is right and what is wrong. However one compared to the Word of God. We see the severity of that particular sin
And that's what he's saying here.
He says that it might become exceeding sinful.
This is why it's important for us to discuss the laws of God,
the standard of God, and what the Bible says.
He goes on to say in verse 14,
But we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin.
So what makes the law deceive the apostle Paul?
Is it the law, is the law deceptive?
No, it's the carnality of the apostle Paul.
Which is why his flesh is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be
Because of the fact that it's contrary to the laws of God
So he says look the law is spiritual. There's nothing wicked about the law. He says I'm just carnal
And you know that folks this is why people out there hate the laws of God because they're not saved and
Those who are saved who are constantly making excuses for the law are just carnal
Because they're viewing the laws of God through their carnality,
but the Bible says that the law is holy, just, and good.
It's right in the eyes of God,
and we should love and embrace it and recognize how valuable it is.
So now he goes into the duality of what he experiences as a Christian.
And I love this passage because anybody who reads it knows exactly how this feels.
Because look, the Apostle Paul, you know, someone say he's the greatest Christian of the New Testament.
We don't know, but we would surmise he's a great Christian for sure.
He's an awesome believer. He loves the Lord, but as great as the Apostle Paul is, even he struggled with sin.
Okay, how do we know? Look what it says, verse 15,
For that which I do, I allow not.
For what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. Now say that five times fast, right?
What he's saying the things that I want to do I don't do and the things that I don't want to do referring to sin
The things that I hate that I do
So he's saying here that there's this constant battle within himself
struggling between the members of his body
Referring to his sinful flesh and what the new man desires
Now this is showing us that you know, it's not just wanting to do that
Which is right because even if you want to do that which is right sometimes you can't
Right
Sometimes people are like oh man, I just I have a desire to do the right thing
I have a desire to read the Bible have a desire to go to church, but sometimes I just don't do those things
Well, it's because you have a sin nature
Okay, and this is important for Christians to understand just in general because of the fact that there's a lot of false doctrine out there
That tries to claim that once you get saved you come with batteries included
You're never going to sin, you're never going to struggle,
you're just as soon as you get saved, you're just good to go,
you're just the holy saint, and if you commit sin it's just an indicator that you're never safe to begin with.
You know, the deliverance doctrine.
But the Apostle Paul was one of the godliest Christians of the New Testament
specifically expressed the fact that the things that he doesn't want to do he ends up doing.
Why? Because of the fact that he's carnal, he's fleshly.
He has the members of his body warned against him.
He goes on to say in verse 16,
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
So he's saying, look, if I end up doing the things that I shouldn't do that I don't want to do,
I'm essentially validating that the law is true.
Because the law says for all of sin to come short of the glory of God
The law says there's none that do with good. No, not what the law says there's not a just man that do with good
Upon her to do with good and sin is not and this is why it says like God be true in every man liar
That I might as be justified in nice sayings and might as over come when thou are judged
Basically saying no matter how much you want to do the right thing. It doesn't really matter
You're gonna end up doing wrong and by doing so you're agreeing that the law is true. Okay?
He's like, oh man, you know, I think the law can save.
And you know, and I think that, you know,
yeah, you can keep the law and you don't have to break the law.
Well, you just lied right there
and you just consent until the law that it is good.
You just validated, you just landed veracity to the law
that essentially exposed your sinfulness
by that very statement, okay?
He says here in verse number 17 now then it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me now
He's not bucking the responsibility by the way
Okay, he's not saying like oh man, it's not my fault. You know the devil made me do it
He just saying there's another nature that I have that it's committing this sin and this coincides with first John chapter 3
Who serve his blood born of God does not commit sin and what's the aspect of our being that's born of God is the Spirit?
The Spirit, the new man, does not sin.
It's the flesh that sins, which is why he says that it is no more I that do it.
The real apostle pause, not the one committing these sins,
it's the sin that dwells within him.
And as we're going to see in the next verse, he's referring to his flesh.
He says in verse 18,
For I know that it in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing,
for to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good, I find not.
Now, this is important, folks, because, listen to me,
this week you're going to be tempted to sin.
This week you're going to be tempted to become carnal and fleshly,
and you're going to have the will.
This sermon, hopefully, gives you the will to do right, right?
Like, oh, man, I want to do right.
I want to abstain from the works of the flesh.
I want to read my Bible.
I want to go to church.
I want to please God.
Yeah, but the Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak, though.
So you need to make sure you give yourself a fighting chance.
How do you give yourself a fighting chance?
Well, how about you wake up tomorrow morning
and actually read your Bible?
And not dust off your Bible on Sunday mornings.
Let's get some preaching in.
Now, why don't you actually wake up tomorrow morning
and walk in the Spirit so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh?
See, the will to do right is actually not that hard.
Everyone wants to do right.
Bro the drug addict down the street wants to get off of drugs
Eventually, you know, he gets tired of it the crackhead eventually wants to get off of crack
You know the obese individual wants to lose weight
There's always a will
But how to perform that which is good you sometimes don't find and
This is why other portions of the Bible tell us how to perform that which is good
How do we do it? Well, you got to give yourself a fighting chance by actually reading the Bible first thing in the morning
Praying first thing in the morning, but let me give you just like the coup d'aigreau
To overcoming sin in your personal life get away from it
Stop playing with it
It's just like oh man. I just want to do right. I just keep doing wrong
Well, is it because you're just constantly around that sin?
You're constantly placing yourself in the presence of temptation.
You're constantly idle and lazy.
You're constantly watching the things you shouldn't watch,
listening to things you shouldn't be listening to,
hanging around the people you shouldn't be hanging around with.
Yeah, that's why you're not winning.
You're taking all these L's in life.
Not because you don't have the will to do what you're supposed to do but because you keep placing yourself in a situation
Where you're making provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. It's not rocket science
You know it actually does not take an excellent Christian to not sin. It just takes a common sense Christian sometimes
If you struggle with alcohol, don't keep alcohol on your house
Plain and simple if you struggle with smoking marijuana then throw the bag of marijuana out of your house
I was gonna say burn it, but don't burn it cuz you know that might be kind of productive, you know
Throw it away go throw it in the trash
Get rid of it
Look one of the best things that I did just to even just lose weight it just get rid of all the goodies in the house
You know, and I have a long list of goodies like
Just you know, there's just basically there's just no food in the house
Because anything that's food is a goodie to me
You know, but just removing yourself from the from the temptation from the presence of sin
Will help you to overcome sin. So look folks, you know, the will is not hard
The will is always present because the spirit always always willing
The new man always wants to read the Bible
The new man always wants to hear preaching of God's word
The new man always wants to do that which is right in the sight of the Lord
The problem is is that you keep feeding the flesh and the more you feed the appetites of the flesh
The more likely it is that you'll give in to the desires of the flesh and of the mind and you'll be weak as a Christian
It doesn't take an excellent Christian to overcome sin. It just takes a common sense Christian
Don't make provision for the flesh to fulfill the luster of walking a spirit by doing what you know
You're supposed to do, you know go in a church exhorting yourself making sure that you're
Singing hymns and thinking the right thoughts, but how about the other side where you just remove yourself from the presence of sin?
Like oh man, I just you know
Yeah, but I'm just trying to win my friends to Christ and they just always have alcohol and sometimes I'm just there with them
Then get rid of your friends make some new ones
Yeah, but I have a really big peace pass around compassion this morning
I just got a lot of compassion this morning for for my friends, you know
Well, why don't you just give them the gospel and if they reject it just move on with your life. How about that?
How about that? How about you just ditch the seven-week discipleship program?
Hey, by the way, why don't you just go ahead and ditch the girlfriend that's causing you to sin. How about that?
And look folks, let me just share a little personal test when I first got saved
You know I had a lot of bad friends in my life. I had bad friends that were girls in my life
Believe it or not. I know it's I know you don't believe it. It's true. It's true
And you know, I knew though. I knew when I first got saved
I thought to myself like these people are gonna like drag me down. I got good momentum right now and
I had I had one particular friend. She was a girl and and we were really good friends
And I thought to myself like if I continue with this relationship as a Christian eventually I'm gonna get out of church
So I basically told her like hey, I don't mind hanging out with you
But if you're gonna hang out with me you got to be in church though
So, you know where you know where to find me 10 30 5 p.m.
7 o'clock Thursday Bible study those two that's three hours a day
And you know she hung for about two months, but after a while the preaching just was not cutting it for her
And she ended up leaving well by Felicia
See ya.
And you know what, just to make sure, because you know, obviously, I'm like a single guy
at the time.
I had just gotten saved.
My parents aren't in church.
They're not making me go to church.
I'm getting myself out of bed to go to church.
I'm making myself do right in the eyes of the Lord.
Well, after a while, you know, you can get tired and discouraged, and temptation can
creep in.
And you know what, I got all these numbers on here on my phone, all these people that
I used to know, all these girls that I used to know.
You know what I did?
I, number one, deleted all their numbers, and number two, I got a new phone number.
That's what you call not making provision for the flesh.
So when, you know, an old Brucey boy, the old man wants to get in contact, not my son,
not that Brucey boy, you know, when the old man wants to get in contact with old girls,
Even if I wanted to you know why because the wheel is present, but you know what?
I also figured out how to perform that which is good as well
and
Let me just say this. I don't care how long I and look I had some close friends, too
Both guys and girls really close friends
I burned those bridges
Why because I knew that they can hinder my momentum in the Lord
I knew for a fact that if I just if I had a discouraging day if I had a hard time
I know my flesh I know that in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing and
So I didn't do it because I was a good Christian. I just had common sense
What am I trying to tell you get some common sense about yourself?
And look folks, hey Christians, hey young Christians out there, get yourself a girlfriend
who's actually planning to marry you, get yourself a boyfriend who's actually planning
to marry you, and you know, actually desires the things of God.
Has an appetite for righteousness, not for godlessness.
Hey why don't you find yourself someone who actually tells you to go to church if it's
a dude.
You know and and actually wants to do the things of God who's not just using you for your body
Using you for your money using you for whatever just for companionship
Why don't you actually find someone who's actually interested in the things of God and is pushing you to serving God?
Not drinking alcohol not smoking weed not you know missing church
Find yourself a righteous, babe
a righteous, bro
Someone who actually loves the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, you know, it's easy for you to say you're married.
Yeah.
But I found her in church, though.
So what are you going to say?
And here's the thing, folks, is that the devil can often lie to you
and say, well, you're not going to find anybody.
So just go on Tinder or something.
Christian Tinder, is that the thing?
Tinder, is that what it is?
Or is that the gay one?
Which one's?
It's Tinder, right?
Don't act like you don't know,
you all know what Tinder is.
What?
E-Harmony, new IFB singles,
or no, I'm just kidding.
That's even a thing anymore.
You know, let me just find someone online, folks.
And let me just also say, let me just park it right here
for just a minute, okay?
Stop using dating sites to find people
and just find people face to face.
Okay?
But let's just be honest with you, these are all fornicating websites is what they are exactly what they are
You know it. I know it. Stop being ignorant about it. Stop being an idiot about it
Stop going on these dating websites thinking that you're gonna find yourself a godly Christian girl
And you just end up fornicating instead
Stop making provision for the flesh
You know have some common sense about yourself, why don't you actually just pray unto the Lord and say just send me a girl God, please
So that I don't go on tinder
Because tenders just ruining my life
You know, oh, no, no, you they have the categories there, you know Baptist reform
You know, the only thing they don't have is KJV only
Or soul winning
Christians go on those on those I'm not saying everyone. Okay. I gotta be careful
Not everyone, but you know what? I guarantee you a lot of Christians go there just to kind of appease their conscience
Conscience so that you know they just find someone they're like oh no, and then it ends up being really bad
Because you know they don't agree doctrinally. They don't go to the same church
They have different beliefs or they're both just really carnal people who get together and they end up sinning together
I'm preaching on Roman 7 I know
But but this is part of Roman 7. I'm just trying to teach you
I'm trying to tell you look we all have the will to do right
You know how I know you have the will because you have the spirit of God dwelling within you
That's not hard to do like oh, I just want to do right. Do you do everyone does I?
Don't want to get fat. I
Want to exercise I want to we all have the will to do right. That's not hard to do bro
You're not getting a cookie or a ribbon for having the will to do right
You shall not be praised for wanting to do right.
Why? Because we all have that will.
Because we all have the spirit of God dwelling within us.
Folks, the challenge is how to perform that which is good.
And I get it, sometimes we're not gonna find it
because we have this corruptible flesh.
We have the members warring in our body.
I understand that.
But in general, the Bible lays out the principles needed.
in order to war against the members of our body and succeed.
And the main thing I'm trying to say tonight
is stop making provision for the flesh.
And here's the provision.
People sometimes are the provision, okay?
Don't deceive yourself.
Don't be a person who's self-deceived into thinking,
I can change her.
I can change him.
If only they'll just, hey, if they've been coming for quite some time and they're still
carnal and fleshly, drinking, smoking, running with those to do, the nine and a half needs
to be, you know, whatever size you are, needs to be instituted, they need to hit the road.
Why?
Because your spiritual life is far more valuable than some little relationship you got going
on that's driving you far further away from the Lord and it's not getting you in church.
And this is what I told my friends the same thing.
I said, hey, and these are friends like close friends,
ride or die kind of friends, you know?
Like Pastor Shelly was talking about the ride or die friends,
the rough ride or friends.
These are the ride or die friends.
And you know what?
I told them, if you're really my friends,
you'll come to church with me
and we'll do this church thing together.
They're like, peace.
I'm like, all right, though no one joined me
still I will follow though.
I'm just thinking your loss.
And you know what, any other person that I met thereafter,
whether at my job or amongst other people,
I told them I'm a Christian, I'm a fundamental Baptist,
I go to church, and so if you wanna hang out with me,
here's an invitation to our church,
this is where you'll find me.
And look, maybe I was a little extreme.
I'll give you that.
I was a tad bit extreme, for sure.
But maybe that's the reason I'm at where I'm at.
I don't know, because, quite frankly, I didn't hang out with anybody outside of church.
I just didn't, because I knew myself.
I knew I could get dragged back into the world.
I'm a first-generation Christian.
And so, you know...
The point that I'm making here is that the Apostle Paul is telling us that we need to recognize that there is a battle going on within us
Don't glory in the fact that you have the will to do right
I hate the burst your little bubble here
We all got the will to do right because we got the spirit of God willing within us if we're saved
It's figuring out how to perform that which is good and that's not in the sermon. Obviously. I said a lot about that
You can read that in Romans chapter 8
The point that I'm making here, in Roman chapter, I'm done.
Let's eat some Greek food.
Let's feed the flesh, amen.
The point that I'm making here, if you walk away with anything
in this sermon, walk away with this,
you got the will of great.
That just means you're saved.
So that's good.
But let's actually figure out a way
to perform that, which is good.
stop falling into the same trap over and over again of getting involved in the
same sin making provision for the flesh just constantly going back to that
vice constantly returning back to the vomit to constantly going back and and
surround yourself with the people who actually make you a better Christian not
a lower-grade Christian not a lower quality of Christian I want people I
want to be surrounded by people who are either just like me or better than me
I want people who make me better, or who I can make better.
But not people who are like, hey,
how about we skip church this week?
What do you think about just like,
let's just go to the beach and skip church.
Why don't you just skip church, and I'm going to church?
And by the way, it's over.
We're breaking up.
But you don't have the guts, do you?
You don't have the guts, you know, maybe you do need to get some will in you to do that
Let's pray father. We thank you so much for your word
We're thankful for the word of God that shows us the ways of righteousness Lord
Pray help us Lord as we battle the flesh tomorrow is a new day to fight the flesh
The old man the old Bruce Mejias is gonna seek to take me down
And I need to make sure that I wage war on this corruptible body as I read the word of God, as I
memorize and meditate on scripture, as I cast down imaginations.
And Lord, thank you for providing the will, but I also pray that you'd provide how to perform that which is good.
And thank you for a church for those who exhort one another into the ways of righteousness.
Bless us as we go on our way. Bless the meal. We love you. We thank you. Pray the six in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. Song number 169 as our last song. Come Thou Fount. Song number 169.
Song number 169. We'll see you on that first verse.
Come Thou Fount of every blessing. To my heart to sing Thy praise.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above.
Raise the mountain, mix the panic, Mount of thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I'm come,
And I know by Thy good pleasure, safely I'll arrive at home.
Jesus sawed me when a stranger wandering by.
from danger. Interposes fresh as blood. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor. I'm constrained
to be. Let thy goodness, like a feather, find my one dream, art to thee. Pro to all
throne to leave the God I love. Here I come, Lord, taking sealant, sealing for thy courts
above. Amen. Wonderful singing. You are dismissed.