WEBVTT 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:41.200 Where we were last Sunday. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.600 Luke chapter 9, starting with verse 22. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:59.439 And he said, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed, and on the third day be raised to life. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:10.079 Then he said to them all, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, and take up their cross daily and follow me. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:18.640 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:24.159 And now over in Romans chapter six. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:42.319 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, for we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.200 Death no longer has mastery over him. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:51.040 The death that he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:54.560 In the same way. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:01.920 Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:09.759 And a couple pages beyond the first two verses of Romans chapter 8. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:26.639 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:46.879 I mentioned last week that Pastor Jason has allowed me a couple of Sundays in a row to share some things with you, and that I have been led to share some things about what the Lord has been teaching me as of late about the day-to-day Christian life. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:54.719 I want to hasten to say that you should in no way take me to be saying that I have arrived myself, because I have not. 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:59.919 I am on this journey of learning how to live in Christ myself. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:13.199 But I will say that the Lord is giving me a bit of a better understanding of what this means, this day-to-day life in Christ, and a better understanding of what we should be aspiring to. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:25.039 But as I said last week, I have I have really struggled with putting these two sermons together more than I have before when I've been privileged to stand here. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:34.800 Part of it's been because I tried, I had too many issues in mind, and that's a recipe for disaster when you put a sermon together. 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:43.360 But it's also because a couple of the issues I'm dealing with seem so unrelated at first blush, but they are quite related, in fact. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:51.680 And I'll be honest, I was naive enough to try to put a lot of things together and thought that I could do it in just a couple sermons. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:04:03.439 But when I listened back to my sermon from last week, um I will tell you that I was tremendously unimpressed with my flow of that sermon. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:10.479 But that was not the Lord's fault, that was my fault, and I feel that he wants me to press on in the same area. 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:15.759 So we're going to do that, but I want to review last week very quickly. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:25.439 Frankly, this whole thing that I'm trying to share with you began some months ago with conversations with three other dear, dear brothers in the Lord. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:35.600 Guys who are much younger Christians than I am, but guys that when I am with them, I feel like the apprentice. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:37.600 I really do. 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:41.120 These guys have gone far and they've gone deep. 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:45.199 And I'm learning things from the Lord through them. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:51.439 We talk a lot about a lot of things, and we talk regularly, and one of the things we've talked about is the state of the church in America. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:57.199 And when I talk about church today now, I'm not going to be talking necessarily about this local body. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.079 We're not perfect here, don't get me wrong. 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:07.199 And I'm very thankful for this church because this is a church where the name of Jesus Christ is still lifted up. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:13.199 And we are still encouraged to walk day by day in the power of the Spirit. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:15.920 But that's not the way it is all over, is it? 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:26.319 And we have noticed these guys and I who have talked, occasionally we talk about this and we say, man, the church is getting so secularized today. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:34.480 It has become so terribly, terribly influenced by both the opinions and the behavior of the society around us. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:36.160 Let me give you an example. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:44.879 Two years ago, 2017, study is done amongst self-professing evangelicals. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:45.600 Okay. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:52.959 Twenty-four percent of them believe that there is spiritual energy in physical objects. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:55.360 Seriously? 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.519 Thirty-three percent believe in psychics. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:06.959 19% believe in reincarnation, and 18% believe in astrology. 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:09.439 I think that's astonishing. 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:28.079 And the church itself seems to have responded by just over-emphasizing and becoming at least as focused on entertaining people and setting attendance records rather than saving souls and building them up in Christ. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:38.879 Gospel seems to often be preached as a loose philosophy that offers a happier, more abundant life, neither of which are defined biblically. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:52.560 That instead of offering the historic death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, as the solution to our personal sin problem. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:07:02.160 And in addition, when people are saved, it seems they are often just dropped off and say, Well, have a good time. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:14.319 And little or no instruction is given as to how to live the Christian life day by day, in and of the power of the Holy Spirit and led by Him. 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:19.040 And all of this leads me to wonder, how in the world did we get so off track? 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:21.279 What is wrong or what is missing? 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:23.680 I don't know which question is the proper one. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:35.279 But when we compare this to the New Testament church, what we read about in Acts or what we read about the church in church history, where is the power? 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.319 Where is the attitude that we are just aliens passing through this place? 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:41.759 What's happened? 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:49.519 What's happened to the notion of a daily walk with the Lord and the pursuit of inner holiness? 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:53.839 Where is it that we're going off the rails? 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:55.279 Or what is it that's wrong? 00:07:55.439 --> 00:08:01.920 And these are some of the things that have fostered what I'm trying to communicate today and last Sunday. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:11.519 And there are several things that are worthy of discussion, I think, and they've been hard for me to put together and make them flow at all. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:15.199 But I've tried to get it down to two things this morning, okay? 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:33.519 And the first is this whether it is the church overall or us as individuals, whether or not we use fancy terms like worldview or framework or things like that, we need to go to the scriptures and find the truth about what is. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:34.639 What is? 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:38.000 What are we? 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:39.279 Who are we? 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:59.200 Because unless we get those things straight, we're bound to go off the rails, both the Christian church and the individual Christian, because the Bible's instructions, its admonitions, even its promises will not make as much sense as they should or could if we had it right. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:08.399 And the second thing, and I think it's closely related, is that we need to see what the Bible says about how we ought to live as Christians. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:12.080 What is the life that Jesus Christ calls us to? 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:13.120 What does it look like? 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:14.559 How do you do it? 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:19.440 What does true spirituality look like? 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:26.320 And again, this is no place for speculation or opinion. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:30.320 We need to go to the Word of God and see what it says. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:41.440 So last Sunday we took a quick look at a passage from Luke that described the sermon or the uh the Mount of Transfiguration episode. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:45.200 And the reason we did that was because it's full of a lot of stuff. 00:09:45.360 --> 00:10:00.320 It's not exhaustive, but it does give us some observations we can make, and we can say it, well, this must be true and that must be true, and we can set those things up, and then we can compare those things to what society is trying to tell us. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:13.039 Some of the things that we that we found are they bear on what I think and what I believe, and they certainly bear on what the man on the street may or may not think or believe, also. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:18.000 We're talking about what some of these guys call true truth. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.440 Here's some things we observed from last week. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:25.519 First of all, it's the Mount of Transfiguration, right? 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:29.200 Peter, James, and John get to go with Jesus up on a mountain. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:34.159 They get to witness him praying, they see his face radiate, his clothes radiate. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:40.240 And then two guys just show up out of nowhere, Moses and Elijah, and they talk with Jesus. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:48.080 Then a cloud comes, and the Father, God the Father, speaks through the cloud and he says, This is my beloved son, listen to him. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:51.440 And then it disappears, and they're alone with Jesus again. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:52.720 The guys are gone. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.840 I mean, that's like I said last week, that's kind of spooky. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:58.240 There's stuff going on there, right? 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:08.000 So one of the first things we can observe is, look, there is more out there than just what we can see and touch. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:14.639 We live in a world that is both seen and unseen simultaneously. 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:18.320 It is material and immaterial simultaneously. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:21.840 And there is a spiritual element to it. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:24.080 That's pretty apparent. 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:36.080 And furthermore, this unseen side of reality, tell you what, it's it's it flows right along through time and space, right with the rest of what we can see and feel and touch. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:42.399 Now, I also am convinced, as I bet you are, that the Bible is true. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:44.240 This is truth, okay? 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:55.440 So if there is a reality out there that is both seen and unseen, wouldn't it make sense that once in a while we read about some stuff that's out of the ordinary? 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:57.600 Shouldn't it? 00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:58.639 Yeah. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:11:59.759 Yeah. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:07.039 And so, since the Bible is true, we should expect to see some stuff like that. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:12.399 And frankly, there was a river and a sea that did part. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:18.159 Jonah did spend three days in the belly of a whale or a big fish. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.879 There was a worldwide flood. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.320 A virgin did conceive. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.159 God did become incarnate. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:31.919 And he died and rose again. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.960 Those things really happened. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.519 They are not just ideas. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:48.799 And the last thing we we looked at in that passage was the great care that Luke took to record what Jesus and Moses and Elijah talked about. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.720 They talked about the coming death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:53.279 Why? 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:55.200 Because they had skin in that game. 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:57.919 And it's the focal point of human history. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:00.000 It's not just an idea. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:03.759 It really happened, and our salvation depends on it. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:13.679 So from that short passage, there were things that we could observe that we could stand them up and say, how does this square with what society tries to teach us? 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:26.240 Society, on one hand, tries to teach us that we are nothing more, as I said last week, than the latest evolutionary iteration of matter plus time plus chance, and there is nothing else out there. 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:32.879 Yet at the same time, society over here says, whoa, I love this spiritual stuff. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:38.559 Dalai Lama and Anne Margaret and New Age philosophies and spiritism of every sort. 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:41.039 These don't mix. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:46.879 Those are ideas that cannot possibly exist together, but society tries to tell us that they can. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:51.759 And so we as Christians and the man on the street stand in the middle of this. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:59.279 And the man on the street who does not know Christ and doesn't follow this book has no idea what the truth can be. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:04.320 Because not only is he getting cross-mixed messages, they're wrong on both sides. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:06.879 We've got to get back to the truth. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:22.559 We've got to know what is, because unless we do, the questions we have, and the promises of Scripture and the instructions and so on and so forth will not make as much sense as they could or should. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:29.200 But sad to say, we are influenced by society, aren't we? 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:30.879 Even the churches. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:36.240 Bits and pieces of the world's philosophy seep in under the door like a fog. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:43.360 Else, why the results from the survey that I just read if that wasn't true? 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:49.279 And we as believers ought to be people that know better because we've got this book. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:55.279 And that's why last week's sermon was partially titled, What Are We? 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:56.080 Who Are We? 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:59.120 We need to know these things so we can be square. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:04.720 My grandpa used to say in Norwegian, we've got to be bent upene. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:06.320 We went straight up and down. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.240 I think that's what it meant. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:18.399 But here we are as Christians, saved by grace through faith in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:20.399 We are secure in our destiny. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:23.120 We know what the truth is. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:24.320 But you know what? 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:29.840 We still have a life that we need to live between now and the time when I die or the Lord returns. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.360 Whichever comes first. 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:40.080 Living in a society that just has these things so wrong. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:47.279 And so the next question that I was asking in last week's title was now what? 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:51.919 Despite how clumsy my transition was, I wanted to get to, okay, now what do we do? 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:52.960 How do we go about this? 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:55.360 How do you live this life in Christ? 00:15:56.879 --> 00:15:59.279 Well, the answer is that depends. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:08.399 You see, we can coast along in our own strength and through our own efforts. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:18.080 But maybe we should heed the scriptures and pursue true discipleship in Christ, like he has called us to. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:25.440 Because frankly, the the former is possible, but it sure isn't the life that Christ has called us to. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.639 So what kind of life has he called us to? 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.120 Let's go back to Luke chapter 9. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:45.919 In the Mount of Transfiguration passage that we talked about last week, remember that God the Father spoke through a cloud and he said, This is my beloved Son, listen to him. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:53.440 Well, in the verses we read this morning, we read something of what Jesus did say, something that we should listen to. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:11.119 Jesus, when referring to his own death and resurrection, said, The Son of Man must be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed, and on the third day be raised to life. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:26.240 And then he said, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:29.920 In Luke 14, he says the same thing. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:34.319 Now please note that Jesus is not talking about salvation. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:38.319 He is talking about discipleship. 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:43.039 He's basically saying, hey guys, do you want to get serious about this? 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:48.799 Do you want more than just a certificate that says you are also on the team? 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:51.359 You want to be on the field to play? 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:53.440 Do you want to get in the battle? 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:57.200 Do you really want to be my disciple? 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:00.000 A true disciple of Jesus? 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:03.759 And he advises us that we ought to count the cost. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:10.160 Because a disciple is going to have to take up a cross, his own cross daily. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:16.400 It means to follow Jesus all the way through rejection, death, and resurrection. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:21.839 There is, according to Jesus, no other way to be his disciple. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:23.759 And there's an order here. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.279 Rejected, slain, raised. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:32.640 Jesus wasn't raised until after he was. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.200 Jesus wasn't raised until after he was slain. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:40.160 He wasn't slain until after he was rejected. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:54.079 And if we are to follow Jesus, first order of business is that we must be willing to be rejected, and we must be willing to die to ourselves and to sin in our lives. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:56.160 We're not going to get to be perfect. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:00.960 This is not a suggestion of sinless perfection. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.160 Far from it. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:12.079 But we must be willing to be rejected, willing to die to sin and to self. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:19.039 Now, I'm as guilty as anybody about using this biblical language, right? 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.359 What does it mean to die to sin? 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:23.119 What does it mean to die to self? 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.519 We don't talk like that anymore, do we? 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:34.000 It's it's I find it hard to understand those things until you know someone explains them to me or I read something or whatever. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:38.160 What is this death that is being talked about in the scripture? 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:58.799 Well, it is that in comparison to our love for and our obedience to Christ, all these other things we should be disinterested in, unaffected by, no longer obligated to, no longer subservient to any of this. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:02.960 We need to put these things to death. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.160 Both sin and self. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:15.119 Now understand, there is absolutely nothing redemptive about this death to sin and to self. 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:20.000 But as a disciple, we are to set ourselves apart. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:28.000 We should be people who are set apart in terms of what we believe and how we behave, what we cherish, who we serve. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.200 And note there has to be a willingness on our part. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:38.640 A willingness to be rejected, a willingness to die to sin and to self, a willingness to take a stand. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:43.759 I don't get rejected unless I took a stand. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:47.839 If I don't take a stand, there's nothing to reject me for. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:53.920 We don't have to look for fights. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:58.720 The Apostle Paul says that we're supposed to live at peace with all men if at all possible. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:07.039 But we are not to acquiesce to society's views or standards. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.119 We're to stand for truth, stand for our God, and stand for our Savior. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:18.559 You know, think about how many times a day do we encounter situations where we could take a stand for our Savior and our Lord? 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:29.440 How many times can you and I think, even just recently, when we could have demurred, or we could have ignored something, or we could have not laughed, or we could have said something in defense of our Lord. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:33.680 Maybe broke into a conversation and say, Yeah, I don't know, I don't see it that way. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:34.960 Think about this. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:38.240 And you know what? 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:41.680 Actually, a lot of us get pretty good at that, don't we? 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:46.640 You know, as I've as I've gotten older, I'm I'm not as afraid to do that as I used to. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:49.839 I don't care anymore, people think, right? 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:52.720 But you know what? 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:58.720 That's just the easy part because that's just external stuff. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.279 That's easy. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:03.359 And I can't even get that right. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:13.839 But if we are to follow Jesus, if we intend to pursue his level of righteousness, we've got to get to the inner things. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:16.079 You know what? 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:19.599 When we get to the inner things, here's what we run into. 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:28.480 We run into a battle with our old man, with the inner man, with our flesh. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:43.119 And while the Bible clearly teaches that our spirits are made alive when we come to faith in Christ, it teaches just as clearly that even then we are still very much alive in the flesh. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:54.799 The Apostle Paul in Romans 7 says, Nothing good dwells in my flesh, but in fact, sin and evil is still present within me. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:00.880 This is Paul when he's writing scripture saying this. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:04.000 This is inside stuff. 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:06.799 And we can be fooled. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:12.240 In fact, prior to his conversion, Paul himself was fooled. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:18.960 Read Philippians 3, where Paul is so he's so honest and so transparent. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:24.799 He says that if anyone ought to have had confidence in the flesh, it was me. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:30.000 He says, as to the righteousness found in the law, I was blameless. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:32.079 Are you serious, Paul? 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:33.279 How can you say that? 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:35.119 You're the guy that wrote Romans 7. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.039 Where was that, where'd that struggle come from? 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:39.519 If you say you're blameless. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:48.400 Well, it's because Paul, even though he was the Pharisee of the Pharisees, he had misunderstood the law too. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:24:00.559 And he writes about when the Lord finally showed him his sinfulness by showing him what the commandment that says, do not covet, really was all about. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:07.440 It's about an inner righteousness, and it's the commandment that is first broken before all others. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:11.599 And suddenly Paul saw how sinful he was. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:18.240 And in fact, when he writes to Timothy, he then calls himself the chief of sinners. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:29.119 Speaking of inner righteousness, think of our Lord himself in Matthew when he preached the Sermon on the Mount. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:35.759 He says, look, you commit murder when you are angry with your brother in your heart. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:40.079 You commit adultery when you look on a woman to lust after her. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:43.119 He says, You're supposed to love your enemies. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:47.359 No big deal if you love those who love you back. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:49.279 Even sinners do that, he said. 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:58.559 Jesus is talking about our willingness to lose our fleshly desires, to put them underfoot. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:05.920 Back in Luke in chapter 9, he says, whoever wishes to save his own life shall lose it. 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:09.200 Whoever loses his life for my sake is the one that will save it. 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:11.920 And he's talking about, he's talking about our soul. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:15.920 He's talking about being willing to lose that for the sake of Christ. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:26.880 Those things of our fleshly soul and self that are, son of a gun, they're still hanging around. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:35.519 Even after I become a Christian, even after the Spirit has given me life, it still are still hanging around. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:39.359 These are the things that we are in a battle with in our flesh. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:41.599 This is inside stuff. 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:43.839 Let's be honest. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:47.359 External righteousness is difficult enough in itself. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:57.039 And through our own efforts, you know, I would never, never even think that I could be perfect in that regard. 00:25:58.480 --> 00:25:59.680 But you know what? 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:02.160 We can get pretty good at it. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:05.279 I can get pretty good at fooling people. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:09.599 I can even fool myself with my little lists of do's and don'ts, right? 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:13.200 But you know what? 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:21.680 I can keep a list of do's and don'ts all day long, and I don't ever have to bow my heart. 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:30.319 That's what Jesus wants. 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:37.519 We can look good to the world around us, but you know what? 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:39.519 We can be just like the Pharisees. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:41.519 What did Jesus say about them? 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:43.920 He said they're full of dead men's bones. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:50.400 And the Lord in the Old Testament called that kind of righteousness filthy rags. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:27:01.440 It gets tough when we realize that Jesus is talking about the rejection of ourselves and our sinful self inside. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:04.160 This is inside stuff. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:10.400 So we find ourselves as believers who would like to walk with Christ, we find ourselves in a dilemma. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:11.519 It sounds pretty dire. 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:20.640 It's clear that we as Christians just are absolutely unable to live a righteous life, as righteous a life as Christ desires. 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:21.920 So what's the answer? 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:25.839 Well, the answer is we've got to put to death both sin and self. 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:34.000 The good news is that when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, our sin and our guilt were crucified with him. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:35.920 We thought about that? 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:42.480 Ultimately, our dilemma is already solved. 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:45.519 Think about Colossians 2. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:49.680 If you can think about that in your mind, or if you can't go there. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:55.519 Colossians 2, it says that our transgressions are already forgiven. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:28:06.160 It says that the certificate of debt that consisted of hostile decrees against us were taken out of the way by Jesus Christ. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:09.920 It says he nailed it to the cross. 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:17.279 In other words, in the eyes of God, we hung on that cross right along with Jesus. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:19.519 And these sins were paid for. 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:28.400 And someday we will be completely free from all this sin and all these selfish desires. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:32.160 But there's the rub. 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:35.359 It isn't someday yet, is it? 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:40.480 What about this present dilemma then? 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:46.880 We're still at that, we're still in this place where we're living it out, and the rubber is still meeting the road. 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:49.279 This is where the good news comes in. 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:54.559 The Bible answers that dilemma with two words and one person. 00:28:54.880 --> 00:29:06.000 The two words are consider and present, depending on your translation, I get that, but consider and present, and the one person is the Holy Spirit of God. 00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:08.240 The Bible makes no bones about it. 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:19.599 Even those of us who are saved can still be very much influenced by the flesh, and the sinful desires of the flesh are powerful. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:22.799 In our own strength, we aren't any match for them. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:26.000 But while we're alive, we have a choice. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:31.119 We can stumble and bumble along in apathy or indifference. 00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:32.559 We can try to do our best. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:44.720 But how much better would it be if we took the Word of God seriously and aspired to live the kind of life we ought to live? 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.480 How about we just put that flesh to death? 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:57.519 And live a life that is being sanctified more and more every day. 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:01.920 This is the kind of life that we are called to. 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:06.640 But how? 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:09.200 Back to one of our other texts. 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:13.039 Go to Romans 6.11, which I believe we read. 00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:16.480 The Bible tells us that we should consider. 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:19.039 Other translations say count. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:23.519 I like consider because that's what's in the old New American standard, right? 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:28.000 Consider yourselves being dead to sin. 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:38.720 And then two verses later, we are told that we are to present ourselves to God as alive from the dead. 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:52.160 And six chapters later, in chapter 12, Paul urges us to present our bodies as living sacrifices acceptable to God. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:59.039 Now, doesn't that sound a lot like what Jesus said? 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:05.599 Wasn't he the one that was talking about being willing to be rejected and die? 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:10.960 And now we're being told to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice? 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:13.119 Yeah. 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:15.440 And you know what? 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:21.200 I'm convinced that we need help even in this regard because I need help wanting to. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:23.920 I need help to be willing. 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:24.960 But you know what? 00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:25.759 We've got help. 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:26.799 Guess what? 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:29.279 We have a helper. 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:39.200 Before Jesus Christ left, before he ascended, he told his disciples that after he went and after he was glorified, he was going to send a helper, the Holy Spirit of God. 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:41.039 He called him the helper. 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:46.799 He lives inside us, like we talked about last week. 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:49.279 The Bible says that the Lord knows our frame. 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:53.119 He knows we need help, and the Spirit is willing and able. 00:31:53.680 --> 00:32:00.559 He would love nothing more than to help me put to death sin and self. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:07.519 He'd actually love nothing more than to help me be willing to put to death sin and self. 00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:15.599 We need to ask for this daily because you know what? 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:21.839 The flesh is always anxious to reclaim territory that it might have lost. 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:28.240 This is the order that is prescribed by Jesus, and it's further explained by Paul. 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:37.039 Death to sin and to self, to say daily, to say daily, no, you don't control me anymore. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:38.160 Right? 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:39.759 Whatever it is. 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:44.079 You're no longer my master. 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:52.720 And then turn to Jesus Christ and his agent, the Holy Spirit, to give us the power to defeat that, whatever it is. 00:32:55.839 --> 00:33:00.240 Now we didn't read through it, but we read the first two verses. 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:04.960 But Romans chapter 8, it's just full of this stuff. 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:13.920 We read the second verse, it says that through Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death. 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:30.079 But in the middle of that chapter, if you take the time to read it, it says that it's the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, it's the Holy Spirit who gives us life, it's the Holy Spirit by which we have the deeds of the body put to death. 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:36.319 He says we're led by the Spirit, and in fact, it's the Spirit that bears witness to our Spirit that we're children of God. 00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:43.359 My goodness, it seems like the Holy Spirit is pretty busy in the life of a disciple. 00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:47.759 You know what? 00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:49.920 This is true spirituality. 00:33:50.319 --> 00:34:09.440 This is you, this is me, as a physical and spiritual being wrapped up into one that has God Himself living within us, the Holy Spirit of God in its one of its many temples, in his, excuse me, one of his many temples. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:12.239 That's spirituality. 00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:17.599 I don't need this stuff from the Far East and the mystics and all that. 00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:20.400 I, boy, this is this is the real deal. 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:21.920 This is spirituality. 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:23.440 It's seen and it's unseen. 00:34:24.639 --> 00:34:27.519 It's got Spielberg beat hands down. 00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:35.440 Now, this is exciting, but it is not easy. 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:40.000 There will be splinters in each of our crosses. 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:41.920 Count on it. 00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:55.679 But when we are willing to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, to empower us, to comfort us, to show us more of Jesus and glorify him through us, man, that sounds exciting. 00:34:57.360 --> 00:34:59.280 And I said this the first hour. 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:06.400 You look around, you've got, and I don't know all of you, but I know some of you, and we've all got, we're all different. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:08.239 The Lord leads us in different ways. 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:18.639 I said this morning that it was about a month ago, I was uh standing around visiting after one of Pastor Jason, Jason's discipleship or uh leadership meetings. 00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:25.679 Visiting with the guy, and he was just just excited about what he was reading in, I think it was first or second Kings. 00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:29.280 Oh man, I can't remember the last time I read anything in Kings. 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:31.119 I've been in the Colossians and Romans. 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:32.639 Come on, what do you what's wrong with you? 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:33.760 You should be over here. 00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:35.360 No, he's over there. 00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:38.320 But the Spirit had led him in that direction. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:40.239 The Spirit had led me over here. 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:44.480 Think about where we we might be led to give. 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:50.800 You know, a ministry where I might have a heart for it, you might have a heart for something different. 00:35:51.039 --> 00:35:52.880 The Spirit is leading us. 00:35:54.079 --> 00:35:57.280 To me, that makes sense that he does that sort of thing. 00:35:57.599 --> 00:35:59.199 Then I thought of music. 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:03.519 Some of us like the old hymns, others like the more contemporary stuff. 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:07.760 And I thought, man, it's neat the way the Lord can even lead us in music. 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:13.119 And then I thought, no, that's not possible because there's no explanation for Country Western. 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:20.480 You cannot, you cannot tell me the Spirit can lead anybody in that direction. 00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:30.480 My point is, the Spirit is able to take care of us, to lead us, to empower us, any and all of us. 00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:42.000 And he's going to get the most out of us when we are willing to let him fill us rather than keeping him back in some deep dark corner down by my kidney. 00:36:42.639 --> 00:36:45.599 Never letting him come out to see the light of day. 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:52.719 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:54.480 Let me read you something there. 00:36:54.880 --> 00:37:08.239 Paul is talking or writing in verse 10, he says, I always carry about in the body, that's his body, the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:20.159 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:21.840 Are you kidding me? 00:37:24.239 --> 00:37:29.440 The life of Jesus can be manifest in me, in my body? 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.719 Jesus can be seen in and through me seriously? 00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:35.840 Yeah. 00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:40.719 It's one of the reasons we were created was to reflect the image of God. 00:37:40.880 --> 00:37:43.760 But isn't that awesome? 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:47.519 Isn't that just too much to comprehend? 00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:48.800 But there's more. 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:54.719 Take some time, sometime, to read through the middle of Colossians chapter 2. 00:37:55.039 --> 00:38:00.800 See there that in the mind of God, we have in fact already been made complete. 00:38:01.679 --> 00:38:09.360 Not only does God consider us to have died with Christ already, he's cut away our sinful flesh. 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:14.159 And he has already considered us as resurrected, as raised up. 00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:24.480 So when Paul gets to the first verse in chapter 3, he says, Since you have been raised up, set your mind on things above where Christ is. 00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:31.360 It's as if we had been raised and gone to heaven and come back. 00:38:32.639 --> 00:38:36.800 If that really happened, how much appeal would the world have? 00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:39.519