Hope for the Sinning Saint
Series: Hope
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 26th April 2026
Passage: Romans 7:7-25
00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 Welcome, everyone. Let me add my welcome. My name's Stephen. I've met you before. I'm the lead pastor here at St. Paul's.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:23 And if you just joined us, you have joined us at the time just as we're finishing up our Easter series for this year and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the hope that it produces and the life that it produces for us and as being the central message of Christianity.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:33 And so what I really want to land on today is what the death and resurrection does for us is it produces hope for the sinning saint.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:41 So Romans 7. We're grateful for that passage in front of you as you go through today.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:53 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a gothic horror novel written in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:59 You may be familiar with it, hopefully.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:23 Dr. Jekyll is a well-to-do, moral, respectable citizen who sometimes, and in fact often, feels that he's battling between this good persona, this good person, moral, upright, rising person that he is, who does good in society, and this inner evil within himself.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:37 And this internal battles, which is a real struggle for him, is between Dr. Jekyll, who he is, and this other persona, Mr. Edward Hyde.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:54 And Jekyll has spent the great part of his life trying to suppress the evil urges that are there, that are not fitting for someone who's such a respectable member of community.
00:01:54 --> 00:02:08 And so he makes this potion, and whenever he drinks the potion, Jekyll transforms into the smaller, younger, cruel, remorseful, and evil Edward Hyde.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:23 And the idea that what he's trying to do is Jekyll's trying to rid himself of this hide, so I can separate this personality, which is me, of both good and evil.
00:02:23 --> 00:02:44 But what he finds, as the story unfolds, what happens is, that as he drinks the potion, over time, the evil Hyde grows more and more and more in power, to a point where Jekyll can no longer control Hyde and this inner evil.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:48 And so what forms for him is this identity crisis.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:49 Who am I?
00:02:50 --> 00:02:54 Am I really Dr. Jekyll, or am I Edward Hyde?
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 Who am I?
00:02:57 --> 00:03:02 It's one of the most famous pieces of English literature ever written.
00:03:02 --> 00:03:23 It's had a substantial impact on popular culture with the phrase, the Jekyll and Hyde, being used in the vernacular to refer to people with this outward, good performance in life, if you like, presenting well,
00:03:23 --> 00:03:41 and yet, at times, performing shockingly, terribly, and you see it on the news, where, you know, something happens, someone's been caught out doing something wrong, and they say,
00:03:41 --> 00:03:45 I'm so embarrassed, I can't believe that this happened, this is not who I am.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:48 And, well, actually, yes, it is.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:50 It is who you are.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:58 And so it's used in this Jekyll and Hyde trying to work out, which one am I?
00:03:59 --> 00:04:14 And it is often used as an allegory in the Christian life, that there is a war in our hearts, a constant conflict between the old and the new, between vice and virtue, between sin and obedience.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:34 And in actual fact, Robbie Lewis Stevenson grew up in a devout Christian home, and it is said that Romans 7 was the inspiration for him writing, or at least one of the inspirations for him writing this novel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:46 And it's a description of, in fact, Stevenson's own life, where he found that he could not live out the Christian faith and its parameters,
00:04:46 --> 00:04:52 and instead preferred a life of evil and wickedness and sin.
00:04:52 --> 00:05:04 So Romans 7 reveals to us that life is a battle between two selves.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:14 And when we become a Christian, we don't move from a state of battle to a state of peace.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:21 We move from one battle to an entirely new battle, a new struggle.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:30 And so that's the three points we're going to go through as we look at Romans 7 this morning and hope for the sinning saint.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 So first of all, the struggle before Jesus.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:50 Verses 7 to 13 is a description of the struggle that goes on in every human being that they've got going on inside of them.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 And this is before Jesus.
00:05:53 --> 00:06:02 And the question is, which is, you know, the big question that's been kind of, Paul's been dealing with,
00:06:03 --> 00:06:12 if God gave people his law and his law is not able to be obeyed and doesn't lead to a life of righteousness,
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 well, is therefore the law sinful?
00:06:14 --> 00:06:19 And Paul's short answer to that is absolutely not, certainly not.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:24 And then his long answer is what we have here in verses 7 to 13.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 And he's referring here to the Old Testament law.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:33 You see, the whole thrust of Romans 1 to 5 is that people are justified,
00:06:33 --> 00:06:37 they're made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ,
00:06:37 --> 00:06:41 not by obedience to the Old Testament law,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 not by obedience to, you know, Ten Commandments,
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 you know, live by the Ten Commandments and God will be,
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 you'll be right with God, he'll find you approved.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:55 And so the question here is, if the law is not a means for salvation,
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 then doesn't that mean the law's bad?
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 And so here's the long answer.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:10 The main thrust of the law, the summary of it, is in verse 7.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:18 Therefore, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.
00:07:18 --> 00:07:19 Thanks, Nick.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:21 That's the summary.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:26 And here's the four explanations, if you like, of that summary.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:31 Firstly, what the law does for us is it defines sin.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:31 Verse 7 again.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:37 For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said,
00:07:38 --> 00:07:39 you shall not covet.
00:07:42 --> 00:07:49 That means, what that means is the very concept of coveting is outlined by the law.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:57 And without that standard, Paul would not actually have understood what coveting actually was.
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 And he would not have known that it was a sin.
00:07:59 --> 00:08:03 Secondly, what the law does is it reveals sin in us.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:04 Verse 8.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 produced in me every kind of coveting.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:14 For apart from the law, sin was dead.
00:08:16 --> 00:08:21 When a commandment of God comes to us, is what he's saying here.
00:08:21 --> 00:08:22 Verse 7.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:26 It aggravates.
00:08:26 --> 00:08:30 It stirs up in sin in our hearts.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:37 It doesn't show us what sin is in a general category kind of way.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:42 It shows that sin resides in us.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 It's not out there, but it's in here.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:55 However, the law made sin in Paul's life, as it does for everyone, much worse.
00:08:56 --> 00:09:00 And it makes it, therefore, totally inexcusable.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:09 Because what the law does is it exposes our need to be saved from it.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:14 And without the law, we will deny the depths of the nature of our sin.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 We will consistently deny the depths of it.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:29 The third thing is, the sin is stirred by its exposure to the law.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:33 What it means is it's provoked.
00:09:33 --> 00:09:40 Romans reveals the bleak condition of every human heart.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:46 And what it says in the early chapter of Romans is that the human heart,
00:09:46 --> 00:09:50 there's a perversity about every human heart.
00:09:50 --> 00:10:04 And the description of perversity of the human heart is that it actually enjoys sin for its own sake.
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 That's the perversity.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:15 The great Saint Augustine writes about this in his Confessions, the Confessions of Saint Augustine.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:22 And he describes in there a time when, as a boy, he stole some pears.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:24 He writes this,
00:10:24 --> 00:10:52 And this was not to feed ourselves.
00:10:52 --> 00:10:57 We may have tasted a few, but then we threw the rest of them to the pigs.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:03 Our real pleasure was simply in doing something that we were not allowed.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 I had plenty of better pairs of my own.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 I only took these ones in order that I might be a thief.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 Once I had taken them, I threw them away,
00:11:16 --> 00:11:21 and all I tasted in them was my own iniquity,
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 which I enjoyed very much.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:31 That is Saint Augustine's, his own illustration
00:11:31 --> 00:11:35 of a description of the perversity of every human heart.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:39 He's saying there,
00:11:39 --> 00:11:44 there is a deeper motive in every act of sin.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:51 That underlying motive, that underlying motive is to play God.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:58 We have a deep desire to be in charge of our world and of our lives.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:02 Every law God lays down,
00:12:03 --> 00:12:04 every single commandment,
00:12:04 --> 00:12:11 is an infringement on our perceived absolute sovereignty of our lives.
00:12:11 --> 00:12:16 It's the very essence of the first sin in the Garden of Eden,
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 and it was to be like God.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 And from there, it's the essence of all sin.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:24 The more we are exposed to the law of God,
00:12:24 --> 00:12:31 the more that sinful force will be aggravated into reaction.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:34 That's what sin does.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 Whenever I see a law,
00:12:39 --> 00:12:43 I had no intention of breaking it until I see it.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 Put a sign up, don't touch, wet paint.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 I have to find out if it's still wet.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 Don't sit on the grass.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:05 Why not?
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 I wasn't going to, but why not?
00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 There's a sin that stirs up in there.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 Even if I might not sit on the grass,
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 I'm still asking the question, why not?
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 Don't park in the car park.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 It's private property.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 There's a vacant spot.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:26 Why not?
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 And this leads to the fourth thing that sin does,
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 an overwhelming conviction of guilt.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:38 Verse nine,
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 Once I was alive,
00:13:40 --> 00:13:41 apart from the law,
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 but when the commandment came,
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 sin sprang to life,
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 and I died.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 Before he was a Christian,
00:13:54 --> 00:13:54 Paul,
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 what he's saying here is,
00:13:56 --> 00:14:00 Paul did not know what the law actually really required of him.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:02 That's what he's saying.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 And this is a Jewish lad.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 This is a Jewish lad who was fluent in the law.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:10 And what he says here is,
00:14:11 --> 00:14:11 you know,
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 summary version is,
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 I saw a bunch of rules,
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 but I didn't see the thrust of what the rules were getting to.
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 He didn't know what it meant to love God supremely.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:27 He actually thought that he was morally good,
00:14:28 --> 00:14:33 that he was in fact pleasing God by obeying the law,
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 and that God must therefore be satisfied with him.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 And then he says,
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 the commandment came,
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 and I died.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:50 What he says there is,
00:14:50 --> 00:14:54 the commandment came home to me.
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 It's like the chickens came home to roost.
00:14:57 --> 00:14:58 The commandment came home to me,
00:14:59 --> 00:15:02 and I realised when the commandment came,
00:15:03 --> 00:15:07 I was spiritually dead in that moment.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:13 He came under the conviction of sin in that moment.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 That is,
00:15:14 --> 00:15:18 the Lord did for him what it was meant to do in that moment.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 But which commandment came home to him?
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 You shall not covet.
00:15:26 --> 00:15:27 Why that one?
00:15:29 --> 00:15:30 Why that one?
00:15:31 --> 00:15:35 Those familiar with the New Testament will see that this is the commandment
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 that Jesus used with the rich young ruler,
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 another upright moral citizen,
00:15:42 --> 00:15:43 the Jewish citizen.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:44 You see,
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 as a morally upright,
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 law-abiding Jewish Pharisee,
00:15:48 --> 00:15:52 Paul thought of sin only in terms of external actions,
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 obedience to rules.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 He would have thought of it,
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 that if I didn't commit that act,
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 if I don't commit murder,
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 I'm not a murderer.
00:16:05 --> 00:16:06 Tick the box,
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 that commandment completed,
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 fulfilled,
00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 obeyed.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 Don't break the law,
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 and therefore I'm morally good.
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 That's the default position.
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 And then along comes Jesus,
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 in the Sermon on the Mount,
00:16:21 --> 00:16:25 and he teaches all of the Ten Commandments,
00:16:25 --> 00:16:30 and the entire law refer not only to external behaviour,
00:16:31 --> 00:16:35 but to an inward attitude and motives of the heart.
00:16:35 --> 00:16:44 And Paul had never understood sin as a matter of inward longings and idolatrous drives and desires.
00:16:44 --> 00:16:49 And of all the commandments,
00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 coveting
00:16:52 --> 00:16:57 is entirely about inner motive of the heart.
00:16:57 --> 00:17:02 It's about heart issues.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 Coveting is to be discontent with what God has given you.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:08 Coveting,
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 it includes things like envy,
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 selfish pity,
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 grumbling,
00:17:14 --> 00:17:14 murmuring.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 Coveting is not just wanting,
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 it is an idolatrous longing
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 for more beauty,
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 for more wealth,
00:17:24 --> 00:17:25 for more approval,
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 and for more popularity
00:17:27 --> 00:17:30 and everything else than you currently have.
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 That's what coveting is.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 And Paul had never seen sin
00:17:37 --> 00:17:42 as essentially coveting against God,
00:17:42 --> 00:17:46 as failing to love God enough to be content with God.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 And when the command came home to him,
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 he saw the depths of his sin.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 And he saw that the flaw
00:17:57 --> 00:18:01 was not in the law of God.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 The flaw was in Paul,
00:18:05 --> 00:18:05 the sinner.
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 It was in the sin.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 Externally,
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 he was compliant.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 He looked good.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 He was a,
00:18:14 --> 00:18:14 you know,
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 more upright than Dr. Jekyll.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:21 But internally,
00:18:22 --> 00:18:26 he saw Edward Hyde
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 bigger and bigger and bigger
00:18:28 --> 00:18:29 than he'd ever seen him before.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 He realised the law is good,
00:18:34 --> 00:18:35 but he is not.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 And that is the human condition
00:18:38 --> 00:18:42 according to Christianity.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 All of us dead
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 in our transgressions and sins,
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 more sinful than we'd ever hoped to imagine.
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 And so that's the first half of this chapter.
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 He's looking back at how God's commands
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 caused him to look to Jesus
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 for rescue,
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 look to Jesus' righteousness for his rescue,
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 rather than him
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 rescuing himself
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 through his own righteous acts.
00:19:10 --> 00:19:13 And so from verse 14,
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 Paul's now writing
00:19:16 --> 00:19:19 about his current experience
00:19:19 --> 00:19:23 struggling with sin
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 as a Christian.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 Now let me just say,
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 this section has been debated
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 by theologians
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 and Bible scholars
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 for many, many, many years.
00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 And this section,
00:19:41 --> 00:19:42 and the real debate is,
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 is Paul still talking now
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 about his pre-Christian experience
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 or is he talking about
00:19:50 --> 00:19:53 him as a Christian?
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 That's really the primary issue
00:19:56 --> 00:19:57 of the debate.
00:19:58 --> 00:19:59 And let me say,
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 there have been plenty of thoughtful,
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 wise, godly people
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 on both sides of the debate.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:07 For instance,
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 some find it very hard
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 to reconcile
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 that any Christian
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 could write,
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 as Paul does
00:20:12 --> 00:20:12 in verse 14,
00:20:14 --> 00:20:14 I am unspiritual,
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 I am sold
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 as a slave to sin.
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 Especially when in chapter 6,
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 he refers himself
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 as a slave
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 to Christ
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 and righteousness
00:20:25 --> 00:20:25 in Christ.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 He also confesses
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 that he sins regularly
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 in verses 15
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 and 18.
00:20:30 --> 00:20:34 So here's four reasons,
00:20:34 --> 00:20:34 and I want to do this
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 as quickly as I can,
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 why I think
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 he's writing about
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 his current Christian experience
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 of battling with sin,
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 and this is the very,
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 this is the experience
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 that every Christian has
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 in battling with sin.
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 And I would say
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 that the reason,
00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 you know,
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 the summary reason,
00:20:53 --> 00:20:53 which I've not,
00:20:54 --> 00:20:54 this is not one
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 of the four reasons,
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 but the summary reason is
00:20:57 --> 00:20:59 the primary issue here
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 is not the law.
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 It's not the word of God.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 The primary problem
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 for the Christian
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 is indwelling sin.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 That's the primary problem.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 That's what this passage
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 is addressing.
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 But here's the four reasons.
00:21:13 --> 00:21:13 Firstly,
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 there's a change of verbs
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 in the text.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 In verses 7 to 13,
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 every single verb
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 is in the past tense.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 From verses 14 onwards,
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23 every single verb
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 is in the present tense.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 That's the first one.
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 Secondly,
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 there is a change
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 in situation.
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 Verses 7 to 13
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 is Paul referring to sin
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 as killing him,
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 putting him to death.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 From verses 14 onwards,
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 it's he's referring to
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 his wrestling with sin,
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 his struggle with sin.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 It's a battle
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 that he refuses
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 to surrender to,
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 but he's not dead,
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 he's not dying,
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 and it's not a battle
00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 that he is losing.
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 Thirdly,
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58 he delights in God's law
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 in verse 12,
00:22:00 --> 00:22:00 sorry,
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 verse 22.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 For in my inner being,
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 I delight in God's law,
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 even though sin
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 is at work in him.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:12 And in the very next chapter
00:22:12 --> 00:22:12 in Romans,
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 in Romans 8,
00:22:14 --> 00:22:14 verse 7,
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 Paul writes
00:22:16 --> 00:22:19 that the non-Christian mind
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 cannot delight
00:22:20 --> 00:22:21 in God's law.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 It is impossible
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 to do so
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 because they see
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 God's word
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 as bad,
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 as evil,
00:22:29 --> 00:22:29 as wrong.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 Fourthly,
00:22:32 --> 00:22:33 Paul admits
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 that he is a sinner
00:22:34 --> 00:22:34 in verse 18.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 Now,
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 I know plenty of people
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 who acknowledge
00:22:39 --> 00:22:41 that they are not perfect.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 They acknowledge
00:22:43 --> 00:22:45 that they are imperfect,
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 that they're flawed.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:46 You know,
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 you find someone,
00:22:49 --> 00:22:49 you know,
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 someone gets discovered
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 by doing a wrong thing.
00:22:52 --> 00:22:52 Well,
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 none of us are perfect.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 That's a standard line.
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56 Plenty of people,
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 most people can do that.
00:22:58 --> 00:22:58 But,
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 in every instance,
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 they would mostly
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 put to the point,
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 they would mostly conclude
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 that they are basically good.
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 Basically good.
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 This is not really
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 who I am,
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 you know,
00:23:11 --> 00:23:11 even though I did
00:23:11 --> 00:23:12 this bad thing.
00:23:12 --> 00:23:12 I don't know
00:23:12 --> 00:23:12
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 but here,
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 Paul admits
00:23:19 --> 00:23:19 that he is a sinner.
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 Before Jesus,
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 none of us
00:23:24 --> 00:23:24 are aware
00:23:24 --> 00:23:26 that we are so sinful
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 that we
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 not only cannot
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 save ourselves
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 through obedience
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 to us
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 any form of moral code,
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 but that even
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 our attempts
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 to do so
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 only add
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 to our condemnation.
00:23:46 --> 00:23:46 and the depths
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 of our sin.
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 And that is why
00:23:51 --> 00:23:51 I think Paul
00:23:51 --> 00:23:53 is laying out here
00:23:53 --> 00:23:54 his inner struggle
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 in these verses.
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 He admits
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 that he is
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 a sinner.
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 Not that he's imperfect,
00:24:02 --> 00:24:02 you know,
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 like everyone,
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 but that he is
00:24:04 --> 00:24:05 a sinner.
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 Only a Christian
00:24:07 --> 00:24:08 could do that.
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 And that's why
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 I think he's referring
00:24:13 --> 00:24:13 here
00:24:13 --> 00:24:16 to the struggle
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 that is the struggle
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 and the experience
00:24:18 --> 00:24:20 of every single Christian.
00:24:22 --> 00:24:24 The experience
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 is that on the one hand
00:24:25 --> 00:24:27 we now see
00:24:27 --> 00:24:29 God's law
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 as spiritual,
00:24:31 --> 00:24:32 verse 14,
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 as good,
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 verse 16,
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36 and we have
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 a deep desire
00:24:37 --> 00:24:37 to keep it
00:24:37 --> 00:24:39 and to obey it
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 and to please God
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 in verses 15
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 and 18.
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 You see,
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 what Paul
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 is saying here is
00:24:48 --> 00:24:50 before he met
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 Jesus,
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 he thought
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 he was a saint.
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 He was obedient.
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 He thought
00:24:58 --> 00:24:58 he was right
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 with God.
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 And then
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01 in Jesus,
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 he actually
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 becomes a saint
00:25:04 --> 00:25:04 and now
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 he wrestles
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 for the first time
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 in his life
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 with being
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 a genuine sinner.
00:25:09 --> 00:25:15 his sense
00:25:15 --> 00:25:15 of sinfulness
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 is so much
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 stronger,
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 so much more
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 profound for him,
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 so much more
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23 disturbing for him.
00:25:26 --> 00:25:26 You see,
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 the person
00:25:27 --> 00:25:27 who trusts
00:25:27 --> 00:25:29 in Jesus
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 rejoices
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 in God's word.
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 In our deepest
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 self,
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 we love
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 the word
00:25:36 --> 00:25:36 of God.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 God.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 But on the other
00:25:42 --> 00:25:42 hand,
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 so many of our
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 actions are against
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 the God we love
00:25:46 --> 00:25:49 and his word.
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 And it's only
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 when we come
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 to Jesus
00:25:55 --> 00:25:57 for our rescue
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 does this struggle
00:25:58 --> 00:26:01 become so
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 real for us,
00:26:02 --> 00:26:05 so real
00:26:05 --> 00:26:06 in such a way
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 that we start
00:26:07 --> 00:26:07 to doubt
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 the,
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 we can doubt
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 the effectiveness
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 of our salvation
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 and question it
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 all together.
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 Who is me?
00:26:15 --> 00:26:15 Am I,
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 am I really
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 Dr. Jekyll
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 or am I
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 Mr. Hyde?
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 Which self
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 do I want
00:26:21 --> 00:26:21 the most?
00:26:22 --> 00:26:22 Am I a sinner
00:26:22 --> 00:26:24 or am I a saint?
00:26:28 --> 00:26:28 Well,
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 for the Christian,
00:26:30 --> 00:26:30 the question
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 is settled
00:26:31 --> 00:26:33 even though
00:26:33 --> 00:26:33 the struggle
00:26:33 --> 00:26:35 continues to rage.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 In verse 23,
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 the God,
00:26:42 --> 00:26:42 Paul says
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 that God
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 and his law
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 is his
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 utmost delight
00:26:46 --> 00:26:48 and it is
00:26:48 --> 00:26:48 our
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 utmost delight.
00:26:51 --> 00:26:51 And yet,
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 despite that
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 for the Christian,
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55 there is still
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 a powerful force
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 of sin
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 and rebellion
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 within us.
00:27:01 --> 00:27:01 For those
00:27:01 --> 00:27:02 desires,
00:27:02 --> 00:27:03 but those
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 desires,
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 whatever they
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 are,
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 are not
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 the deepest
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 sense
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 of your
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 identity.
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 They are
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 no longer
00:27:14 --> 00:27:14 who you
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 are.
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 Verse 20,
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 if I do
00:27:22 --> 00:27:22 what I do
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 not want
00:27:23 --> 00:27:23 to do,
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25 it is no
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 longer I
00:27:26 --> 00:27:26 who do
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 it,
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 but it's
00:27:28 --> 00:27:28 sin
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 living
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 in me
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 that does
00:27:31 --> 00:27:31 it.
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 As a
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 Christian,
00:27:35 --> 00:27:35 we have
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 an identity
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 transformation.
00:27:39 --> 00:27:39 Even while
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 sin remains
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 in us
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 with a whole
00:27:42 --> 00:27:42 lot of
00:27:42 --> 00:27:42 strength,
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 it no longer
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 controls
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 our personality
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 and our
00:27:47 --> 00:27:47 life.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:51 You see,
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 Christianity,
00:27:52 --> 00:27:52 the Christian
00:27:52 --> 00:27:52 faith,
00:27:53 --> 00:27:53 is about
00:27:53 --> 00:27:55 being someone
00:27:55 --> 00:27:57 before it
00:27:57 --> 00:27:57 is doing
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 something.
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 It is
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 becoming a
00:28:00 --> 00:28:00 whole new
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 self,
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 as I said
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 recently in
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 our Ephesians
00:28:04 --> 00:28:04 series.
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 It is a
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 comprehensive,
00:28:07 --> 00:28:07 when you come
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 to Jesus,
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 what happens
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 to you is a
00:28:11 --> 00:28:11 comprehensive
00:28:11 --> 00:28:13 revolution
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15 to change
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 who you
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 are
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 before
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 it is
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 a revolution
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 in how you
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 live.
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 a revolution
00:28:24 --> 00:28:26 in changing
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 your identity
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 and your
00:28:28 --> 00:28:28 status.
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 You are
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 perfect in
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 Christ.
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 And I
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 think this is
00:28:37 --> 00:28:37 possibly the
00:28:37 --> 00:28:38 biggest and
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 most common
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 mistake people
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 make about
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 Christianity.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 I remember
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 sitting at a
00:28:44 --> 00:28:44 table with
00:28:44 --> 00:28:46 some extended
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 family one
00:28:47 --> 00:28:47 day and I
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 made a
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 comment that
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50 revealed very
00:28:50 --> 00:28:50 much the
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 old man,
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 Steve,
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 and very
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 quickly was
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 shut down
00:28:55 --> 00:28:55 by a
00:28:55 --> 00:28:55 non-Christian
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 on the
00:28:56 --> 00:28:56 table.
00:28:56 --> 00:28:56 Wow,
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 Steve,
00:28:57 --> 00:28:57 that's
00:28:57 --> 00:28:57 surprising.
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 I didn't
00:28:58 --> 00:28:58 think Christians
00:28:58 --> 00:28:58 said things
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 like that.
00:29:01 --> 00:29:01 No,
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 Jesus doesn't,
00:29:02 --> 00:29:03 but I do.
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 But that's
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 the mistake
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 we make,
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 is it?
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 So many
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 of you,
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 well,
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 Christians are
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 just good
00:29:14 --> 00:29:14 people.
00:29:16 --> 00:29:16 Morality
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 is not
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 Christianity.
00:29:18 --> 00:29:21 Christianity
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 is not
00:29:22 --> 00:29:22 about
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 becoming
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 more
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 moral.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:25 A
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 Christian
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 is
00:29:27 --> 00:29:27 becoming
00:29:27 --> 00:29:27 a new
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 person,
00:29:30 --> 00:29:33 an entirely
00:29:33 --> 00:29:33 new
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 person,
00:29:34 --> 00:29:36 before it
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 is living
00:29:37 --> 00:29:37 with a new
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 set of
00:29:38 --> 00:29:38 behaviours
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 and attitudes.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:40 And the
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 change is
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 gradual,
00:29:43 --> 00:29:43 and it
00:29:43 --> 00:29:43 will never
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 be completed
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 this side
00:29:45 --> 00:29:45 of the
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 presence of
00:29:46 --> 00:29:46 God.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 The
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 strength of
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 the remaining
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 corruption
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 in our
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 lives
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 will still
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 lead us
00:29:55 --> 00:29:55 to disobey
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 God,
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 even in
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 the same
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 ways we
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 did prior
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 to becoming
00:30:02 --> 00:30:02 a Christian.
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06 And this
00:30:06 --> 00:30:06 behaviour
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 goes against
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 our new
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 and our
00:30:09 --> 00:30:09 deepest
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 identity,
00:30:11 --> 00:30:13 and that
00:30:13 --> 00:30:13 struggle
00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 will grow.
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18 growth in
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 the Christian
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 life is a
00:30:19 --> 00:30:19 growth going
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 deeper,
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 deeper in
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 knowing who
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 you are in
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 Jesus,
00:30:25 --> 00:30:25 and deeper
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 in awareness
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 of your
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 need for
00:30:28 --> 00:30:28 Jesus,
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 because you
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 see your
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 sin deeper
00:30:30 --> 00:30:30 and deeper
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 and deeper.
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 And that
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 is the
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 struggle.
00:30:34 --> 00:30:34 And we
00:30:34 --> 00:30:34 will often
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 feel discouraged,
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 we will often
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 feel defeated,
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 but it
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 doesn't
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 change who
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 you are
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 in Jesus.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:45 and Paul
00:30:45 --> 00:30:45 seems to
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 write as if
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 he is defeated
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 in verse 14,
00:30:49 --> 00:30:49 I am
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 unspiritual,
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 sold as a
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 slave to
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 sin.
00:30:54 --> 00:30:55 But he's
00:30:55 --> 00:30:55 not,
00:30:56 --> 00:30:56 he's not
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 defeated
00:30:57 --> 00:30:59 in those
00:30:59 --> 00:30:59 words.
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 He's saying
00:31:01 --> 00:31:01 that even
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 though there
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 is this new
00:31:03 --> 00:31:03 identity in
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 Jesus,
00:31:04 --> 00:31:04 a new love
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 and delight
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 in God's
00:31:06 --> 00:31:06 law,
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 he's saying
00:31:07 --> 00:31:07 a Christian
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 will still
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 completely
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 be incapable
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 of obedience
00:31:11 --> 00:31:13 and of
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 that law.
00:31:14 --> 00:31:14 A Christian
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 is still
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 totally
00:31:16 --> 00:31:17 incapable
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 of sinlessness.
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 You,
00:31:21 --> 00:31:21 the Christian,
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 do not have
00:31:22 --> 00:31:22 the power
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 to defeat
00:31:23 --> 00:31:23 sin.
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 Jesus
00:31:25 --> 00:31:25 does.
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 And so
00:31:28 --> 00:31:28 the battle
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 will rage.
00:31:34 --> 00:31:34 Friday
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 was a very
00:31:35 --> 00:31:35 busy day
00:31:35 --> 00:31:36 for me.
00:31:36 --> 00:31:40 and I
00:31:40 --> 00:31:40 tried to
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 finish off
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 this message
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 at the
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 end of
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 Friday,
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 but I
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 didn't get
00:31:45 --> 00:31:46 it done.
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 I was
00:31:47 --> 00:31:47 entirely
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 frustrated
00:31:48 --> 00:31:48 by that.
00:31:49 --> 00:31:50 My plan
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 was to
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52 go home,
00:31:52 --> 00:31:52 have some
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 dinner and
00:31:53 --> 00:31:54 then,
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 you know,
00:31:55 --> 00:31:56 finish off
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 the message.
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 On Friday
00:32:00 --> 00:32:00 night,
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 our household
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 was all in
00:32:02 --> 00:32:02 different
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 directions
00:32:03 --> 00:32:03 for all
00:32:03 --> 00:32:03 sorts of
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 different
00:32:04 --> 00:32:04 reasons.
00:32:04 --> 00:32:06 And so
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06 there was
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06 an opportunity
00:32:06 --> 00:32:07 for me
00:32:07 --> 00:32:07 and a
00:32:07 --> 00:32:07 couple of
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 my girls
00:32:08 --> 00:32:08 to head
00:32:08 --> 00:32:08 out for
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 a quick
00:32:09 --> 00:32:09 dinner.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 It
00:32:13 --> 00:32:13 didn't go
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 well,
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 that dinner.
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 What would
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 normally be
00:32:18 --> 00:32:18 a delight
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 for me,
00:32:20 --> 00:32:21 personally,
00:32:22 --> 00:32:22 turned
00:32:22 --> 00:32:24 into a
00:32:24 --> 00:32:24 total
00:32:24 --> 00:32:25 disaster.
00:32:27 --> 00:32:27 Dinner
00:32:27 --> 00:32:28 did not
00:32:28 --> 00:32:28 happen
00:32:28 --> 00:32:35 and by
00:32:35 --> 00:32:35 the time
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36 we got
00:32:36 --> 00:32:36 home,
00:32:37 --> 00:32:38 we went
00:32:38 --> 00:32:38 in three
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 different
00:32:39 --> 00:32:39 directions,
00:32:40 --> 00:32:40 in silence,
00:32:41 --> 00:32:41 in tears
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 and in
00:32:42 --> 00:32:42 anger.
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 And it
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 was entirely
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 my fault,
00:32:48 --> 00:32:49 my sin.
00:32:49 --> 00:32:57 the thing
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58 that I
00:32:58 --> 00:32:58 wanted to
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 do,
00:32:59 --> 00:32:59 that I
00:32:59 --> 00:32:59 would
00:32:59 --> 00:32:59 normally
00:32:59 --> 00:33:00 delight in
00:33:00 --> 00:33:00 doing,
00:33:00 --> 00:33:00 that I
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 knew that
00:33:01 --> 00:33:01 I should
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 do,
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 I didn't
00:33:03 --> 00:33:03 do,
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 even though
00:33:04 --> 00:33:04 I knew
00:33:04 --> 00:33:04 in the
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 moment that
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 I should
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 be doing
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 it.
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 And it
00:33:10 --> 00:33:10 went badly.
00:33:12 --> 00:33:13 And frankly,
00:33:13 --> 00:33:14 if you had
00:33:14 --> 00:33:14 seen me
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 in that
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 moment,
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 or seen
00:33:18 --> 00:33:19 me driving
00:33:19 --> 00:33:22 home during
00:33:22 --> 00:33:22 the course
00:33:22 --> 00:33:23 of that
00:33:23 --> 00:33:23 moment,
00:33:24 --> 00:33:24 a drive
00:33:24 --> 00:33:24 home,
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 which was
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 scary by
00:33:26 --> 00:33:27 all accounts,
00:33:28 --> 00:33:29 partly
00:33:29 --> 00:33:29 enjoyable for
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 me,
00:33:31 --> 00:33:31 but not
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 enjoyable for
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33 anyone else
00:33:33 --> 00:33:33 sitting in
00:33:33 --> 00:33:34 the car,
00:33:35 --> 00:33:35 you would
00:33:35 --> 00:33:35 have been
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 appalled by
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 that lunatic
00:33:37 --> 00:33:38 on the
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 road.
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 You would
00:33:38 --> 00:33:39 have been
00:33:39 --> 00:33:39 absolutely
00:33:39 --> 00:33:40 disgusted
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 that that
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 was in
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 fact our
00:33:43 --> 00:33:43 lead
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 pastor.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 As I
00:33:48 --> 00:33:48 was disgusted
00:33:48 --> 00:33:50 two days
00:33:50 --> 00:33:50 earlier by
00:33:50 --> 00:33:51 someone driving
00:33:51 --> 00:33:52 in a similar
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 manner,
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 I think I
00:33:53 --> 00:33:53 referred to
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 them as
00:33:54 --> 00:33:54 an idiot.
00:34:02 --> 00:34:03 When I
00:34:03 --> 00:34:03 got home,
00:34:05 --> 00:34:07 I was
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 still
00:34:08 --> 00:34:09 seething,
00:34:09 --> 00:34:10 but at the
00:34:10 --> 00:34:11 same time
00:34:11 --> 00:34:11 disgusted
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 in my
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 behaviour.
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 Unable to
00:34:15 --> 00:34:15 take it
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 back,
00:34:16 --> 00:34:18 all I
00:34:18 --> 00:34:18 could do
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 was to
00:34:19 --> 00:34:19 go to
00:34:19 --> 00:34:19 one of
00:34:19 --> 00:34:19 my
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 girls
00:34:20 --> 00:34:20 and say,
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 it's not
00:34:23 --> 00:34:23 your
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 problem,
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 it's my
00:34:25 --> 00:34:26 problem,
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 I'm sorry,
00:34:29 --> 00:34:29 but I want
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 you to know
00:34:30 --> 00:34:30 I'm working
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 on it and
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 it'll be
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 okay.
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 And from
00:34:36 --> 00:34:36 that,
00:34:38 --> 00:34:38 to
00:34:38 --> 00:34:40 apologise
00:34:40 --> 00:34:42 to both
00:34:42 --> 00:34:42 of my
00:34:42 --> 00:34:42 kids and
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 acknowledge
00:34:43 --> 00:34:43 my
00:34:43 --> 00:34:43 failure.
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 There's
00:34:46 --> 00:34:46 two reasons
00:34:46 --> 00:34:47 I'm telling
00:34:47 --> 00:34:47 you this
00:34:47 --> 00:34:49 now.
00:34:50 --> 00:34:50 First of
00:34:50 --> 00:34:50 all,
00:34:52 --> 00:34:53 you need
00:34:53 --> 00:34:53 to know
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 that I,
00:34:56 --> 00:34:57 that like
00:34:57 --> 00:34:57 Paul,
00:34:58 --> 00:34:58 like
00:34:58 --> 00:35:00 Saint Paul,
00:35:00 --> 00:35:00 as he's
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 known in
00:35:01 --> 00:35:01 history,
00:35:02 --> 00:35:03 that I,
00:35:03 --> 00:35:03 your lead
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 pastor,
00:35:04 --> 00:35:04 am
00:35:04 --> 00:35:07 imperfect.
00:35:07 --> 00:35:10 Now,
00:35:10 --> 00:35:11 I don't
00:35:11 --> 00:35:11 need to
00:35:11 --> 00:35:12 convince you
00:35:12 --> 00:35:12 of that
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 if you've
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 been under
00:35:14 --> 00:35:14 my
00:35:14 --> 00:35:14 leadership
00:35:14 --> 00:35:15 for 17
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 years,
00:35:16 --> 00:35:18 but I
00:35:18 --> 00:35:19 am more
00:35:19 --> 00:35:20 imperfect
00:35:20 --> 00:35:20 than you
00:35:20 --> 00:35:21 realise,
00:35:22 --> 00:35:22 or that
00:35:22 --> 00:35:23 you've
00:35:23 --> 00:35:24 ever seen
00:35:24 --> 00:35:26 in 17
00:35:26 --> 00:35:27 years.
00:35:28 --> 00:35:28 I am
00:35:28 --> 00:35:29 fallible,
00:35:30 --> 00:35:31 and Sunday
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 by Sunday,
00:35:33 --> 00:35:33 as I
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 come up
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 here,
00:35:37 --> 00:35:39 I'm an
00:35:39 --> 00:35:39 emotionally
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40 embattled
00:35:40 --> 00:35:41 sinner who
00:35:41 --> 00:35:41 needs a
00:35:41 --> 00:35:42 saviour,
00:35:43 --> 00:35:44 and I
00:35:44 --> 00:35:44 need it,
00:35:44 --> 00:35:45 not just
00:35:45 --> 00:35:45 Sunday by
00:35:45 --> 00:35:45 Sunday,
00:35:45 --> 00:35:46 but every
00:35:46 --> 00:35:46 single day
00:35:46 --> 00:35:47 of my
00:35:47 --> 00:35:47 life.
00:35:48 --> 00:35:49 So
00:35:49 --> 00:35:49 therefore,
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 beware of
00:35:51 --> 00:35:52 thinking too
00:35:52 --> 00:35:53 highly of
00:35:53 --> 00:35:54 any person,
00:35:54 --> 00:35:55 including me.
00:35:55 --> 00:35:56 That's the
00:35:56 --> 00:35:56 first thing.
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00 Secondly,
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 the second
00:36:03 --> 00:36:03 reason I
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 say this,
00:36:04 --> 00:36:05 is the
00:36:05 --> 00:36:06 death and
00:36:06 --> 00:36:06 resurrection
00:36:06 --> 00:36:07 of Jesus
00:36:07 --> 00:36:08 Christ,
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 which we
00:36:09 --> 00:36:09 have
00:36:09 --> 00:36:09 celebrated
00:36:09 --> 00:36:11 just recently
00:36:11 --> 00:36:11 at Easter,
00:36:12 --> 00:36:13 are precious
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 to me,
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 not because
00:36:16 --> 00:36:17 they turn
00:36:17 --> 00:36:18 my life
00:36:18 --> 00:36:19 into a
00:36:19 --> 00:36:20 string of
00:36:20 --> 00:36:20 sinless
00:36:20 --> 00:36:21 successes,
00:36:22 --> 00:36:24 but because
00:36:24 --> 00:36:26 the death
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 and resurrection
00:36:27 --> 00:36:27 of Jesus
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 keeps me
00:36:28 --> 00:36:29 from collapsing
00:36:29 --> 00:36:29 under the
00:36:29 --> 00:36:30 string of
00:36:30 --> 00:36:31 my constant
00:36:31 --> 00:36:31 failures.
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 things like
00:36:32 --> 00:36:33 that.
00:36:33 --> 00:36:34 That's
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 why the
00:36:36 --> 00:36:36 gospel is
00:36:36 --> 00:36:37 so precious
00:36:37 --> 00:36:38 to me.
00:36:40 --> 00:36:40 And that's
00:36:40 --> 00:36:41 why point
00:36:41 --> 00:36:42 three is
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43 so important.
00:36:43 --> 00:36:46 these verses
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 are both
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 a warning
00:36:48 --> 00:36:48 and a
00:36:48 --> 00:36:48 comfort.
00:36:50 --> 00:36:50 The first
00:36:50 --> 00:36:51 warning
00:36:51 --> 00:36:53 is that no
00:36:53 --> 00:36:53 one ever
00:36:53 --> 00:36:54 gets so
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 advanced in
00:36:55 --> 00:36:55 the Christian
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 life that
00:36:56 --> 00:36:56 they no
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 longer have
00:36:57 --> 00:36:58 sin.
00:36:59 --> 00:36:59 If we
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 ever think
00:37:00 --> 00:37:00 that we've
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 conquered sin
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 and are
00:37:02 --> 00:37:02 pretty good
00:37:02 --> 00:37:03 Christians,
00:37:03 --> 00:37:05 then you're
00:37:05 --> 00:37:06 deceived
00:37:06 --> 00:37:07 and you're
00:37:07 --> 00:37:08 actually
00:37:08 --> 00:37:09 losing the
00:37:09 --> 00:37:09 war.
00:37:11 --> 00:37:12 The more
00:37:12 --> 00:37:12 we grow
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 as a
00:37:13 --> 00:37:13 Christian,
00:37:14 --> 00:37:14 the more
00:37:14 --> 00:37:15 we see
00:37:15 --> 00:37:15 our sin.
00:37:16 --> 00:37:16 The more
00:37:16 --> 00:37:17 we become
00:37:17 --> 00:37:17 aware of
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 our own
00:37:18 --> 00:37:19 unrighteousness
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 than other
00:37:20 --> 00:37:20 people's
00:37:20 --> 00:37:21 unrighteousness.
00:37:22 --> 00:37:22 The more
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 holy we
00:37:23 --> 00:37:23 become,
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 the less
00:37:24 --> 00:37:25 holy we
00:37:25 --> 00:37:25 will feel.
00:37:27 --> 00:37:28 The more
00:37:28 --> 00:37:29 at peace
00:37:29 --> 00:37:29 we are
00:37:29 --> 00:37:30 with Christ,
00:37:31 --> 00:37:31 the more
00:37:31 --> 00:37:32 struggle we
00:37:32 --> 00:37:32 will have
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 within.
00:37:33 --> 00:37:35 Even as
00:37:35 --> 00:37:36 we make
00:37:36 --> 00:37:36 progress
00:37:36 --> 00:37:37 against many
00:37:37 --> 00:37:38 bad habits
00:37:38 --> 00:37:38 and attitudes,
00:37:39 --> 00:37:39 we will
00:37:39 --> 00:37:40 grow more
00:37:40 --> 00:37:40 and more
00:37:40 --> 00:37:41 aware of
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42 the rebellious,
00:37:43 --> 00:37:44 selfish roots
00:37:44 --> 00:37:45 that are deep
00:37:45 --> 00:37:46 inside of our
00:37:46 --> 00:37:46 hearts.
00:37:48 --> 00:37:49 And the
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 second warning
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 is linked to
00:37:50 --> 00:37:50 that,
00:37:50 --> 00:37:51 is that no
00:37:51 --> 00:37:51 one grows
00:37:51 --> 00:37:52 to a point
00:37:52 --> 00:37:52 where they
00:37:52 --> 00:37:53 no longer
00:37:53 --> 00:37:54 battle with
00:37:54 --> 00:37:54 sin.
00:37:56 --> 00:37:56 It is
00:37:56 --> 00:37:57 absolutely
00:37:57 --> 00:37:57 important that
00:37:57 --> 00:37:58 we expect
00:37:58 --> 00:37:59 the Christian
00:37:59 --> 00:38:00 life to
00:38:00 --> 00:38:00 be this
00:38:00 --> 00:38:01 constant
00:38:01 --> 00:38:01 internal
00:38:01 --> 00:38:02 battle between
00:38:02 --> 00:38:03 our two
00:38:03 --> 00:38:03 selves.
00:38:04 --> 00:38:04 In fact,
00:38:05 --> 00:38:06 if I may
00:38:06 --> 00:38:07 draw upon
00:38:07 --> 00:38:08 my past
00:38:08 --> 00:38:08 experiences
00:38:08 --> 00:38:09 and my
00:38:09 --> 00:38:10 past
00:38:10 --> 00:38:11 profession
00:38:11 --> 00:38:11 as a
00:38:11 --> 00:38:12 feral animal
00:38:12 --> 00:38:12 control
00:38:12 --> 00:38:13 officer,
00:38:13 --> 00:38:14 a wounded
00:38:14 --> 00:38:15 feral pig
00:38:15 --> 00:38:15 is much
00:38:15 --> 00:38:16 more dangerous
00:38:16 --> 00:38:16 than a
00:38:16 --> 00:38:17 healthy one.
00:38:19 --> 00:38:20 Much more
00:38:20 --> 00:38:20 dangerous.
00:38:21 --> 00:38:21 And so it
00:38:21 --> 00:38:23 is with
00:38:23 --> 00:38:23 sin.
00:38:24 --> 00:38:25 The great
00:38:25 --> 00:38:26 comfort
00:38:26 --> 00:38:27 of this
00:38:27 --> 00:38:28 passage
00:38:28 --> 00:38:29 is that
00:38:29 --> 00:38:29 the struggle
00:38:29 --> 00:38:30 itself
00:38:30 --> 00:38:31 is testimony
00:38:31 --> 00:38:32 to our
00:38:32 --> 00:38:32 new identity
00:38:32 --> 00:38:33 in Jesus.
00:38:36 --> 00:38:37 And so
00:38:37 --> 00:38:39 if you
00:38:39 --> 00:38:40 are not
00:38:40 --> 00:38:40 currently
00:38:40 --> 00:38:41 struggling
00:38:41 --> 00:38:42 with your
00:38:42 --> 00:38:42 sin,
00:38:44 --> 00:38:45 beware.
00:38:45 --> 00:38:46 That's the
00:38:46 --> 00:38:46 warning.
00:38:49 --> 00:38:49 Beware
00:38:49 --> 00:38:51 of where
00:38:51 --> 00:38:51 you stand
00:38:51 --> 00:38:52 with Christ.
00:38:52 --> 00:38:52 God
00:38:52 --> 00:38:53 will
00:38:53 --> 00:38:53 beware
00:38:53 --> 00:38:54 to
00:38:54 --> 00:38:56 sin.
00:38:56 --> 00:38:57 This chapter
00:38:57 --> 00:38:57 here encourages
00:38:57 --> 00:38:58 us that
00:38:58 --> 00:38:58 temptation
00:38:58 --> 00:38:59 and conflict
00:38:59 --> 00:39:00 with sin
00:39:00 --> 00:39:01 even relapses
00:39:01 --> 00:39:01 into sin
00:39:01 --> 00:39:02 are not
00:39:02 --> 00:39:03 inconsistent
00:39:03 --> 00:39:03 with the
00:39:03 --> 00:39:03 growing
00:39:03 --> 00:39:04 Christian.
00:39:05 --> 00:39:05 The
00:39:05 --> 00:39:06 Christian
00:39:06 --> 00:39:06 heart
00:39:06 --> 00:39:07 cries two
00:39:07 --> 00:39:07 things at
00:39:07 --> 00:39:08 the same
00:39:08 --> 00:39:08 time.
00:39:09 --> 00:39:09 There is
00:39:09 --> 00:39:10 the desperate
00:39:10 --> 00:39:10 cry
00:39:10 --> 00:39:12 of
00:39:12 --> 00:39:13 discouragement
00:39:13 --> 00:39:14 and despair.
00:39:15 --> 00:39:15 Verse
00:39:15 --> 00:39:16 24,
00:39:17 --> 00:39:17 Paul's
00:39:17 --> 00:39:17 cry,
00:39:17 --> 00:39:18 what a
00:39:18 --> 00:39:18 wretched
00:39:18 --> 00:39:19 man I
00:39:19 --> 00:39:19 am.
00:39:20 --> 00:39:20 Who
00:39:20 --> 00:39:21 will
00:39:21 --> 00:39:21 rescue
00:39:21 --> 00:39:22 me
00:39:22 --> 00:39:22 from
00:39:22 --> 00:39:23 this
00:39:23 --> 00:39:23 body
00:39:23 --> 00:39:23 that
00:39:23 --> 00:39:24 is
00:39:24 --> 00:39:24 subject
00:39:24 --> 00:39:24 to
00:39:24 --> 00:39:25 death?
00:39:27 --> 00:39:27 You see,
00:39:27 --> 00:39:27 when we
00:39:27 --> 00:39:28 judge
00:39:28 --> 00:39:28 ourselves
00:39:28 --> 00:39:29 by God's
00:39:29 --> 00:39:29 standard
00:39:29 --> 00:39:29 rather than
00:39:29 --> 00:39:30 our own,
00:39:30 --> 00:39:30 that is
00:39:30 --> 00:39:31 our only
00:39:31 --> 00:39:31 conclusion.
00:39:32 --> 00:39:32 When we
00:39:32 --> 00:39:33 compare our
00:39:33 --> 00:39:34 imperfection
00:39:34 --> 00:39:35 against Christ's
00:39:35 --> 00:39:35 perfection,
00:39:35 --> 00:39:35 that is our
00:39:35 --> 00:39:36 only conclusion.
00:39:37 --> 00:39:38 And it's
00:39:38 --> 00:39:38 only when our
00:39:38 --> 00:39:39 hearts cry
00:39:39 --> 00:39:40 out about
00:39:40 --> 00:39:40 our
00:39:40 --> 00:39:41 wretchedness
00:39:41 --> 00:39:42 can we
00:39:42 --> 00:39:42 actually know
00:39:42 --> 00:39:43 and experience
00:39:43 --> 00:39:44 the hope
00:39:44 --> 00:39:44 and the
00:39:44 --> 00:39:45 liberation
00:39:45 --> 00:39:45 of
00:39:45 --> 00:39:46 looking
00:39:46 --> 00:39:47 away
00:39:47 --> 00:39:47 from
00:39:47 --> 00:39:48 ourselves
00:39:48 --> 00:39:48 to what
00:39:48 --> 00:39:48 God
00:39:48 --> 00:39:48 has
00:39:48 --> 00:39:48 done
00:39:48 --> 00:39:49 for
00:39:49 --> 00:39:49 us
00:39:49 --> 00:39:49 in
00:39:49 --> 00:39:49 Jesus.
00:39:51 --> 00:39:52 That's
00:39:52 --> 00:39:52 Paul's
00:39:52 --> 00:39:53 desperate
00:39:53 --> 00:39:53 cry
00:39:53 --> 00:39:54 in
00:39:54 --> 00:39:54 verse
00:39:54 --> 00:39:54 24,
00:39:55 --> 00:39:55 who
00:39:55 --> 00:39:56 will
00:39:56 --> 00:39:56 rescue
00:39:56 --> 00:39:56 him
00:39:56 --> 00:39:57 and
00:39:57 --> 00:39:57 here
00:39:57 --> 00:39:58 is
00:39:58 --> 00:39:58 his
00:39:58 --> 00:39:58 salvation
00:39:58 --> 00:39:59 and
00:39:59 --> 00:39:59 his
00:39:59 --> 00:39:59 hope.
00:40:00 --> 00:40:00 Verse
00:40:00 --> 00:40:00 25,
00:40:01 --> 00:40:01 thanks be
00:40:01 --> 00:40:02 the
00:40:02 --> 00:40:02 God
00:40:02 --> 00:40:02 who
00:40:02 --> 00:40:03 delivers
00:40:03 --> 00:40:03 me
00:40:03 --> 00:40:04 through
00:40:04 --> 00:40:04 Jesus
00:40:04 --> 00:40:05 Christ
00:40:05 --> 00:40:05 our
00:40:05 --> 00:40:06 Lord.
00:40:07 --> 00:40:07 There
00:40:07 --> 00:40:08 is no
00:40:08 --> 00:40:08 hope
00:40:08 --> 00:40:09 in
00:40:09 --> 00:40:09 ourselves
00:40:09 --> 00:40:09 for
00:40:09 --> 00:40:10 our
00:40:10 --> 00:40:10 salvation.
00:40:11 --> 00:40:11 Our
00:40:11 --> 00:40:11 hope
00:40:11 --> 00:40:11 only
00:40:11 --> 00:40:12 is
00:40:12 --> 00:40:12 to
00:40:12 --> 00:40:12 look
00:40:12 --> 00:40:13 to
00:40:13 --> 00:40:13 Jesus
00:40:13 --> 00:40:14 dying
00:40:14 --> 00:40:14 on the
00:40:14 --> 00:40:14 cross
00:40:14 --> 00:40:15 for
00:40:15 --> 00:40:15 us.
00:40:15 --> 00:40:15 Our
00:40:15 --> 00:40:16 only
00:40:16 --> 00:40:16 hope
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00:40:16 --> 00:40:17 to
00:40:17 --> 00:40:17 rest
00:40:17 --> 00:40:17 in
00:40:17 --> 00:40:18 his
00:40:18 --> 00:40:18 righteousness
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00:40:19 --> 00:40:20 Jesus
00:40:20 --> 00:40:22 who
00:40:22 --> 00:40:22 became
00:40:22 --> 00:40:23 wretched
00:40:23 --> 00:40:23 for
00:40:23 --> 00:40:23 the
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00:40:27 --> 00:40:27 receive
00:40:27 --> 00:40:28 his
00:40:28 --> 00:40:28 righteousness.
00:40:33 --> 00:40:34 And
00:40:34 --> 00:40:34 so
00:40:34 --> 00:40:35 I
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00:40:37 --> 00:40:37 this
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00:40:37 --> 00:40:38 are
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00:40:38 --> 00:40:38 and
00:40:38 --> 00:40:39 discouraged
00:40:39 --> 00:40:39 and
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00:40:58 --> 00:40:59 Spurgeon
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00:41:07 --> 00:41:07 just
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00:41:07 --> 00:41:08 I
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00:41:08 --> 00:41:08 the
00:41:08 --> 00:41:09 rest.
00:41:09 --> 00:41:12 Christ
00:41:12 --> 00:41:12 has
00:41:12 --> 00:41:15 you
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00:41:15 --> 00:41:15 to
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00:41:15 --> 00:41:15 that
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00:41:15 --> 00:41:16 struggle
00:41:16 --> 00:41:16 is
00:41:16 --> 00:41:16 normal
00:41:16 --> 00:41:18 it
00:41:18 --> 00:41:18 will
00:41:18 --> 00:41:18 continue
00:41:18 --> 00:41:19 this
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00:41:19 --> 00:41:20 will
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00:41:20 --> 00:41:21 to
00:41:21 --> 00:41:21 your
00:41:21 --> 00:41:22 final
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00:41:22 --> 00:41:24 and
00:41:24 --> 00:41:24 that
00:41:24 --> 00:41:24 final
00:41:24 --> 00:41:25 healing
00:41:25 --> 00:41:25 is
00:41:25 --> 00:41:25 as
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00:41:27 --> 00:41:28 the
00:41:28 --> 00:41:28 dead
00:41:28 --> 00:41:28 in
00:41:28 --> 00:41:28 Jesus
00:41:28 --> 00:41:29 when
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00:41:30 --> 00:41:30 whole
00:41:30 --> 00:41:31 and
00:41:31 --> 00:41:32 complete
00:41:32 --> 00:41:32 and
00:41:32 --> 00:41:32 perfect
00:41:32 --> 00:41:33 and
00:41:33 --> 00:41:33 alive
00:41:33 --> 00:41:34 as
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00:41:34 --> 00:41:35 now
00:41:35 --> 00:41:38 that's
00:41:38 --> 00:41:38 when
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00:41:39 --> 00:41:39 over
00:41:39 --> 00:41:40 that's
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00:41:44 --> 00:41:44 will
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00:41:44 --> 00:41:45 complete
00:41:45 --> 00:41:47 but
00:41:47 --> 00:41:47 you
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00:41:47 --> 00:41:48 need
00:41:48 --> 00:41:48 to
00:41:48 --> 00:41:48 know
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00:41:49 --> 00:41:49 an
00:41:49 --> 00:41:50 invincible
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00:41:50 --> 00:41:51 of
00:41:51 --> 00:41:51 hope
00:41:51 --> 00:41:52 for
00:41:52 --> 00:41:52 you
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00:41:53 --> 00:41:54 now
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00:41:55 --> 00:41:55 that
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00:41:56 --> 00:41:57 as
00:41:57 --> 00:41:57 close
00:41:57 --> 00:41:57 to
00:41:57 --> 00:41:58 you
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00:42:00 --> 00:42:01 is
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00:42:02 --> 00:42:03 spirit
00:42:03 --> 00:42:04 pointing
00:42:04 --> 00:42:04 you
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00:42:04 --> 00:42:05 the
00:42:05 --> 00:42:05 gospel
00:42:05 --> 00:42:05 of
00:42:05 --> 00:42:05 hope
00:42:05 --> 00:42:09 so
00:42:09 --> 00:42:11 for
00:42:11 --> 00:42:11 the
00:42:11 --> 00:42:12 struggling
00:42:12 --> 00:42:12 sinner
00:42:12 --> 00:42:13 sorry
00:42:13 --> 00:42:13 the
00:42:13 --> 00:42:14 sorry
00:42:14 --> 00:42:15 for
00:42:15 --> 00:42:15 the
00:42:15 --> 00:42:16 sinning
00:42:16 --> 00:42:16 saint
00:42:16 --> 00:42:16 amongst
00:42:16 --> 00:42:17 us
00:42:17 --> 00:42:19 don't
00:42:19 --> 00:42:19 pull
00:42:19 --> 00:42:19 back
00:42:19 --> 00:42:19 from
00:42:19 --> 00:42:19 the
00:42:19 --> 00:42:20 struggle
00:42:20 --> 00:42:24 as
00:42:24 --> 00:42:24 your
00:42:24 --> 00:42:24 sin
00:42:24 --> 00:42:25 becomes
00:42:25 --> 00:42:25 more
00:42:25 --> 00:42:26 aware
00:42:26 --> 00:42:26 know
00:42:26 --> 00:42:26 that
00:42:26 --> 00:42:27 while
00:42:27 --> 00:42:27 others
00:42:27 --> 00:42:27 may
00:42:27 --> 00:42:28 be
00:42:28 --> 00:42:28 ashamed
00:42:28 --> 00:42:28 of
00:42:28 --> 00:42:28 you
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00:42:29 --> 00:42:29 you
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00:42:30 --> 00:42:30 be
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00:42:30 --> 00:42:30 and
00:42:30 --> 00:42:31 ashamed
00:42:31 --> 00:42:31 of
00:42:31 --> 00:42:31 yourself
00:42:31 --> 00:42:32 he
00:42:32 --> 00:42:32 is
00:42:32 --> 00:42:33 not
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00:42:35 --> 00:42:35 is
00:42:35 --> 00:42:36 not
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00:42:40 --> 00:42:40 you
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00:42:43 --> 00:42:43 saint
00:42:43 --> 00:42:45 and
00:42:45 --> 00:42:45 my
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00:42:50 --> 00:42:50 such
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00:42:52 --> 00:42:53 would
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00:42:53 --> 00:42:54 our
00:42:54 --> 00:42:54 flaws
00:42:54 --> 00:42:54 and
00:42:54 --> 00:42:55 our
00:42:55 --> 00:42:55 mistakes
00:42:55 --> 00:42:56 and
00:42:56 --> 00:42:56 our
00:42:56 --> 00:42:56 failures
00:42:56 --> 00:42:57 and
00:42:57 --> 00:42:57 our
00:42:57 --> 00:42:57 sin
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00:43:00 --> 00:43:00 them
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00:43:02 --> 00:43:03 more
00:43:03 --> 00:43:03 and
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00:43:04 --> 00:43:04 his
00:43:04 --> 00:43:05 grace
00:43:05 --> 00:43:06 embracing
00:43:06 --> 00:43:07 his
00:43:07 --> 00:43:07 grace
00:43:07 --> 00:43:07 and
00:43:07 --> 00:43:08 therefore
00:43:08 --> 00:43:08 display
00:43:08 --> 00:43:09 to
00:43:09 --> 00:43:09 our
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00:43:10 --> 00:43:10 the
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00:43:10 --> 00:43:11 of
00:43:11 --> 00:43:12 the
00:43:12 --> 00:43:12 Christian
00:43:12 --> 00:43:13 faith
00:43:13 --> 00:43:14 and
00:43:14 --> 00:43:14 its
00:43:14 --> 00:43:15 goodness
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