Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY210019A
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00:01 As you're well aware,
00:03 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for Today special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Mending broken people 00:23 I want to spend my life 00:29 Removing pain 00:34 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:50 Mending broken people 00:55 I want to spend my life 01:00 Mending broken people 01:14 Hello and a great big welcome. 01:16 We're glad you're joining us today 01:17 on 3ABN Today. 01:19 We really have a Bible subject 01:21 that you just don't want to miss. 01:24 It's one that could go and go and go. 01:26 And maybe it needs to be, 01:27 there needs to be some clarity 01:28 and we pray by the grace of God today 01:30 that it will be clear 01:32 as we take time to study the Word of God. 01:34 As most of you know, when we do a program like this, 01:37 sometime we go into parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 01:40 we're gonna try to get by with one 01:41 but you know if we don't so what, why? 01:43 Because they're so very important 01:45 and the subject is, 01:47 again, one you've heard a lot victory over sin, 01:49 or what must I do to be saved? 01:53 That should be a question 01:54 that each one of us are asking every day of our life, 01:57 what must I do to be ready 01:58 for the soon coming of Jesus 02:00 with the condition of the world 02:02 the way that it is? 02:03 These questions are being asked, 02:05 I want to say by the millions of people every day. 02:08 Many are examining their life, 02:10 many are looking at signs of the times 02:13 and they're saying Lord Jesus is soon to come. 02:15 And then they look around say, 02:16 am I really ready? 02:17 And I think that pertains to, to Christian... 02:20 Amen. 02:21 As Christian, not just the world but to us, 02:23 am I really ready to meet Jesus 02:25 when He comes in the clouds of heaven. 02:27 And in our lesson, 02:28 we're looking at the slippery slope of sin. 02:31 That's right. That's right. 02:32 And it is, and so we're gonna examine 02:34 because we have sins that we need to deal with. 02:36 We have our faults, 02:37 we have different things 02:39 that I'm gonna say repeated failures, 02:42 repeated failures, 02:43 do they really need to take place in our life? 02:45 Or does God have an answer 02:47 for all of these that He's going to give us grace 02:49 and strength and power 02:50 to be more than conquerors through Christ? 02:52 It's going to be some questions. 02:53 We believe that each one of you, 02:56 we pray you'll have answer here today. 02:57 We're going to use as our foundation here, 03:00 but I'd like to have prayer first. 03:02 Then go into Isaiah, 03:03 it gives you time to get your Bible, 03:05 pencil and paper and write this down. 03:06 We're going to read Isaiah 1:16-20. 03:10 Isaiah 1:16-20, 03:13 and I'm going to ask each one to just read a verse, 03:15 there happen to be five of us and five verses. 03:17 So that'll get us warmed up and get us ready to go. 03:19 Amen. 03:20 Don't be shy and get your Bible out. 03:22 But first of all, 03:23 we need to have prayer. 03:24 This is again such an exciting subject 03:26 and I want to pray the power of the Holy Spirit 03:28 and, Brother Eric, would you pray for us please? 03:30 Absolutely, Kenny. 03:32 Dear Heavenly Father, 03:33 we are so thankful to be here today, 03:36 discussing a subject that 03:38 that resonates in all of our hearts. 03:41 It's a subject 03:42 that we can all learn from Lord, 03:43 and please help us to learn from this subject. 03:45 Amen. 03:47 Please fill each of our hearts, Father, 03:49 here with the Holy Spirit, 03:51 and those watching and those listening, 03:54 so that we can all gain from this 03:55 and grow from this. 03:57 We thank You, Father, and we praise you 04:00 in Jesus' name. 04:01 Amen. Amen. 04:02 Praise the Lord. Thank you very much. 04:04 I guess it'd be nice maybe to maybe introduce 04:06 the ones that are here helping today 04:07 and working along with us. 04:09 We praise God for, 04:10 it takes time and energy and effort, 04:12 but it's always such a blessing 04:14 as we come together to study the Word. 04:16 And to my right my wife, Sister Chris. 04:19 Glad you're here as usual. 04:20 Yeah, I'm glad to be here. 04:22 Right arm, sitting on my right side. 04:23 Right arm, right? 04:25 I'm very grateful and thankful for her 04:26 and for her love for Christ 04:28 and always willingness to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. 04:32 Are you happy in Jesus today? Oh, yes, no better place. 04:34 Let show on your face. There you go. 04:37 Yes, no, I'm with you. 04:38 Yeah, there's no better place 04:40 where the Lord wants you to be and working in his vineyard. 04:42 Amen. 04:44 Because it not only blesses others, 04:46 we pray but it's a blessing to us. 04:47 It flows both directions. 04:49 Amen. Who do you have on your right? 04:51 I have Brother Ryan Day, 04:53 our brother in the Lord, our neighbor in the community 04:57 and a good friend. 04:58 We really appreciate him and his family, 05:01 and I know he wears a lot of hats here. 05:04 And before we start recording, 05:06 they talked about singing and it was kind of interesting. 05:09 He said, you know, everybody has a different gift. 05:11 And I said, would you like to talk 05:12 about that some more. 05:16 But we are blessed by his singing as well. 05:19 Praise the Lord. So I'm glad that he's... 05:20 I'm thankful he's... 05:21 To me he's a spiritual workhorse. 05:23 Yeah. Can I say that? 05:25 Spiritual workhorse, because he just loves, 05:27 he like the more that's put on 05:29 and the more he accepts it as ransom, 05:30 says by the grace of God. 05:32 Amen. Yeah. 05:34 Praise God. I love it. 05:35 It's good to be here. Amen. 05:36 And then to your right 05:38 with Sister Marilyn. 05:39 Marilyn Durant. Good. Okay. 05:41 So nice to have them here, isn't it? 05:43 It's a pleasure to be here. 05:45 Thank you. Amen. 05:46 You have somebody to your right 05:47 that you're familiar with, I'm sure. 05:49 I do, my husband, Eric. 05:51 Eric Durant, all right. 05:52 It's good to be here. 05:53 Yeah, I'm very, very blessed 05:55 to have a wife and a ministry to serve. 05:58 And I just praise the Lord. 06:00 Tell us a little about what you do here at 3ABN? 06:04 I'm the manager of the call center 06:07 and we take care of all those orders 06:10 and shipments going out. 06:12 And it's a wonderful group that I have. 06:16 So... 06:17 I know in the past, 06:19 I've appreciated your work over there very much. 06:22 Sorry about that. Eric, go ahead. 06:23 Okay. I'm one of the engineers here. 06:25 And I basically fix what's broken, 06:28 do a lot of installing, 06:29 right software 06:31 and preach as much as I can. 06:33 Whoo, glory. 06:34 Everyone I can. 06:35 Amen. Praise the Lord. 06:37 I think maybe he's doing it today. 06:38 Oh, that's right. 06:40 Working in a little different area, 06:41 but working for the saving of souls. 06:42 Praise God for that. 06:44 Praise the Lord. Good. 06:45 We'll gonna just jump right into our lesson here. 06:46 But Isaiah Chapter 1, 06:48 and Sister Marilyn, 06:49 we're going to ask you to read verse 16. 06:51 We let the ladies go first 16, 17, Brother Eric 18. 06:55 Brother Ryan 19, and I'll do verse 20. 06:57 Okay, Isaiah 16, 07:00 "Wash yourself, make yourself clean. 07:02 Put away the evil of your doings 07:05 from before my eyes cease to do evil." 07:08 "Learn to do well, seek judgment, 07:11 relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, 07:14 plead for the widow." 07:16 "Come now, and let us reason together, 07:18 saith the Lord. 07:20 Though your sins be a scarlet, 07:22 they shall be white as snow. 07:24 They shall be red like crimson, 07:27 they shall be as wool." 07:29 Hallelujah. 07:30 It says, verse 19, 07:32 "If you be willing and obedient, 07:33 you shall eat the good of the land." 07:36 Amen. 07:37 Verse 20, "But, starts out, if you refuse and rebel, 07:41 you shall be devoured with the sword, 07:43 for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." 07:47 Man, that's pretty heavy duty. 07:48 So we're gonna, you know, description 07:50 in Ephesians about God's Church, 07:51 His glorious church and how it's going to be 07:54 when He's going to come right here. 07:55 But you know, it says here, 07:57 but putting what we're going to be talking 07:59 about today in reality, 08:01 you know, character changes. 08:03 And I'll be, oh, that's easy. This is a fight. 08:05 This is a struggle, 08:06 isn't that what you read in Scripture. 08:07 That's right. 08:09 We fight we're going to struggle, 08:10 we need to persevere, we have to endure. 08:12 So this is more than just saying, okay, 08:13 well, I just know that there's some character changes 08:15 that need to take place in our hearts, in our lives. 08:17 And this next paragraph is powerful. 08:19 And then we begin question number one, honey. 08:22 Would you just read that for us? 08:23 Sure. 08:24 Well, you mentioned that a lot of people think 08:26 it's easier said than done 08:27 now to live up to the Word of God 08:29 to have these character changes in our lives. 08:32 And this next paragraph just reads, 08:34 we believe that this thought is a discouragement 08:38 straight from the enemy of souls and self, the devil. 08:41 If he can discourage us 08:43 to the point that we no longer strive 08:46 to turn away from sin, 08:48 or to the point of giving up and just trying completely, 08:52 he claims victory over our souls. 08:55 The good news, listen to this, 08:57 the good news is we don't strive alone, 09:00 our source of strength and help us from above. 09:05 It comes from the one 09:06 who overcame the temptations of the devil himself. 09:09 And, of course, all of us know at least I hope, 09:11 you know, that is Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. 09:15 So there's good news to start off with, 09:17 you know, the devil likes to discourage, 09:19 he likes to make us depressed, he wants us to give up. 09:22 And I mean, a lot of people have been in that valley. 09:25 I've been in that valley. 09:26 I've been in that valley to the point 09:28 that I wanted to just say, okay, goodbye to the world, 09:31 you know, but praise God, by His grace, 09:34 He kept making me think about my kids 09:36 and who's gonna take care of them, 09:37 who's gonna raise them and so on and so forth. 09:40 But that is the work of the enemy, 09:43 Jesus says, "I'm here. 09:45 I'm gonna give you strength, I want to help you. 09:47 I'm gonna lift you up 09:49 with the right hand of My righteousness. 09:50 One of my most favorite promises 09:51 in Isaiah 41:10. 09:53 So this is a good place to start. 09:55 Oh, isn't it though. 09:57 Praise the Lord. 09:58 So that's what we're praying. 10:00 Right, we already, you have prayer, 10:01 and we've been praying before the program, 10:03 this will be a blessing. 10:04 Again, we'll answer some of the questions. 10:06 That is, 10:08 there's a big debate going on, Brother Ryan. 10:10 There's a debate going on. 10:11 And you mentioned something before the program, 10:13 you get my attention on it. 10:14 I think it'd be good to share with the viewers, 10:17 because of people say, "Well, I know what it says." 10:20 But it comes back as a but sometimes. 10:22 But this is the way we feel. 10:24 So would you share some of those thoughts? 10:26 Yeah, absolutely. 10:27 So, you know, first of all, I just want to highlight 10:28 the fact going back to Isaiah 1:18, 10:32 actually that Eric read. 10:34 I love how it starts out. 10:35 It says come now and let us reason together. 10:38 Okay, this is, 10:39 sometimes we have to come together 10:40 and reason together. 10:42 This is one of those subjects, 10:43 where the Lord encourages us to come together, 10:44 put our minds together, 10:46 based upon the Word of God and the Word of God alone. 10:49 And let us reason together in God's Word, 10:51 to come to the conclusion 10:52 of what God's Word is actually saying, 10:54 not our own perceived theories, not our own ideas, 10:57 not our own perceptions, or personal theories. 11:00 But we want to know what does the Bible say? 11:02 And you know, 11:04 we're asking the question here today, 11:05 we're talking about, you know, victory over sin. 11:08 You know, the big sin issue is, it's what separates us 11:11 from the Lord, 11:12 the Bible teaches us that very clearly. 11:14 And so, you know, 11:15 there's so many people out there that 11:18 they're going to answer that question, 11:19 if you were to ask the masses, 11:21 is it possible to have victory over sin now in this life? 11:25 The majority of the Christian world, 11:26 sadly to say would probably answer that 11:28 with a resounding no 11:30 and it's based on some misconceptions, 11:33 some lies that have been passed down, 11:36 some deceptions that have been passed down, 11:37 not based upon the Word of God, 11:39 but based on man's theories, the devil's twisting 11:42 and manipulation of certain texts 11:44 and ideas that are not found in Scripture. 11:46 And, you know, 11:47 we're going to talk about this, I'm sure. 11:48 But the Bible says it... 11:50 First of all let's ask the question, 11:51 what is sin? 11:52 We're talking about sin. Yes. 11:54 We can, can we have victory over sin? What is sin? 11:55 The Bible teaches us in 1 John 3:4, 11:58 that sin very simply put is transgression of the law. 12:02 It's transgression of God's law. 12:04 And so if sin is transgression of God's law, 12:07 here's the question, 12:09 then what is sin in relation to my nature? 12:12 I know that's a big concept there. 12:13 I just threw that out there and someone right now may say, 12:15 whoa, what is that? 12:16 What did you just say in relation to my nature, 12:18 if sin is transgression of the law, simply put, 12:21 then is now sin a choice. 12:24 In other words, when I commit sin, right? 12:26 I sinned against the Lord and my choosing to do so. 12:29 Or here's where this concept of original sin comes in. Okay. 12:33 And this is a very dangerous ideology, 12:35 a very dangerous teaching. 12:37 But many, many Christians today 12:38 believe in what's called original sin. 12:40 It's a... I'm just gonna put it out there. 12:42 It's a Jesuit Catholic doctrine is not founded in Scripture. 12:45 But it was written and created by a Catholic scholar 12:48 many, many, many centuries ago. 12:50 And the idea is, is that well, 12:51 you know, we inherited this fallen nature from Adam. 12:55 That's true, right? 12:56 But because we've inherited this fallen nature from Adam, 12:59 then that means 13:01 that I've inherited this bad equipment, 13:02 and I'm going to have this bad equipment 13:04 until Jesus comes back in a second coming. 13:07 Therefore, here's the logic, 13:08 then I must be sinning 13:10 all the way into the second coming of Jesus. 13:12 And so the idea is from a person's perspective 13:15 that believes in this original sin concept 13:18 that believes that sin is not a choice, 13:20 but rather who they are, their natural response. 13:22 I've heard somebody say, "Well, 13:24 I sin almost as constant as I breathe." 13:26 Because they believe that 13:27 because I've got this bad equipment 13:29 that's just what I do, I sin, 13:30 I'm gonna always sin 13:31 until Jesus comes back until He changes me. 13:34 Yeah. We're asking, is it possible? 13:36 Does the Bible teach this all that I've just described? 13:39 Or does the Bible teach us that we can have victory over sin 13:42 now in this life? 13:43 And the question is, what did Jesus come to die for? 13:46 Jesus tells us we're going to see 13:47 as we go through these texts, as we talk and discuss, 13:50 you know, can we have victory now in this life? 13:52 Does Jesus want to give us victory now over sin? 13:55 Or are we going to continue to live in sin 13:57 until He returns at a second coming? 13:59 And that's what we're going to be discussing. 14:00 Right. Right. 14:02 Amen. That's powerful. 14:03 And you say a mouthful, isn't it 14:05 when you think about what he's talking about here? 14:08 It just kind of balance it up a little, 14:10 thinking about living a life that Christ live in you 14:14 brings peace, you know, and hope and encouragement, 14:18 you know, a victory, 14:19 and yet we, you know, some teach that oh, my, 14:22 you can just continue on sin after sin after sin. 14:24 That sounds more like 14:25 a miserable Christian than a happy Christian. 14:28 What do you think? 14:30 I've noticed, 14:31 and I talk to a lot of Christians. 14:32 Okay. 14:34 And they seem to think 14:35 that Christianity is a license to sin. 14:39 Well. 14:40 And I always default to the argument. 14:42 If you're pulled over by a police officer 14:45 and by grace, he lets you go. 14:49 Does that give you a license to continue speeding? 14:52 And the answer is always no. 14:54 So grace is not a license to sin, 14:56 neither is Christianity. 14:58 That's right. 14:59 And when I make that argument 15:00 they can never counter that argument. 15:03 So we shouldn't use Christianity as a license 15:06 to do evil things. 15:07 It's not. Okay. 15:09 If we love the Lord, we will keep His commandments. 15:11 That's right. Amen. 15:12 Amen. 15:13 So, yeah, to me, it's a good stepping stone here 15:15 as we begin 15:17 because again, victory over sin is something. 15:19 I mean, I read in Scripture, 15:21 and I jotted some of them down just 15:22 and I don't want to go into them. 15:23 But I just want to get in more stepping. 15:25 When I read the Bible, 15:27 and it says certain things so clear 15:29 and yet people interpret on the, 15:31 maybe the way they would like 15:32 their lifestyle maybe to go, 15:34 or they just figured, well, that's not what it says. 15:37 Romans 6, it said, "I need to be dead to sin." 15:40 That's right. 15:41 And then Romans again 6 and 7 says, 15:43 "We need to be free from sin." 15:45 You know, like, what does that mean? 15:47 That, you know, again, 15:48 sin shall not have dominion over you. 15:50 You know, when I read that, what does it mean? 15:52 Again, Jesus said, will talk more, 15:55 go and sin no more. 15:57 What are these things really, 15:58 He's able to keep you from falling? 16:00 So when you look at these things, 16:01 does it really mean what it says? 16:04 I always won... Go ahead. 16:05 I always wondered 16:07 if you could continue sitting sinning, 16:08 what's the purpose of being born again? 16:11 Right. 16:12 There's no purpose in being born again 16:14 if I can continue sinning. 16:15 Yeah. Yeah. 16:17 It just never made any sense to me. 16:18 You know, I'd like to go back because a lot of people, 16:19 in fact, someone had just wrote in recently to 3ABN, 16:23 asking about, 16:24 you know, how do we have victory over sin? 16:27 And a lot of people with what you were talking about 16:30 with predestination and all this stuff, 16:32 that you ask, what is the law to us? 16:35 You know, Paul says, "It's against us, 16:37 that we're no longer under the law." 16:39 So people take that, 16:40 and they misinterpret what that actually means. 16:44 We're no longer under the law, because we are under grace, 16:48 and we're obeying the law. 16:51 And so the law is no longer against us, 16:52 because we're living it out. 16:54 And he does go on and give examples of how, 16:56 you know, what he means by that. 16:58 And you can go to Romans Chapter 6 17:01 and let's just look at verses just real quick. 17:04 Let's just look at verses 14. 17:06 Okay. 17:08 And then 15, it says, 17:10 "For sins shall not have dominion 17:12 over you for you are no, 17:14 you're not under the law, but under grace. 17:16 What then? 17:17 Shall we sin, 17:19 because we are not under the law, 17:20 but under grace? 17:21 God forbid. 17:23 Know ye not, 17:24 that to whom ye yield yourselves 17:26 servants to obey, 17:27 his servants ye are to whom ye obey, 17:30 whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto life? 17:34 So it's still black and white issue. 17:37 You know, we either gonna yield our lives, 17:39 our hearts, our minds, our obedience to the enemy... 17:42 That's right, 17:43 You know, which leads to sin, 17:45 which is disobedience of the law of God, 17:49 and or we're gonna be under God's grace, 17:52 we're gonna do it by His strength and His power, 17:54 we're going to live up to the law 17:56 as best as we possibly can. 17:58 We're also told if we fail, 17:59 we have an advocate with the Father. 18:01 Again, that's Jesus Christ. He's the way, He's the door. 18:03 He's everything, He's every breath we take, 18:05 you know. 18:07 So we have a choice here. 18:09 And that's what Paul is saying, we're no longer under the law, 18:12 because we've accepted Jesus Christ. 18:14 Paul was living for Christ. 18:16 So the law wasn't against him anymore, 18:18 or it was against him. 18:19 But you know what I'm saying? 18:21 It wasn't something that he was under, 18:23 he wasn't in that penalty of death anymore, 18:26 because he was living in the light of Jesus Christ. 18:28 So there is, there is so much here to cover. 18:31 But it's really, really, really good news. 18:35 Because I've heard this argument 18:36 for so many years, we just can't do it. 18:39 Why try? 18:40 I mean, especially 18:41 when people believe in once saved, 18:43 always saved, I believe in Christ, I'm saved. 18:44 But yet they'll drink, they'll smoke, 18:46 they'll watch anything. 18:47 They don't go to church. 18:49 Well I accepted Him when I was 12 years old, 18:50 I'm saved. 18:51 You know, may rob a bank, I don't know. 18:54 They don't have to obey, 18:55 because they believe they're in a saving condition. 18:58 But is that what the Bible teaches? 19:00 Does it teach that Christ says, well, Sister Marilyn, 19:03 I just want you to obey the laws some of the time, 19:07 I just want you to sin some of the time, 19:09 just kind of pull away from some of them, 19:11 but you can keep some, or does he say, 19:13 we need to do away completely with sin? 19:16 And then what does that mean? And how do we do that? 19:18 And I think the reason we get so discouraged, 19:21 is because we know we're failures, 19:22 we know ourselves better than anybody. 19:25 God knows us better than we know ourselves, 19:27 but than anybody else. 19:28 We know how we think, we know our desires. 19:31 So is there a process that we as Christians, 19:34 who have accepted Christ into our heart 19:37 and want Him as our Lord and Savior? 19:38 Is there a process that we can daily live by, 19:43 that will create in us a new heart and a right spirit? 19:46 Is there a process... 19:47 Hadley selected 19:49 the first question then that really. 19:50 You think about here. 19:51 Is it even possible to have a new birth in Christ 19:54 and overcome sin in our lives? 19:56 I mean, that's just 19:57 a great big open door right there. 19:59 Eric? 20:00 I think surrender 20:02 is one of the most difficult things for me 20:04 as a Christian. 20:06 But if you surrender, you despise your sins. 20:10 You don't want to sin anymore. 20:12 You're disgusted by it 20:13 if you're surrendered to God and His will. 20:16 In the military, they've taught us 20:18 never surrender. 20:19 Never give up. 20:21 Jesus says surrender. 20:22 Surrender your heart to Me, 20:23 so that I can put the Holy Spirit in you 20:26 that makes you disdain your sins. 20:27 Amen. 20:29 You mentioned while ago, new birth, 20:31 you know, why a new birth if we continue on to do 20:34 what we did things that Paul says, I once loved, 20:37 you know what? 20:38 I now hate, so everything changes in our lives. 20:41 That's right. 20:42 Why go through a new birth experience? 20:44 What's the purpose of it, but yet we see it stressed. 20:47 You know, Brother Ryan, well, I see it stressed 20:49 in Scripture over and over and over, 20:51 that I need to be, I need to be converted. 20:54 Is that Matthew 18? That's right. 20:56 Where he talks about 20:57 that there needs to be a conversion process. 21:00 That's what Jesus said to Peter. 21:02 Satan wants to sift you as wheat, Peter. 21:07 But I'm praying for you that when you are converted, 21:09 you can strengthen the brethren. 21:10 So there is such thing as conversion. 21:12 In fact, it's powerful. 21:14 We're talking about victory over sin overcoming. 21:16 It's funny. 21:18 It's very interesting, not funny, but interesting, 21:20 that Christ to all of the different churches 21:23 of Asian Minor in Revelation, 21:24 what does He say to every single one of them? 21:26 He says, He repeats two messages 21:28 to every single one of them. 21:29 Number one, he says, I know your works. 21:31 Each and every one, I know your work, 21:32 I know your works, I know your works. 21:33 I know your works. 21:35 But at the end of each and every one of those messages 21:37 as He's giving that hope to them, 21:39 as He's trying to call them out of their condition 21:42 of whatever it may be. 21:43 He says to each and every one of them. 21:45 He says, "To him who overcomes, to him who overcomes, 21:49 to him who overcomes, 21:51 In fact, Revelation right there to the Laodicea. 21:54 He says to him overcomes I will grant with him 21:56 to sit with Me and My Father, sit with Me on My throne 21:59 as I sit with My Father on His throne. 22:01 To him who overcomes, what are we overcoming? 22:04 What is Christ, when He says to him who overcomes? 22:06 Jesus, excuse me. 22:07 What am I overcoming? 22:09 You're overcoming the world. 22:10 You're overcoming the sin of the world. 22:12 Yes. 22:13 In fact, it's amazing when you consider it. 22:15 I want to just read this for a second. 22:17 Because to me, you cannot even, 22:19 let's say you've never read the Bible, 22:21 you've never read the New Testament, 22:23 you're coming to know this Jesus for yourself. 22:26 And you let's say of all texts, 22:28 or all passages you want to start with 22:29 in Matthew Chapter 1. 22:31 Let's say you want to start with the gospels. 22:32 Okay. 22:33 Someone asked me today, Ryan, 22:35 which gospel or which book should I start with? 22:36 Well, I always encourage to start with Genesis, 22:39 because the beginning of the story is powerful, 22:41 and it's important. 22:42 But if you're going to come to know Christ 22:43 and the life of Christ, 22:45 a good place to start 22:46 would be the very first gospel, the very first chapter. 22:48 You're not even 21 verses 22:50 into this first chapter of Matthew, 22:52 you've been introduced to these genealogies of Christ. 22:55 Now you come down to verse 21. 22:57 And notice what it says, speaking of Mary he says, 22:59 "And she will bring forth a son, 23:01 and you shall call His name Jesus, 23:05 for He will save His people from their sin. 23:08 Hallelujah. 23:09 Okay, so notice there's some, let's say, there's someone 23:11 who's never read the gospels before. 23:13 They're 21 verses in and they're already being told 23:16 that Jesus has come for the sole purpose 23:18 of saving His people from their sins. 23:20 Now, what does that mean? 23:22 Right. 23:23 Because if there's someone right now watching, 23:24 they're gonna say, "Well, you know, I'm saved. 23:26 You know, I'm saved 23:28 because Jesus saved me from my sin." 23:29 But what does that mean? 23:31 The best illustration I can give. 23:33 If you're walking, let's say we're walking, 23:35 me and a friend is walking out 23:36 in the middle of the Serengeti in Africa, 23:39 and a hungry lion jumps out from behind the bush 23:41 and starts mauling my friend. 23:42 And my friend is there screaming, 23:44 hollering from the distance. 23:46 Save me from this hungry lion, right? 23:48 Oh, yeah. 23:50 And you stand on the sideline, and you're clapping and going, 23:52 "Oh, brother, I saved you. 23:56 You're saved." 23:58 And all the while that lion is just eating, 24:01 you're saved, hallelujah. 24:03 You know, is it one thing from the perspective, 24:05 that person being eaten 24:08 from that lion, or by that lion, 24:09 they're not going to stand over there 24:10 and be praising, oh, praise the Lord, 24:12 while I'm getting eaten by. 24:13 I'm saved. 24:14 No, no, no, you're not saved from the lion 24:16 until you're saved from the lion until the lion 24:19 is no longer in your presence 24:21 until it's no longer attacking you. 24:22 And so the point, I know, it's a silly illustration. 24:25 But there is a difference 24:26 between saving in and saving from. 24:29 And so a lot of people have this concept that saved 24:31 from their sins means 24:33 that they're going to continue to live in sin. 24:35 But that's not, that's not Jesus 24:36 saving you from your sins. 24:38 That's the false concept of Jesus saving you 24:40 in your sin, 24:42 which is nowhere found in Scripture. 24:43 No, it's not. 24:44 Probably one of the most powerful texts 24:46 that really confirm this. 24:47 And I'm going to go there 24:48 because it's probably 24:50 one of the most heavy hitting passages 24:51 in all of Scripture. 24:53 And then we can discuss the language of this 24:54 because it's a very strong language. 24:56 1 John Chapter 3. 24:57 Let's go to 1 John Chapter 3, 24:59 probably in no other part of Scripture 25:01 is it made more clear of God's feelings 25:04 and His attitude towards sin 25:06 than right here in this passage. 25:08 1 John Chapter 3, 25:09 and I'm going to start reading from verse 4 onward. 25:13 So 1 John 3:4 and onwards. 25:16 So notice what the Bible says here. 25:18 So we read this earlier. 25:19 It says, "Whosoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, 25:22 for sin is lawless." 25:24 King James Version says, 25:25 "Sin is transgression of the law." 25:27 But notice what John continues to write 25:29 on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 25:31 And tell me if this isn't powerful. 25:34 Starting with verse 5 here, it says, 25:35 "And you know that he was manifest 25:38 to take away our sins, 25:41 He being Christ came to take away our sins. 25:45 And in him there is no sin." 25:48 Amen. Come on. 25:50 Now a lot of people want to stop there 25:51 and go praise the Lord. 25:53 Praise the Lord. 25:54 And in Jesus there's no sin, He was perfect, right? 25:55 But notice what it continues to say, verse 6 and onward. 25:58 "Whoever abides in Him does not sin. 26:03 Whoever sins neither seen Him or known Him. 26:07 Little children, let no one deceive you. 26:10 He who practices righteousness is righteous, 26:12 just as He is righteous." 26:15 In verse 8, "He who sins is of the devil, 26:18 for the devil has sinned from the beginning. 26:20 For the purpose of the Son of God was manifest 26:22 that He might destroy the works of," 26:24 what did He come to do? 26:26 Destroy. 26:27 He came to destroy, not continue in, 26:30 but to destroy the works of the devil. 26:32 We're in verse 9, "Whoever has been born of God," 26:34 there's born of God, there's that recreation, 26:37 there's that conversion concept. 26:39 "Whoever is born of God does not sin 26:41 for His seed remains in him, 26:42 and he cannot sin 26:44 because he has been born of God." 26:48 Let's address the elephant in the room. 26:49 Yes. 26:50 Is this passage saying that a person 26:52 who is converted will never ever commit a sin again? 26:56 You know, I believe that this is speaking 26:58 of the habitual practice of sin. 26:59 That's right. 27:01 Christ has come to save us from that old lifestyle. 27:04 2 Corinthians 5-17. 27:05 Yes. Okay? 27:06 What does 2 Corinthians 5:17 tell us? 27:09 It says that, "All things have passed away, 27:13 behold all things become new." 27:14 He wants to create a new creature. 27:16 And so in this case, our old habitual sinful life 27:20 is passed away. 27:21 Now He's created in us a new heart, 27:24 a new desire, a new way of life. 27:26 That doesn't mean that a righteous man won't fall. 27:29 Remember Proverbs Chapter 24, 27:31 a righteous man may fall seven times, 27:33 but the difference between the righteous man 27:35 and the unrighteous is that the righteous man 27:37 gets back up and presses forward 27:39 and does not continue to live in that sin. 27:42 And so, I know I've unpacked and unloaded a whole. 27:44 I feel like I've just machine gunned 27:46 that just there. 27:47 But nonetheless, we're talking about is it possible? 27:50 That's what question one is asking. 27:51 Is it possible to have that new birth? 27:53 And I've just mentioned two or three different passages 27:56 just in this last few minutes, 27:58 but the Bible is overwhelmingly clear 27:59 that Christ has come to save us not in our sin, 28:03 but from our sin. 28:04 Amen. Amen. That's right. 28:06 In Hebrews, if we sin, 28:10 we have an advocate with the Father. 28:12 I think that just kind of goes along with that. 28:15 So if we happen to slip, if we happen to fall, 28:17 but you know, again, there's character changes, 28:19 there's things that take place in our life, 28:21 that we're not willfully sin. 28:24 Can I get... Yeah, sure. 28:26 In your lesson here you talked about us 28:27 giving an illustration or story. 28:29 Let me illustrate this for a moment. 28:30 Good. Okay. 28:32 Years ago, before I was a Christian, 28:33 before I truly gave my heart genuinely to Christ, 28:37 I had a really, really bad anger problem. 28:40 I had a very filthy mouth. 28:44 I was, I cursed with every other word. 28:46 That's my past. I'm not proud of it. 28:48 But that was my old man. 28:50 That's who I was. That was me pre Christ. 28:53 And so that was, I mean, 28:55 it was almost a part of my vocabulary. 28:57 I was an angry person, I spoke angry. 28:59 When somebody had a conversation with me, 29:01 you could tell that I was a bitter man. 29:04 And so the point is, 29:05 that before Christ came into my life, 29:07 it was my habit. 29:08 It was a part of my, myself, my old man, 29:11 that that's just who I was. 29:12 That's how I acted. That's how I chose to speak. 29:15 Yes. Now enters Christ. 29:18 When I accept Jesus into my heart, 29:19 and I had a conversion experience, okay? 29:23 Jesus, as I came to Him, 29:25 and I asked him to come into my heart 29:27 and to change me, He sanctified me from that. 29:31 He took that from me, 29:34 because I gave it to Him willfully. 29:35 And I said, "Lord, 29:36 I don't want to be like this anymore. 29:38 I don't want to speak like this anymore. 29:39 What I generally want You to change me." 29:41 Now, in that first, you know, week or two, 29:43 sometimes I would slip up, 29:45 you know, and I might say something that, 29:47 but nonetheless, 29:48 I started to notice a week out, 29:50 two weeks out, three weeks out, 29:52 four weeks out, a month out, six months out. 29:55 Before you know what? 29:56 Eight months down the road, I'm looking back and I'm like, 29:58 "Whoa! What has happened?" 30:00 I'm not the same person because Christ changed me. 30:04 He took that old man, He wiped it away, 30:07 He cleansed it and now I became a new person. 30:09 My vocabulary changed, my attitude changed, 30:12 my perception on life changed, my spiritual vision, 30:16 my understanding changed. 30:18 Now, here's the thing. 30:19 Let's fast forward, I don't know, 30:22 13 years later, okay? 30:25 Does that mean 30:26 that I would have never ever dropped 30:29 an accidental bad word? 30:31 Okay, the point is, 30:32 you know, there's really it's no accident. 30:34 You choose to do that when sin is a choice. 30:36 But nonetheless, have I? 30:37 I'm not going to sit here 30:38 and like, what, I've not sinned. 30:40 I've not cursed in 13 years. 30:41 But what is the difference? 30:43 It might have been 10 years before I said that word. 30:46 And then one day it came, it popped in my mind. 30:48 I said it. 30:50 And I immediately went to the Lord in prayer and said, 30:52 "Lord, my old man came back for a moment." 30:54 Yeah. 30:55 "Lord, I'm praying in Jesus' name 30:57 that You crucify that old man entity." 30:59 You're telling us the key here about victory over sin 31:01 is if we sin, we slip. 31:05 In other words, the devil catches us unaware. 31:06 We're not thinking about it, boom, boom. 31:08 But if our mind is stayed upon Christ, 31:09 that will happen, but if we... 31:11 Okay. 31:12 But what do we do immediately? 31:14 Immediately we go and we confess that sin. 31:16 We don't leave out till the right time or prayer time. 31:18 Right then and there, 31:20 oh, Lord, I shouldn't have said that. 31:21 The difference between the one person I used to be 31:23 and the person then is that 31:25 before it was my habitual choice, 31:28 my habit of life to live in that. 31:31 Now I don't, that's not my habit anymore. 31:33 I don't do that every day. 31:34 I don't say those things every day. 31:36 I'm not like that anymore. 31:37 But when I, if I occasionally make 31:39 that bad choice, 31:41 because for a moment I take my eyes off Christ. 31:43 I'm quick to flee to the throne of grace 31:45 and repent and say, "Lord, take that from me." 31:47 And again, that righteous men may fall seven times, 31:49 but he gets back up and he learns from it. 31:51 And he moves forward, because he's not the same man 31:54 that he was before. 31:55 I can guarantee though, 31:57 I can guarantee you it wasn't just the, 31:59 I accept Jesus and then it was done. 32:02 You were walking through the sanctuary 32:04 that why way oh God, that's what you think. 32:06 You're sorrow for it. 32:07 You're sorrow for it, 32:08 not only that, but you were praying, 32:10 you were studying, you were sharing. 32:11 That's right. 32:13 You know, in the first compartment 32:14 of the sanctuary, 32:16 we learn about those things. 32:17 Those things are vital 32:18 that we eat of the word every day 32:20 that we drink of it every day 32:21 that we're sharing with others what God is doing for us. 32:24 That's how it began to change. 32:26 That's when your life changes. 32:28 I've said it many, many times. 32:29 You know, for years, 32:31 I didn't have a real good study habit. 32:34 But once I began to say, 32:35 "Okay, before I eat any physical food, 32:37 I'm gonna eat of the spiritual food." 32:39 My life began to change 32:42 and things were different. 32:43 I want to share something that just reiterates 32:45 what he read in Scripture. 32:47 And then I want to throw it to you, 32:49 my dear sister, because I don't think 32:51 we've heard enough of your sweet voice. 32:53 And I'd like for you to answer question number one. 32:55 We're giving it in a roundabout way here, 32:58 but I think you can bring 32:59 into a concise manner for us, okay? 33:01 This quote is found in Desire of Ages pages 311. 33:05 It says, "God's ideal for His children 33:08 is higher than the highest human thought 33:10 can reach." 33:11 Isn't that beautiful? 33:13 He doesn't see where you are Brother Eric, 33:15 He doesn't see where I am. 33:16 He doesn't see where I've been. 33:18 Yeah. He sees what I can be. 33:19 I like that now. 33:21 That's exciting. That is exciting. 33:24 "Be ye therefore perfect, 33:26 even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." 33:29 We know that's a quote from Scripture. 33:32 This command is a promise. 33:34 Listen to this. 33:36 The plan of redemption contemplates 33:38 our complete recovery from the power... 33:40 our complete recovery from the power of Satan. 33:45 How did Daniel stand in faith 33:48 and be thrown into the lions' den? 33:50 How did Shadrach, Meshach, 33:52 and Abednego stand in faith 33:54 and not bow down to that false worship, 33:56 that false image? 33:58 That's right. 33:59 They had enough faith 34:01 that they were willing as Christ did to die 34:03 rather than sin. 34:04 So part of this perfection is faith in Jesus, 34:09 faith in His Word. 34:10 Even if we don't fully understand it, 34:13 this is what God's Word says. 34:14 I believe it. 34:15 I accept it, and I'm gonna stand on it. 34:17 Okay, let me continue. Whoo! I just lost my screen. 34:20 Can I say something before we go...? 34:22 Yes, right, go ahead. 34:23 It's a 180 degree transformation. 34:26 Amen. Yes. 34:27 And I claim that transformation. 34:29 Praise God. 34:30 Because when I look at who I was a gang member 34:33 in Brooklyn, 34:34 Brooklyn and Queens running the streets 34:36 doing all kinds of wickedness. 34:38 And I tell Marilyn some of these stories. 34:40 She says, I don't see that in you. 34:42 Good. 34:43 That's the best feeling in the world. 34:45 It's not wariness. 34:48 I'm ashamed of it, not proud of it. 34:50 No. Can't do it if you paid me. 34:53 It's 180 degree transformation in your character. 34:56 Yes. 34:57 Do I slip up every once in a while? 34:59 Do I get angry every once in a while? 35:04 You can't stop the birds from flying over your head. 35:07 Oh, look out now. 35:09 But you can keep them from camping out in your hair. 35:11 Now I don't have a lot of hair left, 35:13 so I don't have to worry about too much. 35:15 But I heard a pastor say that once. 35:17 Yes. And I always remembered it. 35:19 You fall on your knees like David did. 35:21 And you repent and you move forward. 35:22 Amen. 35:24 You know, that's something remind me there. 35:25 Marilyn, you can go ahead with that 35:26 is one day I was working doing all kinds of stuff 35:30 and I was in the truck. 35:31 And I just kind of looked up to Lord, I said 35:33 everything in the world has went wrong. 35:35 You know what I mean. 35:36 Everything I've went you know, going to do is wrong. 35:39 Couldn't it really get, you know, how you sometime 35:41 couldn't really get any worse. 35:43 And I had my arm out the window sitting in the truck. 35:45 I said, couldn't really get any worse. 35:47 About that time a bird flew over. 35:50 I said, you know, it just got worse. 35:52 You know, it's just illustration, 35:53 the birds. 35:55 Like you said, I kept my arm in. 35:56 That's right. 35:58 Had I kept my walk with Christ, 35:59 maybe things wouldn't have gotten worse. 36:01 And one things is very interesting 36:02 is my mother always gave the illustration 36:04 she said one time to me, she said, 36:06 she did the pillow slips. 36:08 I might have talked about it before. 36:10 Pillow slip for, I don't know... 36:12 Embroidery. Embroidery. 36:14 I've got it all together. 36:15 Embroidery, pillow slips with pictures on them. 36:18 And so she showed me one time, I thought man that looks good. 36:20 Oh, wow, that's, how's that. 36:22 She had it wrong side out, number one. 36:24 She said, "Look at this." 36:25 It was like a water spaghetti. 36:28 There was thread going over this way 36:30 different colors going here. 36:31 It was a biggest mess I ever saw. 36:33 Right. 36:35 And then she turned it right side, I looked, 36:36 there's a beautiful picture. 36:38 She said, from heaven God looks down 36:40 and He sees the finished product 36:42 and what you can be through Him. 36:44 We look up, we see a spaghetti mess 36:47 going in every different direction 36:48 and there's no hope, 36:50 except we go to the Scripture. 36:51 So remember, God's looking at what you can be through Him. 36:55 Marilyn, what do you think about that? 36:56 Can I say is that possible? 36:58 If you don't mind let me just finish this. 36:59 Go ahead. 37:01 And I want to say 37:02 can you imagine this is exactly 37:03 what Nicodemus wanted to understand 37:05 when He talked about being born again, right? 37:07 But I want to finish this quote 37:08 from Desire of Ages again, page 311. 37:11 Christ always separates the contrite heart 37:14 that truly repentant heart from sin, 37:18 He came to destroy the works of the devil, 37:21 and he has made pro... 37:22 He, Christ has made provision that the Holy Spirit 37:27 shall be imparted to every repentant soul 37:31 to keep him from sinning. 37:34 It's not our strength. 37:36 We don't have strength within ourselves. 37:39 It's all about allowing Him to come in 37:41 to repent from our sins. 37:43 Now, Sister throwing it back to you. 37:45 All right. Okay. 37:47 Is it possible for us to overcome sin in our lives? 37:50 Absolutely. 37:51 I think every day it's a conversion. 37:54 Every minute we have to look to Christ 37:57 to give us that strength. 37:58 And I think you all have made valid points. 38:01 When we start out as Christian, 38:04 you know, we don't have all the answers 38:08 but as we grow in our walk in Christ, 38:11 we become stronger in our as we lean on Him, 38:16 old habits are passed away. 38:18 Come on now. It's right. 38:20 Yes. So, yeah. 38:21 So I believe that I, you know, but you have to stay in Christ 38:26 each and every day, 38:28 because Satan is always there ready to tempt you. 38:32 And, yeah, so. 38:35 Isn't it? 38:36 I mean, isn't that wonderful you think about and it's... 38:38 I don't wanna say story, 38:40 it's sharing your life experience. 38:42 Brother Ryan did, Eric you did. 38:43 And each of our hearts in our lives, 38:46 we see changes and I look in the mirror, 38:48 I'm not happy with all that. 38:50 I know there's more changes that need to take place. 38:53 And I noticed when if you slip and you fall you do something, 38:56 he says what is it? 38:57 2 Corinthians 3:18. 38:59 You know, we look in that glass. 39:00 That's right. 39:01 And it's by beholding we become changed. 39:03 That's right. 39:04 If I'm not beholding on a regular basis, 39:06 the enemy is going to behold me. 39:07 That's right. 39:08 He's going to take charge in my life. 39:10 So I need to behold Him. 39:11 And just quickly, 39:13 I think we start we look at that question. 39:15 Is it really a reality? 39:16 And Isaiah 6:1-5. 39:20 Isaiah was given a in a vision 39:24 the throne, oh, glory, the throne room of God. 39:26 That's right. 39:27 I mean, I'm getting goosebumps right now. 39:29 He was on the throne, 39:30 again, the holy and the Holy of Holies 39:33 he beheld glory of God. 39:36 And as he was beholding the glory and the purity 39:39 and the majesty and the power of God, 39:42 it changed his whole life. 39:45 You're thinking, he's a man of God. 39:47 Woe is me. Good. 39:48 Bottom line, he looked as he was beholding, 39:51 he said, "Woe is me for I'm undone." 39:54 That's right. 39:56 If we come to that point in our Christian life 39:58 and could have been so can I say, puffed up, 40:01 so prideful sometime, that we've got it made. 40:04 We got the message, you know, we have the experience. 40:08 And as lady come to me one time she said, 40:10 "Well, I know, pastor, 40:11 I've lived seven years without sin." 40:14 I said, "Well, praise God. 40:15 Today, you might have just blown it." 40:17 Well, be careful. You know what I'm saying? 40:18 We need not have that, 40:19 you following what I'm saying here? 40:21 Yes. 40:22 It's not try to judge or to criticize her 40:23 for saying that. 40:25 It was the idea, if sometime if we think 40:26 that we're not striving to be more like Christ. 40:30 How many of us can say, I'm just like Christ, 40:33 I have the mind of Christ. 40:34 So I told the story many times, I pray for years, 40:37 Lord, I want to be, I want to have wisdom, 40:38 spiritual wisdom, not of the world, 40:40 I don't care much about the world. 40:42 But give me the Wisdom of Solomon 40:43 in spiritual things. 40:44 That's right. 40:46 And so the Lord returned, 40:47 after years of going and doing that. 40:48 He finally said to me, in my spirit one day, 40:50 "Kenny, what's wrong with being like Me?" 40:53 That's what the scripture said. 40:55 It never said, "To pray to be like Solomon", did it? 40:57 And, of course, the end results, my lands. 40:59 But he said, "Pray that we have the mind of Christ." 41:03 I have to have the mind of Christ, 41:04 so that He helps me and gives me power 41:06 to make the right choice and decision. 41:08 Because I'm not going to do that, 41:09 for years of growing up in the church, 41:11 I beheld more of the world than I did Christ. 41:14 So like each one of you were talking about 41:16 those were things in my mind at first, 41:17 just like that. 41:19 As I grew up, I always had, I was... 41:21 Can I say smart tongue? 41:24 Not that way so much and will more praise God, 41:25 but I'm just saying that, you know, I had an answer. 41:27 I had something all the time going, 41:28 and I didn't mind it to fuss a little bit and carry on. 41:31 That's right. 41:32 The Lord keeps impressing my mind sometimes said 41:34 to just listen, you know, think and pray, 41:36 commit yourself to God. 41:38 So mine is, I'm going to have to have grace. 41:40 I need to behold. 41:42 We're talking about victory over sin, are we not? 41:43 Victory over sin. 41:45 I must behold Him, I must get a vision. 41:47 And as I get a vision of Christ, 41:49 I behold Him every day, I find myself undone. 41:52 I'm not nowhere near where God would have me to be. 41:55 I don't know if maybe you feel the same way. 41:57 Each one of you feels the same way. 41:59 One of the things that I learned 42:00 during my period of transformation 42:02 was I read a scripture that said, 42:04 "Put no evil thing before your eyes." 42:07 And that was key for me. 42:08 Yes. 42:10 Because I was listening to music 42:11 that was telling me things, 42:13 it was telling me that I wasn't worthy. 42:16 The world doesn't care about you, 42:17 treat people this way. 42:19 Get all the money you can, 42:21 it was feeding me this information. 42:22 So when I read that scripture, it told me, 42:25 I'm listening to the wrong thing. 42:26 I'm watching the wrong thing. 42:28 So part of my transformation was, 42:29 I remember driving down the highway in Florida, 42:33 going to Tampa, throwing tapes, 42:35 when we had video, little cassette tapes, 42:37 throwing the tapes out the window 42:39 of the music I was listening to, 42:40 I was that convicted by it. 42:42 It was still, there was still a process after that. 42:45 But that started my conviction that these things had to go 42:48 in order for me to complete transformation. 42:49 Yes, yes. 42:51 So it was more than just being convicted 42:53 that was wrong. 42:54 That's again, divinity and what? 42:57 And humanity working together. 42:59 You might that divinity was impressing you. 43:01 The Holy Spirit impressing is wrong. 43:03 Our part was then, 43:05 oh, I need not have these things around. 43:07 That's right. That's right. 43:09 You know, by the grace of God 43:10 that's doing our part 43:12 is to fight the good fight of faith. 43:13 It's not of works, it's not only by writing in 43:15 and getting the calls, oh, you believe, 43:17 you know, it's all about works. 43:18 Our most righteousness is filthy rag. 43:20 God does not accept anything 43:22 righteousness of ours, we have none. 43:24 Amen. It's all about Him. 43:25 Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 43:28 And that means that you're gonna follow them, 43:30 you're gonna do them. 43:32 And I'm so glad that you pointed that out, 43:33 because so many times during this lesson 43:35 and maybe I said it earlier, I just don't recall. 43:37 But when we begin to study, we begin to learn what sin is, 43:41 we begin to look at ourselves differently and say, 43:44 oh, wow, you know, 43:46 and you know, Jesus says He brought a sword, 43:49 a two edged sword. 43:50 And that's what it is. 43:52 The Bible is a two edged sword, 43:53 it's going to cut, it's going to separate, 43:55 it's going to divide, 43:56 it's going to point out things that, like Paul said, 43:59 I once loved now I know, now I hate. 44:02 You know, because there's many times 44:04 which leads us into question number two, 44:06 that there are people that have sins in their life 44:09 that they love, 44:10 they don't want to get rid of. 44:12 And sometimes we have sins 44:13 that we don't even realize is a sin 44:15 until we're studying the Word of God. 44:17 So I know we're about out of time. 44:18 But let me just jump in here. 44:20 It number, question number two says, 44:22 "Many people love their sin, 44:24 many people are addicted to their sin. 44:28 So how will Christ strengthen us 44:30 to walk through this life of sanctification? 44:33 How will we ever get to the point 44:35 that's that the sin that we may now love, 44:38 we will later hate?" 44:41 By building our relationship with Christ. 44:43 Praise God. 44:44 Yeah, you have to, the more you draw near to Him, 44:48 the less likely you are to keep those old habits. 44:54 If you, if you're an open vessel, 44:56 and you allow God to pour the Holy Spirit into you, 44:59 He's gonna displace all of that. 45:01 So that when you, when I drive down the street, 45:03 and I hear the music that I used to love, 45:05 pulls up next to me, I have to roll the windows up. 45:08 I'm completely... Okay. 45:10 I don't like it anymore. 45:12 When you're filled with the Holy Spirit, 45:14 there's no room for that in your life. 45:15 So you really can't go around that stuff that used to be... 45:20 No, you can't. An issue, right? 45:22 It's kind of walking on the precipice on the line, 45:23 or you look at you're gonna go. 45:25 I look at it this way. 45:26 You can force yourself not to sin. 45:28 You could say, I'm not going to sin, 45:30 You can stay in your house not going anywhere. 45:32 Stare in the mirror and not sin. 45:33 You can force yourself to do it, perhaps. 45:36 But that's not a change of heart. 45:38 No, it's not. No. 45:39 It's about a transformation of your heart. 45:42 I mean, I had a man in New York one time, 45:44 years before he became a Christian, he was the dancer. 45:47 And people say, oh, well, anyway, he loved to dance. 45:50 And so he said, you know certain kind of music. 45:51 This was 20 years later, 45:53 he became a Christian. 45:54 And he's coming. 45:56 He said, Every time I hear certain beat, 45:58 he said, I don't notice it. 45:59 But my feet are moving around underneath the table. 46:02 He said, "When I see them moving, 46:03 I said, Lord, don't let my feet do that." 46:06 Kind of like the man that smoked for 20 or 30 years. 46:09 He's given it up 10 to 15 years, 46:12 and he's sitting there talking to you. 46:13 I've had it happen many times. 46:14 And he's doing like this. 46:16 Right. What is he doing? 46:17 That's a habit. 46:19 A habit he had for many, many years. 46:20 He didn't even know he's doing it. 46:22 Brother was Terry, 46:23 one time I said, Terry, what are you doing? 46:25 He's going like this. What are you doing? 46:27 He said, "I didn't know I was doing it." 46:30 So I'm saying those things 46:32 may try to creep back into our life, 46:34 by the grace of God know our weaknesses, 46:36 but also know the strength in the grace of God. 46:40 If you don't know, here's one of the big question, 46:42 maybe we can talk about, Brother Ryan, 46:43 you think about is where does grace come in? 46:46 Where does grace come in of gaining victory over sin? 46:49 And how do I know 46:50 because one of the biggest questions 46:52 I get is people who've been in the movement 46:53 for 20 years say something like this. 46:55 I don't know if I'm really in 46:57 almost a saving relationship, are you saved. 46:58 You know what I'm talking about? 47:00 I don't know that I've been saved. 47:01 After all these years 47:02 of belonging to church for 40 years, 47:04 I don't know that 47:05 I'm in a saving relationship with Christ. 47:06 What do I do? 47:08 What advice would we give them 47:09 as four or five minutes we've got left to pick? 47:12 Well, I mean, I think, you know, going back 47:13 to the grace concept, the fact that, 47:15 the fact that the Bible tells us that, 47:18 that if we confess our sins 47:21 that He is just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us, 47:25 I love this, from all unrighteousness. 47:28 The fact that Christ has given us that promise, 47:31 shows the grace and the mercy 47:33 that He has towards us at all times, 47:35 that if we come to the point 47:37 to where we sorrow for that sin, and we say, 47:39 Lord, I recognize 47:40 that that's not according to Your will 47:42 that this you don't want this in my life. 47:44 And we come to Him 47:45 and we lay that down at His feet 47:47 and we say, Lord, we humble ourselves. 47:48 Remember that? 47:49 2 Chronicles 7:14, 47:51 "If my people who are called by My name 47:53 will humble themselves and pray." 47:55 Really, overcoming sin is all about humility. 47:58 It's all about taking upon ourselves 48:01 the mind of Christ, but through the faith of Jesus, 48:04 in order to humble ourselves like Jesus did 48:07 in a world that really He didn't belong. 48:09 Jesus didn't belong in this world. 48:10 He belonged in His kingdom, but He humbled Himself. 48:13 He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. 48:15 He humbled Himself as low as a servant to serve man, 48:19 and to take on the nature of man, 48:21 as the Bible says, not the nature of angels, 48:23 but the nature of a man He took upon sinful flesh. 48:26 And He subjected Himself to that to teach us. 48:29 In fact, let me read this, 48:30 I've to read this really quickly. 48:31 And we're going to get back to this conversation. 48:34 I want to read this to you, powerful, powerful quote. 48:37 And this comes from the Upward Look, 48:40 I found this quote, and I had to read it, 48:42 because it was just so powerful. 48:44 This comes from the Upward Look, page 303. 48:50 It says, "Christ took humanity 48:52 and bore the hatred of the world, 48:54 that He might show men and women 48:57 that they could live without sin." 49:00 That's powerful. 49:01 And so, if we consider for just a moment, 49:04 the fact that we do have access to that grace, 49:07 Christ wants to save us by grace through faith, 49:10 as the Bible says, 49:11 but we have to humble ourselves just as Christ humbled Himself. 49:14 We have to humble ourselves and recognize 49:16 that this sin is leading us to death. 49:18 And I just also wanted to bring something else out. 49:21 Also, the question number two is asking here. 49:25 It's asking, so how will Christ strengthen us to walk 49:29 through this life of sanctification? 49:31 Well, what's one of our favorite texts 49:32 that we often quote John 14-15, 49:35 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 49:38 And a lot of people stop right there. 49:40 But notice the verse the follows 49:43 in response to that, he says, 49:45 "And I will pray to the Father 49:46 and He will give you another helper, 49:48 that He may abide with you forever." 49:52 How is God going to strengthen us 49:54 and help us in this time? 49:56 Verse 26, "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, 49:58 whom the Father will send in my name, 49:59 he will teach you all things, 50:01 he will bring all things to your remembrance." 50:04 John 16:8, 50:06 here it is talking about that helper, 50:08 and he who has come 50:09 he will convict the world of sin 50:10 and of righteousness, and of judgment. 50:12 And in verse 13, 50:14 when he the spirit of truth has come, 50:15 He will guide you in all truth, 50:17 for He will, excuse me, He will guide you 50:21 into all truth, 50:22 for He will not speak of his own authority, 50:25 and whatever he hears he speaks 50:26 and he will show you all things to come. 50:28 The Holy Spirit is given to us as a promise 50:31 to help us overcome sin. 50:32 That's our strength in Christ Jesus. 50:34 Yes, amen. Praise the Lord. 50:36 You know, we're getting close to a news break, 50:38 but I'd like to share number one, 50:41 we need to learn to claim God's promises, 50:43 we need to make them our own. 50:44 I mentioned earlier Isaiah 41, 50:46 that is such a good one when you're struggling, 50:49 because God is our strength, our help and He will uphold us, 50:52 study, study, but this I want to share a quote 50:55 this is from Testimonies, volume one, page 158, 50:58 it so sums up what we're talking about. 51:01 It says a Christian has victory over his besetments, 51:04 over his passions. 51:05 Are you listening? Oh, mercy. 51:07 I mean, even our passions, 51:08 our thoughts need to be in subjection 51:10 to our Lord and Savior. 51:11 There is a remedy, there is a remedy. 51:13 That's good news, for the sin sick soul, 51:16 that remedy is Jesus precious Savior, 51:19 His grace is sufficient, 51:21 for the weakest and the strongest 51:23 must also have His grace or perish. 51:26 Grace is given us what we don't deserve. 51:28 I saw how this grace could be obtained. 51:30 Now listen, here it is, here's the key. 51:32 "Go to your closet, 51:34 and there alone plead with God: 51:36 'Create in me a clean heart, 51:38 O God, and renew a right spirit within me.'" 51:40 Psalms 51:10. 51:42 Be in earnest, the Bible talks about a contrite heart. 51:45 Be sincere, fervent prayer availeth much. 51:50 And we could go on and on. 51:51 But listen, humanity and divinity working together, 51:55 we have to make an effort. 51:58 It's not a once and done, 52:00 it's not a once saved, always saved. 52:02 You know, Christ comes in, but he's not going to force us. 52:06 We have to invite Him and it's a struggle for us, 52:09 because He's showing us what needs to go. 52:11 He's cleaning us up. 52:13 We're in the hospital of Jesus Christ. 52:14 That's right. So He's our great physician... 52:16 He's taking care of us He gives us every breath 52:19 It's wonderful I better turn it over to you 52:21 Oh, no, praise. Oh, that's all good. 52:23 And we're having a little bit of a church 52:25 right here by the grace of God, 52:28 but you know, right now we're going to just take 52:29 a small news break right now. 52:31 Remember, this is exciting. Don't go away. 52:32 We'll be back with some closing thoughts. |
Revised 2021-05-06