Sharper Focus, A

The Anatomy of Righteousness -part 3

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. John Lomacang

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Series Code: ASHF

Program Code: ASHF000159A


00:20 Hello, and welcome to our Wednesday night Bible study
00:23 here at the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:24 We welcome you with a hearty amen.
00:26 Can we all say amen?
00:27 Amen!
00:29 And we are thankful that you have taken the time
00:30 to tune in for this very thought provoking study
00:34 on the Anatomy of Righteousness.
00:37 You know many people desire to be righteous.
00:39 Many people desire to have freedom.
00:42 Many people desire to live their lives
00:46 above the power of sin.
00:48 But lot times we don't know how?
00:50 And so I think that, the most important study
00:53 that any one can enter into is about sin.
00:56 Since sin is the only thing that can keep us out of heaven.
01:02 And so, we're gonna continue our study tonight.
01:04 In just a moment, I'll tell you how to get a copy of the lesson
01:06 and how to follow along,
01:08 but we thank you for taken the time to join us
01:10 and before we even sing our theme song,
01:13 we are all going to begin with a word of prayer.
01:15 Let's bow our heads together.
01:17 Loving Father in heaven, we thank You
01:19 for the opportunity for the time
01:21 for this just presented privilege
01:24 to open Your Word and study it together.
01:27 Guide our minds tonight,
01:29 may we not only hear
01:31 what the spirit has to say to the church,
01:33 but may we hear what the spirit has to say to us.
01:36 And we thank You, Lord, that You'll speak to us
01:39 and then You'll impart to us
01:41 the strength that we are in need of,
01:42 in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
01:47 Now if you like a copy of the lesson.
01:48 It is lesson number 38.
01:50 Go to this following website.
01:51 It is ASF.3ABN.org.
01:55 Download lesson number 38.
01:56 What number did I say?
01:58 Thirty eight. Number 38.
01:59 And it is The Anatomy of Righteousness,
02:01 and tonight we're gonna begin on number 13,
02:04 but first we sing our song and our song is entitled,
02:08 what is the title of our song?
02:10 Victory! Victory in Jesus.
02:13 Let's sing the song together.
02:29 I heard an old, old story
02:32 How the Savior came from glory
02:36 How He gave His life on Calvary
02:40 To save a wretch like me
02:44 I heard about His groaning
02:47 Of His precious blood's atoning
02:51 Then I repented of my sin
02:55 And won the victory
02:59 O victory in Jesus
03:03 My Savior, forever
03:06 He sought me and bought me
03:10 With His redeeming blood
03:14 He loved me ere I knew Him
03:18 And all my love is due Him
03:21 He plunged me to victory
03:25 Beneath the cleansing flood
03:29 I heard about a mansion
03:33 He has built for me in glory
03:37 And I heard about the streets of gold
03:40 Beyond the crystal sea
03:44 About the angels singing
03:48 And the old redemption story
03:52 And some sweet day I'll sing up there
03:56 The song of victory
03:58 Key change.
03:59 O victory in Jesus
04:03 My Savior, forever
04:07 He sought me and bought me
04:11 With His redeeming blood
04:14 He loved me ere I knew Him
04:18 And all my love is due Him
04:22 He plunged me to victory
04:26 Beneath the cleansing flood
04:29 He plunged me to victory
04:33 Beneath the cleansing flood
04:40 Amen.
04:42 Plunge me to victory, beneath the cleansing flood.
04:47 Now this song is more than a theme song,
04:50 but it is in fact,
04:52 the focal point of our program Victory in...?
04:55 Victory in Jesus.
04:56 And we have been walking through
04:58 The Anatomy of Righteousness
05:01 for now two studies,
05:02 and tonight we're gonna dive into the third part,
05:05 but I want to lay some foundation.
05:07 And I want to talk about slavery for a moment.
05:13 Slavery.
05:15 Slavery is a plight in any society.
05:20 You know, in America
05:21 there's a prior history of slavery.
05:24 Even today in this modern age there are slaves,
05:27 there are sweatshops slaves.
05:30 There are people that are involved in children slavery,
05:37 then there are those that are sex slaves,
05:40 people being transformed
05:43 or they're transport from one country to another
05:46 and sold on the black market.
05:49 There are forms of slavery still in existence today.
05:53 You know, when I read the Book of Revelation,
05:55 every slave man and every free man,
05:57 I thought, why would the Lord say
05:59 that way down toward the end,
06:01 while there will be slaves all the way to the very end.
06:04 And it's a terrible thing,
06:06 but what I learned about it also is,
06:08 it's very closely associated with sin.
06:12 When you think about slavery, it has a life all of its own
06:15 because there is a master and then there is a slave.
06:19 There is the person who is the one calling the shots
06:24 and the other one who has no choice but to follow
06:27 or to comply
06:30 with what is being enforced or forced on them.
06:33 And when the Bible talks about sin,
06:35 it talks about it pretty much the same way.
06:38 Now, we're going to get into that.
06:39 I want to get into that too soon,
06:40 but I want to lay that foundation tonight
06:42 because there's a text in John 8 that says,
06:47 "He who the Son sets free is, together,
06:51 free indeed."
06:53 Now the natural deduction will be,
06:58 is Satan a larger or stronger slave master
07:02 than Jesus is able to free us?
07:07 And the answer is no.
07:08 If that were in fact the case,
07:10 then there would be no salvation
07:11 because no one would be able to be saved
07:14 because Satan would bind everyone into slavery,
07:18 but Jesus can set us free greater than Satan can bind us.
07:22 So the question is, on that very note,
07:25 why is it that those so few of us
07:27 experience lasting freedom?
07:30 Why is it that we battle with so many things
07:32 that tend to enslave us?
07:34 We're going to talk about that how to not only be set free
07:39 but to be made free.
07:41 How not only to proclaim that we have been delivered,
07:44 but how to remain delivered,
07:46 because a prisoner that's been set free from death row,
07:49 I could be honest with you,
07:51 they're not looking forward to going back, right?
07:54 And a person whose sentence has been commuted
07:59 is not looking forward to going back.
08:02 They don't want the word recidivism
08:04 to be in their future.
08:05 I am not going back, I'm out, I'm staying out
08:09 but, you know, there are many that go back.
08:13 There are many that end up in there
08:15 because here's the key.
08:17 They have not learned the life of freedom.
08:22 To be made free is learning the life of freedom,
08:27 so it's not enough to be saved from death row,
08:30 but you have to learn the life of freedom.
08:35 And there's a life that comes with freedom.
08:37 There's a walk that comes with freedom,
08:40 not just I'm free.
08:42 Will go ahead and live the way that you live before.
08:44 There's a life that comes along with freedom.
08:46 So tonight I want to talk about the intimate connection
08:48 that starts that life.
08:50 And we're going to go kind of back and forth in the topic
08:52 because as we go into it,
08:54 then we're gonna pause along the way to see
08:56 why what we just read
08:57 is vitally important for us to understand and to store.
09:01 Let's go to question number 13 tonight,
09:04 and the question is...
09:06 The question is:
09:10 How will the Lord produce righteousness in us?
09:16 How will the Lord produce righteousness in us?
09:21 Very important to know.
09:22 How will the Lord produce righteousness in us?
09:27 Let's go to John 15:5,
09:29 John 15 and what verse?
09:33 John 15:5.
09:38 Okay.
09:43 Okay.
09:44 Now this whole passage here,
09:46 it talks about Jesus being the vine,
09:50 we are the branches
09:52 Well, let's walk through this together.
09:55 Because it talks about it in a number of ways
10:00 starting with verse 1,
10:03 "I am the true vine, My Father is the vinedresser.
10:09 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit..."
10:12 What does he do?
10:14 "He takes away,
10:15 and every branch that bears fruit
10:19 He prunes, that it may bear more."
10:22 Let me pause there for a brief movement,
10:24 because let's look at verse 5
10:25 and then I'll come back since it's on the screen.
10:28 Read this together.
10:29 "I am the vine..."
10:30 You are the what?
10:32 "Branches.
10:33 He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears" what?
10:37 "Much fruit; for without Me you can do" what?
10:40 "You can do nothing."
10:41 So if you want to write the answer in there,
10:43 how will the Lord produce righteousness in us?
10:48 He is the vine, we are the branches,
10:50 remain connected.
10:52 And the word that indicates remain connected is what word?
10:56 Abide. Abide.
10:58 The word abide is a...
10:59 It's a bigger word than just get connected.
11:02 Abide is kind of like buying a couch
11:04 and just laying on it.
11:07 Just, you just sink into it.
11:09 It's like a recliner
11:11 that you just love to lay on it, you abide.
11:15 You know, I did that today, I was going this morning,
11:17 going this afternoon, and when my wife came home,
11:20 when Angie walked in, I was on my La-Z-Boy recliner.
11:23 We call that our sleeping pill.
11:25 You lean back on that,
11:26 in just a matter of minutes you're gone.
11:29 It just relaxes the body.
11:31 Some of us don't know what it means
11:33 to abide in Jesus.
11:35 But John, the reason why
11:37 he was the perfect one to write this is
11:41 because he was the one that leaned on Jesus' breast.
11:45 He leaned on the chest of Jesus.
11:46 He found as the youngest disciple,
11:48 he found his comfort in leaning on Jesus.
11:52 And so he was the perfect one to write this,
11:54 to inspire and write this.
11:55 When you abide in the Father, when you abide in Christ,
11:59 you are able to bear fruit.
12:00 But it also says in verse 2, that when you bear fruit...
12:04 Now, this is the part that we don't often grab.
12:07 When we bear fruit,
12:08 what does he do according to verse 2?
12:11 "Every branch that bears fruit, he what?
12:15 15:2 "Every branch that bears fruit,"
12:18 what does he do?
12:20 No, "Every branch that bears fruit,"
12:24 he does what?
12:26 "He prunes."
12:28 Prunes, a good word is prunes.
12:31 Have you seen a person pruning trees?
12:33 What do they do?
12:34 They cut the branches shorter, they cut the leaves back,
12:37 and so sometimes
12:39 when the pruning process happens in our lives,
12:42 I want to point this out very carefully,
12:44 because sometimes we are producing fruit,
12:46 but the Lord says, but you can produce more.
12:49 So He allows first a pruning process to happen to us.
12:53 He allows a trial to come, a difficulty to come,
12:56 and we think that,
12:57 well, the Lord is allowing us to go through hardship.
12:59 No.
13:00 It's called pruning,
13:01 but how will that pruning be necessary?
13:03 How will that pruning be accomplished
13:05 unless there are hurdles in our lives,
13:08 obstacles in our lives,
13:10 something to call out our faith and our patience?
13:13 But the point that we're trying to make here
13:15 is not only does it produce righteousness,
13:20 but when we are pruned, it produces even more fruit.
13:24 In other words, a person becomes more effective
13:26 as a Christian
13:27 after they go through difficulty
13:29 than they were before.
13:30 But can we produce any righteousness without Christ?
13:32 Yes or no? No.
13:33 Absolutely no, we cannot at all.
13:35 Let's go to number 14.
13:37 It's not possible.
13:38 It is not possible.
13:42 Not possible at all.
13:46 Okay, not possible at all.
13:51 Question number 14.
13:53 Question number 14.
13:55 We're going to dive into the Book of Romans.
13:57 Why is human nature helpless?
14:00 Why is human nature helpless
14:04 when it comes to controlling sin?
14:08 Romans 7, we're going to read a few verses, Romans 7.
14:15 I've said this before
14:16 but it bears repeating right here,
14:18 Romans 7.
14:20 Romans 7 is the book written by the Apostle Paul
14:24 after he was converted,
14:27 not before he was converted.
14:29 And let me tell you why,
14:30 and how do the Bible writers know.
14:33 You will never have a conflict with sin
14:35 until you are converted.
14:39 Because you won't even desire to get rid of it.
14:43 When you are aware of it, now the battle begins.
14:46 Lot of times Christians believe that
14:47 when I become a Christian the battle is over.
14:49 No, that's when the battle begins,
14:53 because now you've got the reality that,
14:57 okay, there is the law, but here I am.
15:01 The law is holy, just and good,
15:03 I am carnal, sold unto sin.
15:08 So I am aware of the standard now.
15:12 It's like a guy that joins a...
15:13 A guy that loves to play basketball,
15:16 and he's put on a team one day,
15:18 and he realizes there is the head coach,
15:21 there is the general manager,
15:23 he has to now play by the rules.
15:25 He can't just run up and down the court.
15:27 He might like to shoot like I do.
15:31 You know, I always say, you never win by dribbling.
15:34 But the coach may say,
15:35 we don't want you to take that shot,
15:37 but you want to take the shot, but he said no.
15:39 And I heard one coach saying, this fits in Christianity.
15:43 I heard one coach once said,
15:45 "Give me an average player that I could coach
15:48 that's willing to listen to instruction
15:50 rather than a good player
15:52 that doesn't want to take instruction."
15:55 And so there are those who believe
15:56 that they're good enough, they don't want instruction,
15:58 Paul makes it very clear that the battle begins
16:01 when we become aware that God's law is there.
16:04 Look at this, Romans 7:8.
16:07 Let's start there, Romans 7:8.
16:09 Okay.
16:11 He says, "But sin,
16:14 taking opportunity by the commandment,
16:17 produced in me all manner of" what?
16:20 "Evil desire."
16:23 Underline that word desire.
16:25 If you have a King James Version,
16:26 it might say the word lust.
16:27 It's the same thing lust and desire.
16:29 But I want to show you how desire is powerful
16:32 and therefore "For apart from the law sin was" what?
16:35 "Sin was dead."
16:37 In other words, until I found out about the law,
16:39 I don't even know what sin was.
16:42 See if you're in Germany
16:43 and you're driving on the autobahn,
16:44 you love the autobahn because there is what?
16:48 No speed limit,
16:49 but a German that comes over here
16:51 and lands in St. Louis, rents a Mercedes
16:54 and he's doing 85, 90, 100 miles an hour on 64,
16:58 and he gets pulled over
17:00 and he says to the police, "I'm German."
17:01 He said, "But you're in America."
17:03 Right?
17:04 The difference is, what's the difference?
17:06 There's a law and he says, "But I'm a German citizen."
17:10 He said, "But you're on American roads."
17:13 Until the law,
17:15 I was free
17:17 until you told me about the law.
17:19 For apart from the law, sin was what?
17:22 Dead.
17:24 For without the speed limit,
17:25 there was no such thing as a law to say I'm speeding.
17:28 That's what it's in essence of being said.
17:30 So Paul when he became aware of the commandments,
17:32 all of a sudden he is now dead,
17:35 because the wages of sin is death.
17:38 And what is sin?
17:39 Sin is the transgression of the law,
17:41 so the law that was now transgressed
17:44 brings him to the point of death
17:46 because he now knows the wages of breaking that is death.
17:52 And that's why he says,
17:53 "For apart from the law, sin was dead."
17:56 But when I became aware of the law, I die.
18:01 Look at the next verse, verse 18.
18:03 Look at verse 18.
18:05 He makes it really clear.
18:07 And I'm picking verses out of here,
18:09 but I'll come back to some of the ones
18:11 that are between that, all right?
18:14 He says, "For I know that in me," that is where?
18:17 "In my flesh" how much?
18:20 "Nothing good dwells, for to will..."
18:23 Now, I want you to write the word down will
18:26 and then the word desire,
18:28 because those two words are very powerful
18:30 when it comes to this whole equation
18:32 of how to be victorious.
18:33 "For to will is present with me,
18:36 but how to perform what is good..."
18:38 What did he say?
18:39 "I do not find."
18:41 In other words, I can't figure it out.
18:43 I know what I want to do, but I can't figure it out.
18:47 I can't find it.
18:49 In other words, I'm in the dark about this one.
18:51 And Paul was very capable of doing a lot of things
18:53 but he said, when it comes to being victorious,
18:54 in this area I can't figure out how to do it.
18:57 Now, we gonna dive past this in just a moment here.
18:59 Now, let's get to third verse and then I'm going to answer...
19:02 Then we're gonna put the answer in.
19:03 Verse 20 now.
19:05 He says, "Now if I do what I will not to do..."
19:11 Verse 20, look at that.
19:13 "If I do what I will not to do,
19:16 it is no longer I who do it,"
19:18 but look at that scripture,
19:19 "It is no longer I who do it but" what?
19:22 "Sin that dwells" where?
19:24 "In me."
19:26 He says, I am not the one doing it,
19:28 it's the sin that dwells in me,
19:30 so what in essence is he saying?
19:32 What in essence is he saying?
19:33 He's saying, I'm helpless.
19:36 I don't want to do it, but it's the sin that's in me.
19:40 I don't want to do it, but it's the sin that's where?
19:42 In me.
19:44 Sin and sometimes we complain about the sin around us,
19:48 that's not the issue,
19:50 the issue is a sin that's where?
19:51 In us.
19:52 As one person said,
19:54 "All the water in the world cannot sink your ship
19:57 if it stays on the outside."
20:01 So don't be afraid of the size of the ocean,
20:03 just keep the water out.
20:06 When it comes to the life of sin,
20:09 that sin was in there from the day we were born.
20:13 It was in there.
20:15 It was where?
20:16 In there, like that Prego commercial,
20:18 it's in there.
20:19 It was in there from the day we were born,
20:21 and that's why the Lord allows a baby to be born small
20:24 because they either develop,
20:25 and don't miss this point,
20:27 you either, you don't naturally develop,
20:29 you don't become good.
20:32 You don't become good over the course of period,
20:34 over the course of time, because the Bible says,
20:36 there is none that is good, no not, not one.
20:39 So you don't grow into goodness,
20:42 you just get bad, you just get worse,
20:44 you just get rotten, like a spoiled...
20:47 You heard it said, spoiled brat,
20:50 sometimes you say that about an adult.
20:52 I'm not pointing at anybody,
20:54 because I don't want to make that point,
20:56 but some people are adults and they are spoiled brats
20:59 because they have never been molded.
21:02 No influence, that's why the parents' job
21:05 is a very responsible one,
21:06 train the child in the way they should go.
21:09 I heard the story and I think it fits right here
21:11 about the Indians in the Arizona Desert
21:14 a number of years ago.
21:17 Americans they call them cowboys at the time,
21:19 but I think was just Westerners
21:22 or Midwesterners or Southwesterns
21:24 that were trying to find their way through the desert,
21:26 some of the desert that had trees
21:28 and they thought the Indians had better eyesight than them
21:30 because they could walk them through the desert
21:32 at night or anything,
21:35 "Are your eyes better than ours,
21:37 they said no, but how do you know?
21:39 How do you find your way through?
21:41 And they said, there are we plant vines or trees
21:47 and when they are tender,
21:49 we bend them into a shape so they grow.
21:53 Have you ever seen those pictures of trees
21:55 that looked like knots,
21:56 and they looked like they wound around
21:59 that doesn't, trees don't grow that way naturally.
22:01 The Indians made those trees that way
22:03 when they bent it into that shape
22:05 when it was, when it was pliable,
22:07 and then when it grew one thing you cannot do is
22:10 you can't unbend a tree,
22:12 so be very careful as a parent,
22:14 if you let your children go their own way,
22:16 you'll come to the place where you realize
22:18 you can't bend them, you'll have to have...
22:21 You have to pray for the Lord to break them
22:23 'cause you can't unbend a tree,
22:25 but you can cut those branches,
22:27 that's where the pruning comes in.
22:30 So let's answer the question.
22:32 Why is human nature helpless
22:33 when it comes to controlling sin?
22:35 Because where does sin dwell?
22:37 In me.
22:39 It's a part of our...
22:40 It's a part of our nature, it's in there.
22:43 Yeah, that's a very good point,
22:44 like an alien, it's in there.
22:47 But the thing about it is
22:51 the reason why we don't recognize this,
22:53 this terrible thing that's in us.
22:56 Are you ready?
22:58 Is because it is in harmony with our desire.
23:02 Let me say it again.
23:04 The reason why it doesn't seem like such a bad thing,
23:07 it's in harmony with our nature.
23:09 Amen.
23:11 Because it's a part of our nature.
23:13 It's in the way we think, it's in the desires we have.
23:17 It's as natural as riding a bike
23:20 somebody once said.
23:22 How many of you have to take lessons to walk.
23:29 Okay, let's go to 1 John, let me show you this.
23:32 Anybody up to lesson number five on walking.
23:38 Nobody up to the walk.
23:39 Nobody signs up for classes for walking, you know why?
23:43 'Cause it's natural, it's natural.
23:45 Let's go to 1 John.
23:47 Okay, I'm going to show you some of the principles of it,
23:50 then I'm gonna come back, okay.
23:52 1 John...
23:56 Okay.
24:00 All right, 1 John 1.
24:04 And exactly Mark, my wife whispering six,
24:07 she knows me.
24:09 Okay, 1 John 1:6.
24:13 If we say we have fellowship with Him
24:19 and walk in what?
24:21 Darkness we lie
24:24 and do not practice the truth,
24:28 but if we together walk in the light
24:33 as he is in the light
24:36 we have fellowship with one another
24:39 and the blood of Jesus Christ,
24:41 His Son cleanses us from all what?
24:46 S-I-N.
24:48 Now, I want you to get this,
24:49 because the word is not plural,
24:51 the word there is not sins, it's S-I-N.
24:57 Now go to 1 John...
24:59 not 1 John, but John 1.
25:05 Now I began the program by saying,
25:08 the number one reason why we won't be saved
25:11 is because we are still in sin.
25:14 That's the only thing
25:16 that can keep us out of heaven is sin, right?
25:19 The only thing.
25:21 We're gonna transition just a moment here.
25:22 The only thing that can keep us out of heaven is sin,
25:25 but look at this, but look at this, John 1:29.
25:30 John 1:29.
25:35 Love this text.
25:37 "The next day
25:41 John saw Jesus coming toward him and he said,
25:46 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the" what?
25:49 "Sin of the world."
25:52 He doesn't take away the sins.
25:53 If Jesus... Are you ready?
25:55 If Jesus, if His only mission was to forgive us of our sins,
26:00 He could have done that from heaven.
26:03 He could have said, Yannick, you're forgiven.
26:05 He could have done that... He could have taken...
26:07 He could get rid of...
26:09 He could've gotten rid of our sins,
26:10 our sins from heaven.
26:14 But that's not the only reason why He came.
26:17 If He only, if His only function
26:20 was to get rid of our sins, the things we do,
26:24 then there would be no need for Jesus to come to earth.
26:29 But there was another reason He came to earth.
26:31 He came to earth
26:32 to not just take away the things we did,
26:35 but He came to deal with the root issue,
26:38 He became sin, He became what?
26:40 Sin.
26:42 Now that's a powerful thought to think of
26:43 and I want to just, I want to develop that
26:45 in just a moment here.
26:46 Let me go ahead and look this up here with you.
26:48 Open your Bibles,
26:49 I'm going to just show you this here real quickly.
26:52 And this is a powerful thought
26:53 because when you think about it,
26:55 when you think about it, here it is.
26:58 Oh, wow, what a text.
27:04 Okay.
27:11 Well, I tell you, let's go to Romans,
27:13 let's go to Romans.
27:27 Actually 2 Corinthians, that's a little better,
27:30 2 Corinthians, I want you to see this.
27:36 And we know 2 Corinthians 5:17,
27:40 but we are going to look at verse 21.
27:50 Okay, 2 Corinthians 5:21.
28:00 The Bible says,
28:02 "For he made him who knew know what?
28:07 Sin to be what?
28:10 Sin for us."
28:12 That's the half of the transaction,
28:14 2 Corinthians 5:21,
28:16 "He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us."
28:25 And we're going to show you, but look at the other side.
28:28 My mind is already in Isaiah, slow me down, okay.
28:32 My mind is already in Isaiah,
28:34 "He made him who knew no sin to be" what?
28:38 "Sin for us that we..."
28:40 Look at the transaction,
28:42 "that we might become the" what?
28:46 Talk to me the what?
28:48 "Righteousness of God in him."
28:51 Now, who was righteous?
28:55 He was.
28:56 Who was the sinner? We.
28:58 Who was affected by the sin? Us.
29:01 No, no, we were.
29:04 Be careful when you say Jesus was infected by the sin
29:09 because He couldn't be our savior,
29:12 right, because He was tempted in all points
29:14 just as we are, yet what?
29:16 Without sin.
29:18 Just make sure that, you got that.
29:20 He didn't sin, He didn't sin in thought,
29:22 deed or action or word.
29:25 Praise God for that,
29:26 because you could sin in all different ways,
29:27 you can sin in thought, you can sin in deed,
29:29 you can sin in word.
29:33 But I'm gonna even go deeper than that.
29:35 Are you ready?
29:37 Sometimes people have said,
29:39 how could Jesus really save us from sins
29:45 that He was never tempted by?
29:48 And they cite,
29:49 well, did Jesus have issues with drugs,
29:52 or marijuana, or alcohol, or pornography,
29:56 or theft, or covetousness?
29:58 People say,
30:00 there are certain sins that exist today
30:02 that Jesus didn't even have in His day,
30:04 how could He possibly have been tempted
30:08 in all points just as we are?
30:11 Well, the first point is,
30:13 there are only three kinds of sin.
30:15 Lust of the flesh,
30:17 lust of the eyes, and what?
30:18 Pride of life.
30:19 How many temptations did Jesus have to endure?
30:22 Three, you hungry?
30:24 Why don't you turn those stones to bread?
30:27 Looks good, could be made food, see.
30:30 Then the lust of the eyes.
30:33 The devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world,
30:36 said, "I'll give You that if you worship me."
30:42 So all the sins that we face, Jesus,
30:46 but I want to make it even deeper than that.
30:50 If you get tempted and you say I'm not going to do it,
30:55 I'm not going to do it.
30:57 Do you think you could endure 15 seconds?
31:00 Come on now, really.
31:01 Let's just get into the human side of it.
31:03 If you tried for 15 seconds not to take a drink,
31:07 do you think you can last 15 seconds,
31:09 I think I can, 15 seconds,
31:11 but don't, well, you see, I don't drink anyway,
31:13 but whatever the temptation is,
31:15 if you say, okay, I'm not going to do it,
31:16 not going to do it, not going to do it,
31:18 but now let me, let me blow you away.
31:20 Try that for 33 years.
31:25 Try that for the entire, your entire life of 33 years.
31:29 Jesus lived in a world of sin and temptation
31:32 for His entire human existence
31:35 and never sinned, come on, can somebody say amen?
31:38 Amen.
31:40 Do you know of any human who could do that?
31:44 But let me tell you how He did it?
31:45 He did it the same way that we must do it,
31:48 complete reliance on His heavenly Father.
31:51 And this is huge because here is the key.
31:54 If what He experienced is not possible for us,
31:59 then this text cannot be true,
32:01 for he made him
32:03 who knew no sin to be sin for us
32:06 that we might become
32:08 the righteousness of God in Him.
32:12 If that weren't true,
32:13 then this is not a valid scripture.
32:15 In other words,
32:17 we could become righteousness because He became what?
32:19 Sin.
32:21 Isaiah 53, let's go there quickly,
32:23 Isaiah 53.
32:27 Not only does He...
32:29 Not only has He come to get rid of the root issue,
32:32 but He wants to do something else.
32:35 He wants to do something else.
32:37 Here it is.
32:38 Let's look at this because sometimes we,
32:41 you know, we think,
32:42 well, really couldn't be that much,
32:44 I mean it couldn't be all that.
32:46 Oh, it said, all that and more, all that and more.
32:51 So be careful when you say
32:53 I went a whole week without sinning.
32:57 Don't give yourself that kind of credit,
32:59 say, "Lord Jesus,
33:00 the Lord delivered me this week
33:03 from that thing that bound me last week.
33:05 Give Him the glory. Amen someone?
33:08 Look at this.
33:12 Verse 3,
33:16 "He is despised and rejected by man.
33:21 A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
33:26 and we hear it as it were our faces from him,
33:30 he was despised and we did not esteem him,
33:34 surely he has borne our grieves and carried our sorrows."
33:38 Now when you look at all this, He didn't just,
33:41 He didn't just become sin for us,
33:43 this was what was on His shoulder,
33:45 this was what was on His mind and in His heart
33:49 every waking moment of His earthly ministry.
33:54 "Surely He has borne our grieves
33:55 and carried our sorrows,
33:57 yet we esteemed Him stricken,
33:59 smitten by God and afflicted."
34:01 We said, God's doing that to him.
34:03 We didn't know that we were doing that to Him.
34:08 Verse 5, "But He was wounded for our...
34:13 For He was, talk to me,
34:15 but He was wounded for our transgressions.
34:17 He was bruised for our iniquity,
34:20 the chastisement of our peace was what?
34:23 Upon Him and by His stripes we are healed.
34:26 In other words, you know, what that mean chastisement?
34:28 In other words, the whipping that we deserved, He took it,
34:32 so that the peace that He has we could have.
34:36 He took the stripes that belonged to us,
34:38 so that we can have the peace that comes from Him.
34:42 What a transaction.
34:45 And it says, "By His stripes we are" what?
34:47 "Healed."
34:50 But what did we do?
34:51 All we like sheep have done what?
34:53 Gone astray.
34:55 We have turned everyone to his own way
34:57 and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of what?
35:01 Us all.
35:02 Now, I'm going to take this to the next level.
35:05 Not only did Jesus faced temptation
35:07 for all of His earthly life and never sinned.
35:12 But all of our iniquity was added to it.
35:16 So everything we had done wrong,
35:18 every sin we ever committed was laid on Him.
35:23 In other words, it was charged to Him.
35:25 It was charged to Him.
35:27 So have you ever had anybody pay for your bill
35:30 when you went to a restaurant?
35:32 Nobody really.
35:34 Have you ever had that privilege?
35:35 You go to the door and they say,
35:36 it's already been taken care.
35:38 Who did it?
35:40 I don't know they already left, and you wonder who did that.
35:43 Who is so nice to take care of our bill.
35:45 Let me tell you something, Jesus paid.
35:51 Jesus paid
35:54 the wage of sin for everyone
35:58 who would ever be born.
36:03 Even before they were born, the wage was paid.
36:08 But the reason why people...
36:10 I want to go right to my notes.
36:12 The reason why people often miss it...
36:17 is because salvation...
36:21 The reason why people often reject salvation
36:24 is because they don't know what it is.
36:26 Salvation is the justification
36:30 of the sinner,
36:33 not the justification of the sin.
36:38 Let me make it.
36:39 Jesus is not trying to justify what we did,
36:42 He's won to justify us, amen?
36:45 He's not saying, what you do is okay.
36:47 No, no, He hates sin so much,
36:51 because it caused Him His death.
36:53 He didn't die to justify what we did,
36:55 He died to justify us.
36:58 But the reason why people miss it is
37:00 because they think that Jesus,
37:02 they think that God sent His Son
37:04 to obliterate the sinner.
37:06 The devil's got people afraid of Jesus.
37:10 He didn't send His Son to obliterate the sinner,
37:12 He sent Him to obliterate the what?
37:15 Sin.
37:16 He said, "For God sent not His Son
37:18 into the world to condemn the world
37:21 but that the world that is already condemn,
37:24 through Him might be saved."
37:25 John 3:17.
37:27 So this beautiful gift of salvation,
37:29 salvation is the annihilation of sin
37:32 and the exoneration of the sinner.
37:35 Sin is annihilated, the sinner is exonerated.
37:37 And you know what?
37:39 That's why it's called a free gift,
37:40 because we couldn't pay for that...
37:42 but let's go to the next level, every sinner that ever sinned,
37:46 everybody that was ever on death row
37:48 that accepts Jesus,
37:49 their sentence is immediately commuted,
37:52 their record is expunged and they are made free, amen?
37:56 So you don't go around after accepting Jesus
37:58 four years later and say I wonder
38:00 if that is still hanging over my head.
38:02 I wonder if He really loves me that much.
38:05 Let's go to the next question to see how beautiful this is.
38:08 Let's go to the next question
38:10 to see how beautiful this is.
38:12 Question number 15: What is the only hope
38:14 that we have to be victorious over the sin nature?
38:19 What is the only hope that we have
38:21 to be victorious over the sin nature?
38:25 Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15:57,
38:27 well, this is a, this is a text that when Paul wrote this,
38:30 he didn't write it just...
38:32 I can guarantee when he wrote it,
38:33 he wasn't sitting there in a quiet state,
38:37 because this text does not exude quietness,
38:40 it really doesn't, it really doesn't, it doesn't.
38:43 You know, when somebody pays your bill,
38:46 you don't say thanks, appreciate it.
38:49 You say thank you so much, I mean, I really appreciate it.
38:55 So Paul the Apostle,
38:56 1 Corinthians 15:57, I'd like us all to read this,
38:58 it's going to be on the screen.
39:00 You at home read it with us. Here it is. Are you ready?
39:03 "But thanks be to God,
39:06 who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
39:11 Amen? Amen.
39:14 The word there, but thanks, it's the word of exuberance,
39:18 I am so thankful that Jesus gives us the victory
39:23 through our Lord, Jesus Christ.
39:26 So when you get that victory,
39:27 this victory that's talked about here
39:29 is not just the victory
39:30 over the sins that we have done,
39:32 but the victory over the sin nature.
39:35 Now, I'm gonna to you in, I'm gonna take you back in.
39:38 Are you ready go back in?
39:40 Now that we rejoiced, we reset,
39:41 let's go back again and see what else
39:44 is going on in this battle over sin.
39:47 So write the answer down,
39:48 what is the only hope
39:49 that we have to be victorious over sin?
39:54 I know you were going to say that.
39:57 Yeah, that's right,
39:58 but the only hope we have
40:00 is to accept the victory.
40:04 Now, imagine going to the Olympics
40:06 and you show up
40:08 at the Olympics representing America,
40:09 you're there to run the 100 yard dash and they say,
40:15 they mention your name.
40:18 The gold medal winner tonight is Dan Geer,
40:23 and Dan says, "But I haven't even run."
40:25 He said, "Hey, we've given you the gold medal."
40:28 And your whole country just explodes in applause
40:33 that he didn't even have to run and he got the gold medal.
40:37 You see what I'm trying to get you here
40:39 because if you ran and won the gold medal,
40:42 it'll be a victory by works,
40:45 wouldn't have been?
40:46 Let's make this clear.
40:48 Victory by works meant, I ran and I won.
40:51 But for by grace are you saved.
40:55 The wages of sin is death,
40:57 but the gift of God is eternal life
40:59 through Jesus our Lord.
41:01 You get the medal before you even run.
41:06 Now, you know, I know why I should not insist
41:10 that you make sounds tonight
41:12 because really this is a serious topic,
41:14 it's got to sink in, you mean...
41:20 You get the medal and you don't even have to run,
41:24 not of works lest any man should boast.
41:29 See if you had to win,
41:30 if you won the victory over sin,
41:32 you could say, "I beat him by 2.3 seconds,
41:36 that's how I won the victory."
41:39 But the Lord said, "No, no, no,
41:41 I beat the devil by a mile.
41:45 That's how you won the victory."
41:46 Amen?
41:48 He didn't prevail in heaven,
41:51 and he didn't prevail at the cross,
41:53 and he knows he has but a short time.
41:55 Praise God for that.
41:57 The devil didn't win in heaven,
41:59 he didn't prevent Jesus
42:00 from coming forth from the grave,
42:01 he lost the second time.
42:03 See everything in the Bible is in threes,
42:04 three temptations,
42:06 the devil had three opportunities.
42:08 He blew it in heaven.
42:10 Blew it at the cross,
42:12 and he only has one more the last rock,
42:14 he's going out, but now he knows that.
42:16 Let me get this. He knows that.
42:19 He knows he lost in heaven. He knows he lost at the cross.
42:24 So his alternate plan since I am a loser,
42:29 I want to take everybody down with me.
42:34 But Matthew 25 says,
42:35 "Hell is prepared for the devil and his angels."
42:40 And I said to my wife today,
42:49 "I've been burned once, I ain't burning again."
42:54 Anybody ever been burned?
42:57 I ain't burning again.
43:00 Really, does it make sense?
43:02 Does it make sense to forfeit that you've ever been given,
43:05 but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory.
43:07 We're talking about the victory,
43:09 we're talking about justification.
43:10 We're going to dive into sanctification.
43:12 But I want to let you see, it's a beautiful thing.
43:13 Let's go to question number 15.
43:15 Let's go to the question number 16.
43:19 What is the experience of every sinner?
43:23 What is the experience of every sinner?
43:27 Let's move a little faster, Romans 7:15.
43:30 Are you ready? We're in Romans 7:15.
43:32 What is the experience of every sinner,
43:35 not just some, but every one of them?
43:38 The only time we don't have that experience
43:40 is when we are in denial.
43:43 That's it, you can't say you don't have this experience,
43:45 Romans 7:15, well, here's what Paul says,
43:48 "For what I am doing, I do not understand.
43:52 For what I will to do, that I do not practice,
43:55 but what I hate, that I do."
43:57 No amens required,
43:59 because I know everybody's been there.
44:01 I know that we've been there more times
44:03 than we want to be there.
44:06 For what I'm doing,
44:08 I do not understand and after you do,
44:09 you say, "Did I do that?
44:11 Did I really do that? Did I say that?
44:17 Did I do that?"
44:18 And when guys go to jail
44:21 and they sit on their bunk
44:23 after the sentence has been pronounced,
44:25 they say, "What was I thinking?
44:29 Did I think I could actually get away with it?
44:34 Did I do that?
44:36 And I tell you that's why in jail
44:38 a lot of people accept Jesus,
44:40 because they know they shouldn't,
44:41 they know that he's their only way out,
44:44 and sometimes they're doing life,
44:47 but they realize after their mind is clear
44:49 because that's what the devil does,
44:50 he fogs your brain up
44:51 to get you to do something wrong
44:53 and then when you get caught, he says,
44:55 "Hey, how does it feel to be
44:56 in cell number 36-451 Cell Block 6.
45:00 And you think, oh, man,
45:02 it just took one sin to get me in here.
45:04 How many sins? One.
45:07 And the devil throws the book at you,
45:09 but the Lord comes and exonerates us.
45:12 The accuser of our brethren, so the answer is.
45:15 What is the experience of every sinner?
45:19 Now, if you look at that.
45:23 If you look at that
45:25 what key thing can you pull out of that?
45:33 No, that's not the answer, that's not the answer.
45:37 It's in the very beginning of the text,
45:38 "For what I am doing, the next four words,
45:41 I do not understand."
45:44 I want you to write it down, I'll show you why?
45:45 I do not understand, because if you understood it,
45:48 you wouldn't do it.
45:50 The key thing is if you understood,
45:53 you wouldn't do it.
45:56 Sin is a mind numbing experience,
46:01 it's enslaving, it captures your mind,
46:04 so you don't understand and you walk into it.
46:08 If Adam knew, get this,
46:10 Adam had an intellectual understanding
46:12 that what he was about to do could plunge him into sin
46:15 because he never had,
46:17 but because he didn't trust God's word,
46:19 he wanted to figure it out himself
46:21 and ended up where we all are now.
46:26 And I'm sure after Adam did it,
46:29 he said what I just said, what did I just do?
46:35 Because the Bible ended
46:37 Genesis 2 by saying,
46:40 "The man and his wife were naked
46:42 and they were not ashamed."
46:45 But Genesis 3 says,
46:46 "They were naked and they knew it
46:49 and they were ashamed."
46:51 Sin, righteousness,
46:55 they were covered by the righteousness of God,
46:57 not their own righteousness.
47:02 But let's go further.
47:04 I don't understand sin, you know, so when you...
47:07 Let me just add it,
47:08 so when you try to make sense out of sin.
47:11 Here Paul doesn't understand what he's doing,
47:13 how you gonna explain it?
47:15 Explain what you just did
47:17 and, you know, Yannick will say,
47:18 I don't know how it happened.
47:21 I can't explain it.
47:22 I don't know what I was...
47:24 I don't know what I was doing.
47:26 J.R, did you just tail off a police officer?
47:29 I don't know why I did that.
47:31 I'm messing with J.R.,
47:32 cause I know he wouldn't do that.
47:34 I don't know why I did it, I just, I don't know,
47:39 but we're gonna bail you out.
47:42 Because I've visited people in jail,
47:45 how did you get in here?
47:46 I...
47:48 Pastor, I can't tell you.
47:51 I just lost my temper in split moment,
47:52 I don't understand why I did it.
47:55 Sin is, you can't understand it.
47:57 Let's go over to next question, number 17.
47:59 We're going to move along.
48:00 We're going to get here tonight.
48:02 What is the power that is in control
48:05 of our human nature?
48:06 What is the power that is in control
48:08 of our human nature?
48:10 We are ready to dive in now.
48:12 Let's move here, Romans 7:2, Romans 7:2,
48:16 we're going to get deeper now.
48:19 Romans 7:2, here is the answer.
48:21 What is the power
48:22 that is in control of our sin nature?
48:23 Here it is, "For the woman, here it is,
48:28 for the woman who has a husband is bound by the law
48:32 to her husband as long as he lives.
48:35 But if he dies, but if the husband dies,
48:37 she is released from the law of her husband."
48:41 Now, a lot of people read this and they think the only way
48:44 I can get married again is if my husband is dead.
48:46 This is not what the scripture is about,
48:49 although it includes that, although God hates divorce,
48:53 that's really not what the scripture is all about
48:55 because Paul began by saying,
48:58 Paul began by saying,
49:00 "I'm speaking to those...
49:04 I'm speaking to those who know the law,
49:08 "For I speak to those, who know the law."
49:10 In verse 1.
49:12 I'm speaking to those of you who know the law.
49:15 That the law has dominion over a man
49:17 as long as he lives.
49:19 The law has dominion over man then all of a sudden
49:22 he switches it to the woman.
49:26 I'm speaking to those of you who know the law.
49:28 Now, this is powerful, this is deep,
49:30 because Paul is saying,
49:31 there is a law that you know about
49:34 and this law says,
49:36 as long as that law exists,
49:38 it has dominion over you.
49:40 You want to find out what it is?
49:41 Well, let's answer this real quickly
49:43 then so what's the answer?
49:44 What is the power
49:45 that is in control of our human nature?
49:47 The law. Write that down, the law.
49:50 Now, please don't think it's the Ten Commandments,
49:53 that's not what it is,
49:55 that's the mistake that evangelical leaders teach
49:59 and they think,
50:00 now you've got to get rid of the law,
50:01 so when they say you're not under the law
50:03 but under grace, that's what they think it is,
50:05 it's not under the law.
50:07 And let me even go a step further,
50:08 we often say under the condemnation of the law,
50:11 it's even deeper than that.
50:13 It's deeper than that because some people say,
50:15 well, what that actually means
50:16 is you're not under the condemnation
50:17 of the commandments, it's deeper than that.
50:19 It means, you're not under the law
50:20 but under grace.
50:22 Let's find out what law?
50:23 Genesis 3, Genesis 3,
50:25 let's go now.
50:28 Genesis 3.
50:31 A woman and her husband, remember that.
50:35 Genesis 3.
50:38 This is amazing, amazing.
50:43 All right Genesis 3, let's look at verse 16.
50:47 Now remember, we're talking about the woman
50:48 and her husband.
50:51 "To the woman He said:
50:54 I will greatly multiply your sorrow
50:57 and your conception..."
50:58 Now, I want to pause,
50:59 I want to go through the whole thing
51:01 and I'll break it down.
51:02 "In pain you shall bring forth children..."
51:06 Ready for the focal point of the text?
51:08 "Your desire" your what?
51:10 "Desire shall be for your" what?
51:13 "Husband and he shall do" what?
51:16 "Rule over you."
51:21 Did it say that the woman
51:22 is going to let the husband rule over her?
51:25 It said he shall rule over you.
51:28 He's going to do what he wants.
51:32 He's going to turn you every which way but loose,
51:36 and furthermore
51:40 when you see the children that this husband produces,
51:45 you're going to be full of sorrow.
51:50 And you're even, even bringing forth these children
51:53 is going to be an experience of pain,
51:54 but even deeper than that,
51:58 even deeper than that.
52:01 Your desire
52:03 is not just that your husband's going to rule over you
52:05 because if it was that, if that's all it was,
52:08 you'll say, I don't like my husband.
52:12 But it's deeper than that.
52:13 He said, you don't like what he's doing to you
52:16 but your desire is for him.
52:19 In other words, come here, Yannick,
52:22 hurry up, come up, come up, come up here, come here.
52:26 Yannick always sits so close, I can pick on him any time.
52:30 So if Yannick, if Yannick was always doing me wrong,
52:34 what's the natural thing?
52:36 Get rid of Yannick, right?
52:37 But the reason why Yannick is always doing me wrong
52:40 is because I always want Yannick around.
52:43 My desire is for Yannick.
52:45 If I will let him go,
52:46 evil company corrupt good habits.
52:50 Ain't that right?
52:51 1 Corinthians 15:33,
52:53 "Evil company corrupts good habits."
52:55 But now, it's saying, I want Yannick,
52:59 so as long as I want him,
53:01 my desires for Yannick, as long as I want him,
53:02 he's gonna do me wrong,
53:05 but no matter what happens wherever Yannick goes,
53:08 I want Yannick I'm not letting Yannick go,
53:10 I want Yannick.
53:12 Go ahead, Yannick, thank you.
53:13 The Bible says
53:14 that your sinful desire is for that man
53:17 that will do you nothing but wrong.
53:22 And it ain't gonna stop until he's dead.
53:29 Sin, there is no...
53:31 You cannot become sinless by tweaking,
53:35 you cannot become freed from this by taking,
53:39 I when you to hear me,
53:40 you cannot become free from sin by taking 28 Bible studies.
53:47 You just become informed by taking 28 Bible studies.
53:53 But you don't get set free.
53:54 You just simply admit
53:56 that what the Bible said is true
53:58 but that ain't freedom.
54:01 That nature that binds you.
54:03 Let's go to John 8:44,
54:05 you want to see it deeper than that?
54:07 Hurry up, John 8:44.
54:11 How does the Bible describe the law of the husband?
54:14 Desire rule over you, write that down.
54:17 It rules over you and you want it, you desire it,
54:23 because you and your husband have the same aims in life.
54:28 John 8, did I say John 8?
54:30 Okay, then wait till I get there.
54:34 This is a powerful, is that powerful?
54:37 Is that powerful?
54:38 You're already there, just slow down.
54:40 Look at this.
54:42 You wonder why you do what you do.
54:44 Look at John 8:44.
54:47 Look at John 8:44,
54:49 "Jesus said this straight up,
54:51 He looked at them, and He looked at these people
54:52 that claim to be Abraham's children
54:55 that had the right diet, kept the Sabbath,
54:59 didn't eat anything unclean, am I getting close?
55:06 And they knew they had the truth,
55:09 but what did he say to them because they were not,
55:11 they were whitewashed sepulchers, they were tombs.
55:17 He said to them in verse 44.
55:20 "You are of your father the devil,
55:24 and the next word,
55:26 the desires of your father you want to do,
55:31 he was a murderer from the beginning
55:34 and does not stand in the truth
55:37 because there is no truth in him.
55:40 When he speaks a lie,
55:41 he speaks from his own resources,
55:44 for he is a liar and the" what?
55:47 Father of it."
55:51 You know why you act in that way?
55:54 Because your desire is for a liar, a murderer,
55:59 that's what your desires are for,
56:01 that's why you act in that way,
56:03 your desires.
56:04 The thing that's down inside of you
56:07 is keeping you lying, keeping you murdering,
56:10 and every other sin that comes along with it, your desires.
56:13 Are you ready to go on? Are you ready for another one?
56:16 James 4:1, hurry up, hurry up,
56:19 this not on the screen so we can run there real quick.
56:21 James 4:1,
56:24 let's see this thing explode in front of us.
56:27 James 4:1.
56:31 James 4:1,
56:35 this is for those folk that love to fight
56:37 "Where do wars and fights come from among you?
56:42 Do they not come from your what?
56:45 Desires for pleasure that war in your members.
56:50 You lust and do not have,
56:54 you murder and covet and cannot obtain,
56:56 you fight and war,
56:58 yet you do not have because what?
57:01 You do not ask."
57:03 The father wants to give us, but we'd rather fight,
57:07 you know, why?
57:08 Because our desire,
57:10 desire is controlling us
57:11 and I have a few more scriptures,
57:13 but I'm going to just give it to you real quickly,
57:15 we wouldn't talk about that,
57:16 if anyone desires
57:21 to be my disciple.
57:24 When the desire is changed,
57:26 the will, the action follows,
57:30 until the desire is replaced,
57:33 until the old desire is replaced
57:36 with a new desire,
57:38 you'll always be a slave to sin.
57:41 When the old desire is replaced with a new desire,
57:45 you become a slave to righteousness,
57:47 why slave?
57:49 Because when you had no choice to do wrong,
57:51 when you become a slave to righteous
57:53 that you have no choice but to do right.
57:55 Amen.
57:56 We're gonna talk about that, and so if doesn't make sense,
57:58 stay tuned because one day
58:00 it will come into A Sharper Focus.
58:03 God bless you.


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Revised 2017-05-22