In this sermon, the speaker expresses their gratitude for being at the conference and their thoughts about the attendees. They emphasize the importance of relying on the Lord and surrendering control to Him in solving problems and living a dependent life. The speaker also highlights the sinful nature of humanity and the consequences of our actions, even after receiving forgiveness through Jesus. They emphasize that the answer to our struggles is not found in introspection or personal strength, but in the supernatural power of God. The sermon references the Bible to support these teachings.

The building where this recording was made is adjacent to an international airport and there is a certain amount of interference from low-flying jets, for which we apologize. It would be hard for me to express tonight what I feel in being here. The face that is fine, the foolish, the things that are not, the brains are not, the things that are, that no flesh is glorious in his presence. I'd like to turn with you tonight to Romans, Chapter 7, beginning with verse 15. Romans, Chapter 7, beginning with verse 15. Just a little informal time together on the subject of deliverance from the power of indwelling sin. Deliverance from the power of indwelling sin. Romans, Chapter 7, verse 15. For that which I do, I will not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now that it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not. For the evil which I would not, that I do. For if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find in a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity. The law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the valley of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then to the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. The laws of spirit of life in Christ Jesus have made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and 11 verse 13. There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it. The more I read and study the New Testament, the more impressed I am with the link between the effectiveness of a person's ministry and what that person is himself. A person might be ever so gifted, ever so fluent, and seemingly ever so effective, and yet God sees behind it all, and sees what we are in ourselves. This is most strongly emphasized in the first two chapters of 1 Thessalonians. Paul, in speaking of his entrance to the Thessalonians, keeps emphasizing, emphasizing. Paul, he emphasized the message, and he emphasized how they received the message, but over and over again in those two chapters, he emphasized what he was in himself. Ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. So, I believe if the New Testament teaches anything, it teaches a ministry of character, and I believe with a very strong projection that our unconscious influence through the ministry of character is much more powerful than all the conscious influence that we ever exert. It's something to think about, very, very serious. You know, a man's gift is nothing he can be proud of. It's something that the sovereign bestowment of the Holy Spirit of God, and he's going to stand before the Lord someday and give an account of that. There's a great difference between gift sovereignly bestowed by the Spirit of God, and grace developed in a person's life through godly exercise. And, of the two, one would have to say that personal grace in the things of God would be perhaps more important than gift, because once God gives a gift, it seems that gift isn't taken away, and a man may be out of touch with God, and in some cases even living in sin, and the gifts go on with seemingly brilliant effects. This is one of the mysteries in Christian life and service, but there it is, and I think that some of you could document that state. Well, let's think of this tonight. The whole subject of deliverance from the power of ingrowing sin, and I don't think I have to emphasize the ding-dong struggle that goes on in the lives of so many Christians, of all Christians no doubt, in this whole area. Persons start off the Christian life filled with joy and enthusiasm, going to be bright for the Lord, going to burn out for the Lord, going to go on in a pathway of holiness and sanctity. Goes on for a while, all of a sudden the devil trips him up as he yields to some temptation of the flesh, and down he goes in sudden despair and despondency and disillusion. And perhaps the spring is gone from his step for a while, but then there's a measure of recovery to the Lord, and he determines that he's going to go on for the Lord in spite of all that may happen. And then perhaps once again he succumbs to some second sin, to some giant in his life. Once again he plunges down. He begins to look within. He wonders how a person like he could possibly be saved. He looks within himself and he finds such a pool of human iniquity that he can marvel at the whole thing. And perhaps the time even comes in his experience when he wonders whether God himself is able to get him delivered from this kind of a life, from the power of indwelling sin. And though a lot of different thoughts go through his mind, perhaps he thinks the monks were right. All you have to do is just go into a cell and close the door of the cell, and get yourself alone there. Cut off from the evil world, then you wouldn't have the problem, would you? And of course, he only has to think about that for a little while to realize that if he locked the door he'd be locking the problem right in. That's exactly what would happen to him. He'd be locking the problem right in there, he'd be in with the problem in the cell. So then he thinks, well it's my eyes. No doubt if I were blind. There the avenue by which the temptation, the sin comes in, and if I were just blind then I wouldn't have this. But he doesn't have to think through that one very long to realize that blind people have this struggle, as well as people who have sight. It certainly isn't a matter of the eyes, is it? Although they can be the avenue, the temptation to them. Well, then he begins to think, I wonder if the solution lies in increasing age. Maybe as I get older, I'll just automatically get delivered from all these problems in life. Well, let me talk to some older people. It doesn't take long to find out that that isn't the answer either, because older people too have this struggle within them, the struggle of the two natures. And so he becomes very discouraged and very disillusioned, and I believe perhaps there are many today who, because of wrong doctrinal teaching on this whole area, or because of general discouragement, have just given up and are living deceitful lives with never God's intention. I would like to suggest to you, first of all, tonight something, some things that we should know. You know, the scriptures approach these subjects and set down before us facts that we should know, and mind you, this helps in knowing what God has to say about this importance of it. And the first thing that I would list in this connection is every Christian has this struggle. You say, well, you'll never get famous for saying that. No, I might never get famous for saying it, and yet I'll tell you why I'm saying it. It's so easy for Christians, perhaps for younger Christians, to look at other people around them and say, if I could just be like that person, my problems would be all over. It's so easy, for instance, to look at the preacher and say, well, he's living in a separate plateau. He just doesn't know anything about the conflict, the fight that goes on with him, and if somehow or other I could stand in his shoes, I just wouldn't have it anymore. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is said. Says that in the bible, and it's a good thing for us to get our eyes off other people, thinking that the preacher, the teacher, these people don't have the struggle. I want to tell you tonight, they do have this struggle. They do have this struggle. There's no Christian who's exempt from it, and it's a snare to go around exalting people and putting halos around people in that connection. They have it, too. Well, I'd like to say, secondly, that we should know that there is deliverance from the power of indwelling sin. The bible teaches that there is deliverance. You say, well, you'll never get famous for saying that either. No, it's important to emphasize some of the simple truths from the word of God. Says, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Who shall deliver me from this body of death that I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord? It's easy for me to become so disheartened in the ceaseless struggle with sin that I begin to think the thing is absolutely hopeless, sin is ingrained in me, there's nothing I can do about it, and it's going to go on like this till I get to the end of the stream. The bible does speak of deliverance from the power of indwelling sin, but the third thing that I think we should know is that deliverance is not an achievement, it's a process. Deliverance is not an achievement, it's a process. You know, we live in a capsule age, and I believe we're deep in in all of our that we kind of wish that there were something like a holiness pill that we could just take, and the problem would be over like that forever. Don't you think of that? Don't you think of some religious crisis? Some meeting with the Holy Spirit of God? Something that happens in your life, and from then on you're just living on a higher level, and you're not affected by this struggle anymore? I guess a lot of us think about it, but I'd like to tell you as far as I read the word of God, I don't find anything like that in the bible. I don't find any single crisis experience by which a man from then on has no more struggle with sin, that he's forever freed from the power of indwelling sin in his life, and his temptation is no longer. I just don't see it in the word of God. Why? Well, my answer is because God loves us too much for that. God is an all-wise God, and God knows what he's doing, and he loves us too much. Let me explain this. When God saved me, he could have rooted out sin from me. He could have. When God saved me, he could have so arranged things in his power and in his greatness that, from that day forward, I never would sin again. Here it is. Why didn't he do it? Well, I think we're entitled to ask questions like that. Why didn't he do it? Well, I believe that one of the answers, and this is just a suggestion. Maybe you can talk about it and come to me with other suggestions, but I believe one reason he didn't do it is he knew we would no longer be dependent upon him. And the greatest glory of the creature is dependence upon the living God. It really is, and I want to tell you it wouldn't have done a thing for my prayer life if God had rooted out the sin nature. It wouldn't have done a thing for it. I want to tell you I pray best when the going is the worst. I really do, and God knows that, and God loves me and you most when we're prostrate before him. You know, when the world paints a portrait of a great man, they seat him behind the mahogany desk with a velour drape behind him, and he's in his magnificent office with all those expensive gadgets on his desk and all the rest, and there he sits back and regals the pomp and splendor. When God paints a portrait of a great man, he shows him on his knee. He holds, he prayeth, and I tell you that God, in arranging things as he did, and I bless and praise him for it tonight, arranged it so that I would walk softly before him all the days of my life. This is well-pleasing to him, and this is glorifying to him. So, I would like to suggest that to you tonight, that there is no capsule method of holiness. Much as you would like it, and much as I would like it, much as I would like to solve this problem tonight, there would never be a problem again. Never have to pray about it again in my life. The Bible doesn't teach that. It just doesn't teach that. It teaches that this is a process, a moment-by-moment dependence upon the Lord, an hour-by-hour turning over control to the Lord, and living, leaning upon himself. Now, the fourth thing I think that we should know tonight is this, that our old nature is hopelessly bad. I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth what? That's what it says. No good things. Do you believe that tonight? I hope you do, because if you believe that, it's going to save you from a lot of discouragement and disappointment. When God showed me that truth, I stopped looking for good from my old nature, and I stopped being disappointed when I didn't find it. And, I think I've lived long enough as a Christian now to know something of the dexterity of that old nature that I think it would be pretty hard for anybody to tell me anything about that old nature that would shock me. I really do. That's a solemn thing, but it's helpful to know. It's helpful to know that in that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good things. And, some monstrous thought comes to me in those holy moments of life. I can't say I'm shocked that it comes. I judge it. I confess it immediately before the Lord, but I can't say I'm shocked it comes, because I know it's there. I absolutely know it's there. To find God as a counterpart to that truth, and that is this, that our new nature is entirely good. What a wonderful thing it is that God has planted within us the very life of Christ himself. My, this is what makes the difference. To think that the Savior himself is there to live his life through us. A life of holiness, a life of sanctity, a life of separation from sin. Number six, I think we should know tonight that a moment spent out of fellowship with God can ruin a whole life. I mention this so that we'll be aware of the tremendous issues we're grappling with. You say, that seems rather strong, doesn't it? You might even say that seems rather unreasonable. Well, it's true. It's true that a moment spent out of fellowship with God can ruin a whole life. How could that ever be? Well, because you could make a decision in that moment, apart from God, that would spell ruin for you for the rest of your days and so could I. And, I never want to forget it. I never want to forget it. It's been done. I think that's something that we all must constantly bear in mind, that it's possible for the soul to be saved and the life to be lost, isn't it? Satan knows how to shoot his arrow. He's really that clever foe. And, I want to tell you tonight, too, that he doesn't waste his power on nominal Christians. When he sees some who are willing to set forth for him, it is a battle line to get his big guns ready. Satan does not waste his power, generally speaking, on nominal Christians, on those who are leading settled, complacent, self-satisfied. Those people don't pose a great threat to his kingdom. He's done it on the alert, in a very real way, to bombard those who are seeking to make progress for God. Well, I'd also like to mention this, in connection with this whole subject, that there's a difference. There's a difference between the penalty of sin and the consequences of sin. I spend a moment spent out of fellowship with God can sell ruin for the whole life. That's true. There's a difference between the penalty of sin and the consequences of sin. When I came to the Lord Jesus Christ at the age of 17 and committed myself to him, spirit, soul, and body, when I came to him in repentance and in confession, believing he died for me on Calvary's cross, and claimed him Savior of mine, God gave me forgiveness from the penalty of sin. Past, present, future, the penalty was gone, paid by my blessed Redeemer on the cross of Calvary. Does that mean a Christian can sin and get away with it? It might create that impression in people's minds. Because the penalty has been paid once and for all, it might create the impression in people's minds that a Christian can sin and get away with it. What we want to remember tonight is that, although the penalty of sin has been paid by the Savior, the consequences of sin often have to be paid for in this life by the believer. Is this Bible doctrine? Well, of course it's Bible doctrine. God loves his people too much to let them away with sin. Supposing, and this is probably a far-fetched illustration, supposing a Christian got out of fellowship with the Lord, and in an unguarded moment he took an intoxicating drink. It was just more than he could take, and that night as he was going home, he crossed the Please turn your tape over now, and continue listening at this point on track two. Do not fast-wind the recorder in either direction. The Christian got out of fellowship with the Lord, and in an unguarded moment he took an intoxicating drink. It was just more than he could take, and that night as he was going home, he crossed a railroad track, and stumbled over the track, and lay in a stupor on the track. The fast express comes along and neatly severs both legs. The man is rushed off to a hospital and treated, and he recovers. What about the penalty of the sin he had committed? Oh, you say that was taken care of. If he really knew the Lord Jesus, that was taken care of 1,900 years ago at the cross. Praise God, that's true. What about the consequences of that sin? Does he get a new pair of legs? No, he doesn't. The consequences of his sin go with him through life, don't they? And God knows the chapters that could be written along this subject of men who start off slightly to the void, and through lack of watchfulness, through lack of prayer, through lack of waiting on God, have made shipwrecks. The roadside is strewn with such corpses. And then, a final thing that I think we should know in this whole connection is this, and let me explain this before you jump on me for it, and that is that the believer does not have to sin. Now, I'm not teaching sinless perfection. I do not believe there's any Christian in the world that doesn't sin, but still, the believer does not have to sin. In other words, I can't say, oh well, this is the way I am, and sin comes knocking at my door, and there's nothing I can do about it, and I might excuse sin. That's not Bible doctrine. First John, chapter 2, verse 1, My little chosen, these things write I unto you that ye, what does it say? That ye sin not. Thank God, it goes on to say, and if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Risen. Now, you don't wonder about that verse. Why does John, why did the Lord through John ever say that? He knows what we are. He knows that every day in thought, word, and deed we sin. True? True in my life. Couldn't hear any very many from the audience, but it's certainly true in my life. But, we sin every day in thought, word, and deed. Why does it say, my little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not? Didn't God know what we are? Certainly did. Well, try to change the verse and see what would happen. Supposing it had said, my little children, these things write I unto you that you sin as little as possible. I'll tell you one thing, you'd know God never inspired that book. God's standard is absolute perfection, and if it had ever said that, I'd know it wasn't the Bible, that you sin as little as possible. That isn't Bible doctrine. But again, I come back to this, that if when I want to adopt the attitude I have to sin, I'm excusing sin, and when I say that, I'm saying the Holy Spirit of God within me is not powerful enough to keep me from sin in any moment of temptation, am I not? I'm saying that I'm limiting the power of the Holy Spirit of God in my life, and that's wrong. I believe every one of us does sin daily. I know that, but I don't want to get into the habit of saying I can't help it. I have to sin. When I say that, I'm saying something that isn't true, because I know that in any particular case of temptation in my life, if I cry to the Lord, I don't want to listen. When I sin, I sin because I want to, not because I have to. I think it's good to put these things where they truly belong. Those are some things that we should know. Now, there are three things I'd like to list that do not help. Three things I would like to list that do not help in the whole matter of deliverance from the power of indwelling sin, and one of those things is introspection, looking within. And I want to tell you, this is a precious lesson to learn. It really is. You know, we're living, and I'm not trying to make any slams when I say this, but we're living in a psychological, psychiatric age, and one of the basic methods of that therapy is to turn a person's thoughts in upon himself. And I know that the victory is not in myself, and I know that the more I become occupied with myself, the more wretched and hopeless the whole situation is. I know this when I'm out fishing in a boat, and the skipper says to me, cast the anchor. I don't pick it up from the back of the boat and throw it in the front of the boat. I don't cast the anchor in the boat. I act by being occupied with self. Once again, I come back to this verse. I know that indeed, that is in my flesh and blood, no good thing. I don't know if any of you, if many of you have read the memoirs of Robert Murray McShane, the great man of God. Died at 29, I believe, and left his stamp upon Scotland. But, very, very introspective, looking within and finding nothing but a cesspool of sin and iniquity. Well, I believe in the advice of the old sage, for every look at yourself, take seven looks at Christ, and that's where the victory's to be found, isn't it? All right, one thing that does not help, introspection, being occupied with yourself, studying yourself. I don't know if you've ever noted Psalm 77 in this connection. If not, it might be interesting for you to turn to it. Psalm 77, this is a little study in this whole subject, and this isn't original with me, but somebody has pointed out that in the first nine verses of Psalm 77, the first personal pronoun is used 22 times, and the name of God is only used 11 times. I, my, me, mine. Too much vitamin I all the way through those first 10 verses. I cried on Lord. I remembered God, verse 3. I complained, verse 4. I am so troubled, I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, verse 6. I called remembrance, my song in the night. I commune with my own spirit, and he goes down, down, down, down. Then, in the last 10 verses, in verses 10 through 20 that is, there are only three personal references, and 24 mentions of the name of God. That's magnificent. There are only three personal references in the last verses, beginning with verse 10, and 24 mentions of the name of God, and so what's happening in the psalm, it begins off sighing and sinking. I think it's Bullinger who said, sighing, sinking, and then he goes singing, soaring. Do you think that happened by chance in the psalm? I don't believe it for a minute. I believe there's a very real lesson for us here. In fact, he became so occupied with himself in the first six verses that it led him to concerning the character of God. Listen to his question. Will the Lord cast off forever? Will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? Does his mercy fail forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious, happy in anger, shut off his tender mercy? Imagine him entertaining such thoughts about his blessed Lord. Well, the answer isn't found in introspection, and then, too, I think we can say this, number three, that the answer is not found in our personal strength. Something we all have to learn that we in ourselves do not have the power that's needed. It's a hard lesson to learn, isn't it, that the Christian life is a supernatural life. It really is. It can only be lived by the power of God. The Christian life is as supernatural as walking on water. It really is. I can't walk on water by myself. You know that, don't you? You know what a fiasco it would be if I went down by a river and tried to walk across there. I can't do it. He'd have walked in the water as long as he kept his eyes upon the Lord. He was all right. He was all right. I do not have the strength in myself to conquer in this whole area of the power of indwelling sin. Well, it's good to recognize these things. I think it's good just to drag these things out on the table and say them in simple language, and it clears away a lot of the cobwebs from our minds so that we're able to take constructive action. Well, things that do help. Things that do help. What does the Bible teach? Well, first of all, it teaches that we should confess and forsake our sins promptly. Add that word promptly, because, thank God, we don't have to wait till Saturday night for confession. Walking along the street, that vile thought comes like an uninvited sparrow to the gables of my mind. Thank God, right there I can stand in the presence of God and judge the wretched thing, call it for what it is in his presence, confess it, and forsake it. And this is how we keep short account with the Lord, and I believe this is a precious lesson to learn. Have we all learned this? Have we all learned that the moment we're conscious of sin in the life, instantly to drag it and judge it in his presence, and forsake it? You know, relationship with God is an unbreakable chain, but fellowship with God is as tender as a spider's web, easily broken, and it remains broken until the sin that broke it is confessed and forsaken. The way to go on in a happy fellowship with the Lord and length of deliverance from the power of indwelling sin is to be sensitive at every approach of sin in the life, and to confess it in his presence, and to put it away. He that confesses its sin and forsakes it, he's the one who prospers. Secondly, spending time in the word of God. Spending time. Wherewithal shall young men cleanse his ways, by taking these airs to according to thy word. Thine word have I did in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. You know, the word is a cleansing agent in our eyes. You ever think about how the word cleanses us? It's a wonderful thing. We're reading the word of God in the morning. Before we start out in the day, something comes up, some temptation comes up, some vile thought comes during the day. Spirit of God already prepared us against the onslaught, and our minds go back by the Spirit of God to what we've been reading in the morning, and we're prepared prepared for it. I can't do it. The word of God spoke to me earlier this day, delivered from its power. Next, fellowshipping with other Christians. So many think that they can play it the lone wolf. I don't need other Christians. I believe we never made a bigger mistake than when we started to talk like that. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together with a manner of sanctity, we need one another. We need the fellowship of one another over the things of God. We need to watch one another speak with the word of God. We need to pray for one another. Mind, sometimes just think of a person you're thinking about. He's a citadel, he's a spiritual Gibraltar. I don't have to pray for him. He's probably the one you should pray for most at that very moment, isn't he? Praying for one another. We need one another's prayer in this whole connection. You'll realize that when you hear some dear child of God has fallen into sin, how slitten we've been at times to realize that we had been unfaithful in prayer. And, incidentally, in that connection, especially the whole subject of prayer, I should mention this, that I believe it's a good thing for us to pray that the temptation to sin and the opportunity to sin will never coincide. Pray that the temptation to sin and the opportunity to sin... Have you ever noticed that sometimes the temptation was there, but the opportunity wasn't? Who do you think arranged it that way? It wasn't the devil, I'll tell you that. It wasn't the devil. Maybe somebody was praying. And, in connection with the whole subject of fellowship with other Christians, my, have you ever had this experience where, though we're in a moment of temptation perhaps, perhaps you even felt you were on the verge of yielding, and the faces of beloved Christian friends whom you love and who had confidence in you came before you? I've had that more than once. I've had that more than once. I'll tell you that fellowship of Christians means more to us than we realize, I think, at any one particular moment. All right, then, I believe something else we can do is this. Control the thought life. Control the thought life. Philippians, chapter 4, and verse 8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are a good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think of these things. What is it teach? Well, you might not like the expression, but it teaches the power of positive thinking. It really does. It teaches me something that I want to remember, and that is that, in a very real sense, I'm a king on a throne, reigning over a realm, and that realm is my thought life, and I can control what I think. I really can. You say, just a minute, just a minute, those random thoughts that come to your mind, that's true. They don't have to stay there, so. I've never known a random evil thought come to my mind that I could expel. So, how do you expel it? You expel it by thinking of Christ. I've never been able to put the two together. Never have. The expulsive power of a new affection. Call it whatever you want, but I want to tell you that the moments of my day when I'm thinking about the Lord Jesus are the most sin-free moments I have, and so it becomes a challenge to my life to increase the percentage of those moments in the day. Is that right? Sure. We control what I think. He said, think on these things, and we do. We have to admit it, if we're going to be honest with ourselves. And then, the key verse, I believe, is found in 2 Corinthians 3.18. The next thing that we have to do, and I believe that we're really hitting the very heart of the matter here, 2 Corinthians 3.18, "...but we all would unveil faith, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." You know, that's a wonderful verse. It really is. That tells me that the more I become occupied with the Lord Jesus, the more I become like him. It really does. I'll be saying it again, "...but we all would unveil faith, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Isn't that a great thing? It's a wonderful thing to think that, as I go back to the gospel, and see and study that perfect life lived here below, and become engaged with him, and become enraptured with him, that as I do that, the Spirit of God works a marvelous transformation in the life, and I'm becoming more and more like him. I believe this is a crucial verse in our little talk together, if we can say that one is more crucial than another. And then, of course, we should say this 1 Corinthians 9.27. Paul said, look, it's the matter of the body. It's the matter of the body wanting to have ascendancy. It's the matter of the body wanting to assert itself. He said, I have to keep under that body, and bring in its objections, thus having speech to others. I myself should be a captive. I don't think a verse like that means very much in the way of exposition, and even most of disobedience, doesn't it? You don't have to explain what a verse like that is. We know what it says. All we have to do is obey it. There are other things we can do in many areas of life, for instance, like avoiding heady familiarities that often have a way of growing, and avoiding objects that might somehow be linked with temptations. You know, no material thing is sinful in itself. The material things aren't sinful in themselves, but some of them have sinful associations, and some of them can be used to the devil as a snare, so the spirit of God does hate even the garments clothed by flesh. Interestingly, if I'm trying to break myself of the liquor habit, I don't leave a fifth of whiskey in the top drawer of my dresser. Do I? I mean, we have to be honest with ourselves in these things, and we can avoid heady familiarities which, when indulged, grow, and we can avoid objects that might be related with some temptation. Well, you say to me, listen, let's make this thing practical. Let's bring it down to everyday life. Here's a moment that comes in like this. The devil comes in like a flood, some fierce temptation. What am I going to do in that moment of temptation? That's a good question, isn't it? What's the answer? What do you do in the moment of fierce temptation? Well, I have an answer, and I'm not afraid to tell it to you, because it works. You see, the name of the Lord is a strong power. The righteous run us into it, and it's safe. All you have to do is call upon the name of the Lord. All you have to do. The name of the Lord is a strong power. The righteous run us into it, and it's safe. And, just one final thought, and this whole connection is brought up by that word run us. There are times in life when temptation comes knocking at the door, that the best and most scriptural thing is to put a few healthy miles between yourself and the temptation. Not to study it, not to pile it, not to nourish it, but to put a few healthy miles between yourself and the temptation. Can you think of any Bible character who did this? His name was Joseph. He lost his coat, but he gained a crown. He became a ruler in Egypt, and I believe there are times when God calls us to do that. May the Lord speak to us through these simple, simple truths from his word, and may we know this power in this area in our lives, as we've never known it before. May I leave with you our key verse again, that we all, as unveiled faith, beholding as in a glance the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Shall we pray? Blessed God, we do thank thee tonight with all of our heart that thou hast given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. We thank thee tonight that thou hast not satisfied simply to save us, and then to let us go on in our own strength. Oh God, we thank thee for the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, who empowers us to a life of holiness. Father, we pray thee that more and more that the days go by that the Spirit might have his way ungrieved in our lives, that he will not have to be taken up with a restorative ministry in us, but that he might be doing that which he so loves to do, and that is to occupy us with the Lord Jesus. We pray that we might go on in simple childlike dependence upon thyself, drawing our life from the vine. Father, we pray thee that when Christ appears, we may have confidence and not appear before him with shame at his coming.