Build Your House on Jesus Christ

Lord, thank you for today. This is a day you've made. We would choose to rejoice and be glad in it.

In Jesus' name, Amen. So last week we were up at the creek and we shared some things and Sean shared something interesting about there were two men who decided to build a house and One man He counted the cost and he dug a deep foundation till he hit solid Ground and he put in a good foundation and he began to build his house but there was another man who began to build and he never counted that cost and He built his house without a foundation on sand and I Went on to share a little something about that that When you build a house the place where we built a lot of houses in our day Place you can lose a lot of money the house Project can become unprofitable as if you Spend too much money on the foundation So you're looking for a property where you can put a good foundation for a minimal amount of expense to get on some solid ground But the parable here speaks about being on the rock which is Christ and If we're not on Christ, we're not on solid ground. We're not on solid scripture.

Our teachings are not solid There's a misunderstanding. There's some rock there or we just build straight away on what seems to be good It can look great on the outside it can look beautiful to those who can appreciate cabinets and and Carpentry and the siding and the brick and everything on the outside But without a foundation the house will sink the house will collapse it's just a matter of time and So the two men built and the same thing happened to both men the torrential rains came the hurricane winds blew and the floodwaters rose and beat on the houses and the one house without a foundation collapse But the other house which had a foundation withstood the elements It's not like one took a harder hit than the other they both took the same hit one collapsed one stood and What was the difference? Solid foundation if you look in first Corinthians in chapter 3 we shared just briefly the scripture helps us to understand What the foundation is it says that foundation is Christ But we've often said which Christ For the Mormons have a Christ the Jehovah Witnesses have a Christ The Catholics have a Christ we have a Christ There's a thousand denominations out there. Everyone has a Christ We want to make sure that we're rooted in truth Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life So we can say well, I am in the way and I'm walking in the truth But he who has the Son has the life Right the wrath of God doesn't abide on him He was the Son has the life.

And so when you go through a trial and your house is shaking is it still standing after? The test and the trial comes or is there a collapse where you have no confidence you have no life And so then you try and hold to the fact that there's no condemnation you hold to the scriptures that say nothing can separate me From the love of God you can hold to all these other scriptures, which are truth, but not in the context in which I find myself So I have to if I build a house and my framer said they built a house and all of a sudden one corner sank It was like four to six inches sunk the massive house and there was no way to repair it. They condemned the whole house Millions of dollars spent on this house. They condemned the whole house because there was a problem with the ground and the foundation It's not just a small collapse.

It's a total condemnation And this is where we have to take a look inward and say is there condemnation? Like what went wrong? Because we don't want to just say well, we're just gonna shore it up and keep going No, we have to start fresh Get to the grassroot of the issue Get to the bottom of things Where we can find something solid to build on so that the house can stand Doesn't have to be a great big house. It can be a small house, but it has to stand If it's a big house praise God, but if it's a small praise God so long as it's straight and it stands And one Corinthians in chapter 3 he says this I brethren couldn't speak to you as spiritual but to carnal as to babes People who are young in the Lord they are still carnal We have to learn to walk in obedience To the ways of the Spirit we need to be filled with the Spirit of God so that we can become spiritual So in the inner man we can be spiritual, but the outer man can be very carnal can be even Slave of sin still in the body and we have to come to a place Where our body gets redeemed not just the inner man, but the whole house becomes redeemed spirit soul and body So Paul is talking to carnal people the Corinthians. He said ye are still carnal verse 3 Because why? What are we seeing outwardly in the outer man we're seeing arguments we see bitterness we see strife we see divisions When we're seeing these things among the brothers We're still carnal brothers.

We have not come to the mature man These are not the kind of things that we should have as mature men in Christ So we have to look inward. He says you're behaving like men. You're not behaving like like Christians Behaving like carnal men, and then when we say this well one says I'm a Paul one of a Paulist one of Cephas we come to church and say well brother Dan's not sharing today I'm not coming to church Well, what is that? Brother Andy's not sharing today.

We're gonna stay home. This is what the Corinthians would do This is not the kind of heart we have to have we have to be willing to hear from the Spirit And not recognize the faiths Well you say well, you know brother Apollos he doesn't have the same light that brother Paul has so what Let the Holy Spirit speak Let the Holy Spirit speak and so Paul says who is Apollos who is Paul? But ministers through whom you believe then the Lord gave to each one. I planted Apollos water God gave the increase So then neither he who plants or he waters is anything But God who gives the increase now when you start to think yourself to be something because of a gift that you got You deceive yourself You know sometimes I give the kids a gift or whatever or give my wife a gift You know the kids who wear some some jewelry or something and and you walk around pretty soon They're walking around and they got a chain on their neck and they start thinking themselves to be something Well, it says pride serves as their necklace That thing what did you do to get that it was a gift? So you're a preacher you walk around like this or you have a prophetic gifting and people come and you can speak the oracles of God Right or you have a gift of healing or whatever the gift is that God gives you of helps And you begin to walk around as though somehow you earned that thing.

No, it was a gift So in whatever it is that you've received God gives these things to his humble ones Then we start trusting in our beauty and then things go south So Paul is reiterating that that he who plants and he waters are nothing but God who gives the increase Now we look in verse 10 and he says I have laid the foundation and another builds on it speaking about a house But let each one be careful how he builds on it verse 11 for no other foundation Can anyone lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ? So Jesus Christ is the foundation So there's a man who built with no foundation there's a man who built with a solid foundation on the rock Jesus Christ is the foundation But he says if anyone builds on this foundation with gold silver precious stones wood hay straw Each one's work will become clear for the day will declare it because it'll be revealed by fire and fire will test each one's work What sort it is? So the first thing is we want to have a good foundation the next thing is we want to build with material that's not going to light on fire and If we start working with carnal things carnal doctrines teachings of men And we don't have a solid foundation, which is Christ on the Word of God and in the spirit Then when the house collapse We're only the ones to blame Because we never counted the cost. There's another scripture. It says if a man decides he wants to build a tower You should first sit down with a piece of paper and a pen make some calls look on the Internet See if he has enough to finish Less after he begins to build he has to stop because he runs out of money.

He doesn't have the resources and Then everyone laughs That's the last thing you want is to have a hundred people texting each other. Did you hear brother? So-and-so had a collapse? Brother so-and-so had a collapse. Everybody knows brother.

So-and-so had a collapse. That's the most humiliating thing So in order to avoid that what we have to do is we have to sit down and we have to decide straight away We're going to rebuild then we're going to build with a good foundation and we're going to finish this time There's no more turning back. I've decided to follow Jesus no turning back But we need the right tools and we need the right materials And so we have to make sure that we take heed to the things that we've heard lest we drift away We we can't take days off because a day off for some of us is a massive collapse For others us the house just sinks a couple inches and we just live in there and live a little bit crooked in our life And make the best of it It's not it's still the same The end is still the same The house is still condemned Now it says if anyone's work which she has built on endures he will receive a reward Now Paul says I was a wise master builder another is building on it He said I planted a Paulist water and so what happens is through our life We listen to radio programs and people speak into our life We watch videos preaching videos and people are speaking into our life We go to church and there's people who are building on our foundation Right and we're opening up our hearts to receive from people who may or may not be speaking and building with good materials You know and then it says in the last days men will have itching ears, you know this morning at itchy ears I was working with the q-tip trying to clean the ears out the junk in there but you know what you can get plugged and You can either admit that it's plugged and you need to hear more clearly or you can just say well, you know what? I Just like what this guy's telling me because it's what I want to hear It's what I want to hear, you know when you go to invest in a stock You know some people they like to invest in stocks.

I used to I don't do it anymore Praise God and the guy the broker he comes and he says I've got a hot tip Oh, man, my ears get real itchy when they start talking about the hot tip He could be lying through his teeth because he's getting a big commission from the mutual fund company But boy, do I like to hear what he has to say because there's something in the heart that loves a hot tip Brother sister be careful And it's like what brother Aline share your heart is already set on hearing something that you want to hear and so you just Receive it and you just receive it and you receive it, but the other things you don't receive them Because you don't want to really hear them you hear them, but they don't take them to heart And so it says that people who build They have to be careful how they built because their work will become clear because it'll be tested with fire So he said I am God's master builder Paul says you are God's building Right. I planted you are God's field. You are God's building and So there's people who get tested with fire.

All of us. In fact are tested with fire He says don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trials that try But when the fiery trials come when the fire comes, do you burn it burn down? Do you have a meltdown? Yeah collapse Or Are you able to endure the fiery trials and not think it's strange? Are you able to overcome in the fiery trials because you are built with solid pure things like gold silver precious stones This is the question and then it says let not many of you become teachers in James in chapter 3 Verse 1 because you will be judged more strictly the teachers who are sewing their with their building materials into people who are building on people's foundations It says if anyone Anyone's work is burned. He will suffer loss yet.

He himself will be saved yet. So us through fire So some of these people are born again, but they're teaching and they're building with doctrines of men They themselves are very sincere and they themselves have a love for the Lord and they're able to not not collapse because they're holding fast to Jesus and somehow they're they're able to To get by but but they're suffering loss because the young people that they're Promising Liberty are becoming slaves of corruption and their houses are all collapsing Yet they themselves are able to somehow make it through but they're suffering loss Now he says this Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you if anyone defiles the temple? of God God will destroy him. Here's one of the promises you can write that down It's good to have all the promises if anyone defiles the temple of God God will destroy him for the temple of God is holy which temple you are We don't like those promises You know, we said all the devil robbed from me again, no No, God is fulfilling his promise to you You've allowed sin into the temple and God is fulfilling the promise to destroy you because why does he have to allow that to happen? So that you can see there's a problem with the foundation you can see that the houses there's somehow we've been building with wrong materials somehow we have a wrong understanding of God and his word and So we want to have truth in our life true worshipers worship in the spirit and in the truth.

We need both and If the house is being destroyed Then we have to ask ourselves is the problem with God and his word Is the problem that God wasn't able to finish and bring them into the land or is the problem with me Is there something that I've held on to that cannot endure the test of fire and God is allowing it to be destroyed in my life be careful who you listen to the teachings that you receive because you can have one part true and Some error in there. It doesn't take much poison to kill the rat It just takes a little and so when light comes when truth comes Embrace truth and reject teachings of men But if we're prone to love lives Because that that's an easier way. It's a more comfortable lifestyle It's a happier life, but the end leads to destruction and there's many who go that way But it says strive to enter the narrow gate.

Jesus said I am the gate Right. He's the way he's the truth. He's the life and when you're walking in life It doesn't feel like you have life at the time when everything's on fire But after you go through the fire and you see that the fourth man is in the fire And you come out of the fire not smelling like smoke You're not all singed Right, you're able to dance in the midst of the trial and you're able to endure Hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, then you can give praise Because Jesus was with you in the trial.

He was with you in the fire I'd like to look a little bit at Romans and chapter six seven and eight it's most misunderstood, but I just want to kind of just breeze through it and Just talk about it briefly Not go through it verse by verse, but I'll just kind of touch on some things Romans 6 verse 1 what shall we say then shall we continue to practice sin so grace may abound Absolutely not how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it when you decided to get baptized when you made a decision to Follow Christ you made a decision. It was the end of the old you you were you were gonna follow Jesus no turning back That was the decision you made And sometimes we think well, I need another baptism you to get baptized again need a third baptism You need a fourth baptism. No what happened was we were pigs Obviously we were pigs and we just got a good bath and we're still pigs because our nature has not changed So if I'm going back as a sow goes back to the mud and a dog back to the vomit I have to say my nature must have been a nature of a dog and a pig How could a redeemed man go back to the vomit and to the mud? But yet it happens many many times So I have to do some personal reflection And rather than be offended by the word they were always offended by what Jesus said the Pharisees because they were proud They like to look good on the outside, but inside they were full of greed They were full of all kinds of things they loved the praises of men And we want to be careful that we don't get caught up in that So as many as were baptized into Christ were buried into Christ Verse 4 therefore we were buried with him in baptism unto death Just as Christ was raised from the dead.

We also should walk in the newness of life So baptism is a symbolism Replaces circumcision under the New Covenant, and it's not a cutting away of the flesh and trying to you know Just not be overly fleshly. It's a decision to die to flesh not to have a carnal mind anymore a Decision to live in the spirit and to be led by the Spirit of God But many times because the Corinthians they were still carnal Right they were still thinking carnal, and then they were still acting carnal There was there was this war going on the struggle going on, but he called them babes in Christ. They were in the house They were they were born not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible they had gifts given to them they began well But somehow when these men came along in 2nd Corinthians 11 And they brought another Jesus in a different gospel because they were not rooted in a good foundation They were not being built it with solid materials, and they had itching ears they grabbed on to another Jesus that they liked better than the Jesus that Paul preached and Then Paul says as the serpent deceived even the garden I'm afraid for you Babes in Christ that your minds are being corrupted From the simplicity that is in Christ, and if you receive this another Jesus this different gospel.

You're gonna get a different spirit Not the Holy Spirit a different one Would you say would probably be an evil spirit a religious spirit some other spirit another Jesus When the teaching changes the Jesus changes, and I'm not saying we have all the light But you know what when truth comes you got to reject lies When when when truth comes you got to reject teachings of men when truth comes you got to reject tradition This is how we grow up into the head which is Christ This is how we gain a solid foundation, and we build with solid materials, and you go through something and you have a Fire and you you're able to get on top of it And you say Lord what happened and you say it was here I was holding to some traditions of men some teachings of men. I learned this from the Reformers maybe Right they're very sincere very generous very good people But you know what there's some teachings of men that have come along and I've clung on to that and now my house is on Fire and I've got a full stop red alert deal with this fire clean it up. I'll Seven we've got to have a clean up and now we carry on with truth Because you have to be a lover of truth, or you're not a lover of Christ If you're a lover of denominations you've missed Christ Jesus never taught denominations He taught relationship with the Father through the Son no one comes to the Father, but by me And so if we sin we have an advocate return we repent you say Lord I See some lies there, and I'm gonna get back on track.

I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I want to keep going I want to keep growing with you it can happen You know I've had to let go of a lot of traditions and teachings from the things that I grew up with in a very sincere people But sincerely deceived and I have to separate myself from those teachings So that I could move forward and grow spiritually Now we go from chapter 6 to chapter 7 Paul is speaking of what can happen if we're not walking in the spirit If we're not living in the spirit and walking in the spirit, and he uses an example of marriage And he says in verse 7 I do you not know brethren now.

He's speaking to the brethren here That I'm speaking those two who know the law that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives Now baptism is supposed to deal with them the old man the old man is to wreck we're to reckon the old man dead to sin and We're to live in the spirit We're supposed to put to death the deeds of the flesh. We're supposed to bring thoughts captive right to the obedience of the Word of God and That's where the life is and that's where the spiritual growth happens For a woman is bound by law to her husband as long as her husband is alive But if the husband dies she's released from the law of her husband So then if while her husband lives she marries another man she will be called an adulteress Though she's married another man What this is speaking of here specifically is a man who comes to Christ, but he also He enjoys the flesh So in his mind he he acknowledges the Word of God He loves the Word of God in his mind But in his flesh he loves sin He loves sin in his flesh, but in his mind he loves the law of God but in his flesh there's he finds another law working there the law of sin and So just like Jesus told those Jews who believed on his name to come to him to be free they said we are free we've never been in bondage to anyone and he said a Slave does not abide in a house forever, but a son just like the Corinthians Slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son so whom the son sets free is free indeed So you can have a son in the house And you can have a slave in the house And they can both be in the house and they can be enjoying all the benefits that the father has But only one remains forever And so there's this process of time where we have to get out of Romans 7 we got to get into Romans 8 So we're to reckon ourselves dead in Romans 6 because baptism we died and now we're to reckon ourselves dead to sin and Alive to God and it goes on to explain in there that you're slave to whom you obey Whether to sin which leads to death or obedience which leads to life So do you want to be a slave of Christ a bond slave of Christ, or do you want to be a slave to sin? Romans 7 talks about the process so if while I'm a slave to sin While the old man is still kicking, and I'm still you know Living in the flesh somewhat you know but yet in in my mind. I'm joining myself to Christ It says while the old man lives and You've joined yourself to Christ.

You will be called an adulterous, and he uses the example of marriage to make his point So you say I love Christ, but you're still practicing sin Well you're an adulterous before God, and what does the scripture say well? I'm in the house. I'm enjoying the benefits I'm feeling the love of God. I'm sensing his presence Well the end result will be that you'll be kicked out of the house Because a slave of sin does not abide in the house forever, but a son And so there's this process of time where we need to learn obedience through the things that we suffer We have to put to death the things that are holding us back from going through with God.

We have to overcome So either we're gonna suffer now and in the flesh and cease from sin, or we're gonna suffer later the eternal damnation of hell So we get to choose today who we want to serve you want to serve Christ serve him If you want to be holy be holy if you want to walk in righteousness Go through with God call on the name of the Lord But it says in Revelation 22 if you want to be filthy then be filthy Forget about Christ if you want to be unrighteous Follow the flesh live your best life now let him who is unclean be unclean let him who is filthy be filthy still Make your choice either all for Jesus or all for the flesh, but go out with a bang Don't have one foot in and one foot out because the end result will be a massive disappointment Because God cannot lie a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son So it says that while the old man lives she goes and marries another man should be called an adulteress James 4 says you would 4 4 says you adulterers and adulteresses friendship with the world is hatred toward God Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God So we have to make a decision. I don't want to be an adulterer and adulteress I don't want to cheat on Christ. I don't want to join myself with Christ and still Walk in the flesh live according to the flesh have my mind set on the things of the flesh and I need Jesus to give me the victory That's the end of Romans 7 who will deliver me from this body of death you got to be looking under Jesus my friend You got to be calling on the name of the Lord He's the one who's gonna save you when when your house catches fire you got to be looking to him And then you'll be radiant Therefore my brethren you have become dead to the law because the law is the thing that is working With in the flesh, but if the body is dead, then you're not under the law If you've been buried with him, you're no longer under the law.

You're under grace But you've been married to another to him who was raised from the dead That's Christ that you may bear fruit to God verse 5 for when you were in the flesh the sinful passions Which were aroused by the law were working in your members, but now you've been delivered from the law. What's the key? Having died to what you were held by It's not circumcision. It's baptism.

You're to reckon yourself dead to sin. You got to consider I've got to die to this thing while you're trying to save your life your suffering suffering suffering suffering But when you let go you have peace Let go of the old man. Let go of the old life.

Let go of the old thoughts It says let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts We have to forsake wicked thoughts. We have to forsake wicked ways That's the key to dying to what we're held by Now Paul uses in himself as an example. I Would not have known sin except through the law.

How do you know that the old man's coming back to life? Many really starting to get tempted and really starting to struggle and you're really now all of a sudden you give in to temptation You give in to temptation. What does Paul say in verse 7? I would not have known covetousness unless the law said you shall not covet and so you say man I don't want to love money. I don't want to love things and The more you focus on not loving money and loving things.

What do you want? You want to invest in every hot tip? Because you can't help yourself Because there's a greed in the heart Just like the Pharisees they had a love for money. They had greed in their heart, but overly they looked so good This is what Paul's issue was there was covetousness there and it was working death in him. It was killing him Apart from the law sin was dead, but then it became alive again The commandment came sin revived and what Paul say he died.

That's what can happen When temptation comes and you don't die to the temptation You just let that thing rattle around in your head for a while and pretty soon You're sinning your members and it comes alive Right because our bodies haven't been redeemed yet, we're in the process of having redeemed bodies With the remind I serve the law of God But the flesh the law of sin And so if I set my mind a little bit too long And I'm missing out or this or that or any other carnal thing worldly thing fleshy thing now all of a sudden. I'm feeling death working in me I Get the hell on We need to repent of these things We need to die to what we're held by and get back into grace Call the name of Jesus So he said I found that the commandment which was to bring life brought death for sin taking occasion by the commandment Deceived me and by it killed me. He was alive once apart from the law, but then sin revived and Paul says he died The law is holy the commandment holy, but what is holy? somehow caused the flesh To see how utterly sinful it was so by the works of the law you're not going to become holy Just by knowing right and wrong.

It's not going to make you holy It's looking unto Jesus. It's calling on the name of the Lord It's with the mind. I serve the law of God setting your mind on heavenly things It's setting your mind on Christ Meditating on the Word of God on things that are lovely and pure and noble of good report Having a song in your heart making melody in your heart surrounding yourself around others who have a same heart's desire to follow Christ And make no provision for the flesh Zero tolerance for the flesh to obey it in its loss because if you give in to it, it'll suck you down That's what Satan does.

He works through the flesh So It brings us To verse 17 so now it is no longer I who do it But sin that dwells in me Paul said the covetousness was at work in him All he could do is think about things and how much others had and how much he didn't have and it was working death in Him and it was no longer him that was in control But it was sin in him that had gotten hold of him for I know that in me that is in my flesh in our bodies our natural bodies With the same nature nothing good dwells for to will is present with me, but how to do what I can't find For the good that I want to do in the mind. We know we want to do good But the evil that I'm practicing that I hate so now you have this kind of Christian that Tyler was talking about who has a desire in his heart to do what is right, but he keeps doing what is wrong He's stuck in Romans 7 Sin revived and Paul said I died Now he says this in verse 20. This is where you become a slave of sin again I He says now if I do what I will not to do it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me Sin is at work anyone who gives in to sin becomes a Slave of sin you can't stop sinning You can't stop sinning who will deliver me from this body of death This is how you know that you're a slave to sin and a slave doesn't stay in the house forever I find then a law that evil is present with me.

This is where the evil spirits get access The one who wills to do good for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man But I see another law in my members in my body warring against the law of my mind, which is bringing me into bondage The law of sin, which is in my members Oh wretched man that I am Just coming to a revelation that we need Christ that we can't do this Just acknowledging that we're sinful Calling on the name of the Lord who will deliver me from this body of death in the inner man He wanted to serve Christ in the inner man He joined himself with Christ, but the old man is the life now, and there's this adultery going on There's practicing sin going on the one who's called on the name of the Lord and has given his heart to the Lord But if while the old man lives you're married to another man, which is Christ you be called an adulteress But if the old man dies and you're no longer adulterous though, you married another man This is the the explanation and that the Paul's example what was going on in his life at this time when covetousness took over him For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law Worrying in my members. This is this is being a slave to sin. This is not a good way He said I revived and sin revived and I died Death was working in him in his body Now verse 25.

I thank the Lord through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with my mind I serve the law of God, right? In my mind, I'm following Christ But in the flesh, I'm following sin How can these things be brethren it brings us back to Romans 6 Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound may it never be how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? So we're to reckon ourselves dead to sin and we have to repent and turn to the Lord now Look at verse 8 chapter 8 verse 1 there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Now when you're in Christ Jesus, you're not in sin Who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit So let me say it this way who will deliver me from this body of death. So with your mind you want to serve Christ and You find this bondage going on in your body and you have to cry out with loud cries and tears to get free from this bondage So when there's no condemnation when what in your mind you want to serve God, but in your flesh is screaming to sin Like brother Sean says sometimes he seizes his lust there that comes But there's no condemnation because you're not giving in to the lust you can be discouraged about it, but that gives place to the devil because pretty soon you begin to realize that That this thing is still in your members, but we have to rat we have not yet resisted under bloodshed are striving against sin and so we can Stand firm and say there is no condemnation in Christ When my mind is on the things of the Spirit, even though in my flesh I sense there's a desire there an evil desire so we can overcome and have confidence that God is gonna Bring life to our mortal bodies through groanings Right so that we can die to the desires and the passions because that's what the scripture says having crucified the flesh With his passions and its desires You're not necessarily practicing the sins, but there's a desire and a passion That's rising up in there, and we're calling on the name of the Lord to help us So he says in verse 2 the law of spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death That is how we're gonna become free the law of the spirit of life as many as are led by the Spirit of God These are the sons of God and if the Spirit of God is in you the Spirit of Christ is in you Right though the body be dead because of sin the spirit is alive and so we're to reckon ourselves dead to sin We don't give in to the lusts and the passions of the sinful desires.

We're gonna call the name of the Lord We're gonna have loud cries and tears to him who can save us from death and we're gonna be heard Because Jesus was heard and he said that's how we overcome It says those who were in the flesh verse 5 set their minds on the things of the flesh. That's the first mistake Right you might have a desire in your body. That's desiring things and Temptation comes then what do you do it comes in your mind? I'm just gonna click on that for him I'm just gonna click on it you set your mind on it No But when the desire comes in the flesh and the lust starts to come Then you have to overcome in the mind because with the mind I serve the law of God But as soon as your mind sets on the desires of the flesh you're in a bad way That's where the falling away happens if the mind Which is supposed to be serving Christ with my mind Paul said I served the law of God But if my mind starts to come in agreement with what the flesh is saying now, you're in a bad way Now you're gonna start practicing sin.

This is not the thing for believers So who those who live according to the flesh they set their minds on the things of the flesh But those who live according to the spirit They set their minds on the things of the spirit and so the battleground is in the mind So you might be really wrestling your flesh might be fighting you the enemy be just like on you in your in your members But let your mind be set on the Word of God. Let your mind be on the worship Let your mind be on the things of Christ renew your mind not conformed to the pattern of this world But be transformed in your body by the renewing of the mind so this is where the battleground is one in the mind and If you can overcome in the mind, then you will not give in to the sin and you will have confidence before God For to be carnally minded Is death if you let your mind go there, right? You might have a desire, right? You might hear some things you might have a desire Oh, man, I should probably call up that stockbroker and I heard buddy talking about how much his stocks gonna I should probably get in before it's too late. And all of a sudden you have this desire You feel like you're missing out you can feel it.

I think you're losing something as soon as you set your mind on that you're finished You have to chase those they say no I'm not gonna go there Because I'm not I don't want to become that I don't want death work. I don't want to become dead I don't want to be a religious man To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded To have a mindset of the spirit is life and peace Because the carnal mind is enmity against God The carnal man he cannot please God those who are in the flesh cannot please God but you're not in the flesh but in the spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you and so if the Spirit of God dwells in you, then you need to heed the the working of the Spirit and Be led by the Spirit of God to not allow yourself to go there and Practice the temptations and the lusts that are in your members and One day some of those lusts that are in your members are gonna go away. They're gonna die But the process because you've sewn to the flesh.

It's fighting you It's fighting you hard and so you have there's a process of dying to what you're held by So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God, but you're not in the flesh but in the spirit if indeed the Spirit of God is in you if Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ He is not his so you can try and fight these things without the Spirit of Christ and it'll be a collapse every time But if you have accepted Christ if in your mind You're serving Christ if you have an understanding of scripture, and you've had a born-again experience Then you also have the grace and the tools to overcome The temptations and the lusts that are in the body Because we want to be redeemed completely not just in our spirit, but in our souls That's the battleground for our soul and our bodies that we might glorify God in our bodies So it says if Christ is in you though the body is dead because of sin Right this body of ours. We've sewn to the flesh. We were we were born in futility Creation itself was subject to futility not willingly, but him who subjected it So we have to groan within ourselves to be liberated our bodies need to be liberated from this hell that's inside from this death that's been working there for so long and It can be redeemed It can be redeemed because the Word of God says so Verse 11 says but if the spirit of him who dwells who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you if you have that spirit The one that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you Then he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies The power of God is going to bring life not just in the spirit Not just in our souls, but in our mortal bodies life is going to come so people are going to be able to see Christ in the outer man It won't just be in the inner man.

It'll be in the outer man also Spirit soul and body the whole temple being redeemed because you are the temple of the Living God And so we should glorify God in our bodies Through the spirit who dwells in you now, let's look again at verse 12 He says therefore brothers is written to us as brothers We are not debtors to the flesh to live according to the flesh You're not a debtor to live according to the desires of the old man the desires of the flesh Because he says if you live according to those desires you're gonna die But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live How do you put them to death you renew your mind? So desire conceives in the heart and wants to give birth to sin temptation comes to the mind What do you do? You bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and you say sorry flesh. I Got bad news for you You're not gonna have your way. I follow Christ and you know what another nail just goes in the lid Give the old man another death blow keep him in the box You can just quote them words I am crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live Christ lives in me and I'm gonna see Christ living in my members.

Also, I Want to see the glory of God You want to see Christ in your members? So you're no longer slave of sin and you become a son you receive the adoption of sons Praise God. That's what we need He says as many as are led by the Spirit of God verse 14 These are the sons of God for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear We didn't receive a spirit of bondage received the spirit of adoption You know when you get into bondage then fear comes Fear comes anxiety comes no confidence Who will deliver me from this body of death that brings us back to Romans 7. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord Call on the name of the Lord you give in to sin If you mess up call on the name of the Lord, it's gonna be a fight to get free Don't if you give the flesh an inch you'll take a mile Don't give in to the flesh to obey it and it's lost reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God Not only serve him in the mind, but let's serve him in your spirit serve him in your heart in your soul and in your body Let it all be Jesus's Now he says this We have not received the spirit of bondage which leads to fear, but we have received the spirit of adoption By whom we cry out Abba Father now the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God so when we get in temptation and the flesh is fighting us whether it be greed or anger or envy or or Bitterness or whatever it is. We start cry out.

We look to the Lord. We start cry out to the Lord You gotta help us. I can't do this I can't do this and all of a sudden the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings Which can't be uttered with words and then in our mind while we're laying there Crying out to God.

I Say, oh man, praise God. The Spirit is there spirits working interceding for me. I Know beyond a shadow of a doubt.

I'm a child of God because the Spirit is making intercession for me now. It's not me now the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we're children of God and If children then we're joint heirs with Christ, amen If children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ now this last part here if there's a condition If indeed we suffer with him that we may be glorified together Are you willing to suffer with Jesus? You say well, I suffer like on what way well, there's a lot of suffering involved So when temptation comes Just like temptation came to Jesus. We shared it on Thursday He came to his father with what? Loud cries and tears to him who could save him from death and he was heard He was suffering Somehow even though he didn't have a sinful flesh he was tempted like we are He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh.

So he experienced the desire of his flesh wanting what he should not have He experienced that and he had to go to his father With loud crying and tears because his father Could save him from death if he gave in to temptation one time and he obeyed it in its in its lust Then we would have no salvation There would be no hope for us But he's shown us the way that if we suffer with him, we shall also reign in righteousness with him Amen, if we endure We're gonna reign with him So this is what this is referring to if indeed we suffer with him and that's your choice You get a choice every day. I don't want to suffer or I'm willing to suffer with Christ Christ suffered in the flesh arm yourself with the same mind first Peter 4 Verse 17 for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin You want to cease from sin? You got to arm yourself with the same mind because with the mind we serve the law of God you have to say You know what? I've decided to follow Jesus. No turning back Now let's look here verse 18 for I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be Revealed where in us? This is the redemption of your body.

I'm talking about now Waiting for a new body a place heaven and earth where righteousness dwells So he says I don't consider the sufferings of this present time worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed You know, there's been times when I've seen a brother. He was spent. He shut alone with God even Moses He was shut alone with God.

He came out his face was just glowing Right, but he made a decision he was gonna shut himself in with God And after he was there for a while he came forth in radiation He was glorified in the presence of Jesus his face was shining How much more we who are new covenant believers if he gets shut alone with God and we emerged from? Being shut in with God for a period of time will break forth Radiating and in the glory of the Lord This was just talking about If you're willing to say no to the fleshly desires and the passions and you shut yourself in with God and you get alone with him You're gonna it's not even comparable what you're giving up to what you gain in the righteousness of God In the presence of God for the earnest expectation of creation Eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. So creation was subject to the fall the weeds and everything Right the earth pangs and the earthquakes and all the stuff going on because of the fall the creation was subjected to futility Not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope But the creation itself now also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption Now here he's not talking about The plants and the trees and the weeds he's talking about the other part of the creation, which is you We are also made on the sixth day. We are also part of that creation And so he says that because creation itself now also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption You also will be delivered from the bondage of the flesh From the bondage of the sin that's in our members We're going to be liberated by the power of God into the glorious liberty of the children of God That's who we're going to become when we hold fast to the head which is Christ For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs The groanings of and the shakings and everything together till now and not only that but we also Who have the first fruits of the Holy Spirit even we ourselves grown within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption the redemption of our body We want the adoption as sons the redemption of our bodies the whole man being saved Let the groanings begin my friend Just shut yourself in with God until you get the victory Allow him to make you a new man in Christ For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope So we don't see yet what we want to be we don't see yet the kind of person that we hope to be But we believe Faith is the victory and so we trust the Lord we keep looking under the Lord.

That's where our help comes from maker of heaven and earth Now he who searches the heart and knows the mind of the spirit because he makes intercession for the Saints according to the will of God Now we know this all things work together for good to those who love God We're going through a lot of things. We don't understand those things, but we can trust one thing That God is working it together for our good So when we can look back we can reflect on things we've gone through hard things Difficult things and say, you know, it's good that I was afflicted Because before I was afflicted I went astray But you know what I see now I'm keeping his word and so then we can even thank him for the afflictions We can thank him for the disciplines We can thank him for not allowing us to prosper when we were not in a right way But that he loved us enough to allow us to come to a place where we had to take stock Where we are really out with God and get our foundation right in our house on with good precious silver gold stones Amen May the Lord help us to to fulfill the purpose and call of God because God has promised that he'll finish the work that he's begun Don't become discouraged through the discipline, but he will finish the work that he's begun We want to become sons and daughters of the Most High So let's renew our minds. Let's look to the Lord Jesus.

Let's call on his name in Jesus name