Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Living above the Drag of Defeat Msg 67 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Living above the Drag of Defeat Msg 67 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: If you have brought a Bible with you, please turn
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  Speaker 1: to the 8th chapter of Romans. Romans chapter 8. Surely
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  Speaker 1: this chapter would rank among the top 10 in all
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  Speaker 1: the Bible. Most Bible teachers would say that, I believe.
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  Speaker 1: It is filled with hope refreshing news that brings great relief,
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  Speaker 1: especially after coming out of the barren desert of the
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  Speaker 1: seventh chapter, where we met the wretched man who attempted
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  Speaker 1: to take on life on his own, only to strike
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  Speaker 1: out and make a mess of things. When you get
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  Speaker 1: to chapter eight, There's renewed hope, as we shall see.
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  Speaker 1: It helps us know how to live above the drag
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  Speaker 1: of defeat. And we look forward to what it will
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  Speaker 1: say to us personally. I'll be reading from the New
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  Speaker 1: Living Translation. Please follow along as you read the first
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  Speaker 1: 14 verses of Romans 8. May we stand together for
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  Speaker 1: the reading of the scriptures. So now there is no
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  Speaker 1: condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because
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  Speaker 1: you belong to him, the power of the life-giving spirit
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  Speaker 1: has freed you from the power of sin that leads
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  Speaker 1: to death. The law of Moses was unable to save
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  Speaker 1: us because of the weaknesses of our sinful nature. So
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  Speaker 1: God did what the law could not do. He sent
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  Speaker 1: his son, his own son, in a body like the
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  Speaker 1: bodies we sinners have. And in that body, God declared
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  Speaker 1: an end to sin's control over us by giving his
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  Speaker 1: son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this
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  Speaker 1: so that the just requirement of the law would be
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  Speaker 1: fully satisfied for us who no longer follow our sinful nature,
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  Speaker 1: but instead follow the Spirit. Those who are dominated by
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  Speaker 1: the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who
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  Speaker 1: are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that
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  Speaker 1: please the Spirit. So, letting your sinful nature control your
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  Speaker 1: mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control you
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  Speaker 1: and control your mind leads to life and peace. For
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  Speaker 1: the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never
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  Speaker 1: did obey God's laws and it never will. That's why
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  Speaker 1: those who are still under the control of their sinful
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  Speaker 1: nature can never please God. But you are not controlled
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  Speaker 1: by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit
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  Speaker 1: if you have the Spirit of God living in you.
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  Speaker 1: And remember that those who do not have the Spirit
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  Speaker 1: of Christ living in them do not belong to Him
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  Speaker 1: at all. And Christ lives within you. So even though
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  Speaker 1: your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives
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  Speaker 1: you life because You have been made right with God.
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  Speaker 1: The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead
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  Speaker 1: lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus
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  Speaker 1: from the dead, he will give life to your mortal
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  Speaker 1: bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Therefore, brothers
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  Speaker 1: and sisters, You have no obligation to do what your
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  Speaker 1: sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live
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  Speaker 1: by its dictates, you will die. But if through the
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  Speaker 1: power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds
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  Speaker 1: of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who
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  Speaker 1: are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
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  Speaker 1: Today it's very simple. Every person in this room either
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  Speaker 1: knows Christ or you do not know Christ. You either
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  Speaker 1: have the Spirit of God because of your conversion or
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  Speaker 1: you do not have the Spirit of God, which will explain,
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  Speaker 1: as we will see, why spiritual truth means much to
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  Speaker 1: many of us, but very little, if anything, to some
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  Speaker 1: who are here. The work of the Spirit is illumination
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  Speaker 1: as he makes the truth known to us. Let's pray together.
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  Speaker 1: It's so good to be able to call you our
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  Speaker 1: Father and to talk with you, though briefly, as we
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  Speaker 1: lay before you the needs that weigh upon our minds
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  Speaker 1: and in our emotions that have a way of draining
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  Speaker 1: away the joy dragging us into a realm of defeat.
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  Speaker 1: Teach us, Lord, today the truth of the empowering Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: May we be neither afraid of it nor take it
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  Speaker 1: to an extreme that is irresponsible or unbiblical. Give us
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  Speaker 1: a balanced understanding of what it means to be under
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  Speaker 1: the control of your spirit. Thank you for the relief
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  Speaker 1: this chapter brings, for the hope it adds to an
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  Speaker 1: otherwise monotonous existence. Thank you for the joy that we
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  Speaker 1: gain as we enter into the spirit-filled life. May it
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  Speaker 1: become for us a regular reality. Our gifts today are
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  Speaker 1: for you, Lord, and we wouldn't have our occupation if
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  Speaker 1: it weren't for you. We wouldn't have our strength to
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  Speaker 1: work at our service or calling or job if it
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  Speaker 1: weren't for you. Therefore, to you goes the credit, not
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  Speaker 1: only for our occupation, but for what we're able to
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  Speaker 1: earn from it. Accept our gifts, given because of our
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  Speaker 1: love for you and out of devotion because of a
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  Speaker 1: motive we wish to have these gifts glorify you. Among
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  Speaker 1: people we'll never meet, in places we'll never go. For
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  Speaker 1: your purpose, use these gifts, we pray, and we give
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  Speaker 1: them joyfully and generously. In the blessed name of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Our Master, we pray. And all of his people say, Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes a sudden surprise results in a rush of relief.
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  Speaker 1: I take you back to the late summer of 1961.
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  Speaker 1: I had just completed my time with Ray Stedman at
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  Speaker 1: Peninsula Bible Church serving as a pastoral intern there that summer.
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  Speaker 1: And I needed to get back to Dallas Seminary to
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  Speaker 1: begin my third of four years of study there. Cynthia
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  Speaker 1: was heavy with child, carrying our firstborn. And so she
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  Speaker 1: went ahead of me in a flight. The church flew
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  Speaker 1: her back. because none of us wanted me to deliver
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  Speaker 1: the baby somewhere between Albuquerque and El Paso. And so
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  Speaker 1: it seemed best that she fly back in case the
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  Speaker 1: baby came early. And since neither of us wanted me
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  Speaker 1: to be the one who served as the obstetrician. So
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  Speaker 1: that was a good decision. So I drove back alone.
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  Speaker 1: And if you've ever made the journey from Northern California
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  Speaker 1: to North Texas, you know there's no way to do
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  Speaker 1: it without passing through the Mojave Desert. which is a
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  Speaker 1: bit of a dreadful piece of land filled with hot,
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  Speaker 1: barren terrain and the winds of the desert. And when
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  Speaker 1: your car is un-air-conditioned and you're pulling a trailer, you
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  Speaker 1: care about passing through that as quickly and as cool
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  Speaker 1: as you can. So I timed my trip carefully. I
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  Speaker 1: got to the edge of the Mojave a little after
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  Speaker 1: dark so that I could travel through the night. And
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  Speaker 1: I drove all night and got to Needles, California, right
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  Speaker 1: on the edge of the line leading into Arizona. Before dawn,
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  Speaker 1: quite a bit before dawn, it was still dark. I
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  Speaker 1: was exhausted. It had been a busy day of packing
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  Speaker 1: and putting our last minute things together, getting the hitch
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  Speaker 1: on and taking care of the trailer and finally getting
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  Speaker 1: across the desert, which was a relief. And I remember
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  Speaker 1: thinking after I filled up with gas, I would step
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  Speaker 1: in the men's room, wash my face and hands, and
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  Speaker 1: refresh myself and be able to get to a place
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  Speaker 1: where I could pull over for a little nap. Cynthia
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  Speaker 1: had built, with our ironing board and some pillows and quilts,
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  Speaker 1: a little bed between the back of the front seat
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  Speaker 1: and the back seat so that right in there I'd
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  Speaker 1: be able to take a nap. at least that seemed
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  Speaker 1: like a good idea at the time. And so that
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  Speaker 1: was all set and I walked in the men's room
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  Speaker 1: and there was one other man in there who rather
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  Speaker 1: brashly and quickly said to me, hey, where are you going?
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  Speaker 1: And I ignored him and began to wash my hands
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  Speaker 1: and he was not to be ignored and said to
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  Speaker 1: me louder, I asked, where are you going? And I said,
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  Speaker 1: I'm traveling alone. I'm going across the country. Good, I'll
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  Speaker 1: go with you. I can help you drive. I said,
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  Speaker 1: I said, I'm traveling alone. And I don't think it's
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  Speaker 1: what he wanted to hear. He stared at me for
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  Speaker 1: a few chilling moments. and stomped out, slammed the door.
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  Speaker 1: Had a funny feeling at that point that we might
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  Speaker 1: meet up again. And I walked out. When you travel alone,
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  Speaker 1: you have a lot of funny thoughts that go through
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  Speaker 1: your mind. Well, anyway, I got to the car. It
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  Speaker 1: was filled with gas, and a hot wind was blowing
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  Speaker 1: across the The train, and as I opened the front door,
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  Speaker 1: it blew in, and I felt really uneasy. And I
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  Speaker 1: sat down, cranked up the car, and took off, and
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  Speaker 1: realized after I took off that the pillows and the
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  Speaker 1: quilt were ruffled. And I realized he was in that
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  Speaker 1: car with me under that ironing board. Well, I don't
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  Speaker 1: carry a gun, and the only thing I had was
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  Speaker 1: a two-foot chrome crescent wrench that I had used to
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  Speaker 1: tighten the lug on the trailer hitch as I put
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  Speaker 1: the trailer onto the car, and I'd shoved the wrench
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  Speaker 1: under the front seat. And I thought, that's the ticket.
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  Speaker 1: I'll just beat his head off his shoulders and leave
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  Speaker 1: the murder weapon on the street, drive on. But there's
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  Speaker 1: one thing for sure, he is not going to take
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  Speaker 1: over this car. So why I didn't turn around and
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  Speaker 1: go back to the well-lit, don't ask me later, but
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  Speaker 1: why I didn't go back, I'll never know. Here, fresh
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  Speaker 1: out of the Marine Corps, I can take it on.
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  Speaker 1: And so I'm driving along. I get slower and slower,
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  Speaker 1: and I notice no cars behind, no cars ahead. I
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  Speaker 1: think it's a good place to pull over and take
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  Speaker 1: him on. So I pull over slowly, and I open
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  Speaker 1: the door slowly, and I gripped the weapon firmly, and
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  Speaker 1: I got out, and I... threw the covers back, I said,
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  Speaker 1: get out of the car! And no one was there.
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  Speaker 1: And I felt like an idiot because I'm standing here
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  Speaker 1: with a wrench and I'm talking to an ironing board
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  Speaker 1: in the car and a car is coming by with
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  Speaker 1: a family and I wave at them and they must
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  Speaker 1: have thought, what's the matter with that guy? But as
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  Speaker 1: you recall, my comment earlier was sometimes a sudden surprise
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  Speaker 1: brings a rush of relief. And it was that. No
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  Speaker 1: one was there. It's a funny analogy, but I had
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  Speaker 1: the same, not quite the same emotion, but the same
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  Speaker 1: thought when I moved from Romans 7 to Romans 8.
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  Speaker 1: I thought that the wretched man would haunt us and
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  Speaker 1: would see him again and would plague us and would
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  Speaker 1: have to be dealt with again. But the beautiful thing
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  Speaker 1: about Romans 8 is, as with that stranger, the wretched
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  Speaker 1: man is nowhere to be found again. Never mentioned again. Again. Gone.
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  Speaker 1: And the reason is, I think Paul was anxious to
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  Speaker 1: get to Romans 8. The blessed Holy Spirit comes into
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  Speaker 1: the subject and fills the pages from here on. It's magnificent.
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  Speaker 1: The difference his presence makes. No wonder Romans 8 is
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  Speaker 1: among the top ten of the chapters in the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: It begins with no condemnation. There is therefore now no
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  Speaker 1: condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The Greek
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  Speaker 1: sentence begins with those words. No condemnation. The chapter ends
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  Speaker 1: with no separation. No separation. I am persuaded that neither death,
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  Speaker 1: nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
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  Speaker 1: nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
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  Speaker 1: other creation shall be able to separate us from the
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  Speaker 1: love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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  Speaker 1: No condemnation, no separation, and in the middle of the chapter,
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  Speaker 1: no accusation. Who can bring a charge against God's elect?
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  Speaker 1: It is God that justifies. There is no accusation. If
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  Speaker 1: God be for us, who can be against us? What
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  Speaker 1: a relief. No wretched man, no condemnation, no accusation, no separation.
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  Speaker 1: The Spirit of God is here empowering this one who
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  Speaker 1: finally realizes he can't pull it off in the flesh.
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  Speaker 1: And why even try? Which is the whole point of
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  Speaker 1: Romans 8. Don't even try. It's wasted effort. It's not
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  Speaker 1: only bad theology, it's dreadful practice. To conduct your life
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  Speaker 1: in the energy of the flesh. Though you could. And
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  Speaker 1: I'll get to that. Now I've given you an outline
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  Speaker 1: that you may wish to follow. Get your pen ready.
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  Speaker 1: You'll have some things to write down as I give
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  Speaker 1: you the words to fill in. And it'll all fit
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  Speaker 1: together like a really neat puzzle. Right now it reads...
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  Speaker 1: in a way that seems a bit like a tongue twister,
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  Speaker 1: but it's not that at all. As a matter of fact,
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  Speaker 1: this magnificent chapter starts as we are given three facts
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  Speaker 1: regarding our God that are true. First, we are eternally
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  Speaker 1: secure in Christ, verse 1. Look at it. Look at this.
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  Speaker 1: You come out of Romans 7 wondering if it will
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  Speaker 1: be desert from here on, but the cool winds of
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit begin to blow, and he quickly says there's
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  Speaker 1: no condemnation ever, ever, ever, ever. You as a child
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  Speaker 1: of God will never face condemnation, ever. The way he
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  Speaker 1: begins it is emphatic. We are eternally secure in Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Look at the second verse that just builds on it.
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  Speaker 1: We are also internally freed by the Spirit. Look at
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  Speaker 1: the verse. Because you belong to Him, that's Christ, the
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  Speaker 1: power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the
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  Speaker 1: power of sin that leads to death. as I often
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  Speaker 1: render this word death, to a death-like existence. It's not
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  Speaker 1: a physical death where you keel over and stop breathing.
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  Speaker 1: It's a death-like existence. It's the wretched man being lived out.
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  Speaker 1: It's the flesh taking control. But you have been freed
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  Speaker 1: by the Spirit so that sin no longer has that
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  Speaker 1: control over you. Now, understand, in your lost condition, It
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  Speaker 1: dominated your life. It controlled you. You may not have
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  Speaker 1: planned for the day to be a defeat, but it
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  Speaker 1: led to that. You couldn't withstand a temptation. You couldn't
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  Speaker 1: get beyond your impulse. Your glands popped hard and heavy
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  Speaker 1: so that you yielded to whatever selfishness, greed, Control, sexual lust, whatever.
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  Speaker 1: You didn't have the Spirit of God. You didn't have
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  Speaker 1: any power in you. All you had was a sinful nature.
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  Speaker 1: Owned and operated by the sinful nature until the Spirit
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  Speaker 1: of God, as a result of your journey to the cross,
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  Speaker 1: took up his residence within you. Think of that. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: you've never let that land full force. When you trusted
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  Speaker 1: in Christ, the Spirit of God made your life his residence.
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  Speaker 1: Christ not only came to live within you, but with
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  Speaker 1: Christ came his Spirit. And his Spirit is there for
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  Speaker 1: a reason. To empower. To give control. Restraint. Enlightenment. It's
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  Speaker 1: like the Spirit of God is shining bright lights on
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  Speaker 1: the words of Scripture now. These words that used to
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  Speaker 1: bore you and confuse you now begin to make sense.
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  Speaker 1: That's because of the Spirit at work within you. You
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  Speaker 1: have been internally freed from what once controlled you, namely
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  Speaker 1: your old sin nature. Now there's a third factor that
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  Speaker 1: I don't want you to miss. Both of those statements
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  Speaker 1: are true. We are eternally secure. We are internally freed.
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  Speaker 1: Both are true because we are the recipients of grace,
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  Speaker 1: which is the subject of this series. Living by grace.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to see grace as it doesn't appear
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  Speaker 1: in its Actual word, you won't read of grace in
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  Speaker 1: verses 3 and 4, but you'll see grace. Follow along.
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  Speaker 1: The law of Moses was unable to save us because
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  Speaker 1: of the weakness of our sinful nature. So look at
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  Speaker 1: the grace that came to our rescue. So God did
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  Speaker 1: what the law could not do. He sent his own
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  Speaker 1: son in a body like the bodies we sinners have,
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  Speaker 1: and in that body, Sinless that it was, in that body,
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  Speaker 1: God declared an end to sin's control over us. Look
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  Speaker 1: at the grace here. By giving us his son as
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  Speaker 1: a sacrifice for our sins. For by grace, you have
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  Speaker 1: been saved through faith. You haven't earned your salvation. You
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  Speaker 1: haven't paid for your salvation. You haven't worked for your salvation.
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  Speaker 1: You couldn't work long enough or hard enough. You haven't
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  Speaker 1: cleaned up your life enough to gain salvation. You can't
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  Speaker 1: get that clean. To be as clean as Christ is,
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  Speaker 1: we need help. And the grace of God comes to
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  Speaker 1: our rescue. And you'll see it here. God gave us
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  Speaker 1: his son as a sacrifice for our sin. Now, verse
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  Speaker 1: 4 is another dimension of grace. Look at it. God
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  Speaker 1: did this so that the just requirement of the law
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  Speaker 1: would be fully satisfied for us, not by us. The
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  Speaker 1: law requires this. Grace of God took care of it.
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  Speaker 1: The law demanded that. Grace of God covers that. It
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  Speaker 1: was all done for us. who no longer follow our
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  Speaker 1: sinful nature, but instead we now follow the Spirit. Now
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  Speaker 1: with that in mind, Paul launches into a series of contrasts.
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  Speaker 1: He loves to do this with that logical mind of his,
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  Speaker 1: because by contrasting something, you're able to see both sides
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  Speaker 1: and the truth of it emerges clearly. In verses 5
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  Speaker 1: through 11, think of two columns. I'll put them there
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  Speaker 1: on your outline for you. The column on your left
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  Speaker 1: would represent the old nature. The column on your right
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  Speaker 1: represents the new nature. And you'll see contrasting statements, true
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  Speaker 1: under each. Look at verse 5. Follow along. Those who,
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  Speaker 1: this is the Christian now, we have the Spirit of
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  Speaker 1: God within us. Those Christians, those believers who were dominated
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  Speaker 1: by the sinful nature, think about sinful things, but those
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  Speaker 1: who are controlled by the Holy Spirit, think about things
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  Speaker 1: that please the Spirit. So we have our first in
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  Speaker 1: the list of three things. First thing under the old nature,
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  Speaker 1: You think about sinful things. Isn't that true? When you're
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  Speaker 1: around tempting things, you think about yielding because you're dominated
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  Speaker 1: by the flesh. When you're around something that you shouldn't do,
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  Speaker 1: you think about doing it because it's coming from your
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  Speaker 1: old nature, which is not changed from when you were
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  Speaker 1: lost Your old nature isn't affected by your conversion. The
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  Speaker 1: only difference is the house of your system becomes a duplex.
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  Speaker 1: Now the old nature lives there, but there's a new
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  Speaker 1: nature living alongside. And you'll see in verse 5 that
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  Speaker 1: you think about spiritual things when the Spirit controls you.
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  Speaker 1: For example, you see something that you should not yield to,
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit of God says to you and gives you
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  Speaker 1: the power, says restrain yourself. Hold back. Don't go there.
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  Speaker 1: Don't yield. Don't give in. Don't say yes. The Spirit
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  Speaker 1: of God is at work within you along with the
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  Speaker 1: old nature that says, come on, this could be fun.
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  Speaker 1: This could be, at least for a while, pretty pleasurable.
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  Speaker 1: The new nature says it may be pleasurable for the moment,
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  Speaker 1: but there are consequences. Don't go there. So you see
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  Speaker 1: the first contrast. Think about sinful things, verse 5 begins,
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: and the new nature thinks about spiritual things. Look at
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: verse 6. So, letting your sinful nature control your mind
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: leads to death. So that goes under the sinful nature.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: A death-like existence. But there's the contrast. Letting the spirit
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: control your mind leads to life and peace. So we're
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: making our list under the old nature would be a
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: death-like existence and under the new nature would be A
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: life marked by peace, fulfillment, satisfaction. That's verse 6. It
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: leads to life and peace. Now, you know, as we're
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: sitting here together, if you're like me, you think, why
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: is it such a battle? It just seems so obvious
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: what we should do. Well, we're all sitting here together.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: It makes it a little bit easier in this context.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: It's the only place on earth where we're in the majority.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Believers are in the majority. When you step out of
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: here and you're in the world, you're in a system
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: where you're forever virtually alone. Where you work, you operate
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: pretty much alone. The team you play on, you're probably
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: one of the few if not the only Christian. The
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: company you work for has very few Christians, quite likely,
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: unless it's a Christian organization. But you're in the minority,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: most likely. Well, therefore, what you hear, what's discussed, what's
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: being planned, is all from the realm of a sinful nature.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: It's all coming from that worldly frame of mind. And
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: you as a Christian are now faced with, do I
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: go along with that or do I resist that? Do
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: I follow along with the majority or do I stand
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: more alone? When I stand alone, I go to bed
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: that night with peace. because I did what was right.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: But when I yield and give into it, it's a
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: death-like existence. I'm miserable. I'm guilty. I feel uneasy, ashamed,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: disappointed in myself. You've got the picture. Now look at
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: verse seven. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: That's what you write here in the column. Number three,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: sinful nature is Hostile to God. It never did obey
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: God's laws. It never will. And then he goes back
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: to the old life. That's why those who were still
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: under the control of their sinful nature never pleased God.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Those without Christ do not please God. I know that
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: that's not politically correct, but that's part of the reason
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: it's so right. It's what the scripture teaches. Don't be
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: afraid of embracing the truth. It explains a lot. Hostile
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: to God. So you're not surprised when you hear someone
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: from the world make a statement that is diametrically opposed
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: to spiritual things. Why? That's their lifestyle. That's the way
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: they think. That's their frame of reference. But you read
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: on in verse 9, but, there's the contrast, but you...
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: You are not controlled by your sinful nature. You're controlled
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: by the Spirit, if you have the Spirit living in you.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: And remember that those who do not have the Spirit
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: of Christ living in them do not belong to Him
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: at all. Christ lives in you, so even though your
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: body will ultimately die, we'll pass, we'll leave this earth,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: because we have a nature that's marked by sin, but
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: the spirit gives you life. So in the column would
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: be hostile to God, the other side pleasing to God,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: and you live the spiritual life. Since we have the
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: spirit of God living within us, let me pause and say,
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: we're learning spiritual truth. Now, nothing is writing this on
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: a screen in front of you, But you're being illumined.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: If you have learned something that you didn't know earlier,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: it's called illumination. And we have the Spirit of God
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: to thank for that. It doesn't come from your old nature.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: Your old nature doesn't want you to learn this. Because
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: it puts it in its place. When you learn this truth,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: it gets you a heads up on this battle that
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: goes on between you. And you see, this also explains,
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: if I may go here, how you can bring a
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: friend with you to church, let's say. And you can
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: be virtually on tiptoe, on the edge of your seat,
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: loving what you're hearing and feeling inspired and informed, and
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: you look at your friend who is like this, if
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: not sleeping away. Why? It doesn't make sense. He doesn't
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: or she doesn't have the spirit. So when I worked
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: through this, I thought, how can I illustrate this in
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: a way that nobody will miss it? And I thought
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: of this. Let's say there are two men walking their
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: dogs and they're coming toward each other they've never met before.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: Suddenly they meet We've got two guys meeting, two dogs meeting.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: The men greet each other. The dogs smell each other.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: So they do what dogs do when they meet, and
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: they wag tails and sniff around and bark a little.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: The two men don't bark. They don't have tails. So
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: they talk, and they talk in ways that are clear
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: to each of them. Dogs don't have a clue what
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: they're saying. We don't have a clue what the dogs
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: are saying. But one dog has barked to the other one,
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: you know, there's a couple of rabbits over here in
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: the bush. I saw them earlier. Did you see them?
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: And the other one says, no, I didn't see that. Well,
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: let's go look. So they romp off, having talked to
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: each other, like dogs talk, and they get over there
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: and they flush these rabbits out of their hiding and
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: chase them and and have a little fun while the
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: two men are talking. Maybe they find out that they're
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: both believers, and they're talking about spiritual things, and the
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: dogs come back to their masters, and they sit down
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: beside their masters and have a clue as the masters
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: are talking about Christ and the things of God. It's
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: not dog talk. It's human talk, and it's foreign to dogs. Now,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: a dog can understand a dog, and a man can
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: understand a man, but a man can't really understand a dog.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: And believe it or not, I know you think your
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: dog is different, but your dog doesn't know what you're saying.
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: All he's hearing is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, spot, blah, blah, spot, blah, blah, blah, blah, spot.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: He just hears his name. That's the way it is spiritually.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: The things of God are known by the Spirit of God,
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: and he makes them known to those who are spiritual.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: And of all things, a man or woman can understand
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: what God is saying. He's written a lot of it
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: in his word. Some of it he reveals as we
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: spend time in prayer, seeking his will. It may not
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: be audible. but we sense a direction from God. Our
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: dog doesn't. And it may be a very intelligent and
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: obedient dog, but it's outside the realm of his understanding.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: You got it. Now, let me muddy the waters a little.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: When you're not controlled by the Spirit of God, this
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: is the way you look when you're here Now, you
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: may not do it. You may be too nice to
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: do it. Some of you aren't. You still do it.
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: But most of you don't want to be offensive. But
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: in your carnal state, you don't care. In fact, preaching
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: like this makes you uneasy because it pinpoints you. It
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: calls you what you are. When you walk in the flesh,
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: you're carnal. That's not my idea. Let me show you
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: where I got it. Go one book ahead to 1
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: Corinthians chapter 3. Everybody turn.
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: Turn.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: Don't hear many pages turning. Everybody turn. 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: Here we go. Dear brothers and sisters, when I was
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: with you, says Paul to the Corinthians. I couldn't talk
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: to you as I would to spiritual people. I had
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: to talk as though you belonged to this world or
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: as though you were infants in the Christian life. I
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: had to feed you with milk and not solid food
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: because you weren't ready for anything stronger. You still aren't ready.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: He gets very For you're still controlled by your sinful nature.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: There's a rendering that renders this carnal. You're still carnal.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: You are jealous of one another and you quarrel with
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: each other. Doesn't that prove you're controlled by your sinful nature?
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: See how it works? When you're carnal, you compete. You're envious.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: You compare. When you're spiritual, you don't do that. We
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: would say you're bigger than that. God puts you on
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: another plane. And you operate free of all that human competition.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: When you're under the control of the Spirit, listen to me.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: It's marvelous. It's marvelous. You can relate to others and
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: never once compare yourself to her or to him. Never
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: feel envious toward him or her. Why? Because the Spirit
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: of God is in control. But when the flesh is
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: controlling you, you got to have a better car than
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: he does. You got to make more money than she does.
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: You got to look better than they do. Because you
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: are carnal. The bane of every pastor in any church
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: would be the carnal Christians. You're far more difficult to
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: deal with than those who are lost. Those who are
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: lost have nothing to hide. They simply are lost. They
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: never have been interested in spiritual things. But when you're carnal,
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: you play games. You make messes. You try to get
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: your way. You're jealous. And you're the heartbreak of a ministry.
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: I'm leveling with you. This is real stuff in Romans 8.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: Go back there now. You've seen it and you've had
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: it explained. I'm not quite through. I want you to
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: see something else in this great chapter. Look at verse 10.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: Christ lives within you. So even though your body will
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: you have been made right with God. He goes on.
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: lives in you. Look at that. Look at that. When
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: Christ was in the grave, a cadaver, A dead body?
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: And emerged from the grave alive, miraculously, bodily came out
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: of the grave. The Spirit of God empowered him with life.
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: And he says here, the Spirit of God who raised
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: Jesus from the dead lives in you.
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: What a great thought when you begin your day. Lord, today,
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: take over. Speak through my lips, my mouth. Restrain me
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: from saying things that are ugly and inappropriate and vulgar.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: Guard me from thoughts that have no place in a
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: Christian's life. Watch over my mind. Help me to be
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: a good husband, a good wife, or a a person,
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: though not married, a good friend. Help me to live
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: a clean life. You raised Jesus from the dead. I
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: have your spirit living within me. Now take over, Lord.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: Live out your power through me. And that's the beauty
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: of this passage. Just as God raised Jesus from the dead,
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: he will give life to your mortal bodies and the
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: same spirit living within you. Therefore, Here he wraps it up.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: Dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: what your sinful nature urges you to do. Don't ever,
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: ever let yourself say, I couldn't help it. No, yes,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: you could. Oh, yeah, you could. That's like saying, I
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: don't have a spirit. No, you do have a spirit.
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: You pushed him aside. Because you wanted your old nature
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: to dominate. You wanted your way. And it overpowered the
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: presence of the Holy Spirit. Even though the Spirit is
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: ready to take charge, he won't force. It's your choice.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: It's your choice. Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote it like this.
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: One ship drives east. Another drives west. regardless of how
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: the wind blows. It is the set of the sail,
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: not the gale, that determines the way that they go.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: You're sailing your vessel. You're the only one on the boat.
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: You set the sail, you'll move toward a destination, regardless
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: of the direction of the wind, Good sailors can do that.
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: They can even go directly into the wind and claim
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: a destination and reach it because they know how to tack.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: They know how to set the sails. They know how
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: to move in the right direction. They're not victims of
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: the wind. They just are poor sailors if they wind
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: up at the wrong direction or destination. That's our lives.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: This is the beauty of this passage. He says in
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: verse 12, therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: obligation to do what your old nature urges you to do.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: For if you live by the dictates, you'll have a
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: death-like existence. But if through the power of the Spirit
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: you'll really live. You won't be defeated. You won't go
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: to bed guilty. You won't regret what you said at
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: the party tonight. You won't have made that comment that
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: was inappropriate to the person of the opposite sex. You
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: won't entertain thoughts that are lustful. You won't be greedy
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: or selfish. You won't try to control someone because you're
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: led by the Spirit of God. That proves you're a
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: child of God So if you have not received a
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: spirit that makes you a fearful slave, he goes on
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: to say. Now let me put it this way, and
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: we'll finish the outline, and I'll finish my message. Because
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: of grace, because of grace, one decision changes everything. You
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: have the choice. I will say to the Spirit of God,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: you're in control, or I'll give the nod to the
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: old nature, and he'll take over. And let me tell you,
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: if you choose that, those around you will not believe
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: you're a believer. You'll look just like a person of
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: the world. You will. You can't fake it. You'll come
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: across like that. You'll talk like that. You'll think like that.
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: You'll plan like that. And other people will not mean
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: that much to you because you're number one. But when
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: the Spirit of God controls, you've made the decision. You
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: can say yes to the Spirit of God, either that,
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: or you can say no. The choice is really yours.
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: You know, I thought about this and I want to
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: wrap it up with something that you'll never forget. I
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: venture to say. Grace has two sides. One is personal.
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: One is relational. Hear this well. The personal side is
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: the freedom to set our own sails. I will not
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: follow you out of this church and stand near you,
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: put a hand on your shoulder and say, make the
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: right choice. No, don't go there. First of all, I
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: can't control it anyway. You're on your own. Grace of
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: God puts you on your own. You're free. You're free
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: to choose. You're personally responsible. It's your move. Set the sail,
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: you go in that direction. Here's the relational part. Allowing
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: others to choose their own setting. You're very quiet and
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you are. That means you're thinking. Many Christians
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: have trouble letting other people go. I'm going to talk
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: about that next time. In a life of grace, we
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: don't try to live another person's life. Right now, you're
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: ready to say amen because you believe it and it
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: sounds so good. But if I mention one thing, it's
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: going to make you be quiet. Your kids. Your adult kids.
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: The ones that have chosen the wrong directions. Many of
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's not the
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: way you would have sailed the ship. They sailed the boat.
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: They set their sail in another direction. They're free to
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: do that. I'm talking about children who are believers, but carnal.
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: You need to let them be. You want to know
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: how to lose them? Try to control them. They're adults.
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: Nothing in the scripture says that you are to forever
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: be in charge of your child because the scriptures don't
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: present things that are impossible like that. You couldn't if
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: you tried to be. You're not in control of them.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: That's God's work. So Here's what you're not going to forget.
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: It's titled, Letting Go. For a moment, think about the
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: one individual you would love to get back on track,
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: but you've not been very successful at it, and now
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: you're going to learn why. Listen to this. It'll explain
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: a lot. To let go doesn't mean we stop caring,
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: it means we can't do it for someone else. To
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: let go is not to cut myself off, it's the
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: realization I cannot control another. To let go is not
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences. To
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: let go is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: is not in my hands. To let go is not
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: to try to change or to blame another. I can
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: only change myself. To let go is not to care
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: for but to care about. To let go is not
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: to fix but to be supportive. To let go is
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: not to judge but to allow another to be a
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: human being. To let go is not to be in
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: the middle of arranging all the outcomes. To let go
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: is not to be protective, it is to permit another
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: to face reality on his or her own. To let
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: go is not to deny, but to accept. It is
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: not to nag or scold or argue, but to search
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: out my own shortcomings and correct them. To let go
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: take each day as it comes. To let go is
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: not to criticize and regulate anyone, but to try to
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: become what I dream I can be. To let go
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: is not to regret the past, but to grow and
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: live for the future. To let go is to fear
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: less and to love more. Please don't put words in
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: my mouth. I didn't say you're to applaud the other
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: person going in the wrong direction. That's not what this
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: is about. I said you're turning them off by attempting
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: to control them. They'll never learn the grace of God
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: until they face reality on their own and all the
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: consequences of their life and lifestyle. Let it be. Let
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: it be. You'll free yourself from sleepless nights and worry-filled
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: days and filling your mind with an agenda that has
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: to do with someone who is not your responsibility any longer.
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: Maybe they were for a while, but not now. And
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: I think the beautiful part of this is once they
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: come to an end of themselves, they're ready for the
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: cross and what it means to submit one's life to
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: the Savior. because they will have paid a dreadful price
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: for a sinful lifestyle. It's their responsibility, not yours. Please
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: bow with me. Let's just close our eyes for a moment.
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: Just for a moment. Let it be Let it be.
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: Let her go. Unless there's ill health involved and there
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: needs to be assistance, you know what I mean by that.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: If there's just a stubborn will, if there's just a
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: carnal nature, take hands off. Quit trying to live that
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: person's life That's God's job. And let me say to
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: you who've never trusted in Christ, you're in for a
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: continued life of misery, sleeplessness, defeat, fear, disappointment in yourself,
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: personal shame. But Christ wants you to come, as we
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: sang today, just as you are. Just come like that.
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: He'll accept you. Dear Father, I pray today that on
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: this tender moment, that you'll speak in ways that I can't.
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: For me to say more is to overdo it. It's
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: your move, and I'll leave it with you. Have your way,
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: especially in these who hear me today who have a
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: tendency to take charge of other people. Restrain us, Lord,
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: and remind us that we have a full-time job keeping
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: ourselves under control by your Spirit. Thank you in advance
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: for good that will come from this message. as we
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: sail our ships in the right direction. For Jesus' sake,
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: everyone said, Amen.
• 59:28
  Speaker 2: Was copyrighted in 2020 and 2023, and the sound recording
• 59:33
  Speaker 2: was copyrighted in 2023 by Charles R.
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
• 59:38
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 59:42
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.