Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / We’ve Met the Wretch He Is Us! Msg 57 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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We’ve Met the Wretch He Is Us! Msg 57 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: It was the late Warren Wiersbe who came up with
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  Speaker 1: the word picture that occurs when you open the word
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  Speaker 1: of God. He said you begin by looking at the
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  Speaker 1: scene as it appears in print before you. It's like
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  Speaker 1: looking at a picture. You read it, you study it,
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  Speaker 1: It takes place as an image in your mind, but
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't come to life until that picture turns into
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  Speaker 1: a mirror. And that same section of scripture that was
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  Speaker 1: once a picture you were reading and studying now begins
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  Speaker 1: to tell you about yourself. And when you see yourself
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  Speaker 1: clearly in the mirror of the scriptures, Then you're ready
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  Speaker 1: for the third scene, and that is when it opens
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  Speaker 1: into a window. And you look through a window. You
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  Speaker 1: don't look at a window. In looking through it, you
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  Speaker 1: see the Lord. You remember the picture. You certainly cannot
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  Speaker 1: forget the mirror. But when you envision the Lord at work,
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  Speaker 1: suddenly it all begins to take shape. Today, I need
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  Speaker 1: to let you know that we are all in for
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  Speaker 1: a shock. God's Word often comforts. It always instructs. Occasionally,
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  Speaker 1: it surprises us. And on a few rare occasions, we're
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  Speaker 1: shocked by what we read. I say shocked because you
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  Speaker 1: would not necessarily expect these words to come from someone
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  Speaker 1: as astute, godly, and brilliant as the Apostle Paul. He
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  Speaker 1: reaches a climax in the seventh of Romans where he
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  Speaker 1: declares his own statement Wretched man, I. You realize that
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  Speaker 1: he hasn't been writing about someone else, some other person
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  Speaker 1: who struggles with an old sin nature. It's his own testimony.
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  Speaker 1: And he doesn't deny it. Wretched man that I am.
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  Speaker 1: We reach that shocking climax at verse 24. when we
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  Speaker 1: read together from Romans 7. I'll be reading from the
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  Speaker 1: New Living Translation. You follow along. I'll pick excerpts from
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  Speaker 1: this rather lengthy chapter, and we'll read it as we
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  Speaker 1: follow along, standing out of respect for the Word of
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  Speaker 1: God and the God of the Word. Paul begins the
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  Speaker 1: seventh of Romans. Now, dear brothers and sisters, you who
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  Speaker 1: are familiar with the law, don't you know that the
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  Speaker 1: law applies only while a person is living? For example,
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  Speaker 1: when a woman marries, the law binds her to her
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  Speaker 1: husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies,
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  Speaker 1: the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. So
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  Speaker 1: while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery
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  Speaker 1: if she married another man. But if her husband dies,
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  Speaker 1: she's free from that law and does not commit adultery
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  Speaker 1: when she remarries. So, my dear brothers and sisters, this
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  Speaker 1: is the point. You died to the power of the
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  Speaker 1: law when you died with Christ. And now you are
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  Speaker 1: united with the one who was raised from the dead.
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  Speaker 1: As a result, we can produce a harvest of good
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  Speaker 1: deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature,
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  Speaker 1: sinful desires were at work within us, and the law
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  Speaker 1: aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds.
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  Speaker 1: Resulting in death. But now we have been released from
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  Speaker 1: the law. For we died to it. We are no
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  Speaker 1: longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God
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  Speaker 1: not in the old way of obeying the letter of
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  Speaker 1: the law. But in the new way of living in
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  Speaker 1: the spirit. Now verse 14. So the trouble is not
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  Speaker 1: with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The
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  Speaker 1: trouble is with me, for I am all too human,
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  Speaker 1: a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself, for
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  Speaker 1: I want to do what is right But I don't
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  Speaker 1: do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if
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  Speaker 1: I know that what I'm doing is wrong, this shows
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  Speaker 1: that I agree that the law is good. So I
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  Speaker 1: am not doing the one doing the wrong. It's the
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  Speaker 1: sin living in me that does it. And I know
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  Speaker 1: that nothing good lives in me that is good. in
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  Speaker 1: my sinful nature. I want to do what is right,
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  Speaker 1: but I can't. I want to do what is good,
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  Speaker 1: but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong,
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  Speaker 1: but I do it anyway. But if I do what
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to do, I'm not really the one
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  Speaker 1: doing wrong. It is sin living in me that does it.
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  Speaker 1: I have discovered this principle of life, that when I
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  Speaker 1: want to do what is right, I inevitably do what
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  Speaker 1: is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart,
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  Speaker 1: but there is another power within me that is at
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  Speaker 1: war with my mind. This power makes me a slave
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  Speaker 1: to the sin that is still within me. Wretched man
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  Speaker 1: that I am. Who will free me from this life
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  Speaker 1: dominated by sin and death? Thank God. The answer is
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  Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ, our Lord. So you see how it
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  Speaker 1: is In my mind, I really want to obey God,
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  Speaker 1: God's law. But because of my sinful nature, I am
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  Speaker 1: enslaved to sin. You didn't realize your testimony was right
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  Speaker 1: here in Romans 7, did you? Here we are. But
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  Speaker 1: the good news is we're not alone. It's true of
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  Speaker 1: every one of us. My hope is that we will,
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  Speaker 1: as best as we can, gain an understanding of a picture,
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  Speaker 1: see a clear image in the mirror, and best of all,
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  Speaker 1: see through the window to hope that we have in Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Bow with me for prayer before this offering, will you?
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  Speaker 1: We don't know what we would do if we didn't
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  Speaker 1: have you, Lord. We would be awash in our own
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  Speaker 1: confused state, driven by that bouncing back and forth between
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  Speaker 1: desire and the inability to accomplish those desires. Wanting to
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  Speaker 1: do what's right, but inevitably it seems choosing what is wrong.
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  Speaker 1: Help us to gain an understanding of that dilemma in
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  Speaker 1: such a way that rather than looking for someone else
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  Speaker 1: in this section of Scripture, we'll see ourselves fully revealed,
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  Speaker 1: in full color, and then Show us the hope we
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  Speaker 1: have through Christ our Savior. Today I pray for those
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  Speaker 1: who've never met the Lord. that you will speak directly
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  Speaker 1: so that they understand there cannot possibly be victory and
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  Speaker 1: hope apart from a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you that we have found a resting place and
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  Speaker 1: that faith is in the solid rock of Christ. Accept
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  Speaker 1: our gifts today, which we give gratefully, joyfully, and generously.
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  Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus, we pray. Everyone said, Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Dimitri Vail was a portrait painter. He was among the
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  Speaker 1: best when it came to realism. In fact, some would
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  Speaker 1: say he was unexcelled. It was almost as if it
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  Speaker 1: was a photograph when he finished his work on canvas
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  Speaker 1: with brush. You have to look close to determine whether
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  Speaker 1: you were seeing a photograph someone had taken or a
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  Speaker 1: portrait he had painted. He was unexcelled It is literalism.
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  Speaker 1: People far and wide came to have their portrait painted
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  Speaker 1: by Vail. They came from the world of film stars
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  Speaker 1: and decorated athletes, soldiers who had won medals and astronauts.
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  Speaker 1: Even United States presidents sat for their portraits. He spent
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  Speaker 1: time often with the rich and famous. And when you
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  Speaker 1: visited the gallery of Dimitri Vale, it was like a
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  Speaker 1: walk down memory lane to see familiar faces from the
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  Speaker 1: years past. I visited his gallery in the old section
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  Speaker 1: of Dallas a number of years ago. No one else
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  Speaker 1: was there, just the attendant. And as I walked along,
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  Speaker 1: it took me back through the years. I smiled as
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  Speaker 1: I looked at Benny Goodman with that famous clarinet in
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  Speaker 1: his hand. Carol Burnett standing next to Tim Conway made
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  Speaker 1: me laugh. There was Red Buttons and Red Skelton together.
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  Speaker 1: A couple of astronauts were standing there. James Dean, Frank Sinatra,
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  Speaker 1: Sophie Tucker. You could name them, they were there. It
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  Speaker 1: was almost as if they would speak to you Their
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  Speaker 1: pictures were so real, their portraits so vivid. I came
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  Speaker 1: almost to the end of the gallery and it made
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  Speaker 1: a little turn into a darker corridor where there was
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  Speaker 1: only one frame that was hung, actually was sitting on
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  Speaker 1: an easel. The other frames I should have mentioned were
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  Speaker 1: well marked. a small brass plate at the bottom with
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  Speaker 1: the name etched below each one as if you needed it.
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  Speaker 1: But this particular dark area had that single framed canvas
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  Speaker 1: with no name. And it was a surprise. I studied
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  Speaker 1: it for a few moments. Hair is disheveled. Eyes are dark.
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  Speaker 1: Face done in grays and dark browns and pale looking skin. Somber.
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  Speaker 1: So I said to the attendant, who is this? He said,
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  Speaker 1: I'm asked that often. This is actually a self-portrait. This
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  Speaker 1: is Mr. Vail himself. Really? Yes. And he added, it's
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  Speaker 1: not for sale. He said he has been going through
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  Speaker 1: a very difficult period of time. It's a rather recent painting.
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  Speaker 1: He just wanted it left here, even though Most who
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  Speaker 1: come through the gallery have no idea who it is.
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  Speaker 1: He left and I was alone in the room, the corridor,
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  Speaker 1: and I studied that face. I wondered what he must
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  Speaker 1: be going through. What demons he must be fighting. What
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  Speaker 1: battles have taken place that would be depicted on the
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  Speaker 1: canvas almost as if he is haunted in his misery.
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  Speaker 1: He represented a man in anguish, never met him, never
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  Speaker 1: spoken to him, but my heart went out to him.
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  Speaker 1: A man this gifted, this capable, clearly in misery. For
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  Speaker 1: as we know, the Apostle Paul was not a painter
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  Speaker 1: of portraits. Oh, I mean with a brush on canvas.
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  Speaker 1: His fingers held a pen. And that pen painted portraits
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  Speaker 1: so vivid you don't miss what he's getting at. His
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  Speaker 1: best gallery seems to be named The Letter to the Romans.
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  Speaker 1: And when you walk through it, you see the framed
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  Speaker 1: portraits of individuals very clearly portrayed in stark colors. The
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  Speaker 1: first three chapters would be the first frame, and the
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  Speaker 1: name at the bottom of the frame would be the
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  Speaker 1: lost soul. And when you read of this lost soul,
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  Speaker 1: you read of someone who is depraved. In an inexcusable situation,
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  Speaker 1: he is filled with guilt. He's living a life that's
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  Speaker 1: lost and out of control. Listen to the pin portrait.
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  Speaker 1: No one is truly wise. No one seeks after God.
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  Speaker 1: All have turned away and have become useless. No one
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  Speaker 1: does good, not even one. Their talk is foul like
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  Speaker 1: the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled
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  Speaker 1: with lies. Snake venom drips from their lips. Their mouths
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  Speaker 1: are full of cursing and bitterness. They rush to commit murder.
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  Speaker 1: Destruction and misery always follow them. They don't know where
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  Speaker 1: to find peace. They have no fear of God. At all.
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  Speaker 1: You move to the next frame. And you come to
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  Speaker 1: chapters 4 and 5. And you see the name. Justified sinner.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore having peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: The grace of God comes to the rescue of the
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  Speaker 1: lost person. and the pin portrait is one who has
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  Speaker 1: been declared righteous. How marvelous is that definition of justification?
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  Speaker 1: The sovereign act of God whereby he declares righteous the
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  Speaker 1: believing sinner while still in a sinning state. That's happened
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  Speaker 1: to every believer hearing me right now. We haven't been
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  Speaker 1: made righteous, for we still do wrong. We've been declared
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  Speaker 1: righteous in our position before our Lord because of the
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  Speaker 1: work of Christ on the cross and the grace of
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  Speaker 1: our God giving us what we don't deserve. Chapters 4
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  Speaker 1: and 5 are filled with the scenes of the justified sinner.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter 6 makes us smile because we meet the liberated believer.
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  Speaker 1: And what an account is this no longer under the
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  Speaker 1: domination of the law, no longer controlled by the power
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  Speaker 1: of sin. We have been freed, but we have a choice.
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  Speaker 1: We do not have to sin. We do not have
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  Speaker 1: to yield to the nature that's within us, but it
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  Speaker 1: is there nevertheless. And that nature pulsates constantly, never leaves,
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  Speaker 1: never rests. never sleeps, never departs, never loses its energy.
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  Speaker 1: It is there, constantly pulling and pushing at us. But
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  Speaker 1: we read in the sixth chapter, as Paul portrays it,
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  Speaker 1: we are liberated from the assaults of the old nature
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  Speaker 1: and sin and the law so that we don't have
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  Speaker 1: to yield to We sin because we want to sin.
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  Speaker 1: We choose to sin. It isn't the law's fault. We
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  Speaker 1: have within us that old nature. And even though we
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  Speaker 1: have been liberated, justified, there it is, ready to pounce.
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  Speaker 1: Which brings us to chapter 7. It's in a dark
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  Speaker 1: part of the corridor of Romans. It's titled Wretched Man.
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  Speaker 1: What's interesting is it's the same one who has painted
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  Speaker 1: the other pictures, the one who has been lost but found,
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  Speaker 1: the one who has been justified, the one who has
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  Speaker 1: been liberated, but now he comes in all honesty to
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  Speaker 1: the dark reality that sin is ever there. It's at
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  Speaker 1: the core of your life and his life and my life.
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  Speaker 1: Every one of us would have to testify that we've
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  Speaker 1: known a life where we have failed and occasionally failed miserably.
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  Speaker 1: When we do, the feeling is best described in the
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  Speaker 1: word wretched. One man describes that term, it describes a
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  Speaker 1: heart-rending cry from the depths of despair. Let me give
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  Speaker 1: you an example. Remember Peter, who said in front of
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  Speaker 1: the other disciples, even though they may deny you, I
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  Speaker 1: will never deny you. And Jesus must have put his
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  Speaker 1: hand on Peter's shoulder to say, Peter, before the rooster crows,
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  Speaker 1: you will have denied me three times. Peter must have
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  Speaker 1: shaken his head in the face of the Lord. However,
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  Speaker 1: he lived a few hours to experience the very thing
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  Speaker 1: the Lord had predicted. And remember, after the third denial,
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  Speaker 1: he went out after the Lord looked at him He
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  Speaker 1: went out and he wept bitterly. A wretched man. Not finished.
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  Speaker 1: Not cast aside and forgotten. But his feeling was one
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  Speaker 1: of wretchedness. We don't use that word. It occurred to
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  Speaker 1: me while preparing this message. We don't refer to the
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  Speaker 1: word wretch, do we? Maybe you have already forgotten every
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  Speaker 1: time we sing one of our favorite amazing grace, how
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  Speaker 1: sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. It's
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  Speaker 1: an old word. It's a compound word. It's the idea
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  Speaker 1: of being pressed upon and beaten down. Under the burden
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  Speaker 1: of something. Like Dimitri Vale in the picture. Like Paul
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  Speaker 1: in verse 24 of Romans 7. Or perhaps like you
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  Speaker 1: were a few hours ago. A few days ago. We've
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  Speaker 1: all known such experience. Paul doesn't begin there. He starts
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  Speaker 1: with the truth. sort of what I would call where
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  Speaker 1: we stand theoretically. We are not under the domination of
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  Speaker 1: the law. He uses the illustration of marriage in the
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  Speaker 1: first three verses of Romans 7. If one is married,
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  Speaker 1: there is a strong commitment, there is a bond, there
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  Speaker 1: is a gluing of relationships. between husband and wife, but
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  Speaker 1: if for some reason the Lord chooses to take the partner,
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  Speaker 1: the spouse, in the taking of that spouse, the one
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  Speaker 1: who is left is free from that previous bond, the attachment,
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  Speaker 1: because of the law of marriage in that first original marriage.
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  Speaker 1: He builds the same case here He says in verse 4,
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  Speaker 1: so my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point.
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  Speaker 1: You died to the power of the law when you
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  Speaker 1: died with Christ. You're now united with the one who
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  Speaker 1: was raised from the dead. As a result, look at
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  Speaker 1: this new nature. It's beautiful. We can produce a harvest
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  Speaker 1: of good deeds for God. And by the grace of God,
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  Speaker 1: we do. All of us could name things that we
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  Speaker 1: have done that have helped other people. And we are
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  Speaker 1: grateful that we are able to say that because the
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  Speaker 1: new nature within us has made it possible. When the
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  Speaker 1: Spirit of God controls us, good things happen. We say
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  Speaker 1: words that bring comfort and hope. And we do things
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  Speaker 1: that that bring encouragement and affirmation to other people. And
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  Speaker 1: that's because of this nature that is within us. But
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  Speaker 1: verse 5, when we were controlled by our own nature,
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  Speaker 1: this would be in our lost condition, sinful desires were
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  Speaker 1: at work within us and the law aroused these evil
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  Speaker 1: desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds resulting in death.
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  Speaker 1: And you remember when you were lost, you couldn't stop.
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  Speaker 1: The impulse came and you yielded. The temptation arose and
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  Speaker 1: you gave in. One after another, time after time, even
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  Speaker 1: though you made those strong New Year's resolutions, even though
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  Speaker 1: you made those promises to your family or friend, you
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  Speaker 1: still would fall back into the old way of life.
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  Speaker 1: That's what he's describing in verse 5. It resulted in
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  Speaker 1: a death-like existence. And then Christ came into your life.
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  Speaker 1: But now, he says in verse 6, we've been released
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  Speaker 1: from the law that dominated us. We died to it.
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  Speaker 1: We are no longer captive to its power or living
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  Speaker 1: under the nomination of sin and its power over us.
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  Speaker 1: The beautiful thing is we don't have to sin. As
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  Speaker 1: I said earlier, we sin because we choose to. And
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  Speaker 1: when the law appears in our lives, as it frequently
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  Speaker 1: does with its rules and regulations, we're made aware of
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  Speaker 1: sin because the law defines sin. Look, for example, at
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  Speaker 1: verse 7 and following. Well, then, am I suggesting that
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  Speaker 1: the law of God is sinful? Well, of course not.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin.
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  Speaker 1: Then he illustrates it. I would never have known that
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  Speaker 1: coveting is wrong if the law had not said you
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  Speaker 1: must not covet. But sin used this commandment to arouse
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  Speaker 1: all kinds of covetous desires within me. If there were
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  Speaker 1: no law, sin would not have that power. Isn't that
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  Speaker 1: interesting that when there's a statement that says do not,
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  Speaker 1: everything within us says do that. It says in that
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  Speaker 1: little sign, do not touch. I don't know how many
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  Speaker 1: times I've done that. I've even watched to see if
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  Speaker 1: my children were watching. And if they weren't, I'd touch.
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  Speaker 1: Right in front of the kids. Stay off the grass.
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  Speaker 1: There's just something fun about one foot on the grass.
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  Speaker 1: When I used to run in California, I'd run along
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  Speaker 1: a back roadway where there were a number of orange trees.
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  Speaker 1: And the oranges would hang on the tree, and the
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  Speaker 1: owner of the acreage would not pick the oranges, and
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  Speaker 1: they would fall. And there was a sign right there
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  Speaker 1: that said, do not eat fallen oranges. They taste really well,
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  Speaker 1: I can tell you. When I was a kid, I
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  Speaker 1: lived in Houston, and the place to fish was Galveston.
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  Speaker 1: This is a cute story, true story. Many women who
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  Speaker 1: loved to fish would go to Galveston. They'd stay at
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  Speaker 1: a nice hotel, and they were often on the fifth
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  Speaker 1: or sixth floor of the hotel, and they had all
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  Speaker 1: their fishing gear with them, and there was a big balcony,
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  Speaker 1: and they would get their fishing gear ready. They'd cast out,
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  Speaker 1: and they would, but the problem was, You had to
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: have a big sinker to get the hook and the
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: shrimp all the way down to the water. And before
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: it would hit the water, the sinkers would swing back,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: crash into the dining room windows, and break the windows.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: So what would the hotel do to stop people from
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: fishing from the balcony? They tried several different things. Nothing
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: worked like taking away the sign that said, No fishing
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: from the balcony. It's amazing. No one ever thought to
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: fish from the balcony after that. The sign said, don't
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: do it. What a great idea. You get at it.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: That's the role of the law. At what time I lived,
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: and I would not have known that, but I became
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: acquainted with the law, and when I became acquainted with it,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: I learned all the things that I shouldn't do, suddenly
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: aroused within me. Don't miss this. The arousal within me
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: is coming from the cesspool down deep inside called the
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: old sin nature. Okay, even though you're looking at me
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: right now like you don't have one, take it. Take
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: it by faith. Take it by faith. Ask your wife.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: She will help you know that. Down inside, there's a
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: cauldron that boils. It's at work all the time. From
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: the moment you awaken in the morning until the moment
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: your head hits the pillow at night, it's boiling. It's
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: ready to pounce. It's ready to cast that line. It's
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: ready to step on the grass. It's ready to eat
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: the oranges. It's ready to do whatever the law says.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: Don't do it. Verse 13. How can that be? Did
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: the law which is good cause my death or death-like existence?
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: Of course not. Sin used what was good. That's the law.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: to bring about my condemnation to this existence so we
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: can now see how terrible sin really is. It uses
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: God's good commands for its own evil purposes. The old
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: sin nature knows fully what the scripture says and what
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: the law says and is ready to make you aware
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: of the other side of the commandment. That's the whole point. Now,
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: let me just read through this. It gets really realistic
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: and almost juicy as you read along. So the trouble,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: verse 14, is not with the law, for it is
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: spiritual and good. The trouble is with me. This is Paul,
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: the great apostle, saying it. The trouble is with me.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: I'm the problem. I'm all too human, a slave to sin.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: And then he adds this bright mind saying, who has
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: shaped our theology better than any other human, this man adds,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: I don't really understand myself. How many times we have
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: said that to ourselves? I don't really understand how I
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: could do that. For I want to do what is right,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Don't stop there. This passage looks like a tongue twister,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: but it's classic. If I know what I'm doing to
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: be wrong, this shows that I agree the law is good.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: So I'm not the one doing wrong. It's the sin
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: living in me that does it. And I know that
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: nothing good lives in me that is in my sinful nature.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: Now watch closely. I want to do what is right,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: but I can't. I want to do what is good,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong,
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: but I do it anyway. But if I do what
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: I don't want to do, I'm not really the one
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: that's doing the wrong. It's the sin living within me.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: I've discovered a principle that when I want to do
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. One
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: of my mentors, Ray Stedman, when preaching through Romans, said
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: this sounds like the testimony of a golfer. Now, you
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: who golf, I'm not one of you. By the way,
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: I'll explain why. First, the holes are too small. They
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: made the holes bigger. I'd be interested. And second, even
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: the pros do poorly and throw their clubs and curse.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: and say things like, I didn't want to do that,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: but I do it. I've been taught better to do that,
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: but I don't do that. I've been taught to do
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: what's right. I do what is right. It just sounds
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: like a golfer, doesn't it? But you know what the
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: truth is? This isn't a golfer. This is a lifer.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: This is you and me. This is every day. This
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: is every week. It's not going to make you feel better.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: But I will tell you ahead of time, you can
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: walk out of the doors of this church, having heard this,
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: and you can sit there before you leave saying, Lord,
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: today is your day. I am all yours. I want
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: to be controlled by you. And I promise you, I
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: will love my wife with all my heart and soul.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: And I want you to know, I want to serve
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: my family and be a good husband and a great man.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: And you walk out thinking, man, that is one good
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: looking chick walking over there, right there. It's amazing. Before
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: you even get in the car, you're already moving in
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: the realm of wrong. In fact, If you carry that
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: thought far enough, you've already committed adultery in your heart.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: You're the one who just said, that's not what I want.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: That's why he says with such passion, wretched man, I.
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: In the Greek, it reads like that. The I is emphatic.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: Wretched man, I. It's like he's vomiting on the page.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: He's sick of it. He doesn't understand it fully, nor
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: do I, nor do you. We all mean so well.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: By the way, for what it's worth, I've never heard
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: a sermon like this in my life. People don't preach
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: like this. We leave the impression that once you come
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: to Christ, All the struggle is over. You've got the
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: answer solved. You've got the battle won. You're on your way.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: And the most disillusioned people in the world are the
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: young believers who tumble and fall into the old life,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: and they wonder, am I even saved? One of my
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: early mentors, Bob Newkirk, told the story of a of
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: a man that he had led to Christ. He was
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: a man out of the world that had known the
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: world and had lived the world's life to the hilt.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: And then he came to Christ, gloriously saved. I think,
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: as I recall, Bob had led him to Christ. And
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: Bob said it wasn't uncommon for his phone to ring.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: He would say, Bob, I'll call him Ralph. Bob, this
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: is Ralph. Yeah, Ralph, how are you doing? Not good.
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: Not good. Not good. I'm not saved, Bob. I can't
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: be saved. Let me tell you what I just did.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: Bob said, I don't need to know. No, I want
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: to tell you. So he'd tell him what he did.
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: Bob said, I want you to go in your Bible
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: to John 3, 16. So we go to John 3, 16.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: For God so loved the, read that. So God so
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: loved the world that he gave his only, one and
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: only son that whoever believed in him should never perish,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: but have everlasting life. Have you believed in the son
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: of God? Yes, I have. that you will never perish,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: you will never lose your salvation. You are saved. You understand? Okay,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: I got it, Bob. Thanks. Click. Four hours later, phone
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: to ring. Bob, yes, this is Ralph. I don't think
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: I'm saved, Bob. Bob said, go to John 3.16. Bob,
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: we've done this before. I know, but you've not gotten it,
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: so go back. Read it over to him again. Read
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: it over. Have you done that? Yes, I've done that. Okay.
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: then you understand what you need is a dose of
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: 1 John 1, 9, and he would teach him to
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: confess his sin, and God would make everything right. But
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: you need to know, even though you're saved, in the
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: core of your being is an old nature that wants
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: you to live like you used to live. If you
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: don't remember that and realize it, you will live one
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: disillusioned life, and you will feel like the wretch of
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: verse 24. Paul admits it. And let me say this.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: If a man like Paul will admit the wretchedness of
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: that back and forth, up and down, in and out,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: battle on, battle lost, battle won, battle lost existence, it's
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: true of you and me. It's true of us. But
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: it doesn't stop there. Please observe that verse 24, when
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: it gets to wretched man that I am, is half
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: the verse. He now speaks as though he is in
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: some kind of human trafficking. I need to be rescued.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: I'm caught in this syndrome. It's a wicked syndrome. It's filthy.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: It's dissatisfying. It's shameful. Who will rescue me from this
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: sin or from this life that is dominated by sin
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: and death? Here's the same man who said he wasn't dominant.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: When you fail, like he's described, you feel as though
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: it has dominated you. The old nature wants you to
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: believe that. It isn't in control of you. But when
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: you yield to it, it will take that control at
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: that point. But it has no right to do it.
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: In fact, he goes on to say before the chapter ends,
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: thank God. Thank God. The answer is in Jesus Christ,
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: our Lord. The same one we turn to for eternal
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: salvation at our conversion. We now turn to in this condition.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: So he says, thank God the answer is in Jesus Christ,
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: our Lord. So you see how it is. In my mind,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: I really want to obey God's law. But because of
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: my sinful nature, I'm still engaged in that lifestyle. I
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: still fall and fail. It's that core problem of an
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: old nature. The late Keith Green, songwriter, put it in
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: these words as he addressed the Lord in this prayer.
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: My eyes are dry. My faith is old. My heart
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: is hard. My prayers are cold. And you know how
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: I ought to be. alive to you and dead to me.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: Of course, that's how I ought to be. That's how
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: I would love to be, fully alive to God 24-7,
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: every day of the year. But the fact is, there's
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: an old nature that has cultivated a habit of being obeyed.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: It lives within you. It need not be in control
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: of you. And it will not be if you turn
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: to the one who is named in verse 25 every time.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: Here's the way we live realistically. Let me give you
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: two thoughts. First, we refuse to live in defeat. We
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: refuse to live in defeat, allowing our old nature to
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: control us. We refuse to live as though we are victims.
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: That's why he says, thank God, having just said, wretched
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: man that I am, thank God. I've turned to the
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. I rely on Him. I need Him
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: to take over my life so that the old nature
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: doesn't dominate me. Here's the second thought I have for you.
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: We rely on the Spirit of God moment by moment
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: to give us victory. And that's what chapter 8 is
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: all about. The victorious Christian is framed in Paul's pen
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: portrait written in chapter 8 of Romans. He moves from
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: the wretched man to the victorious believer when you get
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: into chapter 8. Here's the way I found this in
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: another's writings. Do this and live, the law demands. and
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: gives me neither feet nor hands. A better word God's
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: grace does bring, it bids me fly and gives me wings.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: It's a great place to conclude, and I use an
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: illustration that seems silly, but it gets the point across.
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: All of us have flown, You may be flying in
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: a few hours or a day or two. We're soon
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: to fly to Israel for our trip. We'll all get
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: on the plane, and we'll hear the flight attendant say,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: all of you should buckle up. We'll buckle up. Then
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: she'll say, sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight. I
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: have never seen someone sitting on the plane near me
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: as we began to take off doing this. I told
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: you it was a silly illustration. Now, why is it silly?
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: Because you can't make that plane fly. You need a
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: power greater than you have in yourself or all of
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: us who are passengers on that plane have in ourselves.
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: We sit back, buckled up, and we let another power
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: take over. Another law, if you will, of aerodynamics takes
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: charge with enough speed and enough distance, and it lifts
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: so simply and easily, it seems. And Earth gets, hopefully,
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: further and further away. You don't want it coming closer
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: and closer. You want it further and further. And when
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: you do, I'll often look out and think, this is terrific.
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: I'm like a kid at times. This is amazing. And
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: I'm not doing the flying. I'm relying on power that's
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: far greater than I have. And I am. And it
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: does the flying for me. Do not leave this message thinking,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: now I've got to roll up my sleeves and I've
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: got to work harder and live a cleaner life and
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: make more promises to God and give greater effort so
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: that I can somehow earn this kind of life he's
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: talking about. You can't do that. You're missing the grace
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: of God. God's grace comes to our rescue, says to us,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: buckle up. Trust me. You don't have to worry. You
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: don't have to yield. Listen to me. You really don't
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: have to say yes to sin. You choose to. You
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: choose to do that. Or you can choose not to
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: do that. I decided years ago that I wouldn't try
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: to fly myself. I'll just snap the seatbelt and sit
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: there as that plane takes off into flight that may
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: go thousands of miles. And I've Even over the Atlantic,
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: I don't worry whether I can swim or not. Cynthia
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: can't swim. I don't worry about her. We're flying over
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: the Atlantic. Now, if we go down, hey, we're going
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: to fly anyway. And we'll be on our way to
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: a greater home. Chances are good we'll not go down.
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: Chances are great we'll make it to the destination without
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: a problem. Same for you. The only ones of you
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: I could say that doesn't work for is if you've
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: never come to the Savior. Because you don't have the
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: power available to you. So I urge you today, come
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: to him. Let him take over your life. What a
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: great idea, huh? Bow with me. Let's make that happen.
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: Just close your eyes and relax for a few moments.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: Are you absolutely certain that there was a time in
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: your life when you said to the Lord, I really
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: can't make it on my own. I tried and I've
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: blown it and I don't have what it takes. Furthermore,
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: I'm sinful and I can't get past it. I've broken
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: every promise. I've not lived up to one resolution. I've
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: never been able to pull off a life anywhere near satisfying.
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: You're my answer, Lord. So I come right now lost,
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: without hope, with no excuses, I'm not even going to
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: try to clean up my life. I'm just going to
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: come and take your forgiveness as you come into my life.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: I take Christ and in return I give you my life.
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: Thank you for coming and living within me. This is
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: called conversion. It's the act of salvation. You're surrounded by
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: people who have done this, and they're not your model
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: because they will sin. We're all human. Christ is your model,
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: so you'll turn to him when you need help, when
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: you need hope, when you need forgiveness, when you need
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: to go on. But right now, you trust in him.
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Father, for providing the Savior, Jesus. What a wonderful,
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: gracious Master He is. Thank you for bringing Him to
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: us as a baby in the manger, as the Lamb
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: that was slain, as the Savior for sin, as the
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: victorious conqueror over death. who now lives for us. I
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: pray that you would rescue all who have called upon
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: you today, that they may know a peace they've never
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: known before, that you'd give them the assurance that you
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: live within them. Minister to them, Lord, in ways that
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: only you can. And now for the rest of us,
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: I pray that you would give us a life this
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: week of victory. May we be ever conscious, ever aware
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: of an old nature within us, and may we find
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: control over him through your Spirit. Take charge, Lord. You
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: do the flying. We'll leave it to you to provide
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: that power. In the name of Jesus, our Savior, who
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: has empowered us, I pray. And all God's people said, Amen.
• 54:12
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, We've Met the Wretch, He Is Us,
• 54:17
  Speaker 2: was copyrighted in 2020 and 2023, and the sound recording
• 54:22
  Speaker 2: was copyrighted in 2023 by Charles R.
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 54:31
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.