Victory Over Sin - Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Maranatha Shabiba Conference 2018)

Romans chapter eight. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh have set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirit have set their minds on the things of the spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh. If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you, Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So then, my brothers, so then, my brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. All who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, But you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glories that are to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope, we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise, the spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. For he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called.

And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who gave his son up for us all, How will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, for your sake, we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No.

No. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight has been treasured and quoted by Christians since the day the apostle Paul penned those very words himself by the Holy Spirit.

Romans chapter eight is so pregnant with life changing truth that it makes this chapter an unending trek of revelation. Each verse itself has so much revelation that it's almost overwhelming. And one theologian divided this chapter into three sections. The first part can be titled, no condemnation. The last part of this chapter can be categorized as no accusation, and everything in between can be under the banner of no defeat.

And this message will explore that middle part. Although this chapter is so glorious even in hearing it in the plain language that it is presented in, In order to fully grasp the meaning of these words, we must consider the larger context. Romans chapter eight follows Romans chapter seven. Romans chapter seven is one of the most debated chapters amongst Christians to this day. And the debate around Romans chapter seven is whether Paul, who is describing the struggle against sin, is he describing it as a person who was before coming to Christ or as a Christian who is currently walking with Christ.

And many of us in here understand what Romans seven is, when he says, I do not do the things I wanna do, and I do the things that I hate, and it's this back and forth struggle that he expresses, and the debate is, is this Paul before Christ, or is this Paul in Christ? And you can imagine how the dialogue can be unending between those who stand on either side of the camp, but I present to you tonight a more important question whether you stand on line one or line two. Believe that it is him before Christ or believe that it is him in Christ. There is a question we must answer in light of Romans chapter eight, and it is this. Will a believer always struggle against his sin nature?

Will a believer always struggle against his sin nature? And the answer is absolutely. Yes. Bear this in mind whenever you come to a controversial text that when there is a debate around a certain portion of scripture, zoom out and see what else the Bible has to say about that theme or that subject. And Galatians five seventeen tells us plainly, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh.

For these are opposed to each other to keep you, he's talking to believers, To keep you from doing the things you want to do. The struggle of the flesh against the spirit is a raging unending war that has begun the moment that God has infused you with his sealing power. When God has come to regenerate a man's heart and when the Spirit of God has moved into a vessel, the flesh and the sin nature did not completely move out. But what did happen by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ giving you the necessary atonement for the spirit to dwell in your life, what has happened is the power of sin was dethroned and disarmed, and the spirit took possession by sitting on that throne. But know this as well, that as long as you have breath in your lungs, this sin nature will fight back for that seat until the resurrection.

And so there's this battle, this back and forth fight that the flesh and the spirit are continually at war. And the war is for this, each one wants to master your life. And so keep this in mind, believer. Keep this in mind. Do not be fooled by the lies of Satan that will point to the bruises of the blows of temptation and convince you that you are unregenerate because you are wrestling against sin or these flashes of temptation come to you.

Do not let him whisper these things in your ears. Do not let him present you temptation himself and then with the same breath tell you, oh, look. Who's who thinks like this as a Christian? Are you sure you really gave your life to Christ? Beware.

Beware of the deceiver. But there's another question we have to answer. We answer the question if a believer will always struggle with his sin nature, but there's another question that is so close but is very much different and it is this. Question number two in light of Romans seven and Romans eight. Will a believer always not struggle, but will a believer always be defeated by his sin nature?

And the answer is this. It's up to the believer. There's a big difference between struggling and being defeated by our sin nature. Because that same verse in Galatians five seventeen tells us in the verse before in Galatians five sixteen, But I say, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Romans seven itself, if you read it carefully, you will see certain verses that hint to this reality.

Romans seven eighteen, look at it in your bibles, please. What does the apostle Paul say? For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. I have this desire to live in victory over sin, but I I don't have the ability. I don't have the energy.

I don't have the strength. I don't have the wisdom. I don't have what it takes to be able to make it manifest. That ability is not there, though the desire might be there. And it is amazing how so many because of the struggle against sin, not just struggle, but this defeat over one besetting habitual thing that they can't seem to break off their life, will find unfortunate comfort in Romans chapter seven convincing themselves that this is the way I should live my Christian experience because I see the struggle in this chapter.

When they do not realize that Romans chapter eight is just a few lines away. And Romans chapter eight wants to tell you and me tonight that victory over sin is possible. Victory over sin is possible. Now let's be careful with that phrase, victory over sin. You've heard it before.

You've probably prayed it before. But what does it really mean when a believer desires or claims to have victory over sin in his life? Well, I'll tell you what it doesn't mean. It does not mean that a believer is free from the presence of sin. In other words, for a person to live in victory over sin does not mean that he will never experience the sensation and the pull of temptation.

To be a person who is living in victory over sin does not mean that you will not hear the heart, your heart, and the door that is guarding it being knocked on by suggestions to open that door and for you to entertain something that would grieve the Holy Spirit who dwells in your heart. Those knocks will come. Those knocks will come. And those knocks sometimes are louder on some days than others. They're more persistent on some days than others.

And the old man could not really help but open that door and let that sin come in and to feed it and to entertain it and to try to convince himself, maybe this is an okay roommate. A person that is victory and victorious over sin does not mean he will not know the presence of sin. Nor does it mean that a person who is living in victory over sin is free from the possibility of sinning. In other words, a person who claims that he is having victory over this nature cannot say that he will never fall into sin again, that he has reached this sinless perfection state in which he can never make that mistake or make that sin ever. There are people who believe that and believe that if there is something that happens in their life that they did not did not know happened, they did not have control of it, they don't even say it's a sin, they say it was a mistake.

And many of those people would also say that if you do intentionally sin, you have so severed your relationship with God that you have to go back to point one and go back through the steps again. Victory over sin does not mean that you are free from the possibility of sinning, nor does it mean that you are free from the presence of sin. What does victory over sin mean then? It means that you and I have received a power to overcome sin. Meaning what?

Meaning this, that this thought process, and perhaps you have even said this at one point in your life, I just can't help it. This is too strong for me. This is too overwhelming for me. I'm just gonna give into it. I'm just gonna let this be a part of my life, and if God really wants to deliver me, he'll deliver me.

But I'm just gonna whimper through my faith and wait for that trumpet call so that I can experience my glorified state. And yes, victory over sin does not mean you will walk in your glorified state, but what it does grant you is the ability to say no when temptation comes. It dismantles any compromising thoughts in your life as sin presents itself to say, let me be your master. And there are steps to this victory, and as we're speaking about taking courage and not letting your hands be weak, do you know how many believers have lost motivation, do not want to fight this fight anymore, have put themselves and park themselves on the side of the street called the Narrow Gate, because they feel like they can overcome a besetting habit. And they have come to a place in their life, where even perhaps you are here tonight, in such a glorious atmosphere amongst other believers in Christ, but you know, you know, you know, down deep inside.

You know it. Be honest with yourself. You know it. That your sin is waiting for you at home. In fact, it's saying this right now.

You have your little retreat. You sing your songs, and you pray those prayers. Get a little bit emotional, but you know that once you come back and you get here to reality, I'm gonna slave over you. I'm gonna be your master. So you have your fun.

Go for that weekend. No problem. But you have the opportunity tonight to cross a line, to cross a line in which you would go back home and realize that you can have victory. So there are so many believers that feel like they take one step forward, two step back. One step forward, two step back.

I can't break this cycle. What do I do? Romans eight has the answer. Romans eight has the answer. It does not matter what your sin is.

The spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead lives in you. He lives in you. So what is it tonight? Lay it on the table tonight. Is it pornography?

Is it pornography that is plaguing the church today? Is it fornication? Do you have a do you have a problem trying to stay pure with somebody that you want to even marry? A godly person even. Is it jealousy?

Is it pride? Is it lust? Is it the love of money? You can't stop thinking about money and stuff. What is it tonight?

Well, here are the steps. Pay careful attention. If you tonight want to walk in victory, step number one is here found in verse two of Romans eight. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. What does this mean exactly?

Number one, it means this, that you and I are liberated. You and I are liberated and we are free from the condemnation that sin put on us in the first place. And we are free from that guilty status. You and I are free. That's how it starts.

There is therefore no condemnation. But it also means something much deeper than that. He uses specific language. He says that the spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death. What is the law of sin and death?

What has the spirit set me free from? Isn't it amazing that Paul mentioned, isn't it, in Romans chapter seven? Look at verse 22 in your Bibles in Romans chapter seven and see what he says about this law. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. There's something called the law of sin that dwells in your flesh and mine.

This law is not a series of commands like the law of Moses. What is it? It is a fixed rule of operation that keeps one from being free from its influence. It's a law. In other words, it's something that's chiseled on your heart that says this, you will be a slave to sin.

You will live under its power and you will not escape its persuasions. That is the law of sin and death. And the only way that this law can be removed if another one comes in and replaces it, The only way that this law can be dismantled is if there is another consistency of influence that comes in and overrules the former one. And the prisoner of this law of sin through one's faith in the gospel experiences a wonderful change instituted by the Most High. And what is that?

That this law of sin and death has been overruled by the law of the spirit. Meaning what? That your inward corruption that is caused by one slavish obedience to the compulsions of your flesh is now expelled by a greater power that enables you to live, to live with sin underneath your feet and with the ability to say, no. And what this requires, step one, step one of victory over sin, brothers and sisters, is as simple as this, believing that it's possible. Why?

He says past tense, you have been set free. Not you can be free. He says, you have been set free from the law of sin and death. And so imagine a prisoner in a jail cell, and he's been there for a life sentence. He's there for the rest of his life, and after twenty five years, in comes another inmate.

All these prison doors open up, and one inmate comes in and says, listen. The gates are open. The iron bars are let loose. We can leave now. We can go.

We can be free. And because of this man's comfort, because of this man's lack of belief, after all these years of being in bondage, he stays in that cell. He almost ridicules such a statement. He almost scoffs at it, because he's been so comfortable in the state of slavish fear that he could not even imagine that he can actually walk in new life. There are many people like that that really don't believe that Christ by the Spirit can set them free from a habitual sin.

And here's an Old Testament picture of that. The wilderness journey with the people of Israel is a picture of the Christian's journey. Yes, there are many lessons in that, but many people make the mistake that the Promised Land is a picture of heaven. Here's a problem with that. Heaven doesn't have giants in it.

The promised land is not a picture of heaven. The promised land is a picture of the sanctified life. The promised land is a picture of the believers' inner life that they experience, that flow of milk and honey. It speaks of the state in which God wants his people to be in. And so at one point, God commands Moses for the spies to go in and to check out the land.

And here are these dozen spies that go in and they see. And turn your Bibles to Numbers chapter 13 verse twenty twenty seven here. We must see this language in light of the new covenant. Numbers thirteen twenty seven, and they told him, we came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey.

They saw it and this is its fruit. Verse 28. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb.

The Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the Jordan. And so they saw the possibility. They saw the blessings. They saw the fruit.

But when the spies came back, they said there's these giants in the way. And we would love to dwell in this place. We would love to come in and make our home here, but there are these giants. Too strong, too great. They have a history of taking out other nations and other people groups and we don't want to go in.

Now God had promised them that they can have the land. God had told them that they can actually possess it, but what they saw with their eyes, what they experienced in the flesh allowed it to overcome their faith. And many people see sin like these giants. They see these ancient things that have wiped out people in the past. They see how strong they are, and they go, I can't be set free from that.

I can't overcome that. Pornography is wiping out over 60% of guys who are claiming to be evangelical Christians. They say fifty percent of pastors struggle with it. I can't overcome that, giant. I've had all these things in me for so long.

Are you telling me now all for a sudden that it's just gonna go away? Are you kidding me? And there are two men who believed. Two men. Two men, Caleb and Joshua, who had a different spirit the bible says, who said, no no no no no.

You don't understand. God is with us and God will help us overcome these giants. Just believe in him. Trust in him. He is stronger than these giants.

Do not be discouraged, but trust in the Lord your God. You know what? They still didn't. And I wonder, I wonder if those two amongst the millions that went into the Promised Land is a picture of the minority of Christians today that are living in the victorious life. So many are living defeated.

And I wonder if because so many are living defeated, it's become the norm and the standard, instead of pursuing what God had promised and what God had said. And there are even many today who are saying, just stay that way. Christ will forgive you. Just stay that way. Jesus understands, and so they have allowed that sin to walk with them hand in hand.

But even if this message might be for the minority and represent the minority, the Bible tells us something different. You can have victory. Believe in it. Believe in it. Don't believe in what you see.

Don't believe in what the people say. Don't believe in how these giants have taken out thousands. Who cares? What does God say? What are his promises?

Well, you don't know where I came came from. You don't know the baggage that I carry. You don't know what kind of house I was in. Who cares? It doesn't matter what giants you have in your life concerning your sin.

God wants to wipe them out. And he does not want you to be neighbors with these giants. God had never intended for the Canaanites to be buddy buddies with the Israelites. He doesn't want you and your sin to get comfortable with each other either. We must believe.

We must believe that when first Corinthians ten thirteen tells us that that no temptation has overtaken you, that is not common to man. God is faithful. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your own ability. But with the temptation you also provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it. You have to believe that every time temptation comes, there is a doorway somewhere out there that God wants you to run through.

That there is an escape route. That there is a way to get out of it every single time. I don't care how much of the urge comes in. You must believe that God is there and says, if you just look to me, I'll make a way out. I'll make a way out.

Believe. The first step into victory over sin is actually believing that it's possible. You don't know my track record. You don't know how much I failed. It's not about your strength, brother.

It's not about your strength. We're gonna find that out in the last step. Number two, found in verse five. The second step into victory over sin is here. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

What a wonderful insight here. That it is possible to walk under the influence of a corrupt nature even though there has been granted a heavenly resource for you to overcome it. That although the way has been made and the deposit is there in your spiritual bank account, many people still do not want to withdraw from it. The same way I could put money into your bank accounts and you never pull out a penny is the same way God has invested so much power in you and me. And we do not draw from that power.

Paul points to the root of the problem here. He's not just speaking about the way a non believer thinks and the way a believer thinks. There's a lot of that in here. But remember, he's addressing the Christians. And he's addressing a universal truth concerning how we think and what it does.

You and I must understand this, that the fruit of fleshly actions is found in the root of the way you and I think. The fruit. So many people want to deal with the fruit. So many people want to get rid of certain people in their lives, which is a good thing, or certain devices in their lives, which is a good thing, or separate themselves from certain environments, which is a great and wonderful thing. But if you don't deal with it here first, if it does not happen here first, you can cut the branches, but you got to get the roots out.

So much effort is going into the branches. Is it not? And the roots are right there. Just give it a little bit more time and they will bear bad fruit again. We have to go and dig in deep.

And Paul says those who have set their minds on the flesh live according to the flesh. There are only two ways of thinking. There are only two ways of thinking. And he's saying here, who have set their minds. What does he mean by that?

Their meditations. Their imaginations. In other words, whatever is playing in the screens of their mind is what they have set their minds to. Whatever is constantly playing throughout the day, as you lay in bed, as you drive to work, as you get back from school. Whatever is playing on the screen of your mind is what you have set your mind on.

And you can do this in the flesh, or you can do this in the spirit. And whatever you choose to put into that DVD system of your brain will dictate your activity one way or another. And we see here that setting your mind on the things of the flesh looks like this. That the main things that dominate this of a person, the main things that occupy these thoughts has to do with self and earthly pleasures. Self and earthly pleasures.

A man who has set his mind on the flesh is constantly consumed with fantasies, plans, desires that are focused on gratifying, entertaining, thrilling and engaging me. All my achievements, everything that I planned for is centered around this. How will this benefit my lifestyle? How will this bring me ultimate comfort? And this is what makes the man so preoccupied with materialism.

Materialism, achievements that have nothing to do with the glory of God, surrounding yourself with other people, and even even nibbling on little sinful things to satisfy the inner itch of the flesh. The person who has set his mind on the things of the flesh has so created an environment in his inner being that temptations can so easily come in and camouflage itself in that environment and camp and build until it's a stronghold. It was Jesus who said, not to a non believer, it was Jesus who said to one of his most outspoken disciples in Matthew sixteen twenty three, He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. But then there's a way of thinking in the spirit.

There's a way in which a person can set his mind on the things of the spirit. And though it is a battle at times, though some days are better than others, a person who has set his mind on the things of the spirit, the main theme of his thinking is God. The main theme of his thinking is eternal things. And all his plans and all his desires are consumed with this motivation. How can I glorify my king?

Will this please the master? How can I advance the purposes of his kingdom? All their goals, all their decisions are motivated by a deep longing to satisfy the savior. They find joy in the things that make God joyful. And no matter what context they find themselves in in life, the person who has set their minds on the things of the spirit, whether businessman, stay at home mom, doctor, engineer, does not matter, has come to a place where their pleasure is not in having their way, but knowing that God is pleased with their decision.

That is a person who thinks in the spirit. That is a person who's consumed and because of this mindset, because of this inner environment that he has created, when temptation comes, when suggestions come, as they step into the front yard of your mind, oh, the lights go blazing and the alarms go off. There's no room for temptation to camouflage itself. There's no way that it can find itself into the dining room of your heart, but because you have so by the word and by prayer and by walking in the spirit, continually meditating like David said in Psalm 63 even in verse six where he says, oh, I love to meditate upon you on my bed. When you walk in that, temptation will have very much trouble setting up camp in your heart.

And we see here, that these two ways of thinking is up to you. How do I change it? How do I go from the flesh to the spirit? How do I rewire this? How does this go from flesh to godliness?

One answer. What do you feed it? What do you feed it? Do not conform yourselves to the patterns of this world, but be renewed. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind As you give yourself to the things of God, as you meditate upon heavenly things, as you converse with others who have set their hearts above, oh, something begins to happen here.

Something begins to happen here. I can tell you that there are believers today who not only think in the spirit, but if they find themselves in an environment in which things that they used to listen to and things that they used to watch comes near, not only are they offended, they almost feel nauseated. They have so allowed the spirit of God to renew them. They have so changed their diet that when it comes, when temptation comes, and that person has been walking in the spirit day by day, there's almost an offense with it. There's almost something in which they are nauseated by the reality of it.

Not always. Sometimes it does smell good. But there are days in which you just know this is not right. How do I change it? Well, what do you feed it?

To the degree that you feed your mind with the things of God is to the degree you will have strength in your ability to dismiss those suggestions. Number two, set your mind. Set it right. And lastly, we see here in verse twelve and thirteen. So then, my brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. Is he talking to non believers? There's something we gotta agree here. Is he talking to non believers or is he talking to believers? He's talking to believers.

If you if you do not put to death the deeds of the body, you will die. But if by the spirit, you put it to death, you will live. Number three. Number three. Complete dependency upon the Spirit's power.

This is the glory of Romans chapter eight. Complete dependency upon the Spirit's power. But notice what he says here. If you put to death the deeds of the body Now he says if you don't, you're gonna die. Now what does he mean there by dying?

Is he talking about eternal separation? I do not think so. I believe that what Paul is saying here that if you do not do this with seriousness, you will perhaps prematurely actually die due to the consequence of sin. But it also speaks of a believer that commits spiritual suicide concerning him entering into the promised land and this side of heaven. In other words, they've allowed themselves to so walk in disbelief in continuous rebellion that they die in the wilderness.

And they have sabotaged the fullness of the Christian life. How many today are now in their sixties and seventies and eighties who have not realized what is possible in the spirit and have literally forfeited a life to bear fruit and to know the joy of trampling over sin. We see here that Paul offers a warning. You can die. Christians.

But he does not just give a warning, he gives an invitation. But if by the spirit, but if by the spirit, you put the death and deeds of the body. How do I do this by the spirit? That sounds so good. But what does it mean?

What does it look like? Well, even before we get to that, here's your first step and my first step. You and I must be fully convinced that we are gonna go to war with this sin. There is no room for casual attitude towards our sin. This is one of the main problems.

You and I have to realize that the sin in our lives does not just wanna make you feel guilty sometimes. The sin in your life does not just wanna make you trip here and there and have you stumble. The sin in your life does not even want you to have a bad testimony amongst believers and non believers, though that is part of it. The sin in your life wants to kill you. There is no neutrality with the viciousness of sin.

You cannot converse with sin and convince it not to cut your throat. It wants to destroy you. It wants to bring you as low as possible. It wants to take you out as early as possible. And if we see our sin that way, surely we will take up arms and fight.

Let me say it this way. How bad do you want to kill your sin? How bad do you want to see this sin with your foot over its neck? How bad? Because many people might feel that conviction and that guilt after they stumble or when they realize that there's something that is just besetting and keeping them in the vicious cycle, but they don't hate it.

I remember hearing a story, and though this is not true for every person, I heard it in class and I thought to myself, what a wonderful insight. The teacher was speaking about a student who was struggling with a specific sin. And he was walking with another student in personal accountability. And he was expressing his desire to be set free, and he was desiring to walk in freedom over this specific thing. And after much prayer and time of conversation, this person that was holding him accountable, I believe and the teacher who was even saying this was in the spirit when he did give this insight to this fellow brother.

He looked at him and says, can you be honest with my question? He says, well, I've been honest with you this whole time. Sure. What's the question? You really like your sin, don't you?

It took him back, but he was humble enough to admit, I do enjoy it. And the moment he acknowledged that he did really enjoy his sin was the first step he had to walk in for victory. Because he had realized that I first have to see how ugly this thing really is before I can actually let go of its hand and put my hand on its neck and suffocate it. The scripture says in Psalm 66 verse 18, if I cherished iniquity in my heart, if I have cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. If I harbor it, if I love it, if I if I secretly enjoy it, but simply because of my conviction concerning the word of God knowing that it is wrong, feel bad at times, you will not see victory until you are convinced that it is your enemy.

That's number one concerning putting it to death by the spirit. Think of it this way with an illustration that somebody one put once put. As a bride puts her hand to the knife to cut the wedding cake and feels the hand of the bridegroom over cupping her hand, making this operation together more successful, so it is with you and I fighting this sin. That the Lord wants to put his hand over your hand to cut out the things in your life. But you and I first must do it.

But if you put to death the deeds of the body by this spirit, we first have to make the choice that we really wanna eradicate it from our existence. But the subheading on this is realize that you don't have the power to do it. Continually walking with the realization that you do not have the power to kill it. So he says, do it by the spirit. Now how do I do it by the spirit?

Ephesians six seventeen says that we are to wage war by what? Taking up the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. I don't have to go too deep into this. We know this very well. But if I know one thing that a sword does, it cuts people open.

And out of all the descriptions that the Bible could give us concerning the word of God itself, it says, take up the sword and go to war. And what I love is that the Bible actually gives us a real life example in the New Testament of what this looks like. In Hebrews three thirteen rather verse five. Look at this verse. This is absolutely fascinating.

It says, Keep your life free from the love of money. That's a sin. Loving money, loving mammon more than God is a sin. And he says, keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. That is that is victory over sin.

Loving money, sin. Being content with what you have, victory over sin. How do I get there? For he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. How do I go from loving money to being content with all I have with all I have?

He says it right here. He quotes the scriptures. Know the promises of God. Know the goodness of God. Convince yourself of his faithfulness and watch how you will switch from the flesh to the spirit.

Take that sword of the spirit. You come to the place in which you saturate yourself with the word of God. So that whenever any temptation from any angle comes to haunt you, there will be a specific scripture to shoo it away. Oh. We have to know how to wield this sword.

But not just that. Galatians five tells us to walk in the spirit. To walk in the spirit. That's an invitation for daily communion. That is language for friendship.

You don't walk a long distance with somebody you don't know and you don't walk with somebody, I hope, without talking to them. I think it includes all of that. And so if I'm to walk in the spirit, I better know the spirit. I better invite the spirit. I need to know that there is nothing within me.

That it doesn't matter how godly a man is, even if he lays his hand on me and pours 10 gallons of oil over my head, I will not be set free unless I know the Holy Spirit. And so I say, come, Holy Spirit, and fight this battle. Come, Holy Spirit. You only have the power to take care of what's in my heart. If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?

How much do you wanna be possessed by the person of the Holy Spirit? How much do you want to know that he is not just in you, but he rules you? So I remember reading this text, a testimony of a young man who just came to faith, and he was so overcome with zeal for God, bearing fruit in everything at such a young stage of his life. And he had built a Christian community with close friends that he walked with and served with and did things with concerning evangelism and preaching and traveling, mission trips, and all these different matters. And on two separate occasions on two separate occasions, two faithful friends, oh, faithful are the wounds of a friend, Took this person aside on two separate occasions and lovingly looked at him and said, brother, we love you.

We love the zeal that you have, but we have to tell you something. It seems like you have pride in your life. We know you're zealous. We know you love the things of God, but you you seem to walk in a self righteousness, and that you seem to be in a spiritual state unlike others. And how do you think that person responded exactly how that person criticized them?

What are you talking about pride? If you answer that way, tell me woah. Woah. Woah. Okay.

Hold on. You called me so what part is it that's prideful? Come on. It's fascinating what this person said. This is a little rabbit trail, but I find it fascinating.

You know what pride is like? It's like bad breath. Everybody knows you have it except for yourself. He said, brother, it's not even necessarily what you do. It's in your eyes.

It's in your eyes. Isn't it amazing how the scripture says that the Lord hates haughty eyes? You know, a proud person doesn't even need to say anything. They just have it here, the way they look. Brother, it's in your eyes.

And poor fellow, one of them was a guy, one of them was a girl, poor fellow was trembling at this point. It's just we see it. And I just wanna let you know because I care enough for you. Because you know what the scripture says about this, and we we believe that God is gonna do something in your life. Faithful is the wound of a friend.

And this person, as defensive as he was, something clicked in his heart. Wow. I had this sin in my life and I did not even know I had it, and there's this sense of overwhelming weakness in himself. And that same night, this young fellow got on his knees in his bedroom and says, Lord, I believe that you have a call on my life, but if this is true, I don't even want the call on my life. I want the character of Jesus, And I know that if this pride is here, I won't even have a call on my life.

But Lord, I also know I could not I don't even have the wisdom, and I don't have the maturity to even identify the sin in my life. And that's what David even prayed in Psalms 19. Reveal the things that are hidden in my heart. I don't even know it's in there. So, Lord, how how can I even know how can I deal with it?

I don't even know it was there in the first place. Save me, God. And, Lord, I will not tell one person that I've been delivered from pride. The same way that they saw it in my eyes, I believe the same way they will see humility in them if you deliver me. And this person went to war.

And day after day, he got before God. God delivered me from this pride. I don't ever want to quote scripture again, and people think that this person is a know it all. I don't ever want to come to a place in which I share my faith, and it's not to win his soul, but it's to win an argument. I never want to come to a place that when I'm with other believers and having theological discussions, I'm just talking so I can show that they don't really know what they know.

I don't want to ever come to a place in which one person comes up to me and wants to talk with me. They don't see Christ, but they see my flesh. God, deliver me day after day, day after day, day after day. That person did not tell anybody what he was going through. He just went to war with the spirit.

He partnered with the third person of the triune Godhead day after day, night after night. And one day oh, he didn't put a time limit on God. He trusted in the timing of his deliverance. One day, the gentleman that had confronted him leaned over to him one night as they all went out as friends and said, the pride is gone, isn't it? And that person answered in a completely different way by the grace of God.

What is your sin tonight? What is it that you've been struggling with? I'm not talking about temptation. Don't confuse temptation with sin. I'm talking about something that you feel like has a grip on your neck.

It could be an attitude. It could be rage. Really, there are people like that. They cannot control their temper. That is sin.

It could be these eyes that every time you look at a young woman, you can't see her for the purity that she is in Christ. You begin to undress her. Every single time, you begin to undress her. And it's not about the first thought. It's always about the second one, how you entertain it.

You can't help with the birds flying over your head, Martin Luther said, but you can't help if they build a nest on your head. Is it the love of money? Do you love you can't stop thinking about it to the point where you treat people differently. You you just it's about always you having more and giving less. Is it lust?

Do you know inside that once you go back home and all the lights are gone and the preaching is gone and all the things are away, that once you are alone with that cell phone, you're a goner. You're a goner. And you have ten days of victory and two months of binging on pornography. Is it that? Let's get real tonight.

Come on. This is war. This is not condemnation tonight. If you're sitting there, you're saying, man, this is really hard. You've completely missed the entire message.

You've missed it. You've missed the point of Romans eight. God is inviting you into victory. He's not shaming you. He's fully aware of what you're going through and he's saying, come.

Let my spirit guide you, empower you, set you free. You know what will hold you back? Maybe unbelief. Maybe pride, but the invitation is out tonight. What if tonight, Maranatha two thousand eighteen, the twentieth anniversary, a bunch of people left this place with chains broken off of them?

Yeah, let's leave with memories, but let's not leave with our chains. Let's leave them here. Let the camp people figure it out. That's the invitation, but you know what will hold us back? Apathy.

You know what will hold us back? Carelessness. You know what will hold us back? It's not that big of a deal. You know what will hold us back?

Well, if I respond to this and that person think, what what what sin is they gonna think that I had in my life? Who cares? We're brothers and sisters. We're a family. We want to see each other set free.

I don't take joy in you being in bondage and you holding on to your sin because you think you're gonna be spotted out by somebody and people are gonna cry. Who cares? There's somebody in here that's more important than anybody else, and that's the Spirit of God. And he's awaiting humility. He's awaiting for you to just say, Lord, I could care less what anybody else thinks.

Set me free. Set me free. I wanna walk out of fear knowing that I took my first step into victory over sin. I'd rather be that person than the person who sits down on their chair and thinks, who cares? It would be a beautiful sight, would it not, if we respond to this together?

Why? So we can say all people responded, who cares? We wanna see the spirit of God set people free tonight. That's what we wanna do. And he's awaiting.

And I'm a firm believer. I'm a firm believer that God works in many ways. He can work on a different schedule in the sense that he takes a person day after day as he cries out to God. That's true, but I'm also a firm believer in mighty interventions where everything changes at one night. Both are true, and God has a purpose for both of those things.

And I want to believe with you tonight that whatever you're going through, that if you're so sick and tired of your sin, that God in heaven would so honor your faith and humility, that he by the Spirit will come, pick you up, and place you into the promised land. Do you want it tonight? Do you want it tonight? Would tonight be the night where you draw the line in the sand? You draw the line and say, I said, enough is enough.

I will never look at my sin the same way again. I'm tired of the merry-go-round ride. I'm tired of going through these cycles. I'm tired of staying at the same stage of spirituality. Tonight, I draw the line in the sand.

I cross over, and Lord, by your grace, let me taste milk and honey. He is with you. And, oh, that giant might come later on the week and say, do you miss me? But you have truth now. You have revelation now.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Bow your heads with me. Me.