[0:00] But God, Hallelujah. In his awesome love and mercy, reach down.
[0:14] Amen. You know, if it wouldn't be for the great love and mercy of our God, none of us would be here.
[0:25] We've all seen the glory of God. You know, when Nancy shared these things, I was stunned, but I just sat there and I thought, if God has forgiven him, then I will forgive him.
[0:51] You know, we've all, we've all been in the pit of sin. And it's the mercy of God that has brought us out.
[1:08] You know, he read here in Ephesians 2. These verses says, Wherein in time past he walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
[1:29] You know, that's, that's, every person in the world is at that place. But then God, when we come to God, then he brings us out of that place.
[1:44] In Colossians, I'm going to read here Colossians chapter 1 verse 13. It's a wonderful verse. Jesus has delivered us from the power of darkness.
[1:58] And it's translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
[2:12] Jesus has delivered us from the powers of darkness. When we're born again, when we're born into the kingdom of God, he takes us out of that kingdom, and he brings us over into the kingdom of life, into the kingdom of God.
[2:31] You know, there's no in between. You know, we see many people that, you know, just like Tony, he was struggling and, and then didn't, didn't surrender his whole life.
[2:45] And so it, it created a struggle trying, trying to serve God, when not being willing to give up. And that's, that's how we all are until we surrender our heart and life to him.
[3:07] And when we do, when we do, we are delivered from the powers of darkness. You know, you know, you know, when we're born again, and we want to look at, at some of this, you know, I, I'm, I'm amazed that, at all of the, all of the epistles, as you read through them, there's a continual struggle manifested.
[3:44] It talks about it. It's the struggle of, of the old life, and the life of sin, that wants to manifest itself, and, and, and that our old flesh, so longs for.
[3:58] But then, it brings in the other side, and, and, you know, we have to keep that old man under, we have to keep him on the cross, and, and then we can have victory.
[4:10] And we'll look at some of these verses here today. But first, you know, Jesus, when Nicodemus came to him, I just want to read a couple verses out of John chapter 3.
[4:28] You know, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, and Jesus, you know, he asked the question, he just said, you know, we know you're of God, because of the miracles you do, and Jesus, he didn't even answer that, he just said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
[4:51] And then next he said, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
[5:07] Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listens, thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell, when it cometh, whither it goeth, so is everyone that is born of the spirit.
[5:23] You know, what is born of the flesh is flesh, what is born of the spirit is spirit. And the flesh, our old man, it is, it is the ground that Satan works off of.
[5:40] That's how he, how he trips us up, is he comes to us, you know, and in, and James, we'll just, we'll just look at James chapter one.
[5:51] He explains this so plainly. In James chapter one, in verse 13, it says, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.
[6:08] But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust is conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
[6:25] You know, the wages of sin is death. And so, here he tells us, he says, he just explains how this works. You know, every man, we're, we're tempted.
[6:37] When we're drawn away of our own lust, you know, when we're born again, we're born of the spirit, and that new man within us is born.
[6:49] And now there's a battle between that old man that wants to live after self, and the new man that lives after God. So it's a, it's a struggle from here on out.
[7:03] And when we're tempted, that old, that old man of sin, that old flesh that's in us, he, he looks at those things that he used to enjoy.
[7:18] He looks at those things that, that he loves so well. And we're drawn away of our own lust and enticed. At this point, it's not sin.
[7:31] But when we yield to that, when we yield to that, it becomes sin. And sin brings death. But what we need to do, and, and Romans makes this so plain.
[7:46] We'll just skip around here for a while, because actually, Anthony read a bunch of verses that, and that's good, that we could have read.
[7:58] But in Romans chapter eight, in Romans chapter eight, he says here, starting verse 12, therefore, therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
[8:18] For if he live after the flesh, he shall die. So if we yield to those temptations, we will die. But notice what he says here.
[8:31] But if ye through the spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. If we, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that comes, becomes where we have that new creation in us.
[8:48] If we, through the power of the spirit of God, we mortify the deeds of the old man, we keep him on the cross. We'll look at that here in a little bit.
[8:59] We'll look at Romans and, and, and, and baptism and so on. But, but, so by the power of the new man, we keep that old man on the cross.
[9:13] We keep him there. He, we reckon him dead. And then we can live a victorious life through the power of the spirit of God.
[9:26] I believe, Anthony already read these verses. Not sure. But earlier in this chapter, maybe we'll just start in verse one.
[9:43] In Romans eight, verse one. There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
[9:56] For the law of the spirit of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
[10:19] You know, Jesus lived here on this earth and he lived in flesh. He was flesh and blood, just like you and I, but he lived a sinless life.
[10:30] And by living that sinless life, he condemned sin in the flesh. He proved once and for all that there is a way to live in victory, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
[10:53] And, you know, chapter seven talks about the law and, and all of that. And, and it talks about, about a man trying to live the Christian life in his own state.
[11:06] And we can never do that. We can never do that, but that's the struggle that we're in every day. Verse five, for they that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit.
[11:25] For to be carmally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
[11:43] So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. You know, it's just, it doesn't get plainer than that. But that old man, that old man of self, he cannot please God.
[11:56] He will never please God. You know, you know, people, people try, people try to live a Christian life in their own strength.
[12:08] They, they reform this and they reform that, and they, they change their life. But it's not reformation that we need. It's transformation. It's regeneration by the Holy Ghost.
[12:20] That is how we become a new creation in Christ Jesus. No. Second Corinthians says, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
[12:37] All things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. I ask today, have all things become new? Or are we struggling with that, that old self?
[12:50] Are we making excuses for it? Are we bogged down? Are we, how are we today? You know, you know, let's not, let's not go on into, into the hardness that results from, from, from that life of sin.
[13:11] That life of, of trying and trying in, in, in, in the, in the, in our carnal strength. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and it is not, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
[13:33] That old man, it must be on the cross. It must be kept on the cross. And, and we'll be looking at, at Romans 6 here in just a little bit. But, but God has provided a way.
[13:48] He has provided a way. And it is through the cross of Christ. Jesus, Jesus shed his blood. He shed his blood.
[13:58] And by shedding that blood for us, the enemy is defeated. That old self-life, that is, that is the enemy's foothold in our life.
[14:10] It's defeated. And we can overcome. We can live a victorious life if we will be, stay under the blood of Jesus.
[14:22] You know, let's just read here in Romans 6. We'll start in verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
[14:35] You know, just before this, we have the verse here that says, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And now he asks the question, should we just continue in sin that grace may abound?
[14:49] God forbid, how shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? You know, if we're, if we're born again, then, then that is what has taken place.
[15:05] We are now to be dead to sin, but alive unto God. Know ye not that so many of us as we're baptized into Jesus Christ, we're baptized into his death.
[15:19] And that is why we're baptizing Tony today is that, to, to show that, that, the old man is now dead.
[15:31] And, and from now on, he, he, he will promise to keep that old man on the cross, to keep him there, to keep him in the grave, to keep him dead, but to live the new life for Christ Jesus.
[15:46] When we're baptized, we're baptized into the death of our Lord Jesus. Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death.
[15:58] When we are baptized, we are saying that, that I renounce the world and self and the devil and everything that, that is associated with that old man, that old life.
[16:11] And we're buried with Jesus in baptism into death. you know, Christ died for us.
[16:24] He died for us. He was dead. But he rose again. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life.
[16:42] You know, Jesus was resurrected. He was resurrected and now he had a new life. And as we, as we die with him in baptism, we are showing that we have died with him.
[16:58] that we've been born again. We're now a new creation in Christ Jesus. And we arise in newness of life.
[17:09] Old things are passed away. All things are become new. Not just some things, but all things. That old life, it must be gone.
[17:20] And when it tries to come back, we must keep it on the cross. We must keep it dead. like the verses that were read in Romans 12, I beseech thee, therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is a reasonable service.
[17:48] That new man, the new man that we have when we're born again, that we receive when we're born again, that new man must sacrifice that whole body of sin and keep it under that we can, we live our life unto God.
[18:11] Even so, also, we walk in newness of life. We should walk. You know, it's, and he goes on, it's, it's not a one-time thing to crucify that old man.
[18:33] If we have implanted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. You know, without a death, there can be no resurrection unless, unless we are willing for this old man to die, there cannot be the resurrected life.
[18:58] Knowing this, verse 6, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
[19:11] You know, you know, many people, they make excuses for sin. They justify sin. And they say, well, you know, it's not that big a deal, it's not that big a sin.
[19:22] But sin will take you farther than you plan to go. It will take you on down, it will take you down, and it will take you down to hell. The body of sin should be destroyed.
[19:38] Why? That we do not serve sin. You, Jesus, died, he shed his blood that we can have power over sin.
[19:49] And we do not need to live this old life to the devil anymore. We are, he translates us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
[20:01] And now, we live for Jesus. We're no longer under the powers of Satan, but now we're under the power of our Lord Jesus. And we live for him.
[20:13] And we have victory over sin if we will but stand. And while I'm talking about victory, let me, let me read here. Let me read here a verse.
[20:23] I'm looking at the notes.
[20:33] I need to find it. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 12. It says, Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall.
[20:46] Verse 13. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bury it.
[21:08] Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. You know, if we are born again and we desire to serve our Lord Jesus, you know, when we're tempted, there will always be a way of escape.
[21:25] There will never be a temptation that you cannot overcome. But there is a way to overcome. There is a way of escape that he will provide for you at that time.
[21:39] In 2 Corinthians, in chapter 10, here we have, here we have some awesome truths here.
[21:58] The weapons of our warfare, in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 4, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
[22:14] You know, he admonishes us to pull down those strongholds whenever they come, whenever they manifest themselves. Let's pull them down.
[22:25] But then he goes on and he tells us what we need to do. He says, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
[22:47] This is a recipe for victory. When those thoughts come, when the enemy brings those thoughts and he tempts you, he says here, he says, to cast down imagination and he says, to bring down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
[23:13] To bring it down. You know, if it's something that is an enmity with our Lord Jesus, bring it down, take it into captivity.
[23:24] That's what he says there. Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now, as we do that, as we do that, we will find victory.
[23:41] We will find strength to overcome. We will find strength to live a life of victory. Why?
[23:53] Because Jesus defeated our enemy. He took captivity captive. He defeated our enemy, the devil.
[24:04] The one who tries to trip us. The one that tries to deceive us. The one that is angry about us. He's angry with us. And why is he angry with us?
[24:16] He's angry with us because we have the life of Christ within us. He couldn't care less about you. But if you have the life of Christ in you, then he's angry at you.
[24:31] And he will try to trip you. And he will try to kill that life. The life of our Lord Jesus. Why? Because Jesus defeated him.
[24:42] And someday, Jesus is going to cast him into hell. Oh, hallelujah. There is victory. There is victory for the Christian who walks the narrow way.
[24:54] Hallelujah. Yes, now let's go back to Romans 6. Knowing that our old man is crucified with him.
[25:10] Amen. That the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. For if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.
[25:28] Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death has no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once.
[25:41] But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[25:58] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
[26:23] For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace?
[26:38] God forbid, know ye not, but to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness.
[26:54] You know, and he just goes on and on here, but what he's saying, you know, we reckon that old man dead, but that's not the end of the story.
[27:06] We need to daily reckon him dead, and whenever, whenever Satan comes with a temptation, he comes with an evil thought, he comes with whatever he comes with, and it will be things that you used to love, things that you used to do, things that you used to have enjoyment in.
[27:33] Those are things that he will bring as a temptation, but he says here, we must reckon ourselves dead to sin, but alive unto God.
[27:47] If we yield to that temptation, if we yield to sin, then we become the servant of sin. But if we yield ourselves to our Lord Jesus, then we are his servant, and we can be victorious over sin through the power of our Lord Jesus.
[28:10] Sin shall not have dominion over you. You know, many people will make excuses for their pet sin, but here he tells us that sin should not have dominion over us.
[28:30] We need to have power over it, and we can have power over it by the power of our Lord Jesus. Verse 16, Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness.
[29:00] You know, there's no middle ground, there's no gray area. Either we are a servant to sin, and we're dabbling with sin, maybe we're fighting sin, but we still give in to it.
[29:17] But if that's us, we're a servant to sin. But if we yield ourselves to God, then we are the servants of God.
[29:34] Sin will bring death, but God will give us eternal life, obedience unto righteousness.
[29:44] But God we thank that ye were the servants of sin. That's, we all were, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, which was delivered.
[29:55] You being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. You know, you know, either we're a servant of sin, or we're a servant of righteousness.
[30:10] You know, here in this land, we hear much about freedom, and people want to be free. The only freedom that we have is freedom in our Lord Jesus Christ.
[30:21] And what is that? It is freedom from sin. It is power over sin. But we are his servant. We don't, we're not free to serve self.
[30:34] We're not served to live our own life. No, we are his. We belong to him, and we must live our life for our Lord Jesus Christ.
[30:46] even so, now yield your members, servants, to righteousness, unto holiness. Yes.
[30:59] Let's read the whole verse, verse 19. I speak as the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as ye have yielded your members, servants, to uncleanness, and to iniquity, unto iniquity, even so, now yield your members, servants, to righteousness, unto holiness.
[31:22] For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. You know, we can't have both.
[31:35] We can't have both. When we are the servants of sin, then we're free from righteousness. But if we have righteousness, then we are free from sin.
[31:52] What fruit had ye then in those things for of ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
[32:14] For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our love. Oh, hallelujah. What a gift.
[32:26] What a gift that he's given. He's given us Jesus. Jesus shed his blood for us, that we can have eternal life, that we can have victory over our enemy, that we can be set free.
[32:42] You know, 1 John tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and he came to destroy the works of the devil in your life.
[32:55] Yes, if you're struggling with sin, Jesus came to deliver you from that. He came to deliver you from the grips of Satan.
[33:11] The wages of sin is death. We don't want those wages, but we'll get them whether we want them or not if we serve sin. But the gift of God, you know, we can't earn this.
[33:28] We can't earn eternal life. We can't earn forgiveness, forgiveness, but it's a free gift given to us by our Lord Jesus.
[33:41] Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Let's just give our lives to him, and let's serve him faithfully until the end of life.
[33:52] Yes. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
[34:03] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So today, as we go to baptism, I believe the brother Anthony, he's showing to the principalities and the powers that are about us and all the world that we'll see and he has given his heart and life to our Lord Jesus.
[34:37] He's been born again by the Spirit of God, and he has made up his mind. He's made that decision to serve our Lord Jesus the rest of his days.
[34:51] He no longer belongs to the enemy. He no longer belongs in the world, but today he's been translated over into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[35:06] And that is what we want to show to the enemy. This battle of life, it's a battle between the flesh and the spirit.
[35:18] It's a battle between Satan and our Lord Jesus. Satan dictates after the work of the flesh, but Jesus, Jesus, he works in the new man, and he empowers us by the Holy Ghost that we can overcome, that we can live a victorious life.
[35:41] So let us, let us take seriously where we are at, you know, to me, it's a very serious thought of where Anthony was.
[36:02] Not being able to repent, feeling no conviction in the spirit of God. action. But in his mercy, God gave repentance one more time.
[36:27] You know, you know, let's not push it off if the spirit of God is speaking to us today. But let's respond to him.
[36:39] It is the gift of God that he convicts us. It's his gift that he gives us, reaching out, inviting us to come.
[36:55] But the spirit of God will not always strive with men. If he's drawing you today, come there.
[37:07] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your great love. We thank you for the blood of Jesus.
[37:22] Lord, that you so freely shed for us. Lord, I thank you. I pray for Jesus. Lord, I pray.
[37:34] Lord, if there's someone that is struggling that cannot truly find victory, Lord, might they find victory today.
[37:47] Lord, today is a day of salvation. And you're not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance. Lord, Lord, I thank you for such great love and mercy.
[38:06] Lord, we thank you. Lord, help us to just say yes to you and surrender our heart and life today. We pray in Jesus' name.
[38:18] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[38:28] Amen.