The Awesome Power that Worketh in Us

[00:00:00] Go to Romans chapter six. And we will begin with prayer and then we'll get into chapter six. We will read most of the chapter, but we will not spend a lot of time in all of the chapter, just the second half. So let's pray together to start and ask God's blessing upon our service here. Brother Wayne, can you pray and ask the Lord's blessing upon the message? [00:00:26] Amen. Thank you, brother. [00:00:28] Romans 6, verse number one. [00:00:31] What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? [00:00:37] God forbid. [00:00:39] How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? [00:00:46] Now, as we go through these verses, I want you to note a couple of things. Notice in verse 2, it says that are present tense. Dead to sin. [00:01:00] If you are a child of God and your faith is resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are dead to sin. You see that? That is a statement of fact. That is not. You should be. That is not. If you do X, Y and Z, you will be. [00:01:18] You need to make yourself so. That is the Lord declaring you are dead to sin. Not dead in sin. That's what you were. But dead to sin. All right. Verse number two or three, rather. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ. [00:01:38] That's not water. [00:01:40] That's baptism. By the Spirit of God were baptized into his death. [00:01:45] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. [00:01:51] 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. [00:02:00] For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this again follow the words that our old man is crucified with him. That's a done deal. [00:02:18] That the body of sin might be destroyed. That henceforth we should not serve sin. Let me ask you a question before we move on. [00:02:28] Are you serving sin? [00:02:32] Are you serving sin? [00:02:34] I hope to bring more clarity to that question as. As we go forward, but just stew on that a minute. Are you serving sin? This says that henceforth we should not serve sin. Verse 7. [00:02:48] For he that is dead is freed from sin. [00:02:52] Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. [00:02:59] Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more death hath no more dominion over over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once. [00:03:08] But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God likewise. Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. In other words, it's very simple. [00:03:17] The Lord has Already said as a statement of fact, you as a believer, if your faith is in Christ, you are dead in. You are dead to sin. The Lord says, now you need to count yourself that way. [00:03:32] He says, it's so. So you need to also say and believe and act as if it is so, because it is so. [00:03:41] We often act contrary to truth, do we not? [00:03:44] Something is true and yet we act like it's not. [00:03:50] Likewise verse 11, Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. [00:03:59] Let not sin therefore reign. [00:04:02] Remember we talked about a servant of sin. That means that sin is your master. Okay? [00:04:09] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. [00:04:16] Now, as I said, these 12 verses that we read say very plainly that those that are believers in Christ are indeed already dead to sin. Right? They are dead to sin. And it also in verse 11 says, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. [00:04:40] And then you look at verse number five. So you have the death of Christ and the burial is mentioned. And then you have the resurrection. All the death of Christ, his burial, his resurrection are all mentioned in connection with. With a believer, right? [00:04:53] And so as far as the resurrection is concerned, look at verse number, verse number five. It says this. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. The idea of a future life, a future resurrection. And that's also true, but it's not just future. Look at verse eight again. If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall, that's future, also live with Him. This is referring to a future day when we, like Christ, will be resurrected as a believer. But it's not just future. The life of Christ is not just future. It is also present. You saw future in those two verses. But look also at verse number 11. Once again it says this. [00:05:39] Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive. He says, reckon ye also yourselves to be alive. That's now presently unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So there's a. There's a. As far as the resurrection is concerned and life is concerned, there's a future. Whereas we'll be raised like Christ at his coming. But then there's also a present aspect to it, when we should be living right now as people who are alive unto God and not as people who are dead in sin, and not as people who are servants of sin. That's now. That's now you see the reality of what has happened to us as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ should not be, indeed, it must not be something that's only words on paper, but it should be a reality of your practical life, right? So it's not just about you saying, yeah, I'm a Christian. [00:06:51] It is you actually living, you and me actually living a life that is a resurrected life. [00:07:00] You living a life that shows that sin does not have dominion and is not your master. [00:07:07] That's a practical reality. [00:07:10] It is demonstrated by what you actually do and how you actually live. [00:07:17] Now, what's interesting to me is, and again, I think we neatly divide these things up as we divide these. Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again. And that's a fact, right? But then the way we live is somehow, is somehow not connected or related to that. That is not true. You read through this. What do you see? You see, Christ died for sinners on the cross. He was buried and he rose again the third day. But those three things, those three elements of the gospel are applied to you as a believer. [00:07:55] What is true of him is also true of you. There's an identification with the Lord Jesus Christ. So what we can say is the Gospel should absolutely, it must absolutely affect your everyday, practical life, how you live, whether you do righteousness or unrighteousness. It is directly connected to the Gospel. [00:08:17] The Gospel is not just something you believe when you trust in Christ. [00:08:21] It is integrated into the very nature, your very nature as a Christian. [00:08:28] Christ is raised, you should have new life. [00:08:31] Indeed, you have new life. And that ought to be practically, that ought to work out practically in your life. It should be new in actuality, not just on paper or as just a statement of words. [00:08:44] This is why we have to listen. This is why we have to always come back to the gospel. As a Christian, we can never get far from the Gospel. This Christian life is not just about our experiences. It's not just about the way we feel and how people treat us. [00:08:58] It's not just about the ceremonies we do, whether it be the Lord's Supper or baptism or whatever the other things or acts of service we do. It is at its core about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That he died for us. He was buried and he rose again the third day and we died with him. We are raised with him. [00:09:19] We have to stay close to the Gospel. [00:09:22] All of these truths that I just read through the first 12 verses then lead to verse 13, where a new word is introduced. [00:09:34] He says neither, which connects it to the previous verse. Yield ye your members. That's your body parts, your body, your life as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. [00:09:49] But yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead. You see the connection to what we just read. Alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. [00:10:01] For sin shall not have dominion over you. For you are not under the law, but under grace. [00:10:10] The Lord says to us, sin shall not have dominion over you. So if you are a person, or if I am a person who is living as a slave to sin, it has dominion over us. It reigns over us. We are living in a way, in a condition that is outside of the will of God. God emphatically says it shall not have dominion over us. If it does, that is a mark of shame. [00:10:37] That is not the way the Lord intended it to be. And it indeed it is not the way it must be. [00:10:43] You know, a lot of this might apply. You know, we often take these things about dominion and slavery and we think of addictions. And addictions are legitimate. And addictions are not just about chemicals, whether it be smoking or alcohol or, you know, some sort of narcotic or whatever. [00:10:59] We have all kinds of addictions to sin, do we not? [00:11:03] Habits of life whereby we are attached to it as if it was a drug. It might be gossip or slander. It might be constant unbelief and discouragement. [00:11:14] It might be all kinds of. It might be pornography, right? [00:11:19] It might be any number of. It might be constantly arguing with our spouse. We're addicted to it. But when you're addicted to it and you're a slave to it, that means it determines what you do. Just like a master determines what his slave does. That's what we're describing here. [00:11:36] He doesn't set his own agenda. [00:11:40] Sin sets the agenda. And so a little bit of time goes. And what do we find ourselves? We find ourselves reverting back to owns us. We're addicted again. Addiction is not just about chemicals. [00:11:55] It's about a love for an attachment to and a domination by sin. That which God says is evil and wrong. [00:12:07] But in verse number 13, as I said, we are introduced to a new word, which is the word yield. [00:12:13] Let's continue reading the chapter. I want you to see all the references to yield in this chapter, verse 15. What then shall we sin? Because we are not under the law, but under grace? [00:12:24] God forbid. [00:12:26] Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey? Notice that. [00:12:34] Isn't this great? Isn't this great? Here's what the Lord says. To whom ye yield yourselves. Now you know what the word yield is? I'll give you the definition in a minute. The Lord has already said, if you are a child of God. If I am a child of God, you are not, as a statement of fact under the dominion and slavery of sin. As your master, you don't have to obey it. [00:13:01] I do not have to obey it. [00:13:05] But we often yield to it, don't we? [00:13:08] We've been freed and we go back to the despot, the tyrannical master of sin, and say, what would you have me to do? Even though we're free, because that's the only power it has over us is the power that we give it by yielding. [00:13:29] Right? That's what it says. [00:13:37] Verse number 16. Again, 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 of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked that ye were. That's past tense, statement of fact. It's done. The servants of sin. But ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you referring to believing the gospel, right? [00:14:04] Being then made free from sin. So when did you become a freeman, as he used to say? When did you become a person who is free from sin? When. When you obeyed that form of doctrine which was delivered you. To obey the gospel means to believe the gospel, right? [00:14:21] That's when. When you put your faith in Christ, Sister Tammy. When you put your faith in Christ that day, that. On that day you were freed from sin. [00:14:33] Now, is it not true that oftentimes what the Lord tells us is true? And what we feel, feel as our experience are not always the same, Right. [00:14:46] The Lord says, you're loved and you're cared for and you don't feel loved and cared for. [00:14:53] The Lord says you're free and you don't feel free, you feel bound. [00:14:57] Right? The Lord says you have power, you don't feel powerful. [00:15:01] I mean, how many things in the Christian life are like this? [00:15:06] We have to embrace it by faith, take God at his word is what he says, and say, this is true. [00:15:11] Now, how am I going to do it? How is it actually going to come to fruition? That's what I want to show you today. [00:15:18] Notice verse number 18. Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. So follow the analogy. So before you were a servant of sin that it ruled you and had dominion, and whatever it told you to do is what you did. [00:15:37] Now you have a different master. That master is righteousness. By means of obviously, the Lord So in the same way, should you and I not then obey righteousness in the same way and do according to its dictates? Of course I speak verse 19, after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh. [00:15:57] For as ye have yielded your members, notice that word, yield servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, unto iniquity, even so now yield your members, servants, to righteousness, unto holiness. For when you were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? You know, I want to tell you something. It is a. [00:16:23] Is a very bad sign. If someone says they put their faith in Christ, but there is no shame at what they used to be, this says you're ashamed. [00:16:34] You know, I've heard of people like that. I've observed people like that, where they say they believed in Christ at this time or whatever, and then, and then. But when they describe themselves prior, it's all this, you know, bravado and boasting, whatever, where's the shame? [00:16:53] Those things lead to death. They're not marks of pride, they're shameful, obviously referring to the sinful things, verse 22. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. And now we get to the famous verse 23. [00:17:16] For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. [00:17:24] The word yielding means this. [00:17:27] To surrender, to give way, to submit. You all know it because you all drive. You know what those little upside down triangles, what they indicate? [00:17:39] It means to surrender to the other, to give way, to submit. [00:17:45] This word is found five times in this chapter, in three verses that we've already read. Verse 13, verse 16, 16 and verse number 19. [00:17:56] Now, if you look in your Bible, you will find instances where the Lord tells us not. He doesn't describe this walk with God and this Christian life as yielding, but as striving. [00:18:09] Striving and yielding are pretty different, wouldn't you say? One involves work and labor and something you're doing, and another involves submission, surrender and giving way to another. [00:18:22] In other words, that's two different ways to describe the Christian life. I could stand up here and I could say, now listen, the Lord's given us his commandments and you need to work hard and put your hand to the plow and you need to make sure you obey all of his commandments. And that wouldn't be entirely wrong. I mean, it's right should you obey the Lord's commandments? But that is not how this passage describes our walk with God. [00:18:47] It describes it as yielding, which is the opposite of trying, right? It's the opposite of striving. [00:18:59] And to be honest with you, what I'm telling you here, what is written in this chapter is actually one of the keys to growth, one of the keys to getting victory over sin as a practical matter, in your life. [00:19:21] Now, notice in verse number, verse number six. [00:19:26] Notice these terms used verse six. [00:19:29] Our old man is crucified. The old man, verse number six, the body of sin. [00:19:39] Verse number 12. Look at verse 12. Let not sin therefore reign. [00:19:46] When the Bible says sin reigns, it's not talking about a thing you do. [00:19:51] It is talking about something in you that is dominating you. It's not talking about. And this might sound a little bit confusing, but follow me. And I think you'll see it not every time in the Scripture where the Bible says sin. Is it talking about an instance where we break God's law In this chapter in particular? Look as an example, look at verse number, chapter seven, the next chapter over, verse number 17. [00:20:14] Look what it says now. Then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. [00:20:24] So it is sin committing sin. [00:20:27] You see that sin dwelling in me is the thing that commits acts and instances of sin. You see that? Violations of God's law. What am I saying? [00:20:38] Sometimes when the Bible uses the word sin, it's referring to the thing in you that dominates you because it reigns. Sin reigns. That's what the verse says. In verse 12, sin reigns. It's a reference to your and my corrupt, evil and sinful nature. It's the part of us God calls that nature, sin itself. [00:21:03] You know what it does? It rules us and causes us to commit acts of sin, called the body of sin. In verse six, I think it's called the old man. [00:21:15] In verse six. [00:21:17] Not only that, you see it called verse number 19. Look at that, if you would. In chapter six, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. We talked about that. I think on Wednesday night. That is weakness of your flesh. That's where our sin, the seed of our sin is. [00:21:38] Chapter seven, verse five, right over on the page. [00:21:42] For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, that's the affectation, those things where it longs, our nature longs after sin. [00:21:54] What is it talking about? You know what it's referring to? [00:21:57] It's referring to an evil power that is at work in Us. [00:22:06] It is an evil power that is at work in every living, breathing human being for as long as they are alive, from the very moment of conception until they take their last breath. [00:22:21] There is an evil power within every man, woman, boy and girl that is working in them. It's called sin. It's called the old man. It's called the infirmity of the flesh. It's called the body of sin. It's called all of these different things we've seen here, but it's all referring to that same wicked nature that every person breathing and living has. [00:22:51] Everybody with me now, you see. Let me just pause here a second. This is why little, nice little ceremonies, right? This is why nice little church ceremonies, confirmations and little baptisms and christenings and all these little rituals we go through cannot actually affect change in anybody. You know why? Because in our being, at the very core of our being is an absolute hideous monster of sin that loves, loves it. And it absolutely dominates us. It is a tyrant over us. And none of these little incense or sprinkling water or little christenings or baptismal waters, none of that can change that. [00:23:48] It still dominates us. [00:23:53] Something else of greater power must act upon a sinner for that sinner to be changed. [00:24:03] Outside of that. [00:24:04] Forget it. [00:24:06] And I'll say this, this is why Jesus said, and I know we talk about this in a different context, but really, when Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus and he said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. [00:24:23] This is what he's talking about. [00:24:25] He was saying to this very religious Pharisee, all of the rituals you do and the law keeping and all the sacrifice, all the things you do do nothing to touch that wicked, corrupt and hideous tyrant that is your evil nature. [00:24:43] Nothing. [00:24:45] He says, ye must, must be born again. [00:24:50] There has to be something of greater power to act on you or forget it. [00:25:00] Note in verse number 19. Now, now I'm going to pivot from that truth. [00:25:09] I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. [00:25:13] Now notice this next phrase. For as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, that's sexual sin. When you see uncleanness in scripture, moral uncleanness, it's talking about sexual sin, it's talking about fornication, it's talking about adultery, it's talking about pornography, it's talking about those kinds of things. [00:25:35] And to iniquity, unto iniquity, even. So now yield your members, servants to righteousness unto holiness. So I'm getting to the good part of the yield in just a minute. But in order to understand the good part of the yield, we have to understand the evil part of the yield. [00:25:54] Yielding is not just described in the good way in this passage. It's also described in a bad way. He says, for as ye have yielded your members as servants to uncleanness, so before we knew the Lord Jesus Christ and indeed everyone in this world who has that wicked old tyrant over them, we know what it's like. It is pushing us. It is driving us. It is urging us. [00:26:23] It is a power. It is a spiritual power that is urging us towards sin at all times. [00:26:31] It's like a current that's just constantly pushing us, drawing us to those wicked websites, putting words of anger and hatred in our mouth, putting wicked thoughts in our head. It's constantly pushing us toward those things that are wicked and evil and are transgressing God's law. That's this. In other words, every one of us knows whether you're saved or whether you're not saved. You know what it's like to have that power at work in you now. You might not recognize it as such when you see that temptation to look at that website or to utter that piece of slander. You might not think of it in those terms. [00:27:06] We just think, oh, well, it's just a diversion or whatever excuse we might give. But it's not. It's that ungodly power that's pushing you. [00:27:16] You know what you have to do to sin. In that case, yield. [00:27:23] You don't have to do. [00:27:25] You don't have to try. [00:27:27] You know what you have to do, T.J. you know what you have to do. Just submit. [00:27:32] Surrender. Give in. That's it. Because it's already pushing you. [00:27:36] Louie, come here. I'm going to embarrass you a minute. [00:27:41] Come stand over here if you want. [00:27:45] Face that way. Yeah. Thank you. [00:27:48] I'm sin. I'm the body of sin. I'm the old man. [00:27:53] Now, don't let me push you, okay? Forward. [00:27:58] This is what's happening. [00:28:01] Sin's over there, right? [00:28:04] This is that wicked nature, constantly pushing. [00:28:07] Does he have to walk over there in order to go to sin? No. [00:28:13] All he has to do is yield, which is what he's going to do. [00:28:21] He doesn't have to do anything. You can be said. Thanks. [00:28:24] He doesn't have to try. [00:28:27] All you got to do is just let off the brake. [00:28:31] That's it. [00:28:32] You know, that's what people who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. That's exactly what they do. [00:28:38] Maybe they know in their conscience because God has given every man a conscience. They know in their conscience they shouldn't. [00:28:45] Conscience doesn't change your nature. [00:28:49] And so they resist. Maybe they know they'll get in trouble. Maybe they know they'll lose their family or it'll cause great fallout and harm. But they give in. [00:28:59] They just lay off the brake. [00:29:01] And that's the only nature they got. And it pushes them toward. [00:29:05] It pushes them toward sin. [00:29:07] They don't even have to try. That's what I'm trying to get at. You don't have to try. There's no effort. [00:29:12] There's no effort. [00:29:15] It's the easiest thing you do in your life because there is a evil power at work. [00:29:33] Ephesians 2. I'll just read these verses. [00:29:35] Ephesians 2, 1, 3. Say this. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's what we're talking about. Dead in sins. [00:29:45] Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world. Notice it says you walked according to the course of this world. That speaks of your life according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit. Notice the words that now worketh. That's that push in the children of disobedience, among whom we all had our conversation in times past. In the lust of our flesh. Right? That's infirmity of the flesh we just read. [00:30:12] Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And were by nature the children of wrath. [00:30:17] It was the easiest thing. It was the most natural thing ever, even as others. [00:30:26] I want you to turn to three verses, if you would. Two of them are in Ephesians, if you look there. [00:30:31] Ephesians chapter 1 and Colossians, chapter 1. [00:30:36] Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 18. [00:30:54] Ephesians 1:18 says this. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And what. Notice this. What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us, Ward? Who believes according to the working of his mighty power? [00:31:20] You know what this tells us? [00:31:22] There is a power, great power at work in every child of God. [00:31:30] You see that? [00:31:32] I know. We hear. But we've heard this before. You have the power of God in you. But what does that mean practically? [00:31:38] Look at chapter three of the same book, verse 20. [00:31:51] Now, unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think that's great. [00:31:59] According to the power that worketh in us. What is that? [00:32:04] Listen, there's only one definition to this power. Power that worketh in us. This is not God answering your prayer when you pray. Although that's great. That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about a power at work in you. [00:32:25] I don't know about you, but this is looking like the opposite of what I've just been describing. [00:32:32] This is a power of God at work in the same way that we saw the power of sin. [00:32:38] Working, pushing. Okay, look at Colossians, chapter one, verse 28, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Whereunto I also labor, that is unto Jesus. [00:33:05] Striving. We'll come back to this in a minute, but notice the. You notice I talked about striving a minute ago. Just hold that in your brain. All right? Striving according to his working, which worketh. What does it say in next two words? [00:33:18] In me mightily. [00:33:24] This is not referring to God. [00:33:27] To God doing something you're asking him to do. Oh, this is something bigger than this. This is big time. This is core Christian truth. This. I'm telling you. If you lay hold of this child of God, if you lay hold of this, it can totally change your Christian life. [00:33:48] That there is a power. [00:33:51] When you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, there began a power in your life that is an act of God Almighty. It is a force. You could say. You could say it's a power that is at work in you, that is seeking to accomplish God's will through you in the same way that I was pushing Louie's back towards sin. So this power is at work in you to. To push you toward righteousness and godliness and holiness. [00:34:28] It's the opposite of the previous power and it's greater. [00:34:38] Go back to Romans, if you would. [00:34:43] Chapter six. [00:34:52] This new power is a divine power that is at work in every child of God. It is a benefit of our salvation. [00:35:01] This new power is a newly created nature. Not the old man, but now the new man is a newly created nature that is under the influence and power and effect of the Spirit of God who is in us. [00:35:20] This power is present in you. It is not something you ask for. It's not something you pray for. It's something God gave you by grace in the moment that you put your faith in Christ. And in that moment, you are raised from the dead and you were given new life, indeed eternal life. And with that life was not Just a far off mansion over the the. Over the hilltop. No. With that life came the power to live righteously. [00:35:52] It's not just about a mansion over the hilltop. It's about a life of resurrection power. [00:36:00] Now, is that not all that Romans 6 talks about? [00:36:05] Romans 6 is not talking about what happens when you die. [00:36:08] It's talking about yielding your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. [00:36:15] But we come back to the yield, do we not? Look at verse 19. [00:36:23] I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. [00:36:28] For as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity. Unto iniquity. Even. Even. So now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. Here's what the idea of yield means. [00:36:45] The idea of yield means that God's power is already at work. [00:36:49] He's pushing you. All you have to do is give in. [00:36:58] He's not telling you to work hard and try hard and pull yourself by your own bootstraps and obey God's commandments. You should obey God's commandments. But there is a power at work in every child of God, without exception, that is pushing him toward righteousness. And all he says, let go. [00:37:18] We can compare it. Those of you who are car people like Brother Ari, automatic transmissions, not like the old manuals, but the automatic transmissions. That engine is spinning the transmission at all times, right? It's spinning half of the, basically half of the transmission. And it's spinning it, creating pressure in the fluid. And that pressure is pushing at all times, right? [00:37:38] That pressure's pushing. [00:37:42] So you have to put your foot on the brake, right? [00:37:46] You got to keep your foot on the brake or the car will go forward. [00:37:51] Because there is a power at work in that car at all times. As long as the engine is running, pushing, pushing, pushing. Even when the brakes on, pushing, push, push. [00:38:04] But TJ what do you have to do to make it go even before you get the gas? We'll get to the gas in a minute. Before you do that, if you want it to move, what do you got to do? [00:38:14] You just gotta let go of the brake and the power does the rest. [00:38:20] On this day, something this is, you know what? Our obedience is rather our disobedience to the Lord and our lack of living righteously and holy and godly. You know what it's really from our constantly being obeying the whims of sin. You know what that is really about? It's not about we're not trying hard enough. It's about we are actively resisting what God is urging us to do. [00:38:50] Our foot is not yield. [00:38:57] The verse says yield, does it not? [00:39:00] It says yield. [00:39:02] That means God's doing the pushing. [00:39:05] It means God's doing the pushing. [00:39:09] He just says, let go. [00:39:12] He says, let go and I will drive you forward. Now you can get to the gas. [00:39:19] We'll get to that in a minute. But this is what the Christian life is all about. It's not trying hard. [00:39:24] Indeed, it's not. [00:39:29] It's not resisting the power that's driving you, that's working in you. Because he is, you know. This is why people that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ find obedience to him so onerous and burdensome. [00:39:51] Because there's no power at work, urging them to it, pushing them to it. It's a grief. It's hard. [00:39:59] And this is why. Listen now. This is why church members who aren't born again also find obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ so difficult and burdensome. [00:40:13] It's because there's no power. Because being a church member doesn't mean you're born again. [00:40:18] This is the difference. [00:40:20] This is why Jesus says his commandments are not grievous. You know why? Because when you have the spirit of God, his wind, if you will, pushing you at your back toward righteousness, when you finally let your foot off the brake and stop falling, fighting him over it, and you find yourself then to his glory and because of his power at work in you, obeying the Lord in righteousness, what you find is you have joy and you can't take credit for it. No more than the car can take credit for moving forward when the engine is the one driving it. [00:40:55] You sit in the driver's seat and let off the brake and you say, see, look, I'm a good driver. You ain't doing nothing. You sitting there, it's the power, doing everything. [00:41:04] This is why you can't glory. [00:41:06] And this is also why people find following the Lord Jesus Christ grievous and irritating and onerous. This is why there's no power. [00:41:21] That's actually a good indication that you need to get saved. [00:41:25] Do you have this power that's being described here actually at work in your life, driving you to righteousness? [00:41:35] If you don't, you probably don't have the spirit of God and you need to get saved. [00:41:39] I don't care if you've been a church member. [00:41:41] I don't care if you've been baptized. I don't care what kind of church you've been to. I don't care if you've been A deacon. I don't care if you've been a pastor. I don't care you've been a missionary. I don't care where you've been, what you've done. If you don't have this power working in you, you can forget about obeying the Lord in righteousness. You ain't gonna do it or you only do it when people look at you. [00:41:56] You can forget about it. And when you do it, it'll be a grief, not a joy. [00:42:02] And when you do it, you'll take all the praise and glory for it too. [00:42:10] If God is working in us to cause us to do righteousness and we're just basically taking our foot off the brake, yielding, how could we glory? [00:42:21] How can we glory? Look at what I've done. You've done nothing. I've done nothing. Literally nothing. [00:42:27] The only reason I obey the Lord at all is because he's driving me from behind by his power. [00:42:33] And so when it's all said and done, somehow when we get to the end and we stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and he's going to reward us, we're going to the, the picture in Revelation, right, with the saints. The 24 elders take off their crowns and they throw the crowns at the Savior's feet. Why do they remember? This is just a beauty. It's so, just so consistent. It just comes right around full circle. Why did they take the crowns off? The crowns are given as a result of obedience and righteousness. Right? The rewards from Jesus. Right. [00:43:06] You know, remember, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, he'll receive a reward, crown of righteousness, etc. They receive those crowns, they take them off. And they don't just throw them back at Jesus because you know, Lord, you're good. No, no, no, no. There's deeper meaning than that. [00:43:25] The Lord gave them the crowns, but the obedience wasn't theirs. [00:43:29] It was the spirit of God doing it all from start to finish, A to Z. [00:43:35] He deserves the crowns. [00:43:37] He deserves them. [00:43:39] It's not just. [00:43:41] We might think, well, you know, well, they just want to show their appreciation. It's not appreciation. It is that he is the rightful one who deserves them, not me. I have nothing to glory of. [00:43:53] If the Lord wasn't working in me, forget it. I'm telling you, I would not obey the Lord. I wouldn't love my wife, I wouldn't love my kids. I'd be a self centered person whose other nature drove him towards sin constantly. [00:44:10] Do you have this power working in you? [00:44:13] Is it there? [00:44:17] And if it is there. [00:44:21] Are you resisting God's work in you? [00:44:27] Are you setting both feet on the. On the brake pedal, pushing it all the way to the floor with all your weight, trying to resist what God's trying to urge you to do? And living uprightly, godly, holy. [00:44:45] All the Lord says in this is yield. Right? That's so simple, isn't it? So simple. [00:44:53] I get back to the verse I said I get back to. To finish Colossians 1:29. We've already read it, so I'll just read it. You don't have to turn there. [00:44:59] Paul says this whereunto I also labor striving. Notice what it says. According to his working, which worketh in me mightily. [00:45:12] So at some point we got to learn to let off the break. [00:45:15] But TJ after we do that and the car starts moving, start living for the Lord, righteousness. At some point, we need to put on the gas. [00:45:28] And as we put on the gas, that transmission revs up with that engine and that car goes. [00:45:35] And it's all his power. [00:45:38] Would you bow your head and close your eyes? [00:45:44] Brother Ari's going to come. He's going to lead us in a song. And I ask you just to listen. I just ask you to respond to how God has pricked your heart. [00:45:53] But I do want to ask these couple of questions. [00:45:56] Is there anyone here that would lift your hand and acknowledge in honesty before God that you don't have the power? [00:46:05] There's no true evidence of eternal life and God's power in you. [00:46:11] When you want to be honest and say, that's me. [00:46:18] The second question I want to ask you is this. [00:46:20] Is anyone that would say I have been holding my foot on the brake and resisting God's urges for me to follow him and to be obedient and to live uprightly? [00:46:33] Is there anyone to be honest and say, that's me. [00:46:39] I'm not asking you to do anything. Of course you can come down and pray at the. At the altar if you want. You could pray at your seat. But I urge you to deal with it. Respond. [00:46:50] Even at this moment, if the Lord is pricking your heart and urging you, that's part of his power. [00:46:55] Let off the break. [00:46:58] Let off the break.