I like to welcome you
today to Faith Chapel.
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My name is David Shin.
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And we'll be spending
the next few moments together
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in a study of God's
word, but before we do
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so like to invite you
to bow your heads with me
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as we seek the Lord in prayer.
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Father in heaven, we
thank you for the privilege
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and opportunity that
we have to study your
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Holy Scriptures,
which are able to make us
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wise unto salvation and
we ask that our Holy Spirit
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that inspires would also
be the Spirit that instructs.
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In Jesus name, Amen.
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The topic of our
discussion today is entitled
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Faith and Feeling, what
do I do when I don't feel
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like being a
Christian, what would I do
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when I don't feel my
faith and by way of introduction
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I like to go our
first passage here today.
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Romans chapter 7
verse 15 through to 17,
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the Apostle Paul frames
very nicely for us to topic
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our discussion
today. For what I am doing
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I do not understand,
for what I will to do,
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that I do not practice;
but what I hate, that I do.
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If, then, I do
what I will not to do,
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I agree with the
law that it is good.
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But now, it's no
longer I who do it,
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but sin who dwells in me.
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The Apostle Paul talks
about a very real conflict
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between these two powers
within themselves between
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the spiritual nature
and the carnal nature
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Between his flesh and
between his Spirit and I think
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all of us here
today can identify
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with the Apostle Paul in a
real way, because all of us
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have a part of us that
pulls towards a spiritual side
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and another part
of us that pulls away
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to the carnal side.
It's interesting what's being
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published in the bookstores
nowadays and I came across
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this book that had a
kind of a cute title it says,
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Stop Me, Because
I Can't Stop Myself,
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and I like to
read to you a quotation
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that this author
describes and I think all of us
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can identify with this
quotation to some degree
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or another. And he
says, I feel guilty
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about what I'm
doing but I can't stop.
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When I get these urges
nothing seems to relieve them
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except gambling. If I
don't get to go to the casinos
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when I have these
urges, maybe my wife
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asked me to do something
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or a family emergency comes up.
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I feel incredibly
anxious and get very irritable.
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The way I treat
my wife and my family
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is sometimes horrible, I
leave them alone for hours,
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I lie to them, I
cancel family plans
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and it's all due to gambling.
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The amount of
energy, time and money
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I spend gambling has me
shaking my head in disgust
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I look back and wonder how
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I could have
ever lived this way.
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This disease controls
me, not the other way around.
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I know I'm ruining my career,
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but I just can't
stop my behavior.
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Now, I maybe not
gambling for some of us
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and maybe some other
addictions, some other vice,
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some other sin, but I
think all of us at certain point
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in our experience have something
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that we struggle
with, something that we try
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to overcome but it
seems like this thing
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keeps on overpowering us.
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Now modern
psychology has come up with some
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very interesting
mechanisms for dealing
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with this thing
that we call the flesh,
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this experience
of Romans chapter 7
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and one of them is
repression or suppression.
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And that is simply the
conscious and the unconscious
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slouching of human emotions.
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So, if someone makes you
angry, you simply hold it in
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and you don't
expressed that emotion.
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Another psychological
response that is different
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than repression and
suppression is expression.
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So, lets say that
your wife or your husband
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makes you mad you
shouldn't go over to them
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and vent in a angry
way, you should perhaps
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go out to a
solitary place and scream
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or vent in a
healthy innocuous way.
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Now, I would like say
today that these mechanism
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suppression, repression
and expression are simply
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unbiblical and
unsupported by scripture.
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Now that I just with a
few statements deconstructed
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the modern psychological
mechanisms for dealing
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with the flesh, what
is to be the proper way
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that we deal
with negative motion.
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How do we deal with
our carnal sinful nature
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when I don't feel
like being a Christian,
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when I don't feel like
being kind, what is to be the
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Biblical response. And
today I like to take a little
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bit about Bible study, a
journey through scripture,
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looking at three different
passages that outline for us,
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how the Bible
depicts to deal with this
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Romans chapter 7 experience.
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And I like to start
off by going to the book of
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Romans and then to the
book of John and ending
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with the book of Philippians.
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So, lets go to our
first passage here today,
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Romans chapter 7
verse 23 through 24,
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I'll be reading from
the New King James Version.
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But I see another law in
my members, warring against
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the law of my mind and
bringing me into captivity
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to the law of sin
which is in my members.
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And he says this, O
wretched man that I am!
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Who will deliver me
from this body of death?
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Notice that Paul
says these words,
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he says O
wretched man that I am!
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There is only one
other place in the Bible
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where that word
wretched is mentioned
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in the New Testament and
it's the book of Revelation.
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In Revelation
chapter 3 where it says,
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O wretched man that I am!
He says and I was miserable,
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blind and naked talking about
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the Laodicean experience.
And Paul comes to this point
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in his human experienced
talking about this struggle
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between the flesh and the
spirit between the feeling
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and his conscious. And
he says who will deliver me
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from this body of dead.
He concludes this chapter
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with these words found in
Romans chapter 7 verse 25,
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Romans chapter 7 verse
25, and I thank God through
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Jesus Christ our
Lord! So that with the mind
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I myself serve the law of God
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but with the
flesh the law of sin.
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He talks about this experience
in Romans chapter 7:25
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he says with the mind,
with the conscious I serve God,
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but with the
flesh, my carnal nature,
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I serve another entity.
And I think that all of us
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have experienced this before.
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Have you ever had something
in your life that you wish
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you could have stopped,
you know with your conscious,
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with your spiritual nature
that is something that you
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shouldn't you do, but
your flesh keeps pulling
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in that same
direction. And Romans chapter 8,
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Paul gives the
solution to this problem
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of negative emotion.
Let's go there to the next part
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of this passage,
Romans chapter 8 verse 1,
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there is now therefore
no condemnation to those
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that are in Christ
Jesus, who do not walk
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after the flesh, but
according to the Spirit.
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Notice that Paul uses
a very interesting word
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in Romans chapter
8 verse 1, he says
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there is now
therefore, now therefore
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is a concluding statement.
In other words you have a
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passage that's going on
and whenever you're reading
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the Bible make a note
when you see the word therefore
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So, you have promise,
promise, promise, therefore.
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So, Romans chapter
7 and Romans chapter 8
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are inextricably bound
together, you cannot separate
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the two. Romans chapter
8 verse 1 is a conclusion
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of the rest of that passage.
Now, notice what he said
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as in the passage
that we have just read.
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He says there is now
therefore no condemnation
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to those that
are in Christ Jesus.
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And I want to tell you
today friends that there is no
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amount of
psychological mechanisms
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that you can exert.
No matter how much human
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will power you're able
to master, there is no way
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that you can
conquer the sinful nature
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and negative
emotion on your own.
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The only way that you
can conquer this thing
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is through the power
of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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By being in Christ
you are enabled to conquer
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the sinful nature. And
the next part of the verse
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he says that who do
not walk after the flesh
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but after the spirit,
this is called sanctification.
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The first step is to
give your will to Jesus Christ
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and the second step
is to walk in the spirit
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and not in the
flesh. I like to read to you
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this quotation from the
one of my favorites authors
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in the book Steps To
Christ and she says these words
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It is impossible
for ourselves, to escape
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from the pin of sin into
which we had sunken, impossible
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Our hearts are evil,
and we cannot change them.
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Education, culture,
the exercise of the will,
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human effort, all
have their proper sphere,
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but here they are powerless.
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They may produce
an outward conformity
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an outward
correctness of behavior
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but they cannot
change the heart;
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they cannot purify
the springs of life.
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There must be a
power working from within,
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a new life from above,
before men can be changed
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from sin to
holiness. That power is Christ.
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His grace alone can
quicken the lifeless faculties
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of the soul, and
attract it to God, in holiness.
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And the Savior says,
"Except a man be born again
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he cannot enter
the Kingdom of God."
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That's good new
friends because the moment
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that we accept Jesus
Christ as our personal savior,
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the moment that we
surrender our lives unreservedly
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to Jesus Christ.
We stand before God
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as though we have never sinned.
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The moment the we
accept Jesus Christ,
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Jesus puts on us the
robe of righteousness.
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Let's read the next passage,
Romans chapter 8 verse 2
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Paul keeps going
on in this passage,
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Romans chapter 8
verse 2. He says,
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for the law of the
Spirit of life of Christ
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had made me free from
the law of sin and death.
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This is the beauty
of the gospel friends.
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Because the moment
that you give your life
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and your will to
Jesus, before your will
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was enslaved to the law of sin.
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It was enslaved to the
flesh, you could not control
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your habits or your behavior,
but the moment that you
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accept Jesus, he frees
your will from bondage to sin.
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From bondage to the
flesh, so that you are able
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to choose between
the flesh and the spirit.
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Lets move on to
our next passage.
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And this is a
promise for all of us,
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Romans chapter 8
verse 3, the next verse.
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And the Apostle Paul
goes on, for what the law
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could not do in that it
was weak through the flesh,
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God did by sending His
own Son in the likeness
00:11:03.40\00:11:07.14
of sinful flesh,
on account of sin:
00:11:07.38\00:11:09.30
He condemned sin in the flesh.
00:11:09.55\00:11:12.26
Friends, Jesus is
able to give you victory.
00:11:12.54\00:11:15.88
It doesn't matter with
what you maybe struggling
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in your life, whatever
addiction, whatever vice
00:11:18.37\00:11:20.17
you maybe struggling,
Jesus has given you the victory
00:11:20.39\00:11:23.65
at the cross and you
can calm that by faith.
00:11:23.90\00:11:27.31
So, lets summarize and synopsis,
00:11:27.56\00:11:29.52
the first step in
giving and conquering
00:11:29.76\00:11:32.20
this negative
emotion, this carnal nature
00:11:32.45\00:11:34.58
is not by catharsis,
it's not by repression,
00:11:34.82\00:11:37.22
it's not by expression,
it's only by giving your life
00:11:37.46\00:11:41.18
unreservedly to Jesus Christ.
00:11:41.43\00:11:43.70
Lets go to our second
point, our second passage,
00:11:43.95\00:11:46.81
lets go to the book
of John. John chapter 1,
00:11:47.06\00:11:50.07
John chapter 5 verse
1 and 2, I'll be reading
00:11:50.33\00:11:54.53
from the New King James version.
00:11:54.76\00:11:56.10
And After this there
was a feast of the Jews,
00:11:56.36\00:11:59.69
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
00:11:59.93\00:12:02.87
Now there was in Jerusalem
by the sheep gate a pool,
00:12:03.15\00:12:06.65
which is in Hebrew,
Bethesda, having five porches.
00:12:06.88\00:12:11.12
Jesus has just
come down from the north
00:12:11.37\00:12:14.55
down to the south and by
way just as a little caveat,
00:12:14.80\00:12:17.97
I mean the book of John
is a little bit different
00:12:18.23\00:12:20.18
than the other synoptic gospels,
00:12:20.44\00:12:22.14
in that Matthew, Mark
and Luke cover mainly his
00:12:22.39\00:12:25.30
Galilean ministry. But
the Apostle John covers mainly
00:12:25.52\00:12:28.41
his Judean ministry. And
Jesus has just made the trip
00:12:28.67\00:12:31.70
from the north, down
to the south to Jerusalem.
00:12:31.94\00:12:34.63
To attend two of four
pass-overs that is going
00:12:34.89\00:12:37.85
to be covering during his
three-and-half year ministry.
00:12:38.09\00:12:40.39
And he's gone into
Jerusalem to a place where
00:12:40.65\00:12:43.17
there is sea of
pilgrims that are there.
00:12:43.40\00:12:45.54
And there is a
pool called Bethesda,
00:12:45.78\00:12:47.93
that has five porticoes,
there is a four and a fifth
00:12:48.17\00:12:50.31
bisecting it, and by this
pool they were a multitude
00:12:50.53\00:12:53.78
of individuals as we'll
see in this next passage.
00:12:54.02\00:12:57.11
Just read verse 3,
John chapter 5 and verse 3,
00:12:57.33\00:12:59.95
Jesus comes in
and he says, in these,
00:13:00.18\00:13:02.02
in the Pool of
Bethesda, lay a great multitude
00:13:02.27\00:13:05.01
of sick people,
blind, lame, paralyzed,
00:13:05.24\00:13:08.64
waiting for the
moving of the water.
00:13:08.87\00:13:10.57
For an angel went down at
a certain time to the pool
00:13:10.82\00:13:14.19
and stirred up the water;
that whenever they stepped
00:13:14.42\00:13:19.03
in the pool first, after
the stirring of the water,
00:13:19.26\00:13:21.70
was made well of
whatever disease that he had.
00:13:21.94\00:13:25.21
The very interesting
think about this passage is that
00:13:25.47\00:13:28.44
there was a legend that
had develop during the time
00:13:28.67\00:13:30.69
of Jesus, that there
was a certain time since
00:13:30.95\00:13:33.36
seasons that's
actually historically verified
00:13:33.61\00:13:35.58
that the angel or the
waters would start to stir
00:13:35.83\00:13:38.69
and they believed that
a angel would come down
00:13:38.93\00:13:41.84
at certain times of
the year and stir the water
00:13:42.07\00:13:43.83
and the first person
into the pool would be healed
00:13:44.08\00:13:47.37
of whatever disease that he had.
00:13:47.62\00:13:49.25
Now scholars believe
that this was a different
00:13:49.50\00:13:51.42
type of healing
then Jesus had done
00:13:51.66\00:13:53.29
and evidently there
had been some references
00:13:53.56\00:13:55.64
or some belief in this
and you can just imagine
00:13:55.88\00:13:58.16
by this pool, that a
sea, a multitude of sick,
00:13:58.40\00:14:02.24
of lame, of blind, of
infirmed would be waiting
00:14:02.49\00:14:05.87
with anticipation with
bated breath for one step
00:14:06.13\00:14:09.54
water started move. It
was as if a pandemonium
00:14:09.79\00:14:12.14
broke out. There was a
stampede and these individuals
00:14:12.38\00:14:15.38
rush upon that
water and the stronger
00:14:15.59\00:14:17.70
would overtake the weaker.
00:14:17.99\00:14:19.87
Now lets go on in
this next passage,
00:14:20.11\00:14:22.28
John chapter 5 in verse 5,
and there was a certain man
00:14:22.53\00:14:26.00
was there who had an
infirmity thirty eight years.
00:14:26.24\00:14:30.63
You can imagine
that this man by the pool
00:14:30.87\00:14:33.91
of Bethesda, that was
the worst case scenario
00:14:34.14\00:14:36.53
for almost 40 years, he
was vegetating by this pool,
00:14:36.76\00:14:41.26
hoping with anticipation
that he would be made well
00:14:41.47\00:14:45.19
of the disease that he
had. And Jesus walks up to
00:14:45.42\00:14:48.99
in the next verse, in
verse 6 John chapter 5
00:14:49.22\00:14:51.89
in verse 6 When
Jesus saw him lying there,
00:14:52.11\00:14:55.77
and knew that he had
been there already in that
00:14:55.98\00:14:58.66
condition a long
time, He said unto him,
00:14:58.88\00:15:01.05
"Do you want to be made well?"
00:15:01.27\00:15:03.59
The Bible says the Jesus
in John chapter 5 verse 6
00:15:03.83\00:15:07.71
said, he knew that he
was in that condition.
00:15:07.94\00:15:10.21
Friend, does Jesus
know your condition?
00:15:10.43\00:15:11.65
Does Jesus know
your spiritual state?
00:15:11.88\00:15:13.80
And he comes to him and
asked this very fundamental
00:15:14.04\00:15:16.42
question, do you
want to be made well,
00:15:16.66\00:15:18.73
do you want
healing in your life?
00:15:18.95\00:15:21.26
Jesus will not
force his way upon you.
00:15:21.51\00:15:24.21
Jesus ask you
this very question,
00:15:24.43\00:15:26.81
do you want healing, do
you want spiritually renewal
00:15:27.03\00:15:29.22
and many people
make that decision,
00:15:29.44\00:15:31.21
they say yes or they say no.
00:15:31.44\00:15:33.35
Let's read the next
verse, Jesus said something
00:15:33.62\00:15:36.18
very interesting to
him or the man responded,
00:15:36.40\00:15:38.66
in John chapter 5
verse 7. He says these words,
00:15:38.91\00:15:41.37
a sick man answered Him, saying
00:15:41.60\00:15:42.86
"Sir, I have no man
to put me into the pool
00:15:43.08\00:15:45.35
when the water is
stirred up; but while I'm coming
00:15:45.59\00:15:48.31
another steps down before me
00:15:48.55\00:15:51.23
" He says there is no way
that I can get to the pool,
00:15:51.46\00:15:54.14
Jesus I need
someone to help me perhaps,
00:15:54.37\00:15:57.40
he is wondering if Jesus
would be enabled to bring
00:15:57.63\00:16:00.45
him to that pool by
the pool of Bethesda,
00:16:00.69\00:16:02.40
and Jesus in the next
verse makes these three
00:16:02.65\00:16:05.06
fold commands and
it's very interesting
00:16:05.29\00:16:07.17
in 5 verse 8 what
Jesus says to him,
00:16:07.38\00:16:10.75
and Jesus said to him,
00:16:10.98\00:16:11.95
"Rise, take up
your bed and walk."
00:16:11.96\00:16:15.02
This is a very
interesting question,
00:16:15.27\00:16:17.29
because imagine, put
yourself in the place
00:16:17.56\00:16:19.98
of that paraplegic
by the pool of Bethesda,
00:16:20.20\00:16:22.38
you are in a nursing
home and stranger walks
00:16:22.62\00:16:25.79
up to him and first
he asks you, do you want
00:16:26.03\00:16:27.98
to be made whole
and then he says,
00:16:28.23\00:16:29.91
rise, take up your bed and walk.
00:16:30.14\00:16:33.34
Now what would
your natural reaction,
00:16:33.58\00:16:36.65
I wanna tell you my reaction.
00:16:36.88\00:16:37.97
If I was by a
quadriplegic, vegetating away
00:16:38.23\00:16:41.29
and a stranger
came up to me said rise,
00:16:41.52\00:16:43.45
take up your bed and
walk, I'd be like yeah right,
00:16:43.67\00:16:45.85
what are you talking about,
I don't really believe you.
00:16:46.06\00:16:48.02
But, the man responds
in a fascinating manner
00:16:48.26\00:16:51.22
to this stranger's
request in verse 9.
00:16:51.44\00:16:54.34
John chapter 5
verse 9, the man responds,
00:16:54.60\00:16:58.08
and immediately
the man was made well,
00:16:58.31\00:17:00.57
he took up his bed, and walked.
00:17:00.80\00:17:03.10
And the same
day was the Sabbath.
00:17:03.38\00:17:06.75
It's very
interesting what happened,
00:17:06.99\00:17:09.09
notice what did not happen.
00:17:09.32\00:17:10.38
Jesus did not come to
him with a transcended
00:17:10.61\00:17:12.80
glorious majesty
and there was no emotion
00:17:13.03\00:17:15.62
that pulsed through this
man's vein, a simple request
00:17:15.85\00:17:18.32
was asked and what
happened, I believe friends
00:17:18.57\00:17:21.66
is when that request was
made by Jesus to that man
00:17:21.89\00:17:25.61
by the pool of Bethesda,
00:17:25.83\00:17:26.80
rise, take up your bed and walk.
00:17:26.82\00:17:28.65
He made the effort to stand.
00:17:28.88\00:17:30.92
Even though those
synopsis, those neural pathways
00:17:31.17\00:17:33.92
hadn't been used for
40 years almost, he made
00:17:34.16\00:17:37.37
the effort to act by
faith and not by feeling.
00:17:37.60\00:17:41.32
Which brings us to
our second principle
00:17:41.54\00:17:43.53
that regardless of feeling,
regardless of human emotion.
00:17:43.77\00:17:46.87
God is asking us
here to act by faith
00:17:47.15\00:17:50.34
and not by feeling, to
base our reality upon the
00:17:50.58\00:17:54.13
promises of the word of God.
00:17:54.34\00:17:56.25
You know we live in
an age and I'm a Gen-Xer,
00:17:56.50\00:17:59.00
we live in an age where
my generation and the boomers
00:17:59.23\00:18:01.91
I believe and
also the millennialists
00:18:02.13\00:18:03.96
or the Millennials have
this thing about feeling
00:18:04.22\00:18:07.28
we believe that feelings
are a true sign of authenticity
00:18:07.51\00:18:10.74
and we many times say
I'm not gonna go to church
00:18:10.98\00:18:13.42
unless I feel
like going to church
00:18:13.65\00:18:16.00
I'm not gonna be a Christian
00:18:16.23\00:18:17.22
unless I feel
like being a Christian.
00:18:17.45\00:18:19.10
And we believe that
feelings are a true sign
00:18:19.35\00:18:21.84
of authenticity, I read
a book not too long ago by
00:18:22.09\00:18:25.86
by Malcolm
Gladwell called Blink,
00:18:26.09\00:18:28.02
and in it he
documents an interesting study
00:18:28.25\00:18:30.68
that took place by
a group of scientists,
00:18:30.90\00:18:32.31
they wanted to compare
the physiological responses
00:18:32.53\00:18:35.41
of human emotion with
expression and they brought
00:18:35.62\00:18:38.23
this individuals into a room.
00:18:38.45\00:18:39.61
It's kind of an
interesting study.
00:18:39.84\00:18:40.81
That we're experiencing
extremes of human emotion
00:18:41.05\00:18:44.19
whether they were
angry, sad, bitter, venting
00:18:44.41\00:18:47.59
or whatever
emotion it maybe, they said
00:18:47.82\00:18:50.06
you're experiencing
extremes of human emotion
00:18:50.30\00:18:53.29
and what we want you to
do is experience that emotion
00:18:53.51\00:18:56.13
and we wanna take your
vitals, your psychosocial
00:18:56.37\00:18:57.82
responses, they took
those down on a chart
00:18:58.05\00:19:00.47
and they brought other
individuals into the room,
00:19:00.70\00:19:02.92
that were not
experiencing those same emotion
00:19:03.18\00:19:05.64
that were natural
and they said we know
00:19:05.88\00:19:07.70
that you're not
experiencing that emotion
00:19:07.93\00:19:09.14
but what we want you to
do is act like you're angry
00:19:09.38\00:19:13.44
or sad or happy. And so
you could imagine these guys
00:19:13.66\00:19:16.64
are in this room, they
are not even feeling angry
00:19:16.88\00:19:18.69
but they're giving the
facial expression of anger.
00:19:18.91\00:19:21.41
They're giving the
facial expression of happiness.
00:19:21.62\00:19:23.39
And they did this
for a period of time
00:19:23.67\00:19:25.07
10 to 15 minutes or
so. And it's interesting
00:19:25.30\00:19:28.18
what they found that
those individuals that
00:19:28.43\00:19:31.27
were experiencing
human emotion and got the
00:19:31.49\00:19:34.91
psychosocial response
and those that were not
00:19:35.12\00:19:37.02
but were acting
the part had the same
00:19:37.27\00:19:39.56
psychosocial
emotion. Virtually the same
00:19:39.79\00:19:42.48
and Malcolm
Gladwell concludes by saying
00:19:42.71\00:19:45.85
this that human
emotion and expression
00:19:46.06\00:19:48.22
are equal partners. Many
times we believe that our
00:19:48.44\00:19:50.94
human emotion is
dominance over our expressions.
00:19:52.46\00:19:56.67
But he says that our
expressions play on our human
00:19:56.89\00:19:59.73
emotions and vice
versa, so you can actually
00:19:59.92\00:20:02.24
manipulate your emotion
by acting a certain way.
00:20:02.47\00:20:05.77
Now, I'm not saying
today that we should go out
00:20:06.25\00:20:07.83
and do psycho manipulation,
but I'm saying that your
00:20:07.86\00:20:10.75
feelings can go up and
down by the way you act.
00:20:10.78\00:20:13.80
You can actually determine
your emotion by your action.
00:20:13.83\00:20:18.09
I like to read to
you a statement that's
00:20:18.97\00:20:20.66
very interesting, that
goes something like this,
00:20:20.69\00:20:23.29
that faith and feeling
are as distinct as the east
00:20:23.79\00:20:27.13
is from the west. A
very cognitive statement,
00:20:27.67\00:20:30.72
it says faith and feeling
are as distinct as the east
00:20:30.75\00:20:34.66
is from the west. Faith
is not depended on feeling.
00:20:34.69\00:20:37.85
We must earnestly cry to
God feeling or no feeling.
00:20:38.39\00:20:42.56
Let's do a quick
review here today a synopsis
00:20:43.80\00:20:45.44
number one, in
dealing with negative emotion,
00:20:45.47\00:20:47.95
in dealing with the flesh,
the first step is to surrender
00:20:47.98\00:20:51.24
your will unreservedly to
Jesus Christ. And secondly,
00:20:51.27\00:20:55.06
to act by faith not by
feeling but like the man by the
00:20:55.82\00:21:00.06
pool of Bethesda. Lets
go to our last passage here
00:21:00.09\00:21:03.66
today, Philippians
chapter 4 verse 8 the last key
00:21:03.69\00:21:07.47
in dealing with
this carnal nature.
00:21:07.50\00:21:09.78
Philippians chapter 4
verse 8 the Apostle Paul
00:21:10.43\00:21:13.38
is speaking he
says, finally, brethren,
00:21:13.41\00:21:15.15
whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things
00:21:15.18\00:21:18.21
are noble,
whatsoever things are just,
00:21:18.43\00:21:20.24
whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things
00:21:20.27\00:21:22.68
are lovely, whatsoever
things are of good report,
00:21:22.71\00:21:25.40
if there be any virtue
and if there be any praise,
00:21:25.43\00:21:28.90
think or
meditate on these things.
00:21:29.73\00:21:32.67
The Apostle Paul is
back getting us to control
00:21:33.23\00:21:36.29
our thought pattern,
to think about the things
00:21:36.92\00:21:39.17
we're thinking about and
to think about those things
00:21:39.20\00:21:41.13
that are pure, right and
good. I have a fascination
00:21:41.16\00:21:44.22
with neurology and I'm
the first person to admit
00:21:44.76\00:21:47.07
that I'm a pure layman
when it comes to science.
00:21:47.10\00:21:49.26
But, did you know
according to Dr. John R. Platt,
00:21:49.72\00:21:53.08
who's an eminent
neurologist, biophysicist
00:21:53.11\00:21:54.95
and social psychologist
announced that we have
00:21:55.55\00:21:58.12
over a 100 billion
brain cells in our mind.
00:21:58.15\00:22:02.22
There are 1000
interconnections or
00:22:02.99\00:22:04.85
synaptic junctions
per cell or 100 trillion
00:22:04.88\00:22:08.80
interconnections.
In just one DNA cell,
00:22:09.02\00:22:12.63
listen to this he says, it
has the capacity of 30 times
00:22:12.66\00:22:16.56
the letters in an
Encyclopedia Britannica.
00:22:16.59\00:22:20.16
And if you were take
all the trillions of cells
00:22:20.72\00:22:23.05
of in your body
stretched end to end these DNA
00:22:23.08\00:22:25.83
stands and unstretch
them they were to stretch
00:22:25.86\00:22:28.33
across the enter
Solar system. We are truly,
00:22:28.91\00:22:33.11
fearfully and
wonderfully made. And it's very
00:22:33.77\00:22:35.75
interesting the way
that our minds work and these
00:22:35.78\00:22:37.80
neurons correspond
to thoughts Dr. Chambers
00:22:37.83\00:22:40.80
who has his Ph.D from
the University of Tennessee
00:22:41.17\00:22:43.71
says it takes about 30
millivolts of electricity
00:22:43.74\00:22:47.12
for a neuron to fire
and the more that we do an
00:22:47.68\00:22:49.68
event says that that
neural pathway becomes
00:22:49.71\00:22:52.24
stronger and stronger.
And he uses this interesting
00:22:52.27\00:22:55.80
illustration to depict
how our thoughts in fact
00:22:55.83\00:23:00.18
impact our human
emotions and our actions,
00:23:00.74\00:23:02.69
he says something like
this imagine that you've just
00:23:02.72\00:23:04.68
eaten a three course
meal. You have stuffed
00:23:05.22\00:23:07.66
yourself, you can't eat
another bite and out comes
00:23:07.69\00:23:10.27
dessert whether it's
German chocolate cake
00:23:10.30\00:23:13.02
for instance and you
know that there is a part
00:23:13.05\00:23:15.65
of you, once it comes out
apart you're saying eat it,
00:23:15.68\00:23:17.43
you know you want it,
you should eat it and another
00:23:17.81\00:23:19.97
side says you shouldn't eat
it, you know you're on a diet.
00:23:20.00\00:23:22.76
And so you have this
struggle and just with a
00:23:23.43\00:23:25.81
thought that cake
looks good I should eat it.
00:23:25.84\00:23:28.51
Dr. Chambers says
you have just caused that
00:23:28.54\00:23:30.96
neuron to fire 30
millivolts of electricity
00:23:30.99\00:23:34.46
and you are stuffing your face.
00:23:34.49\00:23:36.10
Now lets reverse this
scenario, lets say that a
00:23:36.92\00:23:38.59
German chocolate cake comes out,
00:23:38.62\00:23:40.03
you have overeaten,
you shouldn't eat another
00:23:40.06\00:23:42.02
bite and suddenly
you think to yourself,
00:23:42.05\00:23:44.31
Philippians
chapter 4 verse 13 perhaps,
00:23:45.43\00:23:47.41
I can do all things
through Christ which strengthens
00:23:47.44\00:23:50.62
me. He says that is
created from that neuron
00:23:50.65\00:23:53.89
is a chemical call GABA
and GABA virtually keeps
00:23:53.92\00:23:57.84
that neuron from firing
and he says by 40 to 30.
00:23:57.87\00:24:01.62
40 millivolts is
transmitted to 30,
00:24:01.65\00:24:04.12
by 10 millivolts you
have just kept yourself
00:24:04.15\00:24:06.87
from eating that
German chocolate cake.
00:24:06.90\00:24:09.11
Now this is not a
message on dessert at all.
00:24:09.14\00:24:10.80
I'm just using as innocuous
illustration that you can
00:24:11.42\00:24:14.12
by filling your mind
with scripture overcome
00:24:14.87\00:24:17.19
these temptations
and these human emotions
00:24:17.22\00:24:21.10
whatever they maybe
that surround us on a day
00:24:21.13\00:24:23.74
to day basis. I like to
read to you this statement
00:24:24.30\00:24:27.32
from a favorite,
another favorite book of mine
00:24:27.35\00:24:29.70
called Messages To
Young People and she says,
00:24:29.73\00:24:32.69
many thoughts make
up the unwritten history
00:24:32.72\00:24:35.38
of a single day; and
these thoughts have much
00:24:35.93\00:24:38.38
to do with the
formation of our character.
00:24:38.41\00:24:41.35
Our thoughts are to
be strictly guarded;
00:24:41.38\00:24:44.22
for one impure
thought makes an impression
00:24:44.44\00:24:46.49
on the soul. An evil thought
leaves impress on the mind.
00:24:46.52\00:24:50.94
If the thoughts are
pure, the man is better
00:24:50.97\00:24:53.63
and holy for
having cherished them.
00:24:53.66\00:24:56.46
Is she is telling us
virtually that the way we think
00:24:57.46\00:24:59.61
impacts the way we
feel and way we act.
00:24:59.64\00:25:01.91
And just in the simple
illustration of how our neurons
00:25:01.94\00:25:05.20
work. The Apostle Peter
in Philippians chapter 4
00:25:05.23\00:25:08.24
in verse 8 is
backening us, is encouraging us
00:25:08.27\00:25:11.58
to think on these
things. So, on review how do we
00:25:12.12\00:25:17.24
deal with negative
motion, what is the relationship
00:25:17.27\00:25:20.00
between faith and
feeling. Number one,
00:25:20.60\00:25:21.98
give your life
unreservedly to Jesus Christ.
00:25:22.01\00:25:25.30
And number two, act by
faith and not by feeling
00:25:25.85\00:25:28.95
and finally the Apostle
Paul in Philippians chapter 4
00:25:29.44\00:25:32.57
verse 8 is backening
us to walk and to think
00:25:32.60\00:25:36.02
on these things. Not
too long ago I read a book
00:25:36.05\00:25:41.81
by Corrie Ten Boom
called the Hiding Place,
00:25:42.87\00:25:45.41
I don't know you
have had the privilege or
00:25:45.44\00:25:47.90
opportunity of
reading this book, but I want
00:25:47.93\00:25:48.95
to encourage you to read
it. She had lost her entire
00:25:48.98\00:25:52.15
family during the holocaust.
Evidently she was hiding
00:25:52.18\00:25:54.73
Jews that's way the
topic of the book is called
00:25:55.16\00:25:57.29
The Hiding Place.
Because she had a special
00:25:57.32\00:25:59.23
hiding place in her
closet, where she stored
00:25:59.45\00:26:01.89
Jews and a myriad of
people were saved as a
00:26:01.92\00:26:04.41
result. They were
caught by the Nazis and shipped
00:26:04.44\00:26:07.48
off to different
concentration camps.
00:26:07.51\00:26:09.18
In inadvertently
her sister and her were
00:26:09.21\00:26:11.40
the only ones that were
together in this particular
00:26:11.43\00:26:13.66
concentration
camp of Ravensbruck.
00:26:13.69\00:26:16.26
And in this series of
events the conditions were
00:26:16.29\00:26:20.32
terrible, there
was hardly any food and
00:26:20.35\00:26:22.45
hardly any water and
Betsy lost her life in
00:26:22.48\00:26:25.19
Ravensbruck. Corrie Ten
Boom had a re-conversion
00:26:25.22\00:26:28.22
experience as a result.
And she is going throughout
00:26:28.25\00:26:31.81
the country after the
war, talking about the
00:26:31.84\00:26:34.47
forgiveness of God.
Talking about the love of Jesus
00:26:34.50\00:26:36.95
and mostly
talking about forgiveness.
00:26:36.98\00:26:39.46
After a particular
sermon she had preached in
00:26:40.51\00:26:43.09
western Europe, a tall,
a good looking gentleman
00:26:43.12\00:26:46.57
strode his way
toward her, immediately from
00:26:46.60\00:26:49.44
the distance she
recognized him, but he cannot
00:26:49.47\00:26:52.55
recognize her. He was
a former SS soldier that
00:26:52.58\00:26:56.22
had been brutal in Ravensbruck,
00:26:56.25\00:26:58.29
especially to her
sister Betsy. And it was during
00:26:58.32\00:27:01.75
this time that she was
feeling this negative emotion,
00:27:01.78\00:27:04.12
she was cringing, she
was not wanting to shake
00:27:04.15\00:27:07.28
the soldier's hand
and it was in this moment
00:27:07.96\00:27:10.61
that he stretched
out her hand and she said
00:27:10.64\00:27:12.48
by faith not by
feeling, she stretched out her
00:27:13.00\00:27:16.67
hand and shook the hand
of this former SS soldier.
00:27:16.70\00:27:20.78
She says it was in
this event that the feeling
00:27:21.56\00:27:24.08
followed her human
emotion. She acted by faith
00:27:24.11\00:27:28.38
not by feeling based
on the promises of God
00:27:29.09\00:27:31.96
and it was later that the
human emotion came to her.
00:27:32.57\00:27:35.86
It's my prayer for you
today that you will learn
00:27:36.68\00:27:39.37
to walk by faith and
not by feeling and it's also
00:27:39.40\00:27:42.95
my prayer for you
that you will surrender
00:27:42.98\00:27:45.32
your life unreservedly
to our Lord and savior
00:27:45.90\00:27:49.65
Jesus Christ.
May God bless you and
00:27:49.68\00:27:52.51
may God keep you
to that end this day.
00:27:52.54\00:27:55.16