Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP000046A
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00:01 The Bible tells us:
00:20 Join us now for the: 00:24 Our study today is: 00:33 And we welcome you once again to 3ABN's Sabbath School Panel. 00:38 We hope you're all charged up and ready because we are moving, 00:41 making our way through the book of Romans. 00:43 And if you have been with us the past several weeks, you know 00:46 this is an intense and exciting study, and a liberating one. 00:51 It liberated Martin Luther, and I think it is a freeing thing to 00:56 everyone who truly understands the message of 00:59 righteousness by faith. 01:01 And that's the undergirding, the underpinnings, 01:04 the foundation of this entire book. 01:06 We've had a good time studying, and we welcome you to join us 01:09 in our study as together we walk through this 01:12 exciting book of Romans. 01:14 I'm C. A. Murray, and I'm going to introduce the family that is 01:17 here to join us in study. 01:19 Jill Morikone, to my immediate left, Ms. Mollie Steenson, 01:23 the Lady Shelly Quinn, and Pastor Kenny Shelton. 01:26 Good to have you all here guys. 01:28 It's a blessing to be here. 01:29 And we praise the Lord for your study. 01:32 And these are students of the word. 01:33 We've been finding out some wonderful things. 01:35 And it is good to see how the lesson appears to each one in 01:40 a slightly different way, yet we're all pulling on the same 01:42 team, heading in the same direction. 01:44 And everyone has their own little, dare I say, 01:46 bean to add to the pot, which makes a beautiful stew. 01:49 And it's really fun by the time we together we've all learned 01:53 so very, very much. 01:54 So, should you have an iPad, iPhone, i anything, or pen, or 01:59 pencil, or piece of paper, whatever you have to take 02:01 notes on, please do so. 02:03 And may I encourage you, if you do not have a Sabbath School 02:06 Study Guide that you go to ABSG.Adventist. org and you can 02:14 download one for your very own. 02:16 I like to have paper in front of me because I can mark on it, 02:19 and write on it, and make little notes. 02:21 That's why I'm not a Kindle person, because you can't 02:23 make notes on a Kindle. 02:25 Well, actually you can if you get the advance one, 02:26 but it's sort of difficult. 02:27 Easier to just grab a pen and write on your paper. 02:30 So do that. Or, should you wish, go to the closest Seventh-day 02:35 Adventist church and they will be happy to get one for you 02:38 and you can have it. 02:39 And while you're there stay for service. 02:41 You'll be blessed, I guarantee you. 02:43 So we're studying in the book of Romans. 02:45 I'm going to ask Pastor Kenny, would you have 02:48 prayer for us, please? Yes. 02:49 And then we'll launch right out into Lesson 7, Overcoming Sin. 02:55 Pastor, if you would. 02:56 Let's pray. Loving Father in Heaven, truly it is a blessing 02:59 to be able to open the pages of this beautiful 03:02 book called the Bible. 03:03 We pray for the power of Thy Holy Spirit to consume each 03:06 and every one of us. 03:08 How desperately we need to hear from heaven. 03:09 Lord, we just cannot comprehend these Spiritual things 03:13 without the Spirit. 03:14 So we pray that You will help each one who watches, who views, 03:18 listens, whatever the case may be; that each one 03:20 will be tuned in to heaven. 03:22 They'll hear the words that will encourage them along 03:24 life's road to a richer, fuller, deeper experience with You. 03:28 And Lord, we want that experience. 03:29 We need that experience. 03:31 Open now our hearts, and our minds, and our eyes that we may 03:33 see Jesus in a special way, and always be grateful, and thankful 03:37 for all that You do for us, and that You're doing 03:39 right now in our behalf. 03:41 And for that beautiful, wonderful, free gift: 03:43 Calvary, I thank You. 03:45 In Jesus' name, Amen. 03:47 Amen! Amen! We are talking, as I mentioned, 03:50 about overcoming sin. 03:52 Our memory text is found in Romans 6:14, Romans 6:14. 03:58 I invite you to turn to that text with us as we recite 04:03 together: Sin shall not have dominion over you: 04:07 for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 04:13 There is a multiplicity of sermons that can be drawn 04:16 from that one line. 04:18 It is very, very important, and dare I say, very pregnant with 04:22 meaning and import for all of us. 04:25 Two words I want to just touch on: one is dominion, 04:28 the other is under. 04:30 Sin shall not have lordship over you. 04:35 It shall not overlord you. 04:38 The Greek word is koreseu you; koreseu you! 04:41 And it means to have the power to determine, as a lord, 04:47 a lease lord determined what his servant was going to do, 04:51 when he was going to come, when he was going to go, 04:53 how far he was going to move. 04:56 He could not move without permission. 04:57 Well, the Bible is saying in this first line, 05:01 sin is not going to be your controller. 05:04 Sin is not going to dictate your life. 05:07 Sin is not going to force you. 05:09 When I was younger in school, as an Adventist going 05:13 to a secular school, I was on a basketball scholarship, 05:15 the kids in college had to go out on Friday night. 05:19 You know, it was just like there was something, they had to be 05:22 out of that dorm running around in town. 05:24 And it was almost like a lemming kind of thing. 05:27 Everybody at the dorm; it was empty on Friday night. 05:29 And I was in the dorm and trying to behave myself. 05:32 But everybody, it's like it's Friday night; we have to go out. 05:35 We just have to go out. 05:37 And I could never understand that. 05:38 And I was so glad when I got to an Adventist school that 05:41 it was not this push. 05:42 Well, on Friday night we actually had to go out, too. 05:44 It was to worship. You know, it was a Vespers. 05:47 But this idea that you have to go out, and you have to drink, 05:50 and you have... There's this pressure to do what the 05:52 world is trying to do. 05:54 And that's dominion. 05:55 You're not in control of your own facilities. 05:57 In my book I wrote years ago, a young lady went to a party 06:01 and she smoked crack. 06:02 She didn't know that just; crack was so addictive. 06:04 Back in the day they didn't know that from your first 06:06 sampling you're hooked. 06:08 You have no control. It's got you. 06:09 That's dominion, where you're not in control of 06:12 your facilities anymore. 06:13 That's dominion. Well, your Bible is saying sin is not 06:17 going to have that over you when you're in Christ Jesus. 06:19 You're not going to be subject to wherever sin wants to take 06:22 you, and whatever sin wants to do. 06:23 The second word is under. 06:25 I heard it on an illustration years ago about under. 06:30 The illustration was that you would be on a road 06:34 that has no exit points. 06:36 And you're driving on that road, and you are subject to go 06:41 wherever that road leads you, which I thought was an 06:44 interesting way to look at it. 06:45 Under is whatever the logical end is, you've got to go there, 06:51 and you have no choice. 06:52 So if the law is taking you there, and the law is condemning 06:59 you, you have no choice but to go to that end. 07:03 But if you're under grace, and you're on a new road, 07:06 you have no choice but to go to that end. 07:09 And I'd not heard it put quite like that before. 07:12 And I found that very, very intriguing, that you're not 07:14 under the law now, you're under grace. 07:17 It has nothing to do with keeping the law. 07:19 It's where this is taking you. 07:22 The law is condemning you; grace is freeing you. 07:24 And if you stay on that road, that's where you're going to go. 07:27 You're going to go where the law takes you, or you're going to go 07:29 where grace takes you. 07:30 So let's wade on into our opening Saturday. 07:34 The word I want to look at now is hagiasmos. 07:38 Hagiasmos is sanctification, which in the Bible can be used 07:43 interchangeably with holiness. 07:46 And I think there's an interesting little... 07:50 How should I put this? 07:55 We are being sanctified. 07:58 We are sanctified. We have been sanctified. 08:05 And all three are countenanced by these two words: 08:09 sanctification and holiness. 08:12 There was a time when you dedicated your life to God, 08:16 when you gave your life to God, when you 08:18 committed your life to Him. 08:19 At that point you were sanctified. 08:22 Each day as you surrender and walk with God, 08:26 now we are the Sons of God. 1 John:6. 08:30 We are the Sons of God now! 08:32 So you are sanctified. 08:34 And one day you will be sanctified. 08:39 So this is a complete process: your past, your present, 08:43 and your future are all countenanced under 08:45 the word sanctified. 08:46 And that's how we can believe in 1 John 5. 08:50 Is it Verse 11 that says that you ought to know that you 08:53 have sanctification; that you ought to know 08:55 you have eternal life? 08:56 In 1 John 5 the reason you know is because the sanctification, 09:00 the sanctification process is ongoing. 09:04 And it is ongoing throughout the course of your whole life. 09:08 And if at any point in your life... 09:10 And this is what I really like about this 09:12 sanctification process. 09:13 If at any point in your life your life is cut short, 09:18 you are justified and sanctified. 09:22 So if at any point along that continuum your life is cut 09:27 short you are saved. 09:28 Because you're in Christ Jesus. 09:30 So He's taken care of it for you. 09:33 If you've been in church ten years, 09:36 you're ten years in sanctified. 09:38 If you've been 20 you're 20's in sanctified. 09:39 But if at any point during that time you die; sanctified, 09:43 and the blood of Christ cleanses you from all sin. 09:45 It's a wonderful, intricate, and intimate process 09:48 that we're looking at. 09:49 So we want to look at overcoming sin. 09:51 I want to jump over to Sunday, and Where Sin Abounds. 09:55 Let's look at, let's look at Romans 6, and I want to look at 10:14 Verse 1 here, and then I'll make a quick jump. 10:17 What shall we say then? 10:19 Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 10:22 Certainly not. How shall we, who died to sin, 10:26 live any longer in it? 10:33 Paul makes some powerful statements. 10:34 In Romans 5:20 he says, Where sin abounded, 10:38 grace did much more abound. 10:40 His point is that no matter how much sin there is, 10:44 or how terrible the results of sin are, God's grace is 10:47 sufficient to deal with it. 10:49 That is a powerful, powerful statement for those who've been 10:54 sinning a long time. 10:56 You can fall so far in sin that even as you're praying for 11:00 deliverance you don't believe that deliverance can come. 11:02 That's how the Devil can rearrange your thought process. 11:07 But the truth is there's nothing you have done, there's nothing 11:12 you are doing, there's nothing you can do that Christ has not 11:17 seen before, dealt with before, and cured before. 11:21 So even when you feel your sins are too ugly for you, 11:26 Christ can cure you, clean you; Ellen White says inherited 11:32 tendencies, and cultivated tendencies. 11:35 There are some things that your parents got; just give you. 11:38 When I went into the hospital for my surgery the doctor said, 11:43 this cholesterol thing is a little gift from your parents. 11:45 You know, you have got nothing to do with that. 11:47 He said, This other is probably stress. 11:50 But he said a lot of this is because of the way it's in 11:54 your veins and whatnot. It's hereditary. 11:57 So that's something I got from my parents. 11:59 So it's the same way with sin. 12:00 You can get predispositions from your parents. 12:02 You can get, you can get short temper, you know. 12:06 You can get the way you... You can get addictive personality. 12:08 A lot of that stuff you just got from your parents. 12:10 And then you go out and you add stuff, you know? 12:12 You go out and pick up stuff along the way. 12:14 And Christ can cure us from genetic stuff, and He can cure 12:20 us from stuff that you just thought was pretty cute, 12:22 so you went on and you grabbed the little brass ring, 12:24 and you found out that it was fools gold. 12:25 It wasn't a ring at all. 12:27 Which is why, you know, the big discussion now... 12:30 And I'll move on to this. 12:32 ... is homosexuality. 12:34 Is it inherited, or is it something that you 12:40 get, you go and get? 12:42 And I think for scientific purposes that is a good study, 12:45 because it's good to know. 12:47 But for spiritual purposes it doesn't really matter. 12:50 Because whether you've got it from your parents, 12:52 or whether you picked it up along the way, if you want to be 12:56 clean He is faithful and just to forgive. 12:59 And praise God, we've talked about this before, two cleanse. 13:01 So how you got there... 13:03 You know, we have a prison program, Free Indeed. 13:06 One question that's asked in prison, How you got here? 13:08 What are you doing here? 13:10 It occurs to me in hell that question will not be answered. 13:14 How did you get here? 13:15 Cause it doesn't matter. 13:16 You know, it doesn't matter. 13:18 There's another place it won't be asked is in heaven. 13:19 Cause it doesn't matter. 13:20 Because you all got here through Jesus. 13:22 If you got there it's through the blood of the Lamb. 13:24 So you are a saint because God calls you a saint. 13:28 And you are being sanctified. 13:30 One more thing and then I'll let it go. 13:33 Paul's apologetic is that provision is made for all sin. 13:44 The difference in dealing with an illness is not just 13:50 treating it, but curing it. 13:54 And that's what the blood of Christ does. 13:56 It treats it. It also cures it. 14:01 He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse, 14:05 and He gives us the hope of a clean future. 14:10 He gives us the hope of a life without sin. 14:14 We can be in the presence of sin, but we do not have to be 14:18 sinful, because we died to sin. 14:23 And as we died to sin, we live for Jesus. 14:27 We become slaves, if you will, of righteousness. 14:32 And just as we were slaves to sin, we now get new tastes, 14:36 new habits, new facilities that make us sons and daughters 14:41 of God, indeed slaves to God, and slaves to righteousness. 14:48 Amen! Thank you so much, Pastor C. A. Well done. 14:51 As we look at Monday we talk about, Where Sin Reigns. 14:56 Let's look at Romans 6, and we're going to look at Verse 12. 15:02 The Bible says, Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal 15:08 body, that you should obey it in its lust. 15:11 Now the word for reign is an interesting word. 15:14 I can't pronounce it: basilyoo'o something. 15:19 But it means to reign as a king. 15:22 To exercise dominion over, or to rule. 15:26 Now it's also used in Romans 5, talking about 15:30 sin reigning as well. 15:31 Romans 5:14, Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses... 15:36 That word for reign is the same word. 15:38 It means to reign as a king. 15:41 To have dominion over. 15:43 It's also used in Romans 5:17. 15:47 For if by one man's offense... Meaning Adam's death. 15:51 ...death reigned through the one;... 15:53 There's that word reigned. 15:54 And then, of course, we have it in Romans 6:12. 15:56 Do not let sin reign in your mortal body. 16:00 So Paul is using, we call it in English, a personification. 16:03 Where you would take... It's the attribution of a personal 16:07 nature, or a human characteristic to 16:10 something non-human. 16:12 Of course, we know sin is not human, as it were. 16:14 But yet at the same time he's making it, he's attributing a 16:19 personal characteristic. 16:21 He's personifying sin as a king, which we could all agree. 16:25 Sin could be like a king ruling over its subjects. 16:28 And if I were to say sin is a king, 16:30 it is a cruel tyrant, you could say. 16:33 He says, Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, 16:37 that you should obey it in its lust. 16:40 Now Verse 12 begins with Therefore, which means we need 16:43 to take a look at some of the verses before. 16:46 Paul talks about the analogy of baptism. 16:50 That's in Verse 4, and we won't read all of that. 16:52 But just as we're buried with Christ through baptism into 16:56 death, then we're raised with Him into that newness of life. 17:01 This death, being like a burial, and then the 17:05 resurrection to the new life. 17:07 Look at Verse 11. Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be 17:11 dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 17:18 Sin wants to assume authority, or to rule over our lives. 17:22 It wants to dictate our behavior. 17:26 I remember one of the girls when I did the prison ministry 17:29 with the girls at jail. 17:31 I'll call her Grace. 17:32 That's not her real name. 17:33 And she was in jail for some time, 17:35 and then she came out of jail, cause we didn't see her. 17:37 And they said, Oh, she got released. 17:39 And we said, Praise God! She's out! 17:41 And then a few months later... 17:42 We're having our weekly Monday night Bible study. 17:45 ... here's Grace! What's she doing back in? 17:48 And she told me an interesting story. 17:51 She said that I got out... And she had been in for drugs. 17:54 She had gotten clean in jail, and she was going to not let 17:58 that sin of drug addiction rule over her life. 18:01 And she went back out, and you know the old acquaintances, 18:04 the old associations, is a strong pull in anyone's life. 18:09 I know in my own life. 18:11 And so she got out, and her family and some friends 18:14 were involved in it. 18:15 And she said, Jill... I remember she's just crying! 18:18 My cousin died in my arms; drugs. 18:23 She didn't mean to OD. 18:25 She didn't mean to take too much, it just happened 18:27 at that particular time. 18:29 It killed her, and she said she died. 18:31 And Jill, I went right out and I got high again. 18:34 That is the control that sin has over our lives. 18:40 Now you might not have a drug addiction; 18:41 it might be another kind of addiction. 18:43 It might be a habit. 18:45 It might be something sinful in your life. 18:47 We all have something, because the Bible says, All have sinned 18:50 and fallen short of the glory of God. 18:53 It might feel in your life like it's tightly controlling 18:57 you, but the truth is God came to set us free. 19:02 I want to talk for just a moment about the power of choice; 19:05 the right action of the will. 19:08 God gave us choice in the Garden of Eden, Pastor C. A., 19:10 so that Adam and Eve, they would serve Him 19:12 out of love, not out of fear. 19:15 Yet, Ms. Mollie, He also gave us choice, so that it enables us to 19:20 have victory over sin. 19:22 And I think one of the biggest keys with that is the 19:26 choice to surrender. Amen! 19:28 I think surrender, sometimes we think it's a complicated topic. 19:32 It's a complicated subject. 19:33 And it's really not hard, except it puts to death our carnal 19:37 nature, and our own desires. 19:39 And that's what makes it seem difficult. 19:41 But the concept is just simply, Lord Jesus, every time I'm faced 19:45 with the choice I say, Yes, to Jesus. 19:49 To me that's all surrender is. 19:51 In the morning I wake up; God I give you my heart. 19:54 I want to be dead to the old man. 19:57 I want to live a new life in Christ Jesus. 20:00 I say yes to Jesus, and then all of a sudden I'm driving 20:03 in to work, and someone cuts you off in traffic, 20:06 and you have a choice. 20:07 Okay, I want to get upset at this person, or I can say, 20:10 yes to Jesus; take my emotions at this point. 20:14 I'm choosing You. Amen! 20:15 That gives Him access to come in and give me victory. 20:20 You get to work and someone calls on the phone, 20:23 or whatever it is in life. 20:24 Maybe it's a cigarette. 20:26 You think, Oh, I really want a go out and smoke! 20:28 The choice at that time; surrender, say yes to Jesus. 20:34 Romans 8:2, just a chapter over here, two chapters. 20:37 Romans 8:2, and we'll get to this in our study, 20:40 but I love this. It says, For the law of the Spirit of life 20:42 in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 20:48 Choosing Jesus allows you to access His power. 20:52 Or maybe a better way to put it is it allows Him to fill you 20:57 with His power, and to give you that victory over sin. 21:01 Sometimes we say, Well, I'm not really making a choice. 21:05 I'm just living my life. 21:07 But if we don't make a choice, we are automatically making 21:10 a choice for the enemy. 21:12 Matthew 12:30. Let me turn there real quick. 21:17 Matthew 12:30. Jesus speaking. 21:21 He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather 21:26 with Me scatters abroad. 21:27 So if I just wake up and I say, I'll just live 21:30 my life my own way. 21:31 I've made a choice already to serve the Devil; 21:34 to serve the enemy. 21:35 We have to make a choice instantly for 21:38 the Lord Jesus Christ. 21:39 And as we make those choices, I just divided them up into 21:42 three different areas in the remaining time we have. 21:44 First is thoughts, second is words, third is habits, 21:50 actions, addictions. 21:52 To me they all fall in the outward outworking. 21:54 But to me it all begins with our thoughts. 21:56 It begins, sin begins in the mind. 21:58 It begins with what we think first, and then we act that out. 22:02 One of my favorite Scriptures, 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5. 22:12 Paul says,... Let's start with Verse 3. 22:14 Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war 22:16 according to the flesh:... 22:17 Cause we try to fight this battle against sin 22:19 in our own strength. 22:20 We are destined to fail every time. 22:23 Verse 4. So we can't battle it in the flesh. 22:27 We have to battle it in the Spiritual. 22:28 (The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God 22:33 for pulling down strongholds;) Casting down arguments... 22:37 Or King James says imaginations. 22:40 ...and every high thing that exalts itself against 22:43 the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every 22:46 thought to the obedience of Christ;... 22:48 You know, this happens all the time. 22:50 Our thoughts are constantly pulled in a 22:53 myriad of directions. 22:54 You're having prayer in the morning. 22:56 Lord Jesus I thank You for today. 22:57 I give You my life. 22:59 BOOM! Jill, you didn't send so-and-so an email. 23:01 Where'd that thought come from? 23:03 Okay, Lord, I'm getting back. 23:05 BOOM! Another thought comes in. 23:07 Those thoughts constantly bombard us. 23:09 And we have a choice at that moment, 23:11 God I'm giving You my thoughts; redirecting the mind, 23:15 bringing the thoughts back to Jesus, replacing a negative 23:19 thought with a positive, replacing a negative 23:22 thought with Scripture. 23:24 They overcame him by blood of the Lamb, and the word of their 23:27 testimony, and they loved not their lives to the death. 23:30 Or with a Psalm. Second thing is words. 23:33 Choose our words carefully. 23:35 Mollie, you quote this a lot. 23:36 Ephesians 4:29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of 23:41 your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, 23:43 that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 23:46 Choose the words that you speak. 23:49 Psalm 141:3. I pray this almost every morning 23:53 cause I really need it. 23:55 I can speak sometimes before I think. 23:59 It says, Lord, set a watch over my mouth; 24:04 keep the door of my lips. 24:06 God guard me in that. 24:08 Then we don't have time for those addictions and habits, 24:11 but look up Romans 4:12. 24:14 The word of God transforms us. 24:17 2 Corinthians 3:18. Spend time beholding Jesus. 24:22 Romans 12:1, 2. Let Him transform you by the 24:27 renewing of your mind. 24:28 So what God wants to do, I think, in a special way, 24:32 as we put to death the old man, the old man of sin, 24:35 really it comes down to that surrender; 24:38 making a choice for Jesus. 24:40 And then it's not me gritting my teeth, or me trying harder. 24:43 It's allowing God, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to fill me 24:48 with His grace, with His goodness, and to change me 24:52 from the inside out. 24:53 Excellent, and thank God for His grace. 24:56 You know, my portion of Scripture is Tuesday. 25:00 I'm going to start with Romans 6:14. 25:03 And what Tuesday is entitled is, Not Under Law, But Under Grace. 25:08 What Jill was talking about: Not Under Law, But Under Grace. 25:13 Romans 6:14. For sin shall not have... Miss Jill was teaching. 25:19 ...dominion over me:... Rule over me. 25:22 ...for you are not under law, but under grace. 25:26 What does that mean, you're not under law but under grace? 25:32 Does that mean that we no longer are responsible to obey the law, 25:37 because the law has been replaced by grace? 25:40 You know, some would say that's what it means. 25:44 Some would say that because we're under grace we no longer 25:49 have to keep the law. 25:52 I want to look at that. 25:54 And we're talking about the moral law of God, 25:57 the Ten Commandment law. 25:58 You see, it's a sin issue when someone would reject that moral 26:07 law of God and say, No, we're under grace! 26:09 It's a sin issue. Quite often when you find someone holding 26:15 tenaciously to error, it's because that error allows them 26:20 to sin, whereas the truth renounces 26:25 and calls sin what it is. 26:27 You see, men love darkness rather than light. Why? 26:33 Because their deeds are evil. 26:36 So let's look at what sin is. 26:39 1 John 3:4. Whosoever committeth sin transgresses also the law. 26:47 For sin is the transgression of the law. 26:50 So do away with the law. Hey, what? No sin. 26:52 Now why do men love darkness rather than light? 26:57 Because their deeds are evil. 26:58 It's a sin issue. If we break God's law by sinning... 27:05 Think about this... then we come under the law. 27:09 It's over us. It has a claim on our life. 27:14 Now what makes the law have a claim on our life? 27:17 It's when we sin that law comes over us, 27:21 because we have broken the law. 27:23 It's if I'm riding down the road going 80 miles an hour, 27:27 I've broken the law. 27:29 Do you know the police can pull me over and give me a ticket? 27:33 And the last time I knew anything about 27:35 this they cost $75.00. 27:37 But as long as I'm going 60 miles an hour, do you know that 27:42 law has no dominion over me. 27:45 Do I make a parallel here? 27:47 It is only those who keep the law that are not under the law. 27:53 Think about that. If you keep the law 27:55 you're not under the law. 27:57 It has no claim over your life if you keep the law. 28:01 Romans 4:15 tells us, where no law is, 28:05 there is no transgression. 28:06 Matthew 5:17. Do not think that I have come 28:12 to destroy the law,... Who's saying this? 28:14 Whose words are these? 28:15 Jesus says, Don't you think that I've come to destroy the law, 28:20 or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 28:25 Now I want to make some statements. 28:27 Jesus didn't come to set us free from the law. 28:32 He came to free us from sin. 28:35 He didn't come to set us free from the law. 28:39 He came to set us free from sin. 28:41 He didn't need to free us from the law, because the law never 28:46 put us in bondage in the first place. 28:48 You don't need to be freed for something 28:50 you're not in bondage to. 28:52 Sin puts you in bondage. 28:55 You need to be freed from sin not the law. 28:58 Do you, are you catching the parallel here? 29:01 Our freedom in Christ is freedom from sin, not freedom to ignore 29:08 the holiness of God, nor the freedom to ignore 29:11 the Ten Commandments. 29:13 See, the holiness of God, when you start talking about being 29:16 holy for He is holy, then there's, Yeah, you're trying to 29:20 bring us into bondage. 29:21 No! Christ never freed us from the holiness of God. 29:26 We have been predestined to be conformed to what? 29:30 To the very image of the Lord Jesus Christ. 29:33 That does not mean externally. 29:35 None of... Jill, you are never going to look like the person 29:40 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 29:41 We have been predestined to be conformed to the image 29:45 of the Lord Jesus Christ on the inside. 29:48 What is Christ? He is holiness. 29:51 And so we are to be conformed internally into the image and 29:56 likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ; 29:58 to have that holiness at work within us. 30:00 Adhering to the moral law, the Ten Commandments don't make 30:06 you a legalist, or bring you into bondage. 30:10 Adhering to the moral law of God is liberating. 30:14 It frees you from bondage. 30:17 Remember, Jesus didn't come to free us from the law, 30:21 because you don't need to be freed from something 30:25 you're not in bondage to. 30:27 What we are in bondage to is sin. 30:30 Christ came to free us from sin. 30:34 Grace doesn't do away with the moral law of God. 30:37 Grace is God's unmerited pardon of our sins, making it possible 30:43 for us to be obedient, through the Holy Spirit that is given 30:49 to those that obey God's commandments. 30:52 Ephesians 2:8. For by grace you have been saved... through what? 30:59 ...through faith; and that not of yourselves: 31:02 it is the gift of God:... What does it go on to say? 31:05 ...Not of works, lest any man should boast. 31:08 Now I want to give us two sets of Scriptures. 31:11 Well, first I want us to look at John 14:15. 31:17 And I know we have... 31:19 We know this one by heart, don't we? 31:20 We should! John 14:15, and then I'm going to have you 31:24 look in 1 John 2:3, 4. 31:28 What does John 14, 15 say? 31:31 If you love me keep My commandments. 31:35 Well, how many of you love the Lord Jesus Christ? 31:37 It doesn't say if you love Me have the ewie gooies, 31:41 and feel all tingly on the inside. 31:43 If you love Me pay your tithes every Sabbath morning. 31:48 We need to pay our tithes. 31:49 But that's not what the Scripture says proves 31:52 that you love the Lord. 31:54 That could be if you think, Oh if I pay my tithes that's proof 31:58 that I love the Lord. 31:59 Then that could be like trying to buy your way into heaven. 32:02 No, if you love Me do something: keep My commandments. 32:06 And then 1 John 2:3, 4. 32:08 And hereby we do know that we... Pardon me. 32:13 Yes, I said it right. 32:14 And hereby we do know that we know Him if we... what? 32:19 If we keep His commandments. 32:22 He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, 32:25 is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 32:28 So if you love Me, keep My commandments. 32:31 Now that we have cleared up that the law brings us liberty, 32:38 that the law doesn't bring us into bondage. 32:41 The law never put anyone into bondage. 32:44 The law brings us liberty. 32:46 It's sin that puts you into bondage. 32:48 There is a law... Now we're talking about the 32:51 Ten Commandment law. 32:52 The moral law of God doesn't bring you into bondage. 32:54 There is a law that we've been freed from. 32:57 And I think I'm sure everybody here has already used this 33:00 Scripture, but I'm going to use it again. 33:02 That would be Romans 8:1, 2. 33:04 So run over to Romans 8:1, 2. 33:07 And that Scripture says, There is therefore now no condemnation 33:13 to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the 33:17 flesh, but after the Spirit. 33:20 Now here's Verse 2. 33:23 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me 33:29 free from the law of sin and death. 33:32 You have been set free from the law of sin and death. 33:34 See, before you made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, 33:37 you were under the law of sin and death. 33:40 Sin had dominion over you. 33:42 The law of death had you captive. 33:46 But when you made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life you came 33:49 out of darkness and into light. 33:51 Then the law of the Spirit of life... This is the law 33:54 that you're under now. 33:55 The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets you free from 34:00 the law of sin and death. 34:02 The Ten Commandment law of God was in effect before it was 34:06 written by God Himself on the tablets of stone at Mount Sinai. 34:11 Its always been in effect. 34:13 Its in effect currently. 34:15 It will always be in effect. 34:17 You're not set free from that. 34:19 That law gives you freedom and liberty. 34:22 But that law of sin and death no longer has dominion over you 34:27 through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 34:29 Sister Shelley. Amen! Well, done Mollie Sue. 34:31 I'm going to go a totally different way than I'd planned 34:35 to go on this, because I just have to touch on this. 34:37 My lesson is Wednesday's lesson, Sin or Obedience. 34:44 We're talking about overcoming sin. 34:46 But Romans 6 is so rich, and it is so meaningful to me. 34:51 And let me share why. 34:52 I've been baptized four times. 34:54 The first three times it was hell insurance. 34:56 In other words, I was taught that if I wasn't baptized just 35:00 right I'd go to hell. 35:02 So I'd get dunked, is what I call it. 35:05 I mean, seriously, I'd get dunked. 35:07 But then one day I was reading Romans 6, and I understood 35:13 what the meaning of baptism was. 35:15 That it was symbolic. 35:17 But Paul says that when we were baptized into Christ, 35:22 we were baptized into His death. 35:24 It says in Verse 3, that we came up; we were buried with 35:28 Him through baptism. 35:29 That means we were baptized into His death, and we came up 35:33 in the likeness of His resurrection; that we would 35:36 walk in newness of life. 35:38 And he says if we'd been united... In Verse 5. 35:41 ...together in the likeness of His death, so will we be united 35:44 in the likeness of His life. 35:46 So he goes on in Verse 6 saying, ... our old man was crucified... 35:50 ...the body of sin that might be done away with,... 35:52 And he says that we buried it. 35:55 Now when I understood that, Kenny, 36:00 I surrendered to the Lord, and I understood that I was to die 36:05 to self and be raised. 36:08 And then I was re-baptized to show that this is what, 36:12 you know, it's just symbolically showing what God has done in me. 36:16 That's what baptism is all about. 36:18 Well, now as Jill brought out, it... 36:22 Well, let me look at Verse 10. 36:24 He says, the death that Christ died, He died to sin once 36:28 and for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 36:31 So sin was dethroned. 36:33 We're talking about sin reigning. 36:35 And sin was dethroned. 36:38 And then he says, reckon yourself also dead to sin,... 36:42 And Verse 11, and he says in 12, Do not let sin reign in your 36:47 mortal body that you should obey it in its lusts. 36:51 We're not supposed to let sin... I mean we've got a choice. 36:55 There's two contending masters: there's sin, 36:59 and there's righteousness. 37:00 There's two contending masters. 37:02 And God has given us the power of choice. 37:05 He goes on in Verse, let's start with Verse 15, 37:11 Romans 6:15. What then? shall we sin, because we're not under 37:16 law, but under grace? Certainly not. 37:19 Now Verse 16. Here's where my lesson comes in. 37:21 Do you not know that to whom you present yourself, 37:25 to whom you yield yourself slaves to obey, you are that 37:31 ones slaves whom you obey. 37:34 Let me stop right there. 37:35 The Romans understood the slave market. 37:39 The majority of Romans were slaves. 37:41 Over 50% were slaves. 37:43 But what they understood about the slave market is when you 37:47 were ransomed, when you went to another master, 37:51 the former master had no dominion over you. 37:54 The former master had no say over you. 37:58 So he's saying, Do you not know that to whom... 38:01 And, oh, by the way, they could either be slaves because they 38:06 were prisoners of war, or because it was voluntary. 38:09 It was kind of like an indentured household servant 38:12 to pay off a debt or something. 38:14 So Paul says, Hey, you've got a choice of masters here. 38:20 You're supposed to have died. 38:21 And you know what the problem is? 38:23 A lot of people... How can you say this?... when they are 38:30 buried in baptism, the problem is they were buried alive. 38:35 They didn't surrender. 38:37 So they didn't even say, Lord, let me die to self. 38:41 So if self is still, you know, comes back up on the throne 38:46 every now and then, that's our problem. 38:48 So Verse 16. Do you not know that to whom you present 38:52 yourself slaves to obey, you are that one's slave whom you 38:57 obey; whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience 39:02 leading to righteousness. 39:04 But we all know that sin leads to death. 39:06 I mean sin is a cruel taskmaster. 39:09 And he pays the wages of death. 39:12 Now God is not. God doesn't pay us wages. 39:16 God gives us the gift, right, of eternal life. 39:19 But I remember seeing this, and I said, What do you mean 39:23 obedience leading to righteousness? 39:25 We're talking about righteousness by faith. 39:28 How can you say that obedience leads to righteousness? 39:32 Well, let's turn to 1 John 3:7, cause here's the answer to that. 39:36 Because, you know, sometimes people think when we're 39:38 righteous by faith that we don't have to worry about obeying. 39:42 Well, then that means we'll be sinning, which leads to death. 39:46 But Paul says, Or obedience, leading to righteousness. 39:49 And in 1 John 3:7 here's what John says: Little children, 39:53 let no one deceive you: he who practices righteousness is 40:01 righteous, just as He, Christ, is righteous. 40:06 In other words, when you have died to sin, when you've said, 40:11 Lord, I'm ready to bury my old life with You, and come up to 40:15 newness of life; bury my past, come up to newness of life, 40:20 so that I can walk with You. 40:22 Then what we have to know is that we've been made righteous. 40:28 I mean God declares us righteous. 40:30 That's justification by faith. 40:32 But sanctification by faith, Christ, as you so aptly put, 40:38 Pastor Murray, is that we are sanctified. 40:44 Christ is our sanctification. 40:45 1 Corinthians 1:30. He is our wisdom from God, 40:48 our sanctification, and our reconciliation, our redemption. 40:51 He's everything! Right? 40:52 So we're sanctified by His blood. 40:54 We're sanctified by His body. 40:55 We're sanctified. But the Holy Spirit, we are sanctified by the 41:01 Holy Spirit unto obedience. 41:03 And so as the Holy Spirit is working in our heart, 41:08 as Christ is living in our heart by faith, do you think for one 41:12 minute the Spirit's saying, Oh, Mollie, we don't care if 41:16 you commit adultery. 41:17 Go ahead. Jesus and I don't care. 41:20 Just go do it! No, the whole idea is that God is working in 41:25 you, Philippians 2:12, 13, to will and to 41:29 do His good pleasure. 41:31 And Philippians 1:6, that He will complete the good work 41:35 that He has begun in you. 41:36 So he goes on then in Verse 17, Romans 6:17, But God be thanked 41:47 that though you were once slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the 41:52 heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 41:56 I don't know how this has ever happened, 41:59 but somehow people have this idea. 42:02 Many people I hear say, Oh, don't talk to me about doctrine. 42:06 I don't even want to hear the word doctrine. 42:08 Doctrine simply means the teaching of 42:11 the Bible; the truth. 42:13 The reason I joined the Seventh-day Adventist church 42:15 is because they teach more Bible doctrines, more Bible truth, 42:20 than any other church that I've ever found. 42:23 And it was everything that, as I studied independently, 42:26 everything God was teaching me from the Scriptures, 42:29 it was like... I found out Adventists believed that. 42:33 Wow! It was exciting. 42:34 But we should be obeying from the heart. 42:42 We're in covenant relationship with God. 42:45 We've been saved by grace through faith. 42:48 And He wants us to express our covenant loyalty to Him. 42:55 And when we do that it is an expression of love, and loyalty 43:00 to Him when we walk in obedience; 43:04 when we choose to walk in obedience to the correct 43:08 doctrine, not the traditions of men, but the form of doctrine 43:12 that was delivered in the Scriptures. 43:14 And then he goes on in Verse 18 and says, And having been set 43:18 free from sin you become slaves of righteousness. 43:25 We can either yield to sin or yield to righteousness. 43:30 Let me give you this Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. 43:39 Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit 43:43 who is in you, and you are not your own? 43:47 For you were bought at a price: therefore... 43:51 And what was the price? 43:53 The price to pay your redemption, to free you from 43:57 the slave market of sin was the blood of Jesus Christ. 44:01 And he says, Therefore glorify God in your body, 44:06 and in your Spirit, which are God's. 44:08 Sin or obedience, there's definitely obedience that is 44:14 empowered by grace is what God expects of us, 44:20 and what God empowers us to do. 44:23 Amen, well put, well put, Praise the Lord! 44:27 Thursday's lesson. We get right into Thursday's lesson. 44:30 I like the title of it. 44:33 It's Free From Sin. 44:35 It's what I think we've all been talking about here: 44:37 Free From Sin, and how this takes place in our life. 44:40 And we found out there's only one way that we can be is 44:43 through the blood of Jesus Christ. 44:45 But does free really mean free? 44:48 Now that's the problem. 44:50 You can say free, you know, and then I think I saw an 44:54 advertisement one time where a little girl said, what was it? 44:57 Lemonade or something on a sign... Was it a buck? 45:00 A dollar, and then when he went to get it she said it was $2.00 45:03 and whatever, some odd cents. 45:05 He said, No, you said a buck on here. 45:07 Yeah, but you've got to put this in and that in, and kind of like 45:10 your phone, you know, all the little taxes, and all the little 45:12 da-da-da-da-da-da-! 45:14 So is free really that kind of a word? 45:17 You know, free actually means, when it comes to Christ 45:21 and the promises He's made, when He says it's free, 45:23 it is free, it is a gift. 45:25 And so it says, keep in mind what we have studied 45:28 so far in Romans 6. 45:29 So it's kind of a wrap up of Romans 6; everyone's passages 45:33 that they have read; how they would bear fruit in our 45:36 hearts and our lives. 45:38 Just read them. Accept them by faith. 45:39 Let the Holy Spirit live them out there in our life. 45:42 Romans 6:19. If you have your Bibles you want to 45:46 turn there quickly. 45:47 Maybe this has been read, I think maybe a time or two. 45:50 But let's read Romans 6:19-22, Romans 6:19-22. 45:57 It says, I speak after the manner of men because of the 46:01 infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members 46:05 servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; 46:09 even so now yield your members servants to 46:12 righteousness unto holiness. 46:14 For when you were the servants of sin, you were free 46:18 from righteousness. 46:19 It's interesting. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof 46:24 ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. 46:27 He's starting to bring it down now so we understand it. 46:31 But now being made free from sin, and become servants of God, 46:35 ye have your fruit... Notice this. 46:37 ...unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 46:40 And, of course, Verse 23: For the wages of sin... 46:43 And we've, everyone says it certainly is death. 46:45 But I always, I like the other. 46:47 Without that I'm having problems. 46:49 I've heard that one quite a bit, you know, 46:52 The wages of sin is death. 46:54 There's death. But I like the praise God on there. 46:57 But the gift of God is eternal life through 46:59 Jesus Christ our Lord. 47:01 So what is Paul really saying here to condense it kind of 47:04 down for our thinking? 47:06 Paul's speaking to the human nature. 47:08 He's speaking to the people there, 47:10 I want to say in the church. 47:12 He's wanting to speak to the body of Christ. 47:14 And he speaks to the physical, he speaks to the mental, 47:18 he speaks to the Spiritual. 47:20 So he's addressing all aspects here. 47:22 But notice what he's addressing. 47:24 Not necessarily the victories, he's addressing 47:27 weaknesses to start with. 47:28 These are some weaknesses. 47:30 And so he's talking to the weaknesses. 47:32 He said, You have become... Now I don't know if you'd like 47:34 to have these kind of sermons or not. 47:36 The preacher get up and say, You guys are just, you know, 47:37 you're servants of sin. 47:39 You're just all doing the wrong things here. 47:42 You're in bondage and lawlessness, and whatever 47:45 it might be, impurity. 47:46 But then what does he do? 47:48 I like the way Paul addressed this. 47:50 He urges the Christians there, the people, he urges them to 47:55 put as much effort into doing the right thing 47:58 as they have put an effort into doing the wrong thing. 48:02 You know, some time you do the wrong things you have to put 48:04 forth a little bit of effort. 48:06 And so he's encouraging them to switch it around and put effort 48:09 into doing the right things. 48:10 He wants them to be holy as He is holy; as the Lord is holy, 48:16 and walk in sanctification. 48:18 And we've talked about it several times... 48:20 And those of you at home. 48:22 We've been over the issue a lot, but it's good to realize that 48:24 sanctification is a continuous process we've talked about. 48:29 It's an ongoing process. 48:31 And, you know, the Bible talks about perfection. 48:35 It talks about first the blade, then the ear, 48:37 and then the full corn. 48:39 And somebody said, Well, no, cause, you've got to have 48:42 the full corn before you're perfect. 48:43 I asked, The question is when that first little blade comes up 48:46 is it perfect in that stage? 48:48 Absolutely! Absolutely! It is. 48:50 The second stage it comes up, if there's three stages. 48:53 Is it perfect in that stage? 48:54 Yes it is. It's not an ear of corn yet. 48:56 It lacks an awful lot. 48:58 But for what you understand, and what you're putting into 49:01 your life, and you've surrendered all to Christ, 49:03 and you're covered by His blood; and then 49:05 certainly the full corn. 49:07 And so, you know, I've always liked that. 49:09 Physical, mental, spiritual, it's talking about here. 49:12 And to me the reason is God wants to restore me the way 49:18 that He created man in the beginning. Yes. 49:20 I want that, and that has to make sense to us. 49:22 This is what is perfection of character. 49:25 This is what's being like our Heavenly Father.. 49:27 This is why Matthew 5:48, Be ye perfect as your Father which 49:31 art in Heaven is perfect. 49:32 You know, I, to be honest with you, it just kind 49:34 of gets all over me. 49:36 Somebody gets up and says, I know how it reads, 49:38 but it doesn't mean that. 49:39 You know, I can't wait to get up and say it does read that way, 49:42 and that's exactly what it means, and it has the Bible 49:43 that can back it up. 49:45 And I can use the Spirit of Prophecy on this 49:46 passage right here to say that's exactly what it means. 49:49 It says we can be as perfect in our sphere as God is in His. 49:54 That's pretty... that's heavy duty. 49:57 You know, and it's not that I'm trying to claim holiness. 49:59 But that's... We either look at those and we throw those out, 50:02 and if we threw it out we throw out one of the identifying marks 50:05 of God's last day church. 50:06 None of us want to do that. 50:07 So maybe we have to look a little closer than maybe we 50:10 have looked before as what does God require of me. 50:13 Yes. You know, unless we have His character, unless we are 50:17 like Him, when His character is fully reproduced 50:21 in us He will come. 50:23 That's what's holding it. 50:24 And I've often said it's not the Sunday Laws, 50:26 even though they're coming. 50:27 You know, it's not this, it's not that, 50:29 and blaming everybody else. 50:30 It's because our characters are not what they need to be 50:33 to repopulate heaven. 50:35 You know, in my studies, it's just always in my mind 50:37 we have to be righteous and holy. 50:39 In other words no longer I but Christ. 50:42 Why did Paul say that? 50:43 No longer I, you know, no longer Christ. 50:45 No longer my mind but His mind. 50:46 I tell the Lord every day, I am not capable to make one 50:50 decision on my own. 50:52 I am not capable, and I don't want to. 50:54 I don't know the beginning and the end, and I want You to make 50:56 those decisions for me. 50:58 I'll read this right here. 50:59 It's from The Great Controversy, 470. 51:01 It talks about sanctification and it continues the process, 51:05 developing day by day the physical, mental, 51:07 and spiritual powers... Notice. 51:09 ...until... I just talked about it. 51:10 ...until the image of God in that which we were originally 51:15 created is restored in us. 51:17 It's an ongoing. But there will be a people at the end of time. 51:22 You know, people love to talk about the 144,000. Praise God! 51:25 Because they will be without fault. 51:27 They will be without sin. 51:28 And they will be without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. 51:30 It's the idea of, and we're told we need to pray 51:33 to be in that number. 51:35 We need to pray to be in that number. 51:36 And some people, well, they don't want to talk about it, 51:39 and they don't want to do it. 51:40 But free, I like that. 51:41 Signs of the Time, 3, Page 30, says the Only Begotten 51:47 Son of God came to our world as a man to reveal to the world 51:51 the fact that men, through divine power, 51:55 could keep the law of God. 51:57 So what does that mean? 51:58 By divine strength. 52:00 Nothing we have. We can't do it. 52:02 It's all God. It's all Him. 52:05 But what? Jesus proved it could be kept. 52:08 He had no edge on us, and that is His example for us. 52:11 So if we think we're fudging a little bit here, and a little 52:14 bit there, we're not going to match up here and there. 52:16 We've got some problems. 52:17 Because Divinity living in me, Christ in me... 52:20 Somebody was getting ready to... Was it John 15, 52:24 the Divine and the Branch? Yes. 52:27 You know, when you look at that, really you think about it, 52:29 Divine and the Branch. 52:30 If we are really connected to that vine, the only way that we 52:34 can produce and be is like that. 52:35 We're the branch, right? coming out. 52:37 We have to be exactly like that vine is, that main stalk. 52:40 So these are things that we need to really look at, 52:44 and to think about. 52:45 Another one here, Review and Herald, 308 says: Through Him 52:49 comes power by which the character may be reshaped, 52:52 the soul renewed to bear the moral image of God. 52:57 What is the plan? What is the plan? 53:01 Think about it. You know you say our message is what? 53:04 the three angels' message, Give glory to Him. 53:06 I've had people say, Well, how do we give glory to Him? Huh? 53:09 By rightly representing Him. 53:11 By showing His character to the world is how 53:14 we give glory to Him. 53:16 And the pastor was talking about before all of the hereditary, 53:21 and all the other things, and all of the problems we have, 53:23 victory is assured to each and every one of us. 53:26 Christ redeemed man, The Signs of the Times, 4, 528. 53:30 Christ redeemed man from the condemnation of the law, 53:34 we've been talking about here. 53:35 Notice why: And imparted divine power. 53:38 And through man's cooperation the sinner could be restored 53:43 to his lost estate. 53:44 Amen! So these go on and on, and hundreds of them. 53:47 You know Bible passages; I'm like you, 53:49 I write them in my Bible. 53:51 You know, when it says free from sin, dead to sin, 53:53 and sin shall not rise up. 53:54 You know, and Jude talks about in there. 53:57 There's just hundreds of passages that indicate, 53:59 Praise God to us, that through Him, through giving our lives 54:04 to Him, dedicating to Him, justification by faith, 54:07 and walking sanctification, being obedient to God. 54:10 He's going to come back after a people 54:12 who's going to be like Him. 54:14 And I say, By God's grace let it happen. 54:16 And I know I need a lot of work. 54:18 And I'm praying for that work, you know. 54:20 And you know what? 54:21 You may be praying for it, too, some of you still at home. 54:23 Be praying because God wants to work that miracle 54:24 in you as well as me. 54:26 Amen, amen, and amen. 54:28 We've taken a look at a very important part of the Christian 54:32 walk, and that is overcoming sin. Yes. 54:35 If in this world we only have what we are involved, 54:38 we are the most miserable. 54:39 There's got to be something better than what we see now. 54:42 We are told in the Spirit of Prophecy that our lives ought 54:45 not be an endless round of sinning and repenting, 54:48 sinning and repenting. 54:49 That bespeaks that there can be victory in this life. 54:55 There can be overcoming power. 54:57 You can live above sin. 55:00 You know, there is something called the snake lion. 55:02 Have you heard that? 55:03 When you're climbing in altitudes, there's a certain 55:05 line above which snakes cannot live. 55:08 When you get up so high on a mountain you don't have to worry 55:11 about snakes anymore, because they only go up so high. 55:13 We can live above the snake line. 55:15 We can live above the line where snakes live. 55:18 We can live victoriously in Jesus. 55:21 And that is the wonderful thing about our life. 55:23 Now, we'll give you each just thirty seconds to run through 55:25 this quickly; sort of put a little bow on your own, 55:27 or something you heard today that moves you. 55:29 Let's start with Jill. 55:31 This quote is from Steps to Christ, Page 47. 55:33 What you need to understand is the true force of the will. 55:37 This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of 55:40 decision or of choice. 55:42 Everything depends on the right action of the will. 55:46 You can't change your heart. 55:47 You can't of yourself give to God its affections. 55:50 But you can choose to serve Him. 55:53 You give Him your will. 55:55 He will then work in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. 55:59 Amen! Amen, and Mollie. 56:00 And I just want to say that if God be for you, 56:03 who can be against you? 56:04 And that would be Romans 8:31. 56:07 We are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb, 56:09 and the word of our testimony. 56:11 No weapon formed against you can prosper. 56:13 You can overcome, and don't be shortsighted. 56:17 This isn't all there is. 56:18 There is a heaven to gain. Amen! 56:20 I just want to say that sanctification 56:22 is our gift from God. 56:26 It is something that He is working in us when we 56:28 we cooperate with Him. 56:30 And in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 Paul talks about how God will 56:36 establish us perfect in holiness. 56:39 And then he finishes. 56:40 I want to read this. 56:42 1 Corinthians 5:23 says: May the God of peace Himself sanctify 56:46 you completely, and make your whole spirit, soul, and body 56:49 be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 56:52 He who called you is faithful, who will also do it. 56:56 It's God's work as you cooperate with Him. 56:59 Amen. Just a life and death issue. 57:00 Just quickly say the very image of God is to be 57:03 reproduced in humanity. 57:04 The honor of God, and the honor of Christ is involved in the 57:08 perfection of the character of His people. 57:10 Amen! 2 Corinthians 2 says, God always leads us in 57:14 triumph in Jesus Christ. 57:16 When I look at myself, I don't see how I can be saved. 57:19 When I look at Jesus, I don't see how I can be lost. 57:22 God bless you! We'll see you again next week. 57:24 Come back and be with us. 57:26 There's so much more in this wonderful book of Romans. |
Revised 2024-07-09