[0:00] Open your Bibles to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, we'll begin at verse 5 and read through verse 14.
[0:13] Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires. But those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
[0:30] The mind of the sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God.
[0:44] It is not to submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
[0:56] You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
[1:11] But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
[1:23] And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit who lives in you.
[1:41] Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation. But it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die.
[1:55] But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
[2:10] We are in the midst of a study of Romans chapter 8 and we are seeing how the Apostle Paul is emphasizing the work of the Holy Spirit in our salvation.
[2:24] Some 20 times in this chapter he refers to the Holy Spirit. And sometimes we don't see the Spirit being as active and as involved in his work being just as necessary to save us as is the Father's work in giving his Son.
[2:44] And is the Son's work in giving his life for us. Well, we come to verses 12 and 13 this morning. Words that could be summarized by the Puritan John Owen in this way.
[3:04] Be killing sin or it will be killing you. Now, I invite you to have your Bibles open as we carefully consider these important words of God in Romans 8 verses 12 and 13.
[3:22] Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation. But it is not to the flesh to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.
[3:34] But if through the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. You will live. This is clearly a life and death matter.
[3:45] So we'll want to be sure to understand it. We have here a clear call to arms to be putting sin to death in our lives. And this is another evidence of those who are in Christ Jesus, verse 1.
[3:59] Of those who have no condemnation hanging over their head, verse 1. Of those who have the Holy Spirit living in them, verse 9. This is another mark of them.
[4:10] No true believer is at peace with sin. All are at war with it. Now, I have three points this morning.
[4:21] First, an obligation that you have. Secondly, our obligation clarified. And then thirdly, the two active agents involved.
[4:31] So, before calling us to be killing sin, we're first reminded of an obligation. An obligation that you have. Paul's use of the word therefore in verse 12 signals that he's drawing a conclusion from what he has just said thus far.
[4:51] And here's his conclusion, verse 12. Therefore, in light of what I've just said, brothers, we have an obligation. Notice it's for brothers.
[5:02] It's for those that have joined the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ. This is a word to you Christians. You who are in Christ.
[5:14] This is to you. We. Paul puts himself in the same category. We have an obligation. We have a duty. We have a debt that we owe.
[5:25] A responsibility that's incumbent upon us. Literally, the text says we are debtors. Debtors is what we are.
[5:37] It's part of our identity in the Christian life. It's not just something you should do, but it's something you are. You are a debtor. You're in debt. You say, well, I pay my debt.
[5:50] So tell me. Who do I owe? And what do I owe them? Well, first of all, we're told to whom we are not in debt.
[6:02] Notice he says this obligation is not to the flesh to live according to it. The flesh. That living anti-God principle that lives inside of us.
[6:18] That we're fighting against. Indwelling sin. Romans 7. The last part of Romans 7. Powerfully at work. That when I would do good, I find this other principle at work in my heart.
[6:29] It's that downward drag of depravity. Pulling us away from God and his laws. And so the first thing we need to know, brethren, is that. We are under no obligation to the flesh.
[6:44] To do what the flesh wants and demands. In Christ, the flesh has no valid claims upon you. You've been set free from its reign.
[6:55] Verse 2 told us that much. Consider, what has the flesh ever done for you? It's been the greatest source of all your troubles and misery.
[7:08] It's lied to you. It's deceived you as to what is best for you. It's blinded you to your own sin and guilt before God. It's blinded you to the beauty and glory of Jesus Christ.
[7:21] It's enabled you to be content to live without him. It was a ball and chain around your neck. Enslaving you to degrading passions and pleasures.
[7:32] It caused you to say and to do things which you are now ashamed of. And remember only with regret. It once controlled you.
[7:43] It once held you on the broad road that leads to destruction. And death and damnation under God's wrath. That's all the flesh ever did for you, believer.
[7:56] You don't owe it anything except hatred. And a cross on which to crucify it. It's done nothing, absolutely nothing, to obligate you to live according to its desires and dictates.
[8:09] Well, you say, well, if that's not the one to whom my obligation is to, then to whom is it due? And what is this obligation?
[8:23] Well, your obligation is to God. It's not stated. It's implied. But it's implied. And it's implied based on what he's just said.
[8:33] What God has done for you. Your obligation is to God the Father who sent his one and only son into the world and then condemned sin in him.
[8:45] Does that not make you feel something of an obligation toward God the Father? Your obligation is to God the Son. Because he willingly came to do the will of the Father and laid down his life for you.
[9:02] Took the wrath of God, the damnation that you deserve, so that there is no damnation for you who are in Christ Jesus. Does that not make you feel something of your debt and obligation to the Son of God?
[9:16] But your obligation is as well to God the Holy Spirit. I believe it is chiefly this that Paul has in mind. Since he is the one that he's in this chapter pointing to, how much we owe our salvation to what the Holy Spirit has done.
[9:32] Not just the Father and just the Son, but chapter 8 is highlighting for us, not exclusively, but especially the work of the Spirit in our salvation.
[9:43] So though Paul doesn't actually say our obligation is to the Holy Spirit, I believe it's clearly implied. You have an obligation.
[9:54] It's not to the flesh. Well, then who's it to? Well, we're going to see the Spirit is made mention of. And that's all we have to do is to see that this context is talking about the Holy Spirit.
[10:13] And so our obligation is to him. What we've seen thus far in our study of Romans 8 is that the Spirit and the flesh are constantly contrasted throughout the text.
[10:25] Verse 4, you who live not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. You don't set your minds on the flesh, but on the Spirit. The Spirit is life and peace, but the flesh is death.
[10:39] And so on and so forth. We've seen this contrast. And so when we hear this obligation is not to the flesh, we're to think, who is it to then? Well, it's to the Spirit that he is talking of.
[10:53] He's going to make that same contrast in the next verse, in verse 13. Flesh and Spirit. So your obligation is not to the flesh, to live according to it, but to the Holy Spirit and to live according to his desires and dictates.
[11:08] So set your mind on what the Spirit desires and live according to what he wants. Now just think of all that he has done for you that puts you in his debt.
[11:18] And we could think of many things that are not mentioned in the text, but in verse 2, it was the Spirit of life that sets you free from the power of sin and death. You were once its slave and the Holy Spirit sets you free from that.
[11:34] And so you're no longer slaves of sin. Verse 4 says that the Spirit, it's by the Spirit that you were enabled to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law because of the Spirit.
[11:46] And then in verse 9, the Spirit of God lives in you. Can I repeat that? Christian, the Spirit of God actually has made your body his temple, his home, stooping to live inside of you.
[12:03] So he's now the one who's come to take control of the house, no longer the flesh. He's a dethroned master, and now the Spirit has come to reign there.
[12:14] And he powerfully governs and leads you to a new life in Christ, a life like his, walking in the paths of righteousness, giving you new thoughts, new desires, a new direction to your will and the things you choose.
[12:30] This is why you're no longer hostile toward God, why you no longer will submit to God's law. Why? Because the Holy Spirit has come to dwell and has conquered you and is now controlling and directing you.
[12:45] And it's why you are guaranteed to rise again, because just as the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, so he will raise you, your mortal body, from the dead in the day of resurrection, to never die again, to never sin again.
[13:01] Therefore, brothers, therefore, in light of all of this that the Holy Spirit has done and will do, we are debtors.
[13:13] We have an obligation to the Holy Spirit to live according to his desires. Notice this important principle then. Your obligation grows out of your privileges.
[13:27] It's because the Holy Spirit has been so unbelievably good to you that you have an obligation to him. You were dead in sin when he made you alive.
[13:40] And he's come to live in you, to enable you to live this new life in Christ. What a privilege to be a home in which God, by his Spirit, dwells.
[13:54] And if he's stooped to live in you, then you are obligated to maintain a welcoming, holy atmosphere in your heart that he might feel at home there.
[14:07] He's a Holy Spirit. It's holiness that makes him feel at home there. That's the atmosphere that the Holy Spirit deserves. You'll want a clean house often.
[14:20] You'll want to get rid of the dust and dirt to take out the garbage to kill any spiders or rats of the flesh that lurk within. You'll want to silence all the jarring conflict within and be careful to avoid all that would offend or grieve him as he's come to live in your house, your heart.
[14:43] And rather, to fill the house with the good things that the Spirit desires and loves. You'll want to have the flowers of grace growing there, the aroma of Christ filling the place, furnishings of holiness, fresh air of communion with God, joyful music of praise and thanksgiving, fruit baskets ever full of love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
[15:13] And you'll want to serve him the best of food suited to his tastes and his desires, doing everything you do in a way that will please the Spirit. that's the debt that we owe to the Spirit for having come to live in us.
[15:31] Now every month the bills come to your home reminding you, well maybe you're on the automatic plan, I could never get used to that, but I still get bills in the mail and they remind me that I have a debt that because of goods and services that I have received, you see, privileges that have been given me.
[15:49] Now I have a debt, an obligation to send them some money. Even so, Paul is here putting us on notice and I believe this should not be a monthly thing we feel, it should be a daily thing we wake up to.
[16:06] I have an obligation today in light of what Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has done for me. I have a debt to pay today. I can never pay it off, but I have this obligation, an obligation because of the privileges of free grace, sovereign salvation from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[16:29] And the inward presence and work of the Holy Spirit has put us immensely in His debt. You see, He's not come to live within us in order to watch us reject His desires and to choose the desires of the old master, the flesh.
[16:44] He finds no pleasure in that. That grieves Him. How utterly ungrateful and inconsistent with the privilege of having Him come to live within our hearts.
[17:00] So everything about you is to bear the stamp of this obligation. I want to please the Spirit for having come to live in my heart. Appreciate the divine order of things here.
[17:14] Before Paul ever gets to the hard work of killing sin, he wants you to consider your privileges and to feel your obligation to the Spirit of God. That's important because in killing sin, God will tell you to do things that you never would do or could do without realizing, I have this obligation pressing upon me.
[17:36] I want to pay this debt and He's going to tell you to cut things out of your life that are as dear as your right eye, your right hand, your right foot. You'll never do that unless you have a sense of obligation to the Lord.
[17:53] And so no small motivation is needed for killing sin and just to run into the task of mortification without considering our privilege and our obligation is to run into the battle with insufficient ammunition and motivation to sustain us in the heat of the battle.
[18:14] So God grounds our duties, our obligations upon the gracious privileges that we have received freely from God the Spirit.
[18:24] So here there is motivation enough to stick with the fatiguing task of killing sin. So that's the fact that we have an obligation not to the flesh but to the Spirit.
[18:37] Secondly, your obligation clarified. What is this obligation? Put your sins to death. Now, Paul wants us to know this is an eternal life and death matter.
[18:53] Notice verse 13. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. That's the reality. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
[19:06] That's the reality. And all through this section we've seen that there are just two different kinds of people in the world today. There are those who walk according to the flesh and those who walk according to the Spirit.
[19:19] Who set their minds on the flesh, those who set their minds on the Spirit. Back and forth. It goes all through this section. And now we're being told there are only two destinies to which these two kinds of people go to.
[19:34] If you live according to the flesh, know this, you will die. It's the inevitable consequence of living according to the flesh. God has connected these two things together.
[19:45] Live according to the flesh, death. And not just physical death but the second death, that eternal separation from God in a place called hell. Some here are still following the flesh, living according to the flesh.
[20:01] That characterizes your life. Not what will please the Spirit. What does my flesh want? And you're feeding it and you're living for it. If you do not turn from it, you will die.
[20:13] That's the first reality that meets this in verse 13. But if you, and we would imagine it to be said, if you live by the Spirit, you will live.
[20:30] That's not what he says, is it? If you live according to the Spirit, you will live. That's true enough and he's already said as much in this chapter. But Paul is now going to clarify a bit further.
[20:40] What does it mean to live according to the Spirit? What does it mean that I have an obligation to the Spirit such that I'm to live according to what he desires?
[20:52] Well, here it is. If by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. That's what it means to live according to the Spirit. It means to put to death that which is contrary to him, the misdeeds of the body.
[21:07] Mortification of sin, killing sin, is no small part of your obligation to the Holy Spirit. He's holy and he wants his home to be holy.
[21:21] The promise of eternal life here, notice, only applies to those who put to death the misdeeds of the body. But no one think that he can live according to the flesh and have eternal life.
[21:35] There's so many today that don't just read verses 12 and 13 and come to that conclusion. But that's what the Holy Spirit through Paul is telling us.
[21:49] Now, killing sin is not the meritorious cause of eternal life. It's not like God says, oh wow, she's killing sin, she deserves eternal life.
[22:01] It's not the meritorious cause, it's the effect of salvation. It's because God has saved you that you now have the Spirit and the power to put sin to death.
[22:11] but everyone whom he has saved has the Spirit and will put to death the misdeeds of the body. It's the sure mark of those who are in Christ Jesus.
[22:22] Christ's atoning death has purchased for us the Holy Spirit sin-killing work in our lives. It's only if you put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live.
[22:33] so what does it mean then to put to death the misdeeds of the body? Well, the first thing to know is that the enemy is not the body but the flesh that uses your body.
[22:52] The flesh uses the parts of our bodies as its instruments to do its sinful deeds. It uses your mouth for instance. It uses your eyes and ears and your hands and feet and your mind and imaginations.
[23:10] That's the outward expression of the misdeeds of the body but behind it is the flesh you see that makes use of these things makes use of the body to serve its purposes.
[23:28] So Ukraine is fighting a war against Mr. Putin we could say. He's their real enemy that they're fighting against but they direct their attacks not directly on Mr. Putin but upon his instruments of war his tanks his ships his planes his troops and in destroying them they're gaining ground against him.
[23:56] even so the flesh is our real inward enemy it is warring against our soul 1 Peter chapter 2 tells us our fight is with the flesh but we cannot kill or eradicate the flesh but we can and must kill the misdeeds of the body by which the flesh expresses itself in other words the sinful things done with these hands whether they're pushing a mouse or controlling a phone we must kill the misdeeds of the hands the wanderings of our feet into forbidden paths the deceitful and unloving words of our mouths the pornographic images set before our eyes the gossip and filthy music that would stream into our ears the evil imaginations and attitudes of our minds these are the things that we must put to death the misdeeds of the body we attack the flesh by denying it the use of our body to do its deeds so again
[25:13] I ask what does it mean to put to death the misdeeds of the body well it means to put them to death to kill them to murder them to take their lives that's a graphic image isn't it it is meant to be there's no mercy here there's no truce there's no peaceful coexistence no compromise with the misdeeds of the body if you allow sin to live you will die because as long as it lives it lives to seek your death and damnation sin when it is finished brings forth death James 1 15 and that's why Owen says be killing sin or it will be killing you one or the other has to die and the other will live make sure it's not you that dies the only safe attitude to adopt towards sin then is to outright kill it anything that resists the control and the desires of the
[26:31] Holy Spirit is to be drug out of his home and stoned to death and that means when the desires of the flesh crave for revenge you don't gratify it and get even with somebody you flat out reject all such suggestions you don't you don't daydream about getting even you say no as soon as it the thought comes to mind and every time it comes back you say it louder you plant your flag you plant your foot you're not going there and you replace it with loving thoughts and prayers for those who have mistreated you it means at once to reject any suggestion any thought any desire to sin because to play with it to toy with the temptation to mull it around in your mind is to strengthen it and if you take one step with sin it's going to be harder to not take the second step do you know it's never easier to kill sin than the first risings of it but if you procrastinate the killing of sin it is gaining strength and power over you we must kill sin and do it at once there's more than one way to kill an enemy you know that but one of the oldest strategies of all and it's still being used today in the war in Ukraine is to starve your enemy the
[28:05] Babylonians did it to Jerusalem they besieged the city cut off all the supplies coming in and eventually they starved Mariupol surrounded cutting off all the supplies going in well that's one way the Bible talks about killing sin Romans chapter 13 verse 14 put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh no provisions for the desires of the flesh your flesh is hungry it wants food it wants things to feed it and the way to kill it is to starve it not to throw it so much as a bone a thought J.
[29:00] Adams paraphrases this verse no provision for the desires of the flesh don't buy groceries for the flesh if you want to kill it and you want to see it dead and stomped on and and lifeless then don't be buying groceries for it don't be making plans and doing things to feed it starve it now according to Jesus killing sin means being so serious that you will flee from the occasions to temptation as far as you were able you remember in Matthew 5 28 to 30 anyone who looks on a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart so what are you to do with temptations to sexual immorality you kill them you choke them you drown them you do radical surgery on the temptations to drag you down into them if your right eye causes you to sin cut it out
[30:09] Jesus said if your right hand is the cause of sin cut it off if your right foot is the thing of leading you into the path of sin cut it off better to go into heaven with one foot than to go into hell with two that's the words of Jesus the loving meek and mild Jesus and why does he say something so so drastic because he loves us and he knows that if we live according to the flesh we will go to hell but if through the spirit we put to death the misdeeds of the body we will live we will live what is he saying he's not teaching mutilation of the body I sadly heard of one man who who heard a very good preacher preaching on this text and he went home and cut out his eye that's not what Jesus means here what he is teaching is radical surgery in dealing with anything that causes you to sin you cut things out of your life that have proven to be powerful temptations that have tripped you and caused you to fall you take a different ride home you say well that that would take longer gas is expensive it's better to go into heaven with one eye than to go into hell with two
[31:45] Jesus says if what you're listening to the music you're listening to is tempting you to have immoral thoughts cut it out oh but but some of the songs have a good tune in it's life or death these are the words of Jesus these are the words of the apostle Paul the doctor says it's a malignant cancer you can leave it alone and you will die or you can cut it out and you will live and that's what Jesus is coming to us and saying to us in Matthew chapter five oh then take it out doctor kill it I want to live that's how serious we must be about putting to death the misdeeds of the body we do it in the arena of cancer why would we not do it for eternal life you know there's some animals that are hard to kill groundhogs raccoons there's some weeds that are hard to kill creeping
[32:56] Charlie what else that other weed on my yard crab grass yeah but there's nothing harder to kill than sin it dies a slow death it refuses to die it ever holds on to life it seems like the tap root goes right down to the very core of our being and dwelling sin is ever within us until we get home and see Jesus therefore there's something to be done daily for the killing of your sin you'll want to starve it every day you'll need a cross on which to kill it every day John Owen says give it new wounds every day sin is always active within you it goes on no vacation if you rest it advances and as you rest you'll find its wounds heal quickly and gain strength that's the second point you have an obligation and the obligation is to put to death the misdeeds of the body and then thirdly the last point is the two active agents involved in putting sin to death you see them both clearly stated in verse 13 the last part where he says but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body do you see it the spirit and you if sin is to be killed you must do it you put to death the misdeeds of the body
[34:37] Colossians 3 5 put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature you put it to death sexual immorality impurity lust evil desires greed which is idolatry because of these things the wrath of God is coming you put it to death in other words this is not something the Holy Spirit does instead of you while you sit back and just pray kill it kill it kill it no you put to death the misdeeds of the body the Holy Spirit was never given to be a substitute for your work your sin killing work he will J.I.
[35:23] Packer says the Holy Spirit will prosper your striving but he will not bless your sloth your laziness how easy it is to hide our laziness under some super spiritual attitude well I'll just pray and pray I can't do anything I'm weak the word is if you put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live this is your obligation this is your responsibility your debt something you must actively pursue not sitting back and waiting for some supposed help from the Holy Spirit put it to death Christian roll up your sleeves get your hands dirty in the work of murdering your sins pursuing its death vigorously as you would a wild animal that was trying to kill you because it is and though you must kill death you cannot I'm sorry though you must kill sin you cannot left to yourself the task exceeds mere human strength you know we could say
[36:30] I think couldn't we that Ukraine cannot match the fire power of Russia on its own if that's all she had is what she had she could never resist the fire power of Russia and so she's called in the worldwide help well you and I could no more defeat one sin in our lives and kill it based on our reserves and our determination and our will power and you know who knows that your heavenly father your Lord Jesus Christ that's why the father sent the son and the son sent the spirit because he knew you'd need help killing sin and so he sent him to your heart to be that supernatural power that supernaturalizes your life as
[37:34] Packer says or you wouldn't have a chance so who's to kill sin well there's two agents involved first you you must do it but secondly by the spirit if you through the spirit put to death the misdeeds of the body by the holy spirit you can put to death these misdeeds what encouragement this is in the lifelong work of killing sin this is not a war you cannot win Christian and the reason it's not a war you cannot win is because who's dwelling in you and the power of the holy spirit that is stronger than the flesh itself now understand that in the Bible the holy spirit and the Christian works simultaneously it's not like we go out and try to fight the first quarter of the game and then we poop out and we're tired so the holy spirit comes in and works the last three quarters no we can't take one step without the power of the holy spirit enabling us to fight against sin the two work simultaneously at the same time philippians 2 12 and 13 you believer work out your salvation with fear and trembling and as you do know this for it is
[39:00] God who is at work within you giving you both the will and the power to do what is pleasing to him you see I don't have the will power to kill sin I don't have the strength to kill sin ah but the Holy Spirit is at work within me to move my will to move my myself out in hatred for sin and to kill to kill it so fight on with confidence fight on with all your heart in it no matter how stubborn sin is no matter how ingrained you are in some bad habit no matter how interwoven it is with your temperamental weaknesses the Holy Spirit is active within you leading you from victory unto victory and killing sin he's no idle guest in the heart he's not just napping all day he's there to empower you to fight so fight on with confidence now how does the
[40:04] Holy Spirit do this well consider this other than a hit man who kills for money most murders are motivated by hatred so if you would murder sin you need to hate sin you need to hate it downright hate it did you know hatred is a virtue Bible speaks of it often you need it I need it to fight sin and the Holy Spirit lives within us to increase our hatred of sin have you considered that how does he do that well he reveals to us from the scripture and in our heart the exceeding sinfulness of our sins the ingratitude the arrogance of our sin the folly the wickedness of our sin the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and shows us how sinful exceedingly sinful sin is and then he shows us that our sins are against such great love in the father giving his only son for us
[41:07] I sin against his love in the son laying down his life for us I sin against his love in the Holy Spirit daring to take this heart and make it his home and my sin is a foul odor in his living room what am I doing oh I can hate sin more as the spirit reveals how I sin against God's love and it's the spirit who sheds abroad that love of God in my heart that makes me feel my debt and obligation to him and it's the spirit who reveals Christ to me in all of his loveliness and his glory and the more we love him the more we hate sin and it's the holy spirit who leads us to Calvary and he has his gaze upon him looking unto Jesus on the shameful and painful death of the cross and we see him suffering and groaning and we hear him crying out my
[42:11] God my God why have you forsaken me and the holy spirit awakens that answer in our hearts it's it was my sin that held him there my sin did this then may my sin die for having killed my savior the holy spirit is increasing our hatred for sin that's why the Lord supper is so important we come and we remember what Christ has done for us and seeing it we remember that he's redeemed us from all wickedness that he might have a people who are pure and holy he shed his blood not that I might swim in my sin but that I might kill it and drain its blood and so my hatred for sin grows as my love for the savior grows
[43:12] Charles Bridges says sin will live anywhere except under the cross of Christ and it's the Holy Spirit who reveals Christ crucified to us in clearer and clearer ways that make us feel our obligation to him so how do we kill sin you remember Jesus words to Peter and get so many watch and pray watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation the spirit is willing your spirit is willing but your flesh is weak so watch as if the outcome depended on you alone but pray as if it depended upon the Holy Spirit alone and if you won't watch don't bother to pray because you're just tempting God to think he will keep you from falling if you won't watch against temptation you saw what happened to Peter when he refused to pray and he fell you must both watch and pray don't expect help in any other way and to set a watch means like posting a guard a sentinel to keep your eye on the enemy to know what he's doing do you know what your flesh is up to in your life do you know where the temptations are maybe we need to deal with this more on
[44:39] Wednesday night our time is gone but we need to be aware of where this battle is raging for my soul that's part of watching setting a guard identify where you're being tempted by the flesh and where you're falling into sin and then to plan to kill it Packer says we plan harder for recreation than we do for righteousness my brethren that ought not to be putting sin to death is to be a premeditated murder of it or to think of how to kill it how often do we read in the gospels of the enemies of Jesus that they were planning to kill him plotting to kill him not during the Passover too many people where can we find him alone they're plotting they're thinking where is he when will he be alone and they're laying plans to kill my savior and if they plan to kill my savior and
[45:48] Lord should we not plan to kill what grieves him and what held him to the cross so we lay plans what do I need to cut out maybe there's something I just keep tripping over maybe getting that rock out of your path would keep you from falling think about it plan to cut out things that cause you to starve the flesh where am I feeding the flesh in this area of my life grow in the opposite virtue and grace of the Lord Jesus you know when a flower bed is full of flowers it doesn't have room for the weeds to grow and your soul is much like that that's why we're to walk in the spirit and we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh fill your life with the virtues of Christ grow in grace give yourself to the means of grace it's trying to kill you you lay your plan for killing it first and when you do make sure your plan has plenty of prayer for the help of the Holy Spirit plenty of God's word to set your mind on things above plenty of taking your sin to the cross of
[46:51] Christ to see what its true colors are plenty of bringing your sins to Jesus for the killing of them Lord I have tried and tried to kill this sin would you come and help me help me and if you're stuck we have brothers and sisters here that would love to come alongside you and pray with you that have found victory over sins that you might even not realize and in this way you can and will enjoy growing victory over sin looking forward to the day when you will see Jesus face to face and immediately be transformed into his likeness to sin no more well what a privilege is ours to have the sin killing spirit of God living in us though we are weak he the mighty God dwells within us enabling us to put sin to death and it's that privilege that feeds our obligation and our debt to him so Christian you who have no condemnation hanging over your head because you are in
[47:56] Christ Jesus you have an obligation to the Holy Spirit to live a holy life to keep his home in you unpolluted with the noxious errors of sin to not grieve him by using your body to bring about his dictates and desires but to kill every thought attitude word deed and habit that's contrary to his will and instead to present the parts of your body as instruments to serve righteousness that's what you were made for that's what Jesus died for that's why Jesus why the father gave you to Jesus that's why the Holy Spirit brought you from death to life to know and love and to glorify the triune God lost friend you have a real problem a real problem because you have the same sin producing flesh that we're fighting and you don't have anything to fight against it that's all you have is flesh your whole nature is sinful that's why you have a sinful nature that characterizes you you don't have the
[49:08] Holy Spirit to help you fight you don't have Christ to have been damned in your place so that there's no condemnation for you well you say what shall we do you know that's the exact question that the people in Acts chapter 2 asked Peter when they came aware of their sin and guilt that they had just killed the Lord's Messiah and he had raised him from the dead and set him on his throne and they would answer one day for his murder and they cried out men and brethren what shall we do you know what Peter didn't say he didn't say try harder to kill your sins maybe by doing some good things you can make up repent and be baptized every one of you for the forgiveness of sins and repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of
[50:17] Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit you see it's the answer for you is just to renounce this past way of living for the flesh and and to trust in Jesus Christ and be forgiven for your sins baptized to show what he's done for you and he will give you the Holy Spirit and then you'll have power beyond your own you know so many people delay coming to Christ you know why they think I could never live the Christian life and they're absolutely right it takes Christ it takes the spirit of Christ to live the Christian life and all they've ever known is the flesh and they look at the Christian life I could never do you're right so come to Christ receive the spirit of Christ and he will dwell in you and there'll be no condemnation for you and you'll have a power then by which to put to death the misdeeds of the body and live let's pray thank you father for the word of
[51:24] God that deals directly with our souls and our greatest need thank you for the way it exposes the real problem within us and shows us the only solution found in the gospel of Jesus Christ thank you Lord Jesus father for sending your son thank you Lord Jesus for dying for us thank you father and son for sending the Holy Spirit to all who trust in Christ that we might not only be forgiven our sins but also have freedom from sin we bless you we thank you make us to feel the obligation and make us daily to fight against sin we ask for your glory for our good in Jesus name amen