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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good morning, everyone. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all find our seats. Once you find a seat, go ahead grab a songbook. Turn to song number 66 for our first song. Song number 66 at Calvary. Let's all stand together for this first song, if you are able. Song number 66 at Calvary. Song number 66. All together nice and strong on that first verse. Years I spent in vanity and pride, caring not my Lord was crucified, knowing not it was for me he died on Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free, pardon there was multiply to me, there my burning soul found liberty at Calvary. By God's word at last my sin I learned, then I trembled at the law I'd spurned, till my guilty soul and glory turned to Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free, pardon there was multiply to me, there my burning soul found liberty at Calvary. Oh, the love that true salvation's planned, oh, the grace that brought it down to man. God did spend at Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free, pardon there was multiply to me, at Calvary. On the last, now I've given to Jesus everything, now I gladly own Him as my King, my raptured soul can only sing of Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free, pardon there was multiply to me, there my burning soul found liberty at Calvary. Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with the word of prayer. Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for giving us another day that we can come to your house, Lord, and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ here. And we thank you, Lord, for giving us again the opportunity to hear the preaching of your word. We just ask that you please bless the service this morning, every aspect of it, that you please bless the singing. And most of all, please fill Pastor Mihi with your spirit as he preaches that to us that we may leave here changed, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. You may be seated. Turn your songbooks to song number 148. Song number 148, Jesus Only, Jesus. Song number 148, all together on that first verse. I walk the path of pleasure, I toil for earthly treasure, but peace beyond all measure, I found in only Jesus. My sins are all forgiven, the chains of sin are riven, and all my heart is given to Jesus, only Jesus. My boasted goodness failed me, no cure for sin that hailed me, to leave my sins on Jesus. My sins are all forgiven, the chains of sin are riven, and all my heart is given to Jesus, only Jesus. God's Word I long resisted, His Spirit called, insisted, repenting, I enlisted, with Jesus, only Jesus. My sins are all forgiven, the chains of sin are riven, and all my heart is given to Jesus, only Jesus. O Christ, for love unceasing, for all my fears releasing, I praise and love my Jesus. My sins are all forgiven, the chains of sin are riven, and all my heart is given to Jesus, only Jesus. All right, great singing. Thank you so much for being here this morning. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Just a couple of announcements here before we sing our next song, which will be He Descended. If you did not get a song sheet, go ahead and raise your hand. One of the ushers can get one for you. This one is not in the hymn book, and so it's an extra sheet there. If you did not get a bulletin also, you can raise your hand. One of the ushers can get one for you as well. We have important information on there. Of course, our Sunday morning service is at 10 30 Sunday evening at 5 p.m. And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. We are currently going through the book of Matthew on Thursday evenings, so hope to see you there for that. You see there the First Works family nights summer schedule, and I'm going to go over that in just a bit, actually. Let me just cover these regular announcements here before we cover what else is going on for the family nights. Important reminders, please make sure that you are supervising your children in the building. No children should be in the mother baby room alone without their parents. And then, of course, no men allowed in the mother baby room or in the women's fellowship restroom. Please continue to pray for Miss Olivia Lee. And she's having some health complications. And so keep her in prayer as well as the baby. And just pray for her. Pray for brother John. And we'll keep you posted as we get more information on their condition. And then some of the upcoming church events tonight is the kids Olympics. And that'll be after the Sunday evening service. We're gonna have a great time. And it's probably like the highlight of the family night just to see all the kids competing, the tug of war and all that. And the parents get in the flesh. And it's a great sight to behold. And so I don't have all the details as far as what race is and the prizes. Brother Ulysses does. And so blame him for all of that if it doesn't go well. No, I'm just kidding. But it'll be after the service tonight. We'll give you all the instructions for the Sunday night announcements. So we're looking forward to that. We're also gonna have pizza tonight as well. And so hope to see you then. Holdfast is having a soul winning marathon on Saturday, August 12th. And of course, they're gonna be celebrating their anniversary. And we're taking the van as well as the church car to the marathon on Saturday. We're looking to be there at 10 o'clock for the preaching. Pastor Thompson is gonna be preaching there. And then the marathon continues thereafter. And so if you'd like to participate in that, you can see brother Ulysses Hernandez for more details. And then the ladies prayer breakfast is coming up on Saturday, August 12th. We also have one thing that's not on here is the bonfire on Saturday. And so Kids Olympics is tonight. I'm sorry, Friday. Excuse me. Kids Olympics is tonight. And then the church bonfire is on Friday. Okay, now it's kind of a casual setting, so it's not necessarily a specific time. But it's essentially towards the evening, late afternoon, early evening. Someone's gonna be there like at 3 o'clock in the morning to reserve our bonfire pits. And so don't let it be in vain, amen. Make sure you come and participate in that. We have a great time. I do want to give a disclaimer to make sure that you're careful if you're going swimming, especially if your kids are gonna be playing in the water. The waves are pretty rough and people got hurt last year. And so please make sure you just use caution and watch your kids. Don't let them just wander off into the ocean and play by the water. Make sure you're supervising your children and just be safe out there. And so if you're gonna participate in that, please make sure you sign up in the back. There's a sign up sheet there so we can get a head count. We're gonna provide food as well. And then there's also gonna be a map to the bonfire area. It's in Newport Beach, but it's in, it's called Balboa, the Balboa Peninsula. And so there'll be a part, a map there in the Usher Station if you want to know where that's at, all right. And if you have any other questions about that, you can see Brother Ulysses for more details. No food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee. No loitering in the four-year fellowship hall during the preaching service. And then of course, quiet time is this afternoon from 3 p.m. to 4.15. Throughout the whole building, please make sure you're not fellowshipping in the building throughout that time, okay. If you're in here, you gotta get a bite to eat. That's fine, but we're trying to keep it quiet and lights off. And if you want a fellowship, there's plenty of restaurants to go around. We're just trying to keep it quiet in here throughout that window of time. Just keep that in mind. And then please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service. And that is it for our announcements. Let's go and sing our next song, He Descended. He Descended as our third song. And for those of you who don't know, Pastor Mejia wrote this song, so everyone better sing really loud so you don't upset him. He Descended all together on that first verse. The Lamb of God was slain, a burnt offering became The keys of death and hell He took to ban me from its flame O death, where is thy seeing? It's been removed by Heaven's King This corn of wheat shall fall and die A new body shall spring He Descended, that I may rise He Descended, that I may rise He's the lowest gates of hell For my soul of sin dispelled Pains he fell, no one can tell That I may rise He Descended, that I may rise He Descended, that I may rise Three days, three nights in the heart of the earth That I may know the second birth He set aside joy and mirth That I may rise Through death my sin did scour O death and hell devoured Though in body I'm weak and frail I shall be raised in power My fame in this world cannot be found No praise, no glory, and no crown Forget my name, my God will blot it out He Descended, that I may rise He Descended, that I may rise He preached the lowest gates of hell For my soul of sin dispelled Pains he fell, no one can tell That I may rise He Descended, that I may rise He Descended, that I may rise Three days, three nights in the heart of the earth That I may know the second birth He set aside joy and mirth That I may rise Amen. Wonderful singing at this time. The ushers will come forth to receive the offering and you can turn your Bibles to Romans chapter number eight. Romans chapter number eight. Romans chapter number eight. Romans chapter number eight. Morning we're in Romans chapter chapter number eight. Romans chapter eight in Bible wreaths. There's now for no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it's not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his and if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness but if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh for if you live after the flesh you shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body you shall live for as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God but you've not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but you've received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba father the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ so be that we suffer with him that we may be glorified together but I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us for the earnest expectation of the creature wadeth for the manifestation of the sons of God for the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who have subjected the same in hope because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God where we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now and not only they but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body for we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for but if we hope for that we see not then do we with patience wait for it likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose for whom he did for know he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren moreover whom he did predestinate then he also called and whom he galled then he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified what shall we say then to these things if God be for us who can be against us he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather than is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword as it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord let's pray to the Lord God uh thank you for this uh chapter out of your word and uh just ask that you would be with our pastor now please strengthen him and fill him with your Holy Spirit and please just bless the preaching in Jesus name we pray amen amen okay we're in Romans chapter 8 this morning and the title of my sermon this morning is Romans 8 explained or another title can be the meat of Romans chapter number 8 Romans 8 is a great chapter and it's actually very much known amongst Christians specifically for verse 28 right and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose and it's a verse that I love using many Christians have loved to use especially when they're going through a difficult time they're going through tribulation they're suffering trials they're always reminded of Romans 8 28 and it's a great promise that God has given to us in his word to let us know that at the end of the day you know God the Bible tells us I know the thoughts that I think of you thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end and helps us to realize that our sufferings in this world tribulation in this world is not in vain that God can work out together all those bad elements per se and essentially bring them together to work something out good for us in the long term that's a great verse to use I've quoted many times throughout my Christian life but the reality is this is that the entire chapter is really good and there's actually a lot of good doctrine found in chapter eight and I feel like the whole chapter needs to be like a 28 for us where it's like we know what the chapter is specifically talking about what is it teaching and really in reality chapter eight is a chapter explaining to us the infirmity that we suffer this side of eternity okay and we think of the infirmities that we experience you know we've experienced adverse uh adversity at the hands of Satan right Satan is constantly attacking us he's the great enemy that we have working against us you think of the fact that we have the world constantly working against us the world's philosophy what the Bible refers to as the course of this world constantly working against us but the reality is this is that the greatest enemy that we face is not necessarily Satan isn't necessarily the world it's actually our flesh because our flesh is with us 24 7 days a week day in and day out you know Satan has his seasons where he comes and fights us and you know causes us to go through tribulation he attacks us he is constantly fighting against us the world is there but you know the reality is this is that we don't necessarily have to face the world day in and day out however the flesh is there all the time fighting against us trying to cause us to stumble and you know essentially causing us to disobey the Lord and and suffering defeat the side of eternity so really chapter eight that's what it's about it's talking about our flesh and of course when you go back a couple chapters to Roman six it teaches us how to defeat the flesh we go to chapter seven chapter seven the apostle Paul explains the infirmity that he suffers with his flesh and then chapter eight essentially gives us the solution to that now look at verse number one here it says here there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit now another reason this is important chapters because a lot of false prophets will actually use this chapter to teach false doctrine okay and the false doctrine that they try to use this chapter for of course they're twisting it is that essentially you can lose your salvation if you're walking in the flesh right that if you are serving the flesh if you're involved in sin if you're going after the flesh that essentially you'll suffer condemnation which is exactly what the verse is saying but it's not actually referring to salvation at all and in fact the reason why people you know at face value will look at a verse like this and say maybe this is referring to my salvation it's because of the term condemnation okay the kiddos are suffering today they're just they're having a hard time i feel like i hear like kids here hey but thank god for the kiddos in the church amen they just they just need to learn how to be in the service all right so try to block the i'll yell louder than them okay how about that i'll compete with them now the reason you know maybe at face value when you read this you think to yourself well isn't this referring to salvation it's because of the term condemnation and condemnation we automatically associate with damnation right damnation being hell you know eternal damnation eternal judgment and obviously there's instances in the bible when condemnation is referring to that you know you think of uh john chapter 5 verse 24 that says verily verily i say to you he that heareth my words and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life but there are other instances in the bible where the term condemnation is used and it's not referring to eternal damnation it's just referring to regular judgment you see christians because they're saved will never suffer eternal condemnation but that doesn't mean they won't suffer condemnation here in this world because condemnation simply means judgment and this is often a um this is often misconception amongst other christians about our doctrine they'll say oh you believe in one saved always saved you're basically saying that if you believe on jesus christ you can just live however you want and nothing will happen to you what are they saying you can live however you want and there will be no condemnation but the truth of the matter is there just won't be any eternal condemnation for the believer because we're eternally sealed in the hand of the father jesus said i give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand and it's like yeah but you can pluck yourself out of his hand neither shall any man we would include yourself as well okay pluck them out of my hand however the bible does teach that if you're involved in sin or as the bible also describes it if you're walking after the flesh you can suffer judgment at the hands of god okay god can judge you and punish you this side of eternity having nothing to do with your salvation but he can destroy your life and the reality is this is that you know in the christian life there are a lot of great incentives to serve god are there not a lot of great motivators in the christian life for example rewards you know rewards are a great incentive to serve god you know the bible also says that the love of christ constraineth us we go through seasons where we're more motivated by rewards than anything else then there's other seasons where we're motivated by the love of christ that constrains us to serve god but then there's seasons where we serve god because we fear the lord why do we fear god because we don't want him to judge us because maybe we're not necessarily as disciplined or spiritually minded as we should but our fear of god keeps us in line because we don't want god to destroy our lives and all of these are great incentives and i don't think there's only one that you should be driven by i believe that there's seasons within the christian life where you are incentivized to serve god based upon these factors rewards because you love the lord because of the fact you want to be judged by god or how about this you serve god because you love people you know the bible tells us there uh knowing therefore the terror of the lord we persuade men you know we don't want people to go to hell we want people to come to the saving knowledge of jesus christ and therefore we go out and preach the gospel because of the fact that we have compassion for the lost but there's not one motive or incentive for the christian life we got to use them all at its proper season in order to keep us in line and doing the things that we're supposed to do okay so here we see that he's saying there's no condemnation no judgment to them which are in christ jesus referring to save people right but then it goes on to say who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit so in other words for the christian who is fleshly carnally minded who is fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind there is a judgment for that person okay there is punishment there are consequences to be served and you know the bible says that he that sowed to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption so don't think to yourself well i'm a christian i'm a believer uh you know obviously i'm not going to hell so i can just kind of do whatever i want and not suffer consequences there's a lot of consequences to be served to the person who is feeding the flesh this side of eternity a lot of punishment to be distributed if you do so and you may think to yourself well i've been in the flesh perpetually i've been feeding the flesh perpetually and it seems as though there's no judgment upon my life well there's one of two reasons why one is you're not saved according to hebrew chapter 12 because bible says in hebrew chapter 12 whom the lord loveth he chases and scourges every son whom he receiveth so you know if you just are perpetually in sin and god doesn't judge you he's not punishing you and you can just kind of go unfettered living the way you want and and you're just living in sin and god's not punishing you for it well it could be that you're a bastard as the bible puts it because then the bible says then are you bastards and no sons okay or the second reason could be you are saved but god is just being merciful to you he's being gracious to you and the bible tells us that the goodness and forbearance of god leads us to repentance and so if you're involved in sin and you know you should be punished and you haven't been punished it could be god is just allowing that because he's giving you space to repent as the bible says in revelation chapter 2 he wants you to get right with god because he doesn't want to destroy your life you know god is not a god in heaven who just relishes and punishing his children he's just like i can't wait for them to slip up i can't wait for them to just disobey so i can just strike them down and destroy their lives no the bible says that he rejoices in being lovingly kind to his children so obviously he knows the extent of punishment that he can execute upon a believer therefore he gives you time to kind of get right to hear some preaching to read the word of god to come to your senses and be like you know what i i need to clean up my life i need to get right with god i have not yet been punished for my sin therefore it's time to get right before god does that and so he's saying here there's no condemnation to those who walk after the spirit if you're living a spirit-filled life where you're walking in the spirit you're not fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind you know you're not going to suffer punishment in this world okay if you are not involved in drunkenness and fornication and you know the the things of this world the things of the flesh you're not going to suffer punishment for it god is going to bless you for your obedience to his commands and you're going to enjoy life now keep in mind that this is implying that a christian can walk after the flesh so don't think to yourself well if a person is saved they're just never going to walk after the flesh well that's impossible because i want everyone right now to lift up holy hands right lift up your hands okay everyone everyone participate and look at your hands you know that's called it's called your flesh so for any christian to say well it's impossible to be for me to walk in the flesh you must be blind or something because you're literally embodied by the flesh you see the flesh are the members of our body and the members of our body as we're going to see in just a bit they desire it desires to sin it can't be subject to the law of god it can't obey god therefore this body needs to be led by the inward man the spirit in order to do right you understand so for a christian to say well you know once you're saved you're just never going to desire to sin he's either unsafe or he's just a complete liar he's just ignorant of the scriptures because of the fact that we live in this flesh and so therefore you know we're going to constantly battle the flesh and if that wasn't the case folks why is there so many commands in the bible to tell us to walk in the spirit not in the flesh if it just came naturally for us to walk in the spirit why would god have to tell us walk in the spirit i'll tell you why because it's not natural for us to walk in the spirit we have to actually put in an effort to do so a conscientious effort to read the word of god to ask god to fill us with the spirit to walk in the spirit now here's the thing is that the people who say this and quote this verse to try to get that point across having just completely ignored the previous chapter okay because look at verse number go to chapter seven and verse 15 this is the apostle paul speaking a very great christian we've learned so much from the apostle paul this guy is like he's a man okay but look what he says in verse 15 for that which i do i allow not for what i would that do i not but what i hate that do i now don't try to repeat that five times over fast but we basically get the gist of what he's saying right saying the things that i would i do not in other words the righteous things that i would like to do sometimes i don't do and the things that i hate to do sometimes i do those things what is he referring to he's referring to the battle of the flesh and the spirit he goes on to say in verse 16 if then i do that which i would not i consent unto the law that it is good now then it is no more i that do it but sin that dwelleth in me and it goes on to say for i know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good i find not so what is he saying he's not excusing his sin he's essentially saying at the end of the day when i sin the real me referring to the inward man isn't the one responsible for that sin it's the members of my body now he's not being you know he's not like a schizophrenic or anything like that he's essentially making the distinction between the old nature and the new nature okay which is important to do it doesn't excuse us of our sin it just helps us to have a better understanding of why we sin okay and the fact that we will always sin because of the fact that we have that old man he says in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing so if he is not walking in the spirit he's walking in the flesh he's going to do the things which he hates to do because of the fact that he's still embodied by the flesh okay he goes on to say in verse 19 for the good that i would i do not but the evil which i would not that i do how many of us have experienced that whereas just like today you're reading your bible you're in the spirit you're just having good thoughts you're you're dwelling with your wife according to knowledge you know you're referencing your husband you're just being a really good christian and then tomorrow you're just like you know someone cut you off on the freeway man i had some guy cut me off the other day and i was mad i got in the flesh i didn't cut him out or anything like that at least not here no i'm just kidding you know i had some i might have had some choice words in my mind to say for sure you know i was pretty upset and i thought to myself like i'm in the flesh right now you know you just you're just anger and wrath and malice you know and so you can have a great spiritual day one day and then completely crash the next you say what i do do i just throw in the towel and just give up no you just got to get back in the spirit you know just confess your sin he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and then just move on and keep keep walking in the spirit and don't have an unrealistic expectation to just because you had a spiritual day one day it's just going to be like that for the rest of the week you know this is a continuous battle that we have warring against the flesh this is what the apostle paul is talking about here he says in verse 21 i find then verse 21 chapter 7 that when i would do good evil is present with me referring to his flesh listen to this for i delight in the law of god after the inward man so what is he saying here the aspect of his nature that actually rejoices in hearing preaching reading the bible is the inward man okay so if you find yourself reading the bible you're just like this is boring it's because you're not necessarily walking in the spirit because the inward man always rejoices in the laws of god okay if you find yourself becoming dissatisfied discontent or just kind of bored with preaching it's because you're fleshly you're carnal because of the fact that the inward man always rejoices in the law of god it's a great indicator to show us whether we're in the spirit or in the flesh he says in verse 23 but i see another law and my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members and in verse 24 he expresses the great frustration that all of us experience he says in verse 24 oh wretched man that i am who shall deliver me from this body of death he's saying man i get so frustrated with my flesh because of this constant battle that i suffer who's going to deliver me from this body of death now obviously he knows who and he already has a solution in the answer he's just expressing that frustration that we all experience and we all get to a point in our lives where just like man i'm just sometimes i'm just a miserable person because of this flesh now here's the thing any christian who's been a believer for any length of time who has fought this battle will feel this but then there's other christians who just don't care because they become so desensitized to sin they become so accustomed to their sin that they don't really care you know christians can get to a point where their heart becomes hardened towards preaching towards sin and they don't even care but the person who does care is the one who's actually putting in an effort to actually live right and anyone who's put in effort to live right they get frustrated you know they get frustrated with their flesh they get frustrated with this world with uh the battle the continuous battle that they face then he says in verse 25 i thank god through jesus christ our lord so then with the mind i myself serve the law of god but with the flesh the law of sin so what does that mean there he's essentially saying that the distinction that he's making here the mind is referring to the inward man he says i realize that the inward man is the only one who's gonna rejoice in the bible rejoice in god's word rejoice in the commandments of god and then the flesh will always be subject to the law of sin in other words when you sin your flesh will suffer the consequences of that sin which is why the bible says that when you sow to your flesh you shall of the flesh reap corruption because the body is still subject to that law you understand so then we go into chapter 8 look at verse 2 it says for the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus had made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do in that it was weak to the flesh god sending his own son of the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit now that's a mouthful but let me explain what he what he's referring to here he's essentially saying that because we're saved now okay now that we're believers we believed on the lord jesus christ which has nothing to do with repenting of our sin by the way repenting of your sin doesn't get you saved okay repenting of your sin is simply another workspace salvation so if you have people tell you you have to repent of your sins to be saved they're lying to you or they're greatly deceived because no one in this world has been able to turn from their sins completely for salvation we require the righteousness of jesus christ for salvation not our own righteousness when a person turns from their sin they're essentially trying to exercise righteousness for salvation but the bible says that not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us and what we need for salvation is to believe on jesus christ which is essentially translated as us taking from the righteousness of jesus to essentially have salvation okay which the bible also describes as being a free gift for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of god not of works lest any man should boast okay and so when we have that then now we're partakers of the law of the spirit of life and he says in verse number two it made us free from the law of sin and death now what is the law of sin and death hell right that when you commit sin you're worthy of death but also the spiritual death because sin is the transgression of the law and the bible also says in romans 6 23 for the wages of sin is death and that he that keepeth the whole law yet offended one point he is guilty of all which is why it's so silly to think you have to repent of your sins to be saved since you've already committed the sin so it's like well the sins from here on out though i'm gonna repent of yeah but what about the sins that you've already committed you think god's just gonna like you know just just completely forget it because you repented of your sin no you know the law states that you have to be punished for that sin someone has to suffer the consequences of your sin so you have one of two choices you can either suffer for it for yourself in a place called hell for all of eternity or the debt is never paid off or you can accept jesus christ who has already suffered the punishment for you he's basically paid in full for your salvation with his death bearing on resurrection on the cross and so the law of the spirit of life has made us free from going to hell we don't have to go any hell anymore because we're saved and then he says in verse three for what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh god sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh essentially saying that you know the law can't save you because the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto christ the bible says there's no amount of laws that you can try to observe and keep to earn salvation because righteousness the bible says can't come through the law because no one has been able to obey the law completely other than the lord jesus christ okay now don't get this mistaken this doesn't mean that we shouldn't observe god's laws because obviously we should but not for salvation and in fact now that we're saved according to this passage we have the capability god has enabled us because we have the spirit of god dwelling within us to observe the laws of god in the proper way you understand he says in verse five for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace and that really is an important verse for us to just constantly remind ourselves that when you are carnally minded there's no good nothing good can come out of that you know and you think to yourself well yeah but i experience so much pleasure being in the flesh well you know what sin is pleasurable for a season you know the bible talks about the uh eating the bread of the sea is sweet but afterwards thy mouth shall be filled with gravel so obviously sin is pleasurable that's why everyone does it however the people who give themselves over to the lust of the flesh don't seem to take into consideration the ramifications of committing those sins and therefore they realize oh man this is just destroying my life the the the consequence of committing the sin is far greater than the pleasure that i had doing it you understand and so we need to remind ourselves that to be carnally minded is death and this is a great motivator you know to stay right with god to make sure we have a spiritual mind and obviously this isn't something that's just done on accident either it's not like okay today i'm gonna have a spiritual mind you know it's just like you kind of like think yourself into it or something like that it's what you put in your mind this is why the christian life is based upon listen to this you reading the bible because when we get bible content into our mind we are what the bible says we're doing what the bible says renewing our mind i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable into god which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and so in order for us to be spiritually minded we got to put the right things in here and you say where do i start well reading the bible is a great place to start reading the word of god having your mind transformed the bible says but you have not so learned christ if so be the the um that you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in jesus that you put off the old man the old conversation which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind eph i'm just going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe you do if you have some other philosophy about that keep it to yourself right let's just say you shower every day you know you do it because of the fact that you accumulate the the dirt of this world on a daily basis you shower in the morning and you can't expect to stay clean let's say you're a construction worker right let's just pick the dirtiest job let's say you just clean sewers okay you shower in the morning and then you just don't shower for the rest of the week can you really depend on that shower from monday morning to stay clean for the rest of the week no you need to you need a continuous shower because you're you're drowning in the filth of this world you constantly got to clean yourself and the same thing is spiritually you know you read the word of god in the morning today well you can't expect you can't expect to be clean tomorrow though you need to read the word of god again because from the morning to the evening obviously on a sunday it's different because you're just surrounded by preaching you're being exhorted here at church but let's say monday morning you know you read the word of god monday morning you're going to experience some sort of battle from the world trying to insert its filth into your mind and therefore you need the word of god again either in the evening or in the morning again the baba talks about washing our minds right transforming renewing our minds it needs to be cleaned again on a continual basis be spiritually minded verse number seven says because the carnal mind is enmity against god for it is not subject to the law of god neither indeed can be so then they that are in the flesh cannot please god now there's two ways to interpret this one being that a person who is not saved is essentially referred to a person who's just in the flesh right because they only have one nature which is the flesh well that person cannot please god why because there's no there's no new man found within them so every religious group out there that does not have the right gospel that teaches a wrong way of salvation no matter how religious and pious they are can't please god they can say 50 hell you can recite prayers and fast twice in a week and beat their bodies they can partake in all types of religious activities but not a single one of them will ever cause god to be pleased with them why because they that are in the flesh cannot please god and in fact let me give you an example this matthew chapter seven tells us that at the white throne judgment believe it or not there's going to be people who stand before god and said have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have done have cast out devils and in thy name have done many wonderful works notice they didn't label anything bad i mean these are like good activities right and then what does god tell me professor i will profess them to them depart from ye that work iniquity i never knew you so he considers those righteous works as works of iniquity because they're not even saved because they that are in the flesh cannot please god now this is also applicable to us because of the fact that when we're in the flesh and we're not walking in the spirit we can't please god because our mind the carnal mind is not subject to the law of god neither indeed can be so if you're being a fleshly carnal christian you cannot please god look at verse number nine but ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be that the spirit of god dwell in you now if any man have not the spirit of christ he is none of his now this is the basic teaching that when a person gets saved they're indwelled by the holy spirit of god the bible says in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and whom also after that you believed you were sealed with the holy spirit of promise so according to the bible when we get saved we get the earnest of our inheritance which is the holy spirit who is sealed within us and it's one of the greatest indicators that we're saved and that we can never lose our salvation because once he's there he's sealed and chapter four of ephizians tells us how long he's there for it says unto the day of redemption it doesn't say until you sin again until you commit some wicked sin until you get out of church it says until the day of redemption referring to the rapture okay and so when you get saved you have the spirit of christ dwelling within you and it's the earnest of our inheritance look at verse 10 and if christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness but at the spirit of him that raised up jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up christ from the dead shall also quicken meaning be brought back to life bring you back to life your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwells within you so he's saying look you know you have this constant battle with your flesh and the fact that you're battling the flesh is just a great indicator that you're saved right because if you just are not bothered by it there's no consequences to it then you have a problem but because you're constantly battling it's a great indicator that you're saved and then you you you experience that frustration of being in the flesh but then he says but don't worry because the spirit that lives within you is going to quicken your mortal body one day so when you die you get buried in the ground that carcass of yours will one day come out of the grave transfigured and the new man will essentially be complete because right now the new man is not complete in the sense of the body hasn't been glorified it hasn't been regenerated but then one day the body will be regenerated and then we don't have to suffer the infirmities of our flesh anymore now none of us know what that's like to not be in the presence of sin not be tempted by sin i know there's people out there that lie and say oh i never sinned as they're literally sinning with their mouth at that moment by lying and being prideful and arrogant and just essentially you know speaking against god's word that tells us that we do sin because if any man you know said if any man says that they don't sin they make god a liar and the truth is not in them that's what the bible says so we sin every single day for all have sinned and come short of the glory of god there's not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sin is not i mean how do you get around those verses that say we we sin all the days of our lives this side of eternity but he gives us that hope that one day we will be regenerated the resurrection will be there and we no longer have to fight that look at verse 12 so that was the understanding of the nature of the flesh and the spirit verse 12 look what it says therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh for if you live after the flesh you shall die but if you through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body you shall live what is he saying there you know we're debtors to god to a certain extent right and so we're to view ourselves as being servants to god not servants to our flesh and this is something that is explicitly taught in roman chapter 6 where it says for we are not under the law but under grace and it talks about how we're not we shouldn't that sin should not have dominion over us that our members should be servants of the lord right and of course he says there in verse 13 that if you're constantly feeding into the flesh you're going to die you know if your temptation is fornication you will eventually die from that you'll you're going to get some disease you're going to get some horrible disease it's going to lead to your death you know if you if your thing is uh alcohol if your thing is you know some sort of drug and you're just constantly giving yourself over to that you're gonna die one day it's it's it's foolish to think that we can just continue in this in these things and not have some sort of you know fatal ramification to that you're gonna die you have that sin that's working against you but then you have god allowing that sin to destroy your life but then he says of course if you mortify the deeds of the body you shall live mortify means put to death okay and here in lies one of the great keys to overcoming sin in the christian life is mortifying the deeds of the body not literally like ah it's like yeah just gouging out your eyes it's a spiritual thing right it's cutting off that which is it's cutting off that temptation from your life so that you don't proceed in that sin okay and sometimes the easiest answer is the simplest one which is if you are suffering from temptation just put that temptation away from your eyes away from your presence and you have a better chance of winning i find that if there's no cupcakes twinkies what are you laughing at all that good stuff in the house i probably won't eat it unless i'm craving it like crazy then i would just you know drive and go get it because i'm in charge and i could i guess i could do that now but you know in general though in general if those things aren't present i'm not going to desire them or if i desire them the ability to overcome that desire is a lot easier if it's not present that's what it means to mortify the deeds of the uh deeds of the body deeds of the flesh okay cutting off that which is causing you to be tempted to commit a particular sin you're like well i don't deal with you know sin of gluttony or you know fornication my sin is more like fear and you know that's a sin that's that's just like permeating society today a lot you know it's just fear people just being afraid of what's going to happen in this world i'm so scared i'm well fear is a sin fear is a sin my friends and it's sinful to be afraid it's simple to fear which is why god is constantly telling us be not afraid fear not not don't be dismayed don't be discouraged don't be afraid because of the fact that fear is the opposite of faith you said what am i supposed to do you know i'm just constantly afraid well here is a way you can you can essentially mortify the deeds of the body when it comes to fear is just stop listening to the news because the news is the great culprit and causing you to be afraid because it gives you all this information a lot of it being false a lot of it being exaggerated and they just pump it through you and then you just that's all you think about and he's like well i'm not afraid i'm just you know no you're afraid that's what it is okay and so you know maybe that's your sin is fear you know maybe your sin is uh depression just not having no joy in your life and it may be because you're surrounded by people or you're listening to things that are causing you to be discouraged you know god doesn't want us to live our lives constantly depressed and sad and melancholy and just just just having a negative outlook on life we have the joy of the lord amen and sometimes depression obviously depression comes because of all different reasons and there are instances where people are depressed because of chemical imbalances in their life i understand that that's a definite real thing sometimes it's dieting sometimes it's just not exercising enough you know releasing those endorphins in order to feel good but other times it is a spiritual matter and people are depressed because they're not in a local new testament church where they can be exhorted by the brethren to have a more positive outlook on life based on god's word you're sad because of you know whatever and it's just like you need your mind to be renewed and and and stop feeling that depression and start experiencing the joy of the lord in your life and a lot of times depression just simply comes because of selfishness just looking inwardly trying to you know fix your problem not realizing that fixing someone else's problem actually helps you with that depression okay that's a sermon for another day we're just simply talking about the fact that it you know mortifying the deeds of the body look at verse 14 it says for as many as are led by the spirit of god they are the sons of god now at face value they're gonna be like whoa i thought i was already a son of god when i believed because the bible says but as many as received him to them give you power to become the sons of god even unto them that believe on his name but this verse seems to indicate that if i'm not walking in the spirit then i'm not a son of god okay you can see how people can read into that right so what is this referring to well obviously the inward man is the child of god the flesh is basically what the bible will refer to as a child of disobedience because it has not yet been redeemed it's been bought but it hasn't been redeemed as of yet because our bodies have been bought by the blood of jesus christ he just hasn't come to take it right it's not a layaway plan because he's already paid for it in full he just paid for it in advance and he's going to come get it one day you know i don't know any earthly illustration i can give to that i mean like you pay for something and you're just waiting for it to come or whatever and or you're waiting to go get it you purchase something in a different city because you're gonna go visit that city and it's like it's yours it's waiting at the store but you just haven't picked it up yet redeeming a gift card there you go okay and so what is this referring to when it says if you walk in the spirit then then are you the sons of god well it's obviously referring to the fact that when you are walking in the spirit you obey god's laws you're behaving as a child of god and then you think to yourself well does that mean if i'm in the flesh i'm not a child of god well here's the thing is that hebrews 12 tells us that if you walk in the flesh and disobey god then god will chastise you because you're a son of god in fact go to hebrew chapter 12 because i want to quote this correctly here so it's like if you walk in the spirit you're a child of god if you walk in the flesh god will punish you which is an indicator that you're a child of god look at the bible says in hebrew 12 and verse 6 it says for whom the lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth if you endure chastening god dealeth with you as with sons for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not but if you be without chastisement where of all our partakers then are you bastards and not sons the bible says go back to romans 8 so here's the thing here's the simple answer walk in the spirit you're a child of god if you walk in the flesh god will chastise you and which shows that you're a child of god okay pretty simple right so when someone says oh well romans 8 says that if you're not walking in the spirit and you're not a child of god just take them to hebrew chapter 12 simple as that it says in verse 15 for you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but i have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry abba father and i love verse 16 the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of god that's a great verse to use to give someone the assurance of salvation if they're ever doubting but let me explain something about this verse and doubting your salvation because there's instances where christians can get so involved in sin they're away from god they're not in church they're not listening to preaching they're carnally minded and i've met many people like this and they begin to doubt their salvation right they doubt their salvation because they're just like man i'm just in sin i just don't have a desire to read the bible but then you know they're confronted with the believer and the believer kind of gives them that assurance and then they realize i know that i'm saved i just feel like sometimes maybe i'm not because i'm involved in sin now where does this verse how does this verse work in a life's person like that well notice that it says that the spirit bears witness with our spirit not with our flesh so if a christian is being carnally minded of course they're going to doubt right because doubt is a work of the flesh not having faith is a work of the flesh so when we go to someone we give them the scriptures we give the assurance of salvation we're speaking to their spirit and the spirit of god bears witness with our spirit the inward man that we are children of god this is why when i give assurance of salvation to someone who's doubting because they're involved in sin more often than not at the end of the conversation they'll say well you know i know i'm saved it's just that i'm away from god right now why because i'm speaking to the spirit i'm preaching to his spirit i'm preaching to his inward man and the inward man is just starving for that you know and you know it goes to say that you know that in the christian life whichever nature we feed the most is the nature that's going to be the strongest you feed the old man the old man is going to be strong but if you feed the inward man the spirit the the spiritual man the renewed man then you can lead your flesh to do those things which are pleasing unto the lord so bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of god verse 17 says if and if children then heirs heirs of god and joint heirs with christ so once you get saved you become uh you inherit the kingdom of god you're an heir of god joint heirs with christ but it doesn't stop there it says i'm sorry verse 17 says if children then heirs heirs of god and joint heirs with christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together so it's like you inherit the kingdom of god but you can become a joint heir with christ if you suffer with him okay now in context this is also referring to the flesh because there are there's people in this there are people in this world christians in this world who they suffer the infirmities of the flesh but they just give into it all right they just kind of like yeah you know i'm gonna keep doing this and whatever well in context you're not suffering with him because suffering with him is essentially putting the flesh to death right it's warring against the flesh so for you uh those of you guys who are just like obsessed with rewards here because i know there's a couple here you know i'm not gonna look at anybody's eyes right now but you know hey if you want to earn some rewards you gotta fight the flesh right stop being a carnal christian because according to the bible in its context suffering with christ we can apply it in many different ways obviously persecution the tribulations of this world but in context it is referring to our flesh because we do suffer in the flesh you're like well i don't suffer in the flesh because you're not fighting the flesh that's why like i don't really suffer with the flesh i just kind of you know i just allow myself to just give in and i balance it out by doing some soul winning or something you know coming to church or something which those are good things to do but hold on a second according to this verse to be a joint heir with christ we have to suffer with him okay mortify the deeds of the body and any christian who has fought the flesh can can basically describe it as suffering because we get frustrated with our flesh he says verse 18 for i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us this is essentially the truth that we gave on on thursday that you know the sufferings that we experience the tribulations that we have in trials that we experience this side of eternity it can't be compared to the reward that we're going to receive one day in the future okay now look at verse 19 says for the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of god for the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by the reason of him who had subjected the same in hope and when he says the creature i believe he's just referring to all of creation at the exception obviously not referring to the people i think he's referring to like animals you know everything all of creation and it's saying here that the creature the animal the beast is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of god now what is the manifestation of the sons of god is referring to the rapture the resurrection but it can also include the new heaven and the new earth when everything is transfigured right the manifestation of the sons of god so you know that lion out there wants the manifestation of the sons of god the animals the animal kingdom this planet is all waiting for that transfiguration of this earth why because they're subject to vanity the gazelle is subject to be eaten by the lion right the animal kingdom is subject to just a miserable life living in africa as an animal sucks you anyone want to argue that point i mean unless you're a lion but even then like a lion what do you do you just you have a pride and you know you got flies and diseases and you know and then you you have babies you die and then nothing else happens you just you just disappear that's a life of vanity let's say i mean how long does a lion live does any animal experts out there let's say 30 years okay what a miserable life you know africa with all the hot weather and then you're obviously you're the king of the jungle but there might be a lion that's greater than you and you know lions are pretty savage sometimes when they come over and take over a pride they'll snap the neck of the children or of the younger male lions they'll literally snap their neck and paralyze them so they can no longer you know they just live out the rest of their days as a paraplegic lion i mean they're pretty sad that's called vanity they're just meant to live that way and and you know god forbid if you're an animal at the at the lowest part of the totem pole where everyone's your predator you know where you're just subject to just what goldfish you're either subject to be eaten by some large shark or you're subject to be captured by man to live the rest of your days in some kid's room who doesn't feed you and then you just like flush down the toilet it's called vanity so if you ever read this be like why is the creature like has this earnest expectation of the manifestation of the sons of god because the animal kingdom it sucks to live in the animal kingdom that's why i mean think about it we're obviously at the top of the food chain right and you know the the greatest adversary or whatever of any animal is man because that's how god ordained it to be for us to have dominion over the animals of this world but even within the animal kingdom there's a lot of vanity it's just a meaningless life okay and i'm not saying that these animals communicate like i can't wait for the rapture but there's obviously something innate in them that knows because they were created by god that they are i mean the bible says it here they wait for the manifestation of the sons of god okay and the one who put them in that into that vanity is god himself because of the sin nature of man once man sinned everything changed okay which is why in isaiah chapter 11 when talking about the millennial reign talking about the new heaven and new earth it talks about how the wolf shall one day you know dwell with the uh with the lamb it says that the leopard shall lie down with the kid it talks about uh the fatling and you know the the lion and that the kid shall lead them and the young lion shall eat ox shall eat straw like an ox so obviously there's a major ramification that takes place at the new heaven and new earth that's what that's referring to i mean the lamb is like i can't wait where i can just hang out with the with the wolf and he's not going to eat me right and then the kid can lead all of them you know a child can lead the the entire group there so it's all culminating to that day because even the animal kingdom is suffering even animals and beasts they're all suffering i mean think about a world with no mosquitoes it's a wonderful world and you know you're like yeah but will mosquitoes exist don't they need blood to live well mosquitoes actually feed off of nectar actually it's only when they're mating that they go after blood i learned that recently so you know something's gonna something biologically is going to change within the mosquito where they only eat nectar you know and so um pretty cool so the verse 21 because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of god it doesn't mean that they're going to be redeemed in the sense of like they have eternal life it just means they won't be subject to death anymore because death you know will be will be cast into the lake death and hell are going to be cast into the lake of fire according to revelation chapter 20 he says verse 22 for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now and not only they but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body he's saying you know the animal kingdom is not the only one waiting for the manifestation of the sons of god those of us who are serving god those of us who suffer in this world we're also waiting for that and you know what if everything's going good in your life you have a tendency not to think about that but when you're suffering when you're going through a difficult time when you're going through a time of tribulation and trial and sadness and depression you have a tendency to think about this or it's like you're groaning within yourself and travailing within yourself you're waiting to wit the redemption of our bodies because you're tired of fighting the flesh right and that's why it's good to suffer that's why christians need to suffer we need to feel pain we need to suffer we need to have sorrow in our lives because it gives us something to look forward to it helps us to realize this you know the the the tribulations of this world have an end it's not always going to be this way lord i groan and travail in birth for the manifestation of the sons of god when i no longer have to deal with this flesh this world and satan it'll all be over with he says in verse 24 for we are saved by hope a hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for but if we hope for that we see not then do we with patience wait for it again you know just kind of redefining what what the world how the world views hope people view the world excuse me people in the world view hope as well i hope it happens essentially saying that it might not hope in the bible something that will happen based upon god's word and we wait with patience for that particular thing to take place verse 26 is likewise the spirit also help with our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit itself maketh intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered now this is a wonderful verse here because it's saying that it's essentially teaching us the ministry of the holy spirit okay and again all this is in context the context is the flesh the context is the solution to the infirmities of the flesh is that one day the ultimate solution is that one day we will be redeemed but the immediate solution to that is number one mortify the deeds of the body but number two we have the holy spirit of god that makes intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered now there's a couple ways you can interpret that and one of the interpretations which i've used i believe for a long time is that when you experience pain on a very high level emotional mental anguish and you go to the lord in prayer sometimes you can't really say anything you don't know what to say i mean you know what i'm talking about it's like groanings you can't even utter you're just you're just crying you're weeping you're in so much pain and anguish of soul that even if you were to take it to the lord in prayer you don't even know what to say you don't even know what to ask for okay and if you never experience that you will experience it one day where there's so much uh hurt and anguish and brokenness of heart you feel like you can't even say anything you just cry you just groan you know within yourself well according to the bible when you do that the holy spirit kind of translate those groanings when he intercedes for you it's like this is what this person needs they're in anguish this is what they need because we don't know what to ask for it says there for we know not what to pray for as we ought why because we're too busy crying our eyes out because of the pain that we are experiencing but the spirit in itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and it says in verse 27 and he this is referring to jesus christ that search at the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit because he maketh intercessions for the saints according to the will of god so essentially we're groaning and the holy spirit of god within us kind of makes intercessions for us and jesus christ essentially filters it through the will of god so it's just like lord i just i just need five thousand dollars right now i don't know how we're gonna make it and then god just says what they need is more faith because you may not need the five thousand dollars maybe what you need is patience and faith or you need the peace of god to pass with understanding right because that's as we pray for things we don't know exactly we we think we're asking for the right things but because we're in the spirit god kind of turns that around and says okay i know what you're asking this is actually i'm gonna give you what you need not what you're asking for sometimes we ask for things that are actually biblical and right and within god's uh boundaries of god's will other times we're in the spirit but we still don't know exactly how to ask for it so god just kind of translates that and and answers that according to god's will understand and then he follows up on verse 28 and we know that all things were together for good to them to love god to them who are the called according to his purpose so as you pray in anguish you pray for the wrong things don't worry the holy spirit in jesus christ has you covered right you pray for the right things because you're in the spirit great all things were together for good you don't pray for the right things but you're in the spirit don't worry he'll translate that all things will still work together for good so if you want things to work together for good in your life walk in the spirit because when even if you make a bad decision within the will of god because of your lack of wisdom your circumstances because you're hasty or whatever it may be as long as you love the lord and you're walking in the spirit it's gonna work out which gives me a lot of peace especially as a pastor sometimes i'm just you know the the church from a physical perspective often hinges upon the decisions of the pastor it's a lot of pressure people's lives are at stake spiritual lives are at stake but i've realized that you know what as long as i just make sure that i love the lord and i'm walking in the spirit and i'm making biblical judgments as best as i possibly can it all works together for good god has it covered let's read on here it says in verse 20 verse 30 moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified what shall we say then excuse me what shall we then say to these things if god before us who can be against us so we start off the chapter is like the flesh is against me the world is against me the world you know satan's against me but at the end of the day if you're walking in a spirit you're executing these biblical steps here if god before us who can be against this nothing to worry about as long as you're battling the flesh you get your rear end in church you're listening to godly preaching you're reading god's word you're you're battling the flesh as best as you possibly can you're fighting satan and the world if god before us who can be against us how can this work out for our detriment if we're doing all the things that are right because all things work together for good and this is important folks don't miss this because in our fleshly earthly minds we look at our circumstances and think this can never be fixed this will never work out together for good this can ever be can god really fix this it looks like this situation is beyond recognition it's burned beyond recognition it's completely destroyed how can he even fix this well if you follow these steps he can't because with god nothing's impossible he says in verse 32 he that spared spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things good reminders here who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect it is god that justifies so don't worry about who judges you or who's saying what about you at the end of the day who's going to lay anything to the charge of god's elect god is the ultimate judge of of his people he's the one that justifies verse 34 says who is he that condemneth it is christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of god who also maketh intercessions for us of course we know that he is he is essentially our advocate the bible says okay and lastly and of course he's saying all this because of the fact that you know there's people out there that will condemn us and they'll say oh you believe in one saved always say you're trying to say that like you know you can just live however you want i don't think you're saved and you know they'll they'll try to claim that we're not because we believe a specific doctrine but at the end at the end of the day who is he that condemn it though you know we stand before god and based upon god's word we know what the bible says about salvation and here the last part is a wonderful reminder to us all okay verse 35 says who shall separate us from the love of christ shall tribulation shall distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword he's saying nothing can separate you from god's love so if it says that not even tribulation could separate you from god's love that's important because it's often within a tribulation that we begin to question whether god loves us because sometimes in our mind we think like why would god allow me to go through this if he loves me right why am i suffering this if god loves me you need to remind yourself can tribulation really separate separate you from the love of god like there's nothing that can extract you from god's love not even tribulation not even a sword he says verse 36 as it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are counted as sheep for the slaughter nay and all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us what's another word for conqueror someone who overcomes someone who overcomes according to the bible is someone who has believed on jesus christ he says for i am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things that come now i love this verse because of the fact that you know people often say yeah but if you commit suicide you know you'll lose your salvation because only god can take away life and it's like that's not true there's plenty of people in this world who take other people's lives away called murderers it's called free will and so you know obviously god has killed a lot of people in the bible and has continued to kill people throughout history but according to the bible and by the way there's nowhere in the bible that says thou shall not commit suicide either yeah you notice that you know why because it's all summed up and thou shall not kill because suicide simply falls in the same category as murder it's just that you're murdering yourself but according to this verse death can't separate you from the love of god and i'm not advocating for suicide because people take this and be like oh man i hope no one listens to this because then they're gonna think they can commit suicide or something that's so stupid come on what i'm what i'm explaining here is that not even the act and the sin of suicide can remove salvation from you because suicide is simply murder it's a sin for which christ died for and it can't separate you from the love of god life can't angels principalities powers nor things present listen to this nor things to come so even the sins that you will do in the future can't separate you from the love of god things to come can be anything including the sins you commit in the future nor height nor death nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord so what is chapter eight summarized what is it about really what it's about is the sufferings of our flesh and the future solution to that which is the resurrection the immediate solution to that which is to mortify the deeds of the body and also to pray through those times of temptation and trials and then essentially just kind of summarizing the whole thing at the very end saying hey don't forget that god loves you and he has not yet forsaken you okay nothing can separate you from the love of god and there are instances where some people can be so backslidden that they don't believe that god loves them anymore that's a very much a real thing because then you start comparing yourself to someone else who's also a believer who it seems as though god is just showering that person with a lot of blessings and and and loving them and showering them and if you're not careful you can compare yourself to others and think to yourself well why doesn't god love me like that right why isn't my life like that why isn't my marriage like that why are my kids like that why isn't my husband or my wife like that why isn't my job like that why am i suffering so much why this person is succeeding well first of all just know this is that time and chance happens to them all but also your circumstances does not determine whether god loves you or not and when you're in that suffering just know this it's a good thing because it's not to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in you now i didn't get a chance to cover this but you know at the end of the day when we suffer we need to suffer rightfully in order to be rewarded because everyone suffers but some people don't know how to suffer rightfully though some people suffer and what does it do it it pushes them to the bottle takes them to the bar to marijuana to drugs to an old girlfriend to an old boyfriend to things that are just not pleasing in the eyes of the lord that's not suffering rightfully suffering rightfully is suffering patiently and doing right even though you're suffering even though things are not going your way you understand but these are great reminders to us that even when we suffer god still loves us even if you don't feel like he does he does because nothing can separate us from that amen let's pray father we thank you so much for your word thank you for these great promises we're thankful for romans 828 we're also thankful for the truths that surround that verse and the the great reminders that we have that our flesh lord just constantly fights against us and we're constantly fighting against the flesh and sometimes it does get frustrating and sometimes it feels hopeless lord because here we are years later we even after salvation and i still struggle with my flesh lord and it's it's a it's a wretched feeling but we're so thankful for the promise of the resurrection the practical steps that we can take into defeating the flesh this side of eternity we're thankful for prayer and the promise that nothing can separate us from the love of god and i pray that you help us to take those truths with us in jesus name amen please turn your song books to song number 397 song number 397 little is much when god is in it song number 397 all together on that first verse or wealth or fame there's a ground and you can win it if you'll go in jesus name does the place you're called to labor seems so small in his grave god is in it and he'll not forget his own when god is in it labor not for wealth or fame there's a ground that you can win it if you'll go in jesus name are you made a sign from service funny born from toilet care be in the battle in the sacred place of prayer little is much when god is in it labor not for wealth or fame there's a ground that you can win it if you'll go in jesus name when the conflict here is ended and our race on earth is wrong he will say to all the faithful welcome home my child will come with his thoughts when god is in it labor not for wealth or fame there's a ground that you can win it if you'll go in jesus name amen wonderful singing you are dismissed