New Life, New Battles

Galatians 2:20
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Using Galatians 2:20, Pastor Colin highlights the mystery of the Christian life, where believers are crucified with Christ yet live with Him within them. He explains this dual reality as living both in the body and by faith in the Son of God.

Pastor Colin illustrates this concept through various Biblical references and personal anecdotes, emphasizing that believers will face ongoing struggles and temptations while also experiencing Christ’s renewing power and presence.

He warns against teachings that promise a smooth, struggle-free Christian life, comparing them to a monorail that is not grounded in the reality of Biblical teaching. Instead, he encourages believers to grasp both aspects of their Christian life: the battles faced in the body and the hope provided through faith in Christ.

Pastor Colin concludes by urging believers to be realistic about the battles they face and to trust in Christ for the outcome, emphasizing the importance of humility and hope in their walk with God.

1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,080 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 2 00:00:07,080 –> 00:00:15,040 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website, OpenTheBible.org. 3 00:00:15,040 –> 00:00:19,280 Let’s get to the message, here is Pastor Colin. 4 00:00:19,280 –> 00:00:25,799 Well we’re into the second stage of the journey that we have called The Inside Story. 5 00:00:25,799 –> 00:00:31,180 We began looking at the inside story of human life, and we have progressed to look at the 6 00:00:31,180 –> 00:00:34,700 inside story of the Christian life. 7 00:00:34,700 –> 00:00:36,740 What do you make of the Christian life? 8 00:00:36,740 –> 00:00:45,060 How do you find tying together what the Bible says about it and your own experience of it? 9 00:00:45,060 –> 00:00:47,299 If you’re a Christian, you have died to sin. 10 00:00:47,299 –> 00:00:53,160 But if you’re like me you probably find that sin is pretty much alive towards you. 11 00:00:53,160 –> 00:00:54,540 Its presence is obvious. 12 00:00:54,580 –> 00:00:59,299 I wonder if you’ve noticed the contradictions in your own Christian life. 13 00:00:59,299 –> 00:01:03,439 You love Christ, so why is it then that you’re drawn to sin? 14 00:01:03,439 –> 00:01:04,440 You trust Christ. 15 00:01:04,440 –> 00:01:09,500 So, why is it then that you struggle with so many fears and so many anxieties? 16 00:01:09,500 –> 00:01:13,839 I don’t know about you, but I often find that I am a mystery to myself. 17 00:01:13,839 –> 00:01:16,760 Do you find that about your Christian life? 18 00:01:16,760 –> 00:01:23,940 You think I don’t fully understand exactly what’s going on inside of me as a Christian. 19 00:01:23,940 –> 00:01:29,260 Well, that’s the reason why we’re looking at the inside story of the Christian life, 20 00:01:29,260 –> 00:01:34,500 so that we can get a better handle on what it means to be a Christian and, if you’re 21 00:01:34,500 –> 00:01:38,300 not yet a Christian, what it would be like, what you could expect if you were to become 22 00:01:38,300 –> 00:01:41,199 a Christian, even today. 23 00:01:41,199 –> 00:01:47,180 Well, maybe you have struggled to hold together your own experience and some of the things 24 00:01:47,180 –> 00:01:50,400 that the Bible says about being a Christian. 25 00:01:50,400 –> 00:01:55,919 You read about joy and you read about peace and you read about all of these things in 26 00:01:55,919 –> 00:02:03,360 the Holy Spirit, God working with you, Ephesians 1, with the same power that he exercised in 27 00:02:03,360 –> 00:02:05,800 raising Jesus Christ from the dead. 28 00:02:05,800 –> 00:02:09,220 You think, I’m just trying to get through a course of college. 29 00:02:09,220 –> 00:02:10,839 I’m just trying to raise a family. 30 00:02:10,839 –> 00:02:13,639 I’m just trying to find a job here. 31 00:02:13,639 –> 00:02:17,440 I’m just trying to struggle with a sickness here. 32 00:02:17,440 –> 00:02:21,399 My life doesn’t seem quite so grand as all of that. 33 00:02:21,399 –> 00:02:27,520 Well, I hope you’ll open your Bible today at Galatians 2, verse 20. 34 00:02:27,520 –> 00:02:30,539 Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. 35 00:02:30,539 –> 00:02:34,880 I want to draw your attention to what I think is one of the greatest statements about the 36 00:02:34,880 –> 00:02:37,440 Christian life in all of the Bible. 37 00:02:37,440 –> 00:02:42,000 To me, it has been one of the most profoundly helpful in all of the New Testament. 38 00:02:42,000 –> 00:02:44,919 Many of you will be familiar with it. 39 00:02:44,919 –> 00:02:53,320 Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20, we read these words, I have been crucified with Christ 40 00:02:53,320 –> 00:02:58,000 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 41 00:02:58,000 –> 00:03:06,600 And the life I live in the body I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave 42 00:03:06,600 –> 00:03:10,000 himself for me. 43 00:03:10,080 –> 00:03:12,000 And the lesson says about this verse, quote, 44 00:03:12,000 –> 00:03:18,919 your life as a Christian is a very strange one, I am crucified, nevertheless, I live. 45 00:03:18,919 –> 00:03:22,039 How do you hold these two things together? 46 00:03:22,039 –> 00:03:26,199 What a contradiction he says the Christian’s life is a matchless riddle. 47 00:03:26,199 –> 00:03:32,880 No worldly person can comprehend it and even the believer himself cannot fully understand 48 00:03:33,740 –> 00:03:40,059 He knows it but solving all its enigmas he feels to be an impossible task. 49 00:03:40,059 –> 00:03:45,279 Matthew Henry the a great puritan commentator also comments on what he calls the mysterious 50 00:03:45,279 –> 00:03:53,000 life of the Christian believer, that you have died and yet you live. 51 00:03:53,000 –> 00:03:57,559 That you live and yet Paul says here, yet it is not I who lives, it is Christ who lives 52 00:03:57,559 –> 00:03:59,399 in me. 53 00:03:59,440 –> 00:04:05,979 And then he says that we’re crucified with Christ and yet Christ lives in us. 54 00:04:05,979 –> 00:04:08,839 Well there’s the enigma, there’s the mystery. 55 00:04:08,839 –> 00:04:13,360 There’s why it’s pretty difficult sometimes to make sense of what’s going on in your own 56 00:04:13,360 –> 00:04:16,140 experience as a Christian. 57 00:04:16,140 –> 00:04:21,679 And our purpose today is to look into this mystery as we explore the inside story of 58 00:04:21,679 –> 00:04:25,220 the Christian life. 59 00:04:25,279 –> 00:04:29,839 I do hope then that your Bible is open here because for all of the mystery of this verse 60 00:04:29,839 –> 00:04:37,920 I’ve got to tell you, I have found this verse of Scripture to be more helpful than any other 61 00:04:37,920 –> 00:04:43,799 for getting a handle on the experience of the Christian life. 62 00:04:44,799 –> 00:04:49,500 I want to draw your attention to two statements in this verse that I have found personally 63 00:04:49,500 –> 00:04:50,920 to be so very, very helpful. 64 00:04:50,920 –> 00:04:52,420 They’re right in the middle there. 65 00:04:52,640 –> 00:04:56,880 Do you notice that Paul describes the Christian life in two ways? 66 00:04:56,880 –> 00:05:02,559 First he says the Christian life is a life that is lived in the body, the life that I 67 00:05:02,559 –> 00:05:05,700 live in the body. 68 00:05:05,700 –> 00:05:11,500 And then secondly he describes this life that is lived in the body is a life lived by faith 69 00:05:11,500 –> 00:05:15,339 in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. 70 00:05:15,339 –> 00:05:19,440 So here are two touchstones of the Christian life. 71 00:05:19,679 –> 00:05:24,440 Here are two handles as it were, that you can get on the Christian life. 72 00:05:24,440 –> 00:05:31,220 The Christian life is lived in the body and the Christian life is by faith in the Son 73 00:05:31,220 –> 00:05:32,220 of God. 74 00:05:32,220 –> 00:05:37,980 These two statements will give you a firm handle on the Christian life as it is in the 75 00:05:37,980 –> 00:05:42,940 Bible and as you will experience it every day of your walk with Christ. 76 00:05:42,940 –> 00:05:45,440 Your Christian life is lived in the body. 77 00:05:46,440 –> 00:05:51,359 What that means is that you will always feel the pull of the flesh, as long as you live 78 00:05:51,359 –> 00:05:53,260 in this world. 79 00:05:53,260 –> 00:05:56,359 You will find that there are times when you lack courage. 80 00:05:56,359 –> 00:05:58,820 There are times when you lose heart. 81 00:05:58,820 –> 00:06:02,640 You will find times when you lament your own failure. 82 00:06:02,640 –> 00:06:05,040 You may experience sickness. 83 00:06:05,040 –> 00:06:08,519 You will experience at some point weakness. 84 00:06:08,519 –> 00:06:12,320 Eventually if Christ has not come within the span of your lifetime, you will like the 85 00:06:12,359 –> 00:06:17,359 vast majority of other believers experience death itself. 86 00:06:17,359 –> 00:06:20,420 On the way there, you may experience depression. 87 00:06:20,420 –> 00:06:27,459 On the way there, you may experience anxiety, doubt, feelings of inadequacy, loneliness. 88 00:06:27,459 –> 00:06:32,559 All of this flows from the reality that Paul states here that we live the Christian life 89 00:06:32,559 –> 00:06:34,700 in the body. 90 00:06:34,700 –> 00:06:46,000 In this physiological reality, I live this life in the body. 91 00:06:46,000 –> 00:06:47,179 But that is not the whole story. 92 00:06:47,179 –> 00:06:51,019 The second handle on the Christian life. 93 00:06:51,019 –> 00:06:54,420 Your Christian life is lived by faith in the Son of God. 94 00:06:54,420 –> 00:06:56,899 This Christ is for you, he’s saying. 95 00:06:56,899 –> 00:06:58,859 This Christ is with you. 96 00:06:58,859 –> 00:07:03,500 His Spirit lives in your body and what that means is that you can look to him, and you 97 00:07:03,579 –> 00:07:08,820 count on him in every circumstance of your life. 98 00:07:08,820 –> 00:07:15,079 What he’s saying here then, is that it is Christ’s presence that makes it possible 99 00:07:15,079 –> 00:07:20,779 for you to live this difficult and challenging life in the body. 100 00:07:20,779 –> 00:07:24,820 Because Christ’s power makes it possible for you to live this life with all of its struggles 101 00:07:24,820 –> 00:07:26,660 and with all of its difficulties. 102 00:07:26,660 –> 00:07:32,820 And that power is appropriated to you and by you as you exercise faith. 103 00:07:33,799 –> 00:07:38,540 So think with me for a moment to give an illustration here about the Metra train making its way 104 00:07:38,540 –> 00:07:43,260 in every morning and coming out every evening from Chicago. 105 00:07:43,260 –> 00:07:48,899 The train runs on twin tracks, and if you like to think about it that way, thinking 106 00:07:48,899 –> 00:07:55,100 about these parallel tracks that we cross so many times, the Christian life runs on 107 00:07:55,100 –> 00:07:58,299 the twin tracks of these realities. 108 00:07:58,299 –> 00:08:01,820 You are in Christ and you are in the body. 109 00:08:01,820 –> 00:08:06,299 Both of these things are true so long as you are living in this world. 110 00:08:06,299 –> 00:08:11,500 And just as the Metra train needs two tracks to get into Chicago, so you need a firm grip 111 00:08:11,500 –> 00:08:16,420 on these two realities in order to make sense of the Christian life. 112 00:08:16,420 –> 00:08:19,980 Get hold of one without the other and you’ll always be in confusion, you’ll be saying, 113 00:08:19,980 –> 00:08:22,040 why is the Christian life as it is? 114 00:08:22,040 –> 00:08:26,600 Why am I so far from the realities of the Bible? 115 00:08:26,640 –> 00:08:33,320 The Christian life then is in Christ and it is in the body. 116 00:08:33,320 –> 00:08:39,440 And once you grasp that you’ll begin to see and make sense of your own experience. 117 00:08:39,440 –> 00:08:43,039 Sin dwells in you by the flesh. 118 00:08:43,039 –> 00:08:46,559 Christ dwells in you by the Spirit. 119 00:08:46,559 –> 00:08:50,599 As long as you’re living this Christian life you’re engaged in some kind of conflict with 120 00:08:50,599 –> 00:08:55,520 the world and the flesh and the devil, and the reason that you’re able to engage in this 121 00:08:55,760 –> 00:09:00,239 particular struggle is that Jesus Christ lives in you. 122 00:09:00,239 –> 00:09:04,119 Being in Christ means that you have new life. 123 00:09:04,119 –> 00:09:07,200 Being in the body means that you have new battles. 124 00:09:07,200 –> 00:09:11,400 That’s our title today, new life and new battles. 125 00:09:11,400 –> 00:09:16,280 Now I want you to see that these twin realities are not only in this verse they’re actually 126 00:09:16,280 –> 00:09:20,400 all over the Bible. 127 00:09:20,400 –> 00:09:25,140 Let me just give you four examples and rather than chase all over the place I’ve taken the 128 00:09:25,200 –> 00:09:28,979 four examples from the one letter from the Second Corinthians. 129 00:09:28,979 –> 00:09:34,260 If you go back a page you will see that that’s the letter before Galatians. 130 00:09:34,260 –> 00:09:38,380 Second Corinthians is fascinating because it’s the letter more than any other where 131 00:09:38,380 –> 00:09:45,380 Paul opens up his own personal experience of what it was like for him to live the Christian 132 00:09:46,000 –> 00:09:47,239 life. 133 00:09:47,239 –> 00:09:52,539 Let me just take one or two snapshots so that you can see both the new battle that he faces 134 00:09:52,840 –> 00:09:56,299 and also the new life in which he faces that battle. 135 00:09:56,299 –> 00:10:00,760 Second Corinthians chapter one in verses eight and nine is the first of these. 136 00:10:00,760 –> 00:10:06,320 Second Corinthians chapter one and verse eight and nine. 137 00:10:06,320 –> 00:10:11,679 Look at the new battle here, Paul says we do not want you to be uninformed brothers 138 00:10:11,679 –> 00:10:16,780 about the hardships that we suffered in the province of Asia. 139 00:10:16,780 –> 00:10:23,400 We were under great pressure and it was far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired 140 00:10:23,400 –> 00:10:27,140 even of life, indeed in our hearts we felt the sense of death. 141 00:10:27,140 –> 00:10:31,140 And you see the battle written all over there. 142 00:10:31,140 –> 00:10:36,460 He says to translate it another way we were utterly unbearably crushed. 143 00:10:36,460 –> 00:10:40,780 That was part of his experience of the Christian life. 144 00:10:40,780 –> 00:10:47,140 But notice at the same time, he then says in this verse, but this happened that we might 145 00:10:47,140 –> 00:10:53,419 rely not rely on ourselves but on God who raised the dead. 146 00:10:53,419 –> 00:10:55,419 Now do you see the part of that. 147 00:10:55,419 –> 00:11:02,900 He’s experiencing the new battle and the new life at precisely the same time, he is 148 00:11:02,900 –> 00:11:07,340 not saying I once was in a terrible battle but of course now I’m in Christ all of that 149 00:11:07,340 –> 00:11:09,520 is behind me. 150 00:11:09,599 –> 00:11:15,039 He’s saying the new life in Jesus Christ is what made it possible for me to stand and 151 00:11:15,039 –> 00:11:21,520 to endure when I felt utterly unbearably crashed and when I felt even the sentence of death 152 00:11:21,520 –> 00:11:23,840 coming over my own life. 153 00:11:25,179 –> 00:11:27,320 New battle, new life. 154 00:11:27,320 –> 00:11:34,119 Turn over a couple of pages to 2 Corinthians 4, and two verses here verse 11 and verse 155 00:11:34,119 –> 00:11:38,140 16, notice the battle in verse 11. 156 00:11:38,140 –> 00:11:46,340 We who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, always being given 157 00:11:46,340 –> 00:11:47,340 over to death. 158 00:11:47,340 –> 00:11:50,679 I mean you remember how Paul speaks later in this letter about being shipwrecked and 159 00:11:50,679 –> 00:11:52,940 being flogged and being persecuted. 160 00:11:52,940 –> 00:11:56,359 I mean this is real experience. 161 00:11:56,359 –> 00:12:03,159 He had the wounds in his own body to demonstrate it, but then he says look at the life here, 162 00:12:03,200 –> 00:12:08,760 we’re always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake so that his life may be revealed 163 00:12:08,760 –> 00:12:11,039 in our mortal body. 164 00:12:11,039 –> 00:12:16,200 Life of Christ is being evidenced in this apostle, standing up under this and continuing 165 00:12:16,200 –> 00:12:19,400 to serve Christ and to go on as a missionary. 166 00:12:19,400 –> 00:12:26,479 Verse 16, he’s making the same point again, the twin realities. 167 00:12:26,479 –> 00:12:30,719 We do not lose heart though outwardly we are wasting away. 168 00:12:30,760 –> 00:12:37,159 So here’s a Christian who physically, his body is in decline. 169 00:12:37,159 –> 00:12:41,719 But he says at the same time, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 170 00:12:41,719 –> 00:12:46,659 There’s the reality both of life and the body and the reality of life and Christ, and these 171 00:12:46,659 –> 00:12:50,479 two things are happening to the Apostle at the same time. 172 00:12:50,479 –> 00:12:53,099 Turn over another couple of pages would you? 173 00:12:53,099 –> 00:12:56,659 Once you start seeing this you’ll see it all over and you’ll begin to have a handle on 174 00:12:56,659 –> 00:12:58,260 the Christian life. 175 00:12:58,260 –> 00:13:03,140 1 Corinthians chapter 7, I’m looking at verse 5. 176 00:13:03,140 –> 00:13:11,020 Look at the new battle, when we came to Macedonia, verse 5, this body of ours had no rest, but 177 00:13:11,020 –> 00:13:15,739 we were harassed, that’s the Apostle speaking, at every turn. 178 00:13:15,739 –> 00:13:20,260 Conflicts on the outside, fears within. 179 00:13:20,260 –> 00:13:21,260 This is extraordinary. 180 00:13:21,260 –> 00:13:28,059 Here’s a man in Christ, a man of extraordinary faith and he’s describing a particular experience 181 00:13:28,059 –> 00:13:31,000 that he goes through and he says I was harassed. 182 00:13:31,000 –> 00:13:35,260 I came to Macedonia, I experienced all these conflicts that were going on all around me 183 00:13:35,260 –> 00:13:41,140 and what was going on inside me was fear, fears within, conflicts without. 184 00:13:41,140 –> 00:13:45,520 That’s life in the body, but notice that it’s never alone. 185 00:13:45,520 –> 00:13:50,500 Notice the new life in the very next verse, but God who comforts the downcast comforted 186 00:13:50,500 –> 00:13:55,099 us by the coming of Titus. 187 00:13:55,219 –> 00:13:59,299 In this I experienced God’s grace and his help and he sent me a friend. 188 00:13:59,299 –> 00:14:01,979 That’s what he said. 189 00:14:01,979 –> 00:14:05,000 Turn over another couple of pages and you’ll see it again. 190 00:14:05,000 –> 00:14:08,880 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 and verses 7-9. 191 00:14:08,880 –> 00:14:10,619 You may know these verses as well. 192 00:14:10,619 –> 00:14:12,020 Here’s the battle. 193 00:14:12,020 –> 00:14:13,059 Verse seven. 194 00:14:13,059 –> 00:14:18,020 There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, and three 195 00:14:18,020 –> 00:14:21,820 times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away. 196 00:14:22,000 –> 00:14:26,260 O God, please take away this affliction in my life. 197 00:14:26,260 –> 00:14:28,840 Satan’s tormenting me. 198 00:14:28,840 –> 00:14:29,840 There’s the conflict. 199 00:14:29,840 –> 00:14:32,260 There’s the battle. 200 00:14:32,260 –> 00:14:34,020 But notice the new life. 201 00:14:34,020 –> 00:14:37,840 But Christ said to me, My grace, verse 9, is sufficient for you. 202 00:14:37,840 –> 00:14:42,020 My power is made perfect in weakness, and Paul says, therefore I will boast all the 203 00:14:42,020 –> 00:14:50,320 more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 204 00:14:50,320 –> 00:14:56,359 So this is the same apostle who, on one occasion, captured these things in just two phrases. 205 00:14:56,359 –> 00:14:59,719 He said, Who is sufficient for these things? 206 00:14:59,719 –> 00:15:00,739 I look at my life. 207 00:15:00,739 –> 00:15:03,140 it all seems overwhelming. 208 00:15:03,140 –> 00:15:08,020 Who is sufficient for these things that I face? 209 00:15:08,020 –> 00:15:09,500 That’s life in the body, isn’t it? 210 00:15:09,500 –> 00:15:10,760 You ever felt that? 211 00:15:10,760 –> 00:15:14,039 I know I have. 212 00:15:14,039 –> 00:15:19,460 But you see that’s one of the twin realities of the Christian life, because in the very 213 00:15:19,460 –> 00:15:24,760 next line he says, but our sufficiency is of God. 214 00:15:24,760 –> 00:15:36,520 The battle, the life, in the body, by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself 215 00:15:36,520 –> 00:15:38,140 for me. 216 00:15:38,140 –> 00:15:45,320 Now, once you get a hold of these two firm handles on the Christian life, I think you 217 00:15:45,320 –> 00:15:48,500 will find this to be profoundly helpful. 218 00:15:48,500 –> 00:15:51,239 It will help you to make sense of your own experience. 219 00:15:51,239 –> 00:15:56,700 It will help you to understand the broader scriptures that you’re reading when you place 220 00:15:56,700 –> 00:16:00,780 them within the light of this context. 221 00:16:00,780 –> 00:16:05,659 Let me give to you six ways in which the twin realities of the Christian life can be stated. 222 00:16:05,659 –> 00:16:09,260 I hope you might find at least one of these helpful. 223 00:16:09,260 –> 00:16:10,840 Here’s one way of saying it. 224 00:16:10,840 –> 00:16:17,059 The Christian is at peace with God, but he is at war with sin. 225 00:16:17,239 –> 00:16:24,039 See, a true Christian, someone has said, is known as much by his war as by his peace. 226 00:16:24,200 –> 00:16:27,599 If you think of the Christian life only in terms of, oh, well I have peace with God and 227 00:16:27,599 –> 00:16:30,359 so I should experience all of this wonderful peace all the time. 228 00:16:30,359 –> 00:16:36,059 Then you’ve got one handle and you won’t have a clear grasp of what the Christian life is. 229 00:16:36,080 –> 00:16:39,960 To be at peace with God also means that you’re at war with sin. 230 00:16:39,960 –> 00:16:45,200 And that is why the Christian is known as much by his conflict, by his struggle as he 231 00:16:45,200 –> 00:16:49,880 is, by his experience of peace. 232 00:16:49,880 –> 00:16:53,619 Grasp one without the other, you really will never understand or make sense of the Christian 233 00:16:53,619 –> 00:16:54,619 life. 234 00:16:54,619 –> 00:16:58,859 Second, Christ lives in me by the Spirit. 235 00:16:58,859 –> 00:17:03,059 Sin lives in me by the flesh. 236 00:17:03,059 –> 00:17:08,959 See, the Christian doesn’t live in sin, but sin lives in the Christian. 237 00:17:08,959 –> 00:17:13,599 The Christian’s not in the flesh, but the flesh is certainly in the Christian. 238 00:17:13,859 –> 00:17:17,640 It’s well said in one of the songs that we sometimes sing here. 239 00:17:17,640 –> 00:17:28,140 In my heart there is a treason, one that poisons all my love, so, Lord, take my heart and consecrate 240 00:17:28,140 –> 00:17:30,859 it, wash it in your cleansing blood. 241 00:17:30,859 –> 00:17:36,959 There is never a day when my heart does not need the washing and the cleansing of the 242 00:17:36,959 –> 00:17:38,160 blood of Christ. 243 00:17:38,160 –> 00:17:42,579 And that’s true of your heart as well, however much you’ve progressed in the Christian life. 244 00:17:42,619 –> 00:17:47,660 No Christian ever arrives in heaven because he’s done well in the Christian life. 245 00:17:47,660 –> 00:17:52,219 Christians arrive in heaven only because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 246 00:17:52,219 –> 00:17:54,900 It’s always our dependence. 247 00:17:54,900 –> 00:18:02,300 Here’s another way of saying the same thing, the Christian is done with sin, but sin is 248 00:18:02,300 –> 00:18:04,699 not done with the Christian. 249 00:18:04,699 –> 00:18:09,660 Now, that’s important when you read a passage like Romans 6 in verse 2. 250 00:18:09,760 –> 00:18:17,359 We have died to sin, the Bible says, or when you read 1 John and chapter 3 and verse 9 251 00:18:17,359 –> 00:18:20,920 and John says, you cannot go on sinning if you’ve been born of God. 252 00:18:20,920 –> 00:18:23,719 You no longer sin. 253 00:18:23,719 –> 00:18:31,640 And yet at the same time, in 1 John 1.8, we’re told if a man says that he is without sin, 254 00:18:31,660 –> 00:18:35,900 he deceives himself, and the truth is not in him. 255 00:18:35,900 –> 00:18:38,560 How are we to put these things together? 256 00:18:38,839 –> 00:18:40,119 Well, let me put it simply this way. 257 00:18:40,119 –> 00:18:44,060 That to be a Christian means that a decisive break has been made with sin. 258 00:18:44,060 –> 00:18:45,520 You are not the person you were. 259 00:18:45,520 –> 00:18:48,239 You are done with sin. 260 00:18:48,239 –> 00:18:52,459 But sin is not done with you. 261 00:18:52,459 –> 00:18:53,800 Let’s put it another way. 262 00:18:53,800 –> 00:19:00,060 The Christian lives in the power of the Spirit, but he or she also experiences the weakness 263 00:19:00,060 –> 00:19:01,719 of the flesh. 264 00:19:02,719 –> 00:19:10,280 See, don’t expect that the power of the Holy Spirit will make you feel on Tuesday evening, 265 00:19:10,280 –> 00:19:15,880 to take a random point of the week, like you are standing on the victor’s podium, taking 266 00:19:15,880 –> 00:19:19,739 your bow for your performance in the Christian life during that day. 267 00:19:19,739 –> 00:19:21,719 You will not have that experience. 268 00:19:21,719 –> 00:19:27,579 Not the sight of Heaven, then you will be on your face and on your knees in adoration 269 00:19:27,579 –> 00:19:29,500 before Christ. 270 00:19:30,400 –> 00:19:39,339 No, the power of the Holy Spirit is what makes it possible for you to perserver in the challenges 271 00:19:39,339 –> 00:19:43,900 that you face on Tuesday of this week. 272 00:19:43,900 –> 00:19:51,339 So to try and give this a face, few weeks back Karin and I spent an evening with about 273 00:19:51,339 –> 00:19:58,920 20 families, Snappan, you know what Snappan is in the life of the church? 274 00:19:58,920 –> 00:20:05,180 It’s our parent’s network for parents of children with special needs. 275 00:20:05,180 –> 00:20:11,699 About 20 families there, we sat in a circle and it was an incredibly moving evening for 276 00:20:11,699 –> 00:20:17,699 Karin and for myself to listen to each of these couples, tell their story, speak about 277 00:20:17,979 –> 00:20:23,859 the burdens they were carrying and some of the joys they were experiencing. 278 00:20:23,859 –> 00:20:30,859 One couple said without any particular sort of emphasis, as best I can repeat it, they 279 00:20:31,859 –> 00:20:38,739 said, we are really thanking God that we have just had our first night of unbroken sleep 280 00:20:38,739 –> 00:20:42,260 since our son was born. 281 00:20:42,260 –> 00:20:44,939 Our son is 13 years old. 282 00:20:44,939 –> 00:20:49,160 13 years old. 283 00:20:49,160 –> 00:20:56,160 Now here’s a glimpse of what the power of the Holy Spirit looks like in a believer’s 284 00:20:58,000 –> 00:20:59,280 life. 285 00:20:59,280 –> 00:21:05,939 It’s by the power of the Holy Spirit that these dear folks have been able to persevere 286 00:21:05,939 –> 00:21:10,300 in the difficulties and the demands and the pressures of which that has been just one 287 00:21:10,319 –> 00:21:14,520 thing for the last 13 years. 288 00:21:14,520 –> 00:21:18,119 You can list some of the difficulties and pressures that you are facing in your life, 289 00:21:18,119 –> 00:21:22,920 some of the things that would make a person completely turn away from any faith in God 290 00:21:22,920 –> 00:21:26,119 whatsoever, if it was not for the power of the Holy Spirit within you. 291 00:21:26,119 –> 00:21:30,560 You experience the weakness of the flesh. 292 00:21:30,560 –> 00:21:34,119 What then has enabled you to persevere? 293 00:21:34,119 –> 00:21:36,280 Nothing other than this, the power of the Holy Spirit. 294 00:21:36,280 –> 00:21:38,040 Here’s another way of putting the same thing. 295 00:21:38,040 –> 00:21:45,000 I’m trying to settle in your mind today this one point that you grasp the Christian life 296 00:21:45,000 –> 00:21:46,140 with two handles. 297 00:21:46,140 –> 00:21:49,959 It’s in the body and it’s in Christ. 298 00:21:49,959 –> 00:21:55,439 And you’ll never understand it if you try to grasp it with only one handle. 299 00:21:55,439 –> 00:21:56,760 Let me put it this way then. 300 00:21:56,760 –> 00:22:05,900 In Christ, you are a new creation, but your struggles are shaped by your experience, by 301 00:22:05,920 –> 00:22:10,119 your environment, and by your own temperament. 302 00:22:10,119 –> 00:22:15,560 See here is this wonderful truth that when you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit you 303 00:22:15,560 –> 00:22:18,260 truly do become a new creation. 304 00:22:18,260 –> 00:22:19,479 But it’s a new you. 305 00:22:19,479 –> 00:22:20,479 It’s still you. 306 00:22:20,479 –> 00:22:25,619 It’s you made new but it’s not another person. 307 00:22:25,619 –> 00:22:30,420 So it’s you put in a position to deal with the stuff of your life that comes from your 308 00:22:30,420 –> 00:22:38,119 temperament that comes in some ways from your experience that comes in many ways from your 309 00:22:38,119 –> 00:22:40,920 environment. 310 00:22:40,920 –> 00:22:44,880 So this helps us to have some kind of window into what each of us are experiencing in the 311 00:22:44,880 –> 00:22:46,540 Christian life. 312 00:22:46,540 –> 00:22:49,640 All of us are tempted but we’re not all tempted in the same way. 313 00:22:49,640 –> 00:22:52,800 How you are tempted has an awful lot to do with your temperament. 314 00:22:52,800 –> 00:22:56,140 It has an awful lot to do with your background. 315 00:22:56,180 –> 00:23:03,560 The particular battles that each Christian faces are not exactly the same and it has 316 00:23:03,560 –> 00:23:06,780 something to do with the environment as well. 317 00:23:06,780 –> 00:23:23,540 The spiritual dullness that comes from a comfortable Christian life is not the noticeable battle 318 00:23:24,479 –> 00:23:28,180 brothers and sisters in our sister church in Haiti. 319 00:23:28,180 –> 00:23:33,300 Not many of them are struggling with that not any of them are struggling with it. 320 00:23:33,300 –> 00:23:37,839 But that is a battle for many of us here, why? 321 00:23:37,839 –> 00:23:41,380 Because we live in the northwest suburbs it’s our battle. 322 00:23:41,380 –> 00:23:45,520 You were born in another part of the world your experience can be quite different and 323 00:23:45,520 –> 00:23:48,819 your battles may be quite different too. 324 00:23:48,819 –> 00:23:51,260 But this is one place where its for us. 325 00:23:51,819 –> 00:23:57,699 Here’s another way of putting it just trying to get the the twin tracks of the Christian 326 00:23:57,699 –> 00:24:03,439 life here sin is no longer your master that’s wonderfully triumphantly true of you in Jesus 327 00:24:03,439 –> 00:24:08,619 Christ, but sin will always be your enemy so as long as you are living in this body. 328 00:24:08,619 –> 00:24:16,020 A wonderful statement in Romans chapter six in verse 14, sin shall no longer be your master. 329 00:24:16,020 –> 00:24:17,979 But it is always your enemy. 330 00:24:17,979 –> 00:24:20,380 Let me give you a picture. 331 00:24:20,380 –> 00:24:25,479 This has helped me and maybe it’ll help at least a few of us. 332 00:24:25,479 –> 00:24:31,180 Imagine a war is taking place between two armies. 333 00:24:31,180 –> 00:24:35,439 And picture yourself engaged in the conflict. 334 00:24:35,439 –> 00:24:41,839 Here we are together and we’re behind some rocks and we’re taking heavy enemy fire 335 00:24:41,839 –> 00:24:50,160 and eventually our escape route is cut off and we’re surrounded and we’re captured. 336 00:24:50,219 –> 00:24:54,500 You surrender your weapons and you’re carted off together with the others in your unit 337 00:24:54,500 –> 00:24:58,359 and eventually you arrive at a place where you’re going to be imprisoned. 338 00:24:58,359 –> 00:25:00,520 It is like a massive cage. 339 00:25:00,520 –> 00:25:05,800 A whole crowd of people are already there inside. 340 00:25:05,800 –> 00:25:12,060 The cage’s open, you’re roughly thrown in there and when you begin to get oriented 341 00:25:12,060 –> 00:25:16,739 to where you are you realize that this place is being run by a man who looks absolutely 342 00:25:16,760 –> 00:25:18,800 terrifying. 343 00:25:18,800 –> 00:25:22,800 He shouts out orders and all the people who have been there for some time do exactly what 344 00:25:22,800 –> 00:25:28,939 he says, and you value your life so you decide you’re going to do exactly the same. 345 00:25:28,939 –> 00:25:31,380 For the next year your whole life is in the cage. 346 00:25:31,380 –> 00:25:40,880 You eat, you sleep, you exercise, but all the time you are under the power of the enemy, 347 00:25:40,880 –> 00:25:45,819 you are in the cage, and you have no alternative really but to do what he says to you. 348 00:25:46,819 –> 00:25:49,119 And there isn’t a way out. 349 00:25:50,819 –> 00:25:56,819 As long as you’re in the cage, there is absolutely nothing you can do to overcome the enemy. 350 00:25:57,819 –> 00:26:06,760 Then one night as you’re sleeping, you hear an extraordinary noise and a commotion, and 351 00:26:06,760 –> 00:26:08,579 suddenly you realize what is happening. 352 00:26:08,579 –> 00:26:13,739 Your captain has come, and he’s brought all of his forces, and he is making an assault 353 00:26:13,900 –> 00:26:15,959 on the cage in order to set you free. 354 00:26:15,959 –> 00:26:19,400 The locks on the cage burst open. 355 00:26:19,400 –> 00:26:20,939 He grabs you from where you are. 356 00:26:20,939 –> 00:26:27,939 Together with the others, he loads you into a Jeep and off you go, and up into the hills. 357 00:26:27,939 –> 00:26:30,739 Your captain then hands you a weapon. 358 00:26:30,739 –> 00:26:34,060 You haven’t had one in your hands for a year. 359 00:26:34,060 –> 00:26:36,239 He says you’ll need this. 360 00:26:36,239 –> 00:26:40,180 You’re back in the battle now. 361 00:26:40,199 –> 00:26:43,040 The next day you’re up in the hills. 362 00:26:43,040 –> 00:26:46,660 And the man who’s been running the cage, he comes out, he’s looking for you, and he has 363 00:26:46,660 –> 00:26:48,599 all of his forces with you. 364 00:26:48,599 –> 00:26:53,319 And here we are, the unit, and now we’re armed, and now we’re out in the open. 365 00:26:53,319 –> 00:26:56,920 We’re in an entirely different position. 366 00:26:56,920 –> 00:26:59,500 The man who’s run the cage of course is shouting orders. 367 00:26:59,500 –> 00:27:02,439 He’s got this loud hailer and he’s saying, now you come back in. 368 00:27:02,439 –> 00:27:04,520 He’s shouting all kinds of orders. 369 00:27:04,520 –> 00:27:06,760 Of course you don’t pay attention to him. 370 00:27:06,760 –> 00:27:09,180 Why, you’re not in the cage, you’re free. 371 00:27:10,079 –> 00:27:12,520 But now you’re in a battle. 372 00:27:13,920 –> 00:27:17,380 And he will hunt you as long as you live. 373 00:27:17,380 –> 00:27:24,459 And you will always need your weapon, and you must always be on your guard, and when 374 00:27:24,459 –> 00:27:28,959 he has gone, others will come after you. 375 00:27:28,959 –> 00:27:31,800 But you’re not in the cage. 376 00:27:31,800 –> 00:27:34,099 You’re free. 377 00:27:34,099 –> 00:27:39,079 But being free means you’re in the fight. 378 00:27:39,079 –> 00:27:41,859 That’s the point. 379 00:27:41,859 –> 00:27:44,540 Sin is no longer your master. 380 00:27:44,540 –> 00:27:46,079 You’re not in the cage. 381 00:27:46,079 –> 00:27:48,939 That’s Romans 6.14. 382 00:27:48,939 –> 00:27:52,300 But friends, sin will always be your enemy. 383 00:27:52,300 –> 00:27:55,420 You will always be fighting. 384 00:27:55,420 –> 00:27:56,800 This will always be your battle. 385 00:27:56,800 –> 00:27:59,699 And how will it be waged once long as you are in the body? 386 00:27:59,699 –> 00:28:08,839 It will be waged by faith in the Son of God who loves you and who gave himself for you. 387 00:28:09,380 –> 00:28:15,040 Now friends, here’s how you can be discerning with regards to teaching you hear about the 388 00:28:15,040 –> 00:28:18,119 Christian life. 389 00:28:18,119 –> 00:28:25,979 Ask two questions about any teaching that you hear regarding the Christian life. 390 00:28:25,979 –> 00:28:32,599 The first question should be this, does this teaching take seriously the power of indwelling 391 00:28:32,599 –> 00:28:33,599 sin? 392 00:28:35,000 –> 00:28:36,119 Here’s some teaching on the television. 393 00:28:36,119 –> 00:28:38,599 You read some newfangled Christian book that’s come out. 394 00:28:38,599 –> 00:28:41,839 Ask this question as you read. 395 00:28:41,839 –> 00:28:45,579 This teaching that I’m reading, this account of the Christian life that’s been so wonderfully 396 00:28:45,579 –> 00:28:52,640 presented to me, does this teaching take seriously the power of indwelling sin in the Christian 397 00:28:52,640 –> 00:28:53,640 life? 398 00:28:53,640 –> 00:28:57,520 Does it take seriously that I live this life in the body? 399 00:28:57,520 –> 00:29:01,239 Not in heaven. 400 00:29:01,239 –> 00:29:07,060 Second question, does this teaching take the power of the indwelling Christ seriously? 401 00:29:07,160 –> 00:29:12,520 Is this faithful to the power of the new life and to the presence of the Holy Spirit and 402 00:29:12,520 –> 00:29:18,280 to the light of hope that shines into every human life through the gospel? 403 00:29:18,280 –> 00:29:24,300 Does this account of the Christian life give evidence that this author, this speaker has 404 00:29:24,300 –> 00:29:28,819 a firm grip of both handles? 405 00:29:28,819 –> 00:29:31,140 New life, new battles. 406 00:29:31,140 –> 00:29:33,979 A new freedom, but a new fight. 407 00:29:34,040 –> 00:29:38,500 In Christ but in the body. 408 00:29:38,500 –> 00:29:46,839 So, if I can put it visually for you, remembering the twin tracks of the metro going into Chicago. 409 00:29:46,839 –> 00:29:54,260 Beware of any account of the Christian life that looks like the monorail. 410 00:29:54,260 –> 00:30:03,920 Beware of any teaching regarding the Christian life that looks like the monorail. 411 00:30:04,040 –> 00:30:09,280 You see, over the centuries, and it’s still true today, there have been a line of Christian 412 00:30:09,280 –> 00:30:16,599 teachers, who have tried to come up with an experience or a formula that would be like 413 00:30:16,599 –> 00:30:20,800 a silver bullet for the Christian life. 414 00:30:20,800 –> 00:30:29,060 Some way in which you can get out of the struggle and into a higher form of the Christian life. 415 00:30:29,060 –> 00:30:34,540 And it may often sound like this, it’s an experience of yielding to Christ, of full 416 00:30:34,540 –> 00:30:41,540 surrender, of baptism in the spirit, of letting go and letting God, the list goes on and it 417 00:30:41,540 –> 00:30:43,260 goes on and it goes on. 418 00:30:43,260 –> 00:30:48,420 What these teachings tend to have in common is that they have the same aim. 419 00:30:48,420 –> 00:30:56,739 And it is an attempt to resolve the tension that runs all the way through the New Testament. 420 00:30:56,760 –> 00:30:58,520 The invitation is always the same. 421 00:30:58,520 –> 00:31:05,119 Oh you poor ordinary Christian, on the old Metro going down the twin tracks, why don’t 422 00:31:05,119 –> 00:31:09,040 you come and join us on the shiny new monorail? 423 00:31:09,040 –> 00:31:19,060 Well, I tell you that teaching like that is always a distortion of the New Testament. 424 00:31:19,280 –> 00:31:30,079 I urge you to grow in discernment and whenever you recognize the monorail, realize that there 425 00:31:30,079 –> 00:31:36,719 won’t be much good for your soul that comes from it. 426 00:31:36,719 –> 00:31:42,760 In the body in Christ. 427 00:31:42,760 –> 00:31:46,800 Set free in te fight. 428 00:31:47,560 –> 00:31:54,680 Now, let me just make a couple applications before we conclude here today. 429 00:31:54,680 –> 00:32:03,800 Once you’ve got a firm grip on the Christian life, once you’ve got your hand on these handles, 430 00:32:03,800 –> 00:32:05,760 what difference will that make to you? 431 00:32:05,760 –> 00:32:08,859 Let me suggest just two things. 432 00:32:08,859 –> 00:32:12,400 The first would be this, get real about the battle. 433 00:32:12,400 –> 00:32:15,839 Get real about the battle. 434 00:32:15,880 –> 00:32:20,839 You are living this Christian life in the body. 435 00:32:22,140 –> 00:32:27,660 And so it is so important for you to grasp that you really are up against the world and 436 00:32:27,680 –> 00:32:30,959 the flesh and the devil. 437 00:32:30,959 –> 00:32:34,359 This is not going to be easy. 438 00:32:34,359 –> 00:32:39,560 You will be tempted, you will feel your own weakness. 439 00:32:39,560 –> 00:32:41,400 Satan will have a special eye on you. 440 00:32:41,400 –> 00:32:48,479 You were in his kingdom and you have been taken out of the cage and he will never rest 441 00:32:48,479 –> 00:32:50,239 in his attempts to get you back. 442 00:32:50,239 –> 00:32:59,900 You are safe in the hands of Christ, but you’re in a fight, you’re in a battle. 443 00:32:59,900 –> 00:33:04,319 How realistic are you about this battle? 444 00:33:04,479 –> 00:33:12,780 When our sons were in high school, I remember very clearly an occasion when one of them 445 00:33:12,800 –> 00:33:16,920 asked me if he could go to a particular party. 446 00:33:16,920 –> 00:33:21,859 Now I asked a number of questions and from the questions that I asked, and the very honest 447 00:33:21,859 –> 00:33:27,099 answers that he gave, it was very very clear from the folks who were going there and from 448 00:33:27,099 –> 00:33:31,500 the description of other things that were going to happen there that this was not going 449 00:33:31,520 –> 00:33:36,900 to be a party that was going to be a good scene for him to go to. 450 00:33:36,900 –> 00:33:44,140 The answer was very obviously going to be no, walking into temptation makes no sense 451 00:33:44,140 –> 00:33:47,060 for a Christian. 452 00:33:47,060 –> 00:33:53,319 And parents know how these conversations go, right? 453 00:33:53,339 –> 00:33:58,180 After we have talked it round, what, well Dad, can I go? 454 00:33:59,079 –> 00:34:03,280 No son, that’s not the place for you. 455 00:34:03,300 –> 00:34:14,199 And you know the ace card that a high schooler can play at this point, Dad, don’t you trust me? 456 00:34:14,199 –> 00:34:20,979 And I remember the moment so clearly because I said to him, of course I don’t trust you! 457 00:34:20,979 –> 00:34:24,060 And he looked absolutely stunned! 458 00:34:24,060 –> 00:34:27,500 Because that is not the politically correct thing for a parent to say, it’s not what you 459 00:34:27,540 –> 00:34:29,100 to say to your high school student, right? 460 00:34:29,100 –> 00:34:33,620 I said to him, of course I don’t trust you, I said because you’re made of the same stuff 461 00:34:33,620 –> 00:34:39,979 as I am and I wouldn’t trust myself from what you’ve told me is going to go on in that party. 462 00:34:39,979 –> 00:34:44,979 And you should learn not to trust yourself either! 463 00:34:44,979 –> 00:34:49,419 Get real about the battle – it was a wonderful conversation. 464 00:34:49,419 –> 00:34:50,260 In the end. 465 00:34:53,219 –> 00:34:56,699 But it was a decisive moment. 466 00:34:56,699 –> 00:35:01,959 The naivety that says hey, I can go into any environment and it’ll have no effect on me. 467 00:35:03,620 –> 00:35:07,659 So you develop the habit of sitting in front of the television or in front of the computer 468 00:35:07,659 –> 00:35:11,840 screen and you’re watching stuff that you know you should not be watching. 469 00:35:11,840 –> 00:35:13,260 But you have rationalized it. 470 00:35:13,260 –> 00:35:17,620 You have said to yourself, this won’t effect me. 471 00:35:17,620 –> 00:35:19,179 Of course it will effect you! 472 00:35:19,179 –> 00:35:20,179 It is effecting you. 473 00:35:20,179 –> 00:35:21,580 It has effected you already. 474 00:35:21,580 –> 00:35:24,399 It’s going into you. 475 00:35:24,600 –> 00:35:25,540 It’s shaping your thoughts. 476 00:35:25,540 –> 00:35:26,840 It’s shaping your actions. 477 00:35:26,840 –> 00:35:28,340 It’s gaining a grip on your life. 478 00:35:28,340 –> 00:35:33,719 And every time you do it, it’s making the battle harder next time. 479 00:35:33,719 –> 00:35:37,620 You live this life in the body, so get real about the battle. 480 00:35:39,719 –> 00:35:43,820 So much failure in our Christian lives arises from foolishness. 481 00:35:43,820 –> 00:35:49,560 Because we have not taken seriously what we’re learning today. 482 00:35:50,360 –> 00:35:53,300 I live this Christian life in the body. 483 00:35:53,300 –> 00:35:56,679 You taking that seriously? 484 00:35:59,500 –> 00:36:03,939 And here’s the second and obvious application. 485 00:36:05,399 –> 00:36:07,739 You live in the body, so get real about the battle. 486 00:36:09,560 –> 00:36:10,600 But you live by faith. 487 00:36:12,699 –> 00:36:15,780 And so, start trusting Christ with regard to the outcome. 488 00:36:16,340 –> 00:36:19,679 That we encourage the person who feels defeated. 489 00:36:20,820 –> 00:36:23,040 Right now, you’re saying, oh, hey, 490 00:36:23,040 –> 00:36:26,899 you just put your finger on exactly where my battle is, 491 00:36:26,899 –> 00:36:29,320 and I feel so defeated, 492 00:36:29,320 –> 00:36:30,899 and I don’t know that I can ever get out 493 00:36:30,899 –> 00:36:32,199 of what I’ve got into now. 494 00:36:35,199 –> 00:36:36,040 And I’m saying to you, 495 00:36:36,040 –> 00:36:37,739 well now you’re getting realistic about the battle, 496 00:36:37,739 –> 00:36:39,899 so let’s talk about what it means for you 497 00:36:39,899 –> 00:36:42,179 to exercise faith in Christ in this regard. 498 00:36:42,179 –> 00:36:46,979 The Son of God has not left you. 499 00:36:48,979 –> 00:36:50,260 You are a Christian today, 500 00:36:50,260 –> 00:36:52,739 the Spirit of God indwells you, 501 00:36:53,860 –> 00:36:55,520 the battles, the struggles, 502 00:36:55,520 –> 00:36:56,500 that you are going to face, 503 00:36:56,500 –> 00:36:57,439 whatever they are, 504 00:36:57,439 –> 00:37:00,620 be it overwhelming circumstances, 505 00:37:00,620 –> 00:37:02,419 be it particular temptations. 506 00:37:02,419 –> 00:37:05,260 Here’s what you can say as a Christian. 507 00:37:05,260 –> 00:37:09,399 I live by faith in the Son of God, 508 00:37:10,120 –> 00:37:15,120 who loved me and gave himself for me, 509 00:37:17,979 –> 00:37:20,020 and this Son of God is with you 510 00:37:20,959 –> 00:37:24,139 now and every day of this week. 511 00:37:24,139 –> 00:37:26,979 He is totally for you, 512 00:37:27,959 –> 00:37:29,939 and you are able to face 513 00:37:29,939 –> 00:37:32,020 the toughest battles of your life. 514 00:37:32,020 –> 00:37:32,860 How? 515 00:37:32,860 –> 00:37:35,060 By appropriating the power of Christ 516 00:37:35,060 –> 00:37:38,320 who is present with you by faith. 517 00:37:39,679 –> 00:37:40,899 By looking to him. 518 00:37:42,239 –> 00:37:44,639 Lord Jesus Christ. 519 00:37:46,219 –> 00:37:47,280 Help me stand. 520 00:37:48,879 –> 00:37:50,679 I’m gonna look more at that next week. 521 00:37:52,040 –> 00:37:53,320 But take away this, 522 00:37:55,219 –> 00:37:58,239 that when you’re looking to Jesus Christ in faith, 523 00:37:58,239 –> 00:38:00,260 it means that you don’t despair. 524 00:38:01,560 –> 00:38:03,340 Yeah, despairing and looking to Christ in faith, 525 00:38:03,340 –> 00:38:05,060 these are opposites. 526 00:38:06,300 –> 00:38:07,540 Well, of course, there will be times 527 00:38:07,540 –> 00:38:10,139 when you feel completely defeated, 528 00:38:10,139 –> 00:38:12,979 but this is the moment for you to say, 529 00:38:14,520 –> 00:38:16,179 Lord Jesus Christ, 530 00:38:17,520 –> 00:38:18,419 you are with me, 531 00:38:19,719 –> 00:38:23,699 and I place my hope in you. 532 00:38:26,479 –> 00:38:30,860 And if you’re feeling right now 533 00:38:30,860 –> 00:38:32,959 that all of this may be very useful 534 00:38:32,959 –> 00:38:34,899 for other people who have real temptations, 535 00:38:34,899 –> 00:38:37,159 but really you’re doing quite well in the Christian life, 536 00:38:38,139 –> 00:38:40,979 as some of us might be feeling, 537 00:38:42,600 –> 00:38:44,780 let me just say this to you, 538 00:38:44,780 –> 00:38:46,379 that looking to Christ in faith 539 00:38:46,379 –> 00:38:47,919 not only means that you don’t despair, 540 00:38:47,919 –> 00:38:49,520 it means that you don’t presume. 541 00:38:51,199 –> 00:38:54,739 I’ve noticed that some Christians these days 542 00:38:54,739 –> 00:38:56,879 are really picking up on the fascinating fact 543 00:38:56,879 –> 00:38:59,919 that the New Testament describes believers as saints. 544 00:38:59,919 –> 00:39:01,739 That’s wonderfully true, it’s true. 545 00:39:01,739 –> 00:39:06,739 But it is a dangerous thing to affirm yourself as a saint 546 00:39:08,159 –> 00:39:11,000 if you have lost sight of the fact that you’re a sinner. 547 00:39:12,260 –> 00:39:13,500 Remember the monorail 548 00:39:14,479 –> 00:39:16,580 because that might just be what you’re on. 549 00:39:18,540 –> 00:39:20,459 A believer is a saint but only because 550 00:39:20,459 –> 00:39:22,159 he or she is in Christ. 551 00:39:23,139 –> 00:39:26,320 And without Christ, I am completely and utterly lost. 552 00:39:26,320 –> 00:39:28,719 I have no standing before God without him. 553 00:39:28,719 –> 00:39:30,340 My life flows from him. 554 00:39:30,340 –> 00:39:32,100 My hope is on him. 555 00:39:32,100 –> 00:39:33,620 All my good is in him. 556 00:39:33,620 –> 00:39:36,939 It is by the grace of God that I am what I am. 557 00:39:38,419 –> 00:39:40,419 And so living by faith means you don’t despair, 558 00:39:40,419 –> 00:39:41,260 you don’t presume. 559 00:39:41,260 –> 00:39:43,860 Living by faith means that there is humility 560 00:39:43,860 –> 00:39:45,780 and that there is hope. 561 00:39:48,060 –> 00:39:49,939 You look to Christ and you will see that 562 00:39:49,939 –> 00:39:52,780 this Christ to whom you look is the Son of God 563 00:39:54,379 –> 00:39:55,500 and that he loves you 564 00:39:56,780 –> 00:40:00,080 and that he gave himself for you. 565 00:40:01,300 –> 00:40:03,699 So I invite you to look to this Christ today, 566 00:40:04,739 –> 00:40:06,260 to humble yourself before him 567 00:40:07,739 –> 00:40:09,800 and to find your hope in him. 568 00:40:12,060 –> 00:40:14,320 Bowed down beneath a load of sin, 569 00:40:14,320 –> 00:40:16,780 by Satan sorely pressed, 570 00:40:17,860 –> 00:40:20,300 by war without and fears within, 571 00:40:20,300 –> 00:40:23,000 I come to thee for rest. 572 00:40:23,860 –> 00:40:26,500 Be thou my shield and hiding place 573 00:40:26,500 –> 00:40:28,679 that’s sheltered near thy side. 574 00:40:29,600 –> 00:40:33,239 I may my fierce accuser face 575 00:40:33,239 –> 00:40:37,159 and tell him thou has died. 576 00:40:38,399 –> 00:40:39,899 The son of God loved you 577 00:40:41,000 –> 00:40:44,000 and he gave himself for you. 578 00:40:44,919 –> 00:40:46,020 Will you pray with me? 579 00:40:51,080 –> 00:40:53,080 Father, we bow before you 580 00:40:53,080 –> 00:40:55,620 in these twin realities of our lives. 581 00:40:56,459 –> 00:40:59,719 Father, help us to get real about the battle, 582 00:41:02,959 –> 00:41:05,300 help us to trust Christ for the outcome, 583 00:41:07,419 –> 00:41:10,300 grant that there may be all over this place 584 00:41:10,300 –> 00:41:13,300 the exercise of living and active faith 585 00:41:14,500 –> 00:41:18,060 that is marked by true humility and by genuine hope 586 00:41:19,239 –> 00:41:23,020 and all these things we ask in Jesus name, Amen. 587 00:41:23,600 –> 00:41:24,439 Amen. 588 00:41:28,179 –> 00:41:29,419 You’ve been listening to a sermon 589 00:41:29,419 –> 00:41:31,820 with Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 590 00:41:31,820 –> 00:41:36,820 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 591 00:41:37,100 –> 00:41:40,560 or visit our website, OpenTheBible.org.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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