Good morning. Good to see you. Wow. You guys look and sound great. Man, some of you guys aren’t that handsome, but all the ladies are. It’s just great here. Good to see you. If you’ve got a Bible, go ahead and go with me to Romans chapter seven, and I’m going to get to that in just a moment. This is going to be the last message in Romans for several weeks. In two weeks will actually start our First Fruits series that we do once every four years. And so, if you’ve never sat through that series, it is, I would say, transformational in your understanding of what the Bible says about stewardship, not just money, but stewardship, and how we handle the things that God blesses us with. So, we’ll start that in two weeks, just giving you a heads up to that. And so, we’re going to close this thought that Paul’s in here in Romans. Let me just say it to you this way. I’m just going to tell you in a different way what I’ve told you three times before, because it’s a cyclical argument. It’s like, how many times does he think we need to hear this? I need to hear it all the time. I need I need it more than I’ve ever heard it. Andi f the Bible is going to repeat itself and continually drive a point home, that’s what we’re going to be about. And so, surprise title here. Here’s the title of the message, “The Peaceful Power Of Losing All Hope In Yourself” (Romans 7:12-14). And let me tell you what it’s true, there is a peaceful power when you finally just say this, “I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.” And it’s not fatalism, it’s reality, and it’s designed by God for us to come to that realization, not just in salvation, but in sanctification as well. How is a man saved? A man is saved when he abandons all hope of saving himself and he looks to the only one who can. He runs to the Savior. That’s how someone is regenerated. Bottom line, now the Spirit opens the eyes and raises the dead. I know that but this is what the reality is in sanctification, we need the same realization.
So, let’s go at this a whole different angle. This is going to be 12 through 14. So, let’s go to Romans 7:12-14 seven start verse 12, and I’m just going to introduce this thought because we’re going to repeat verse 12 from last week. “So the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” Remember, one of the things the law does. It gives us sight of sin. It shows us sin, and then it doesn’t help fix us. It condemns us. In fact, it kills us. The letter kills us, and it does it. How? Well, it’s really sin, but the law is the one that condemns. The law is one that executes. Verse 13 says, “Did that which is good (that’s the law), then bring death to me? By no means!” Right? Wasn’t the law’s fault. In other words, “It was sin producing death in me through what is good. That’s the law. In order that sin (watch this statement) in order that sin might be shown to be.” What? evil? demonic? really bad? really horrible? This is the most hyperbolic statement you can make about sin. In fact, it’s not hyperbolic. It’s actual. It’s active, it’s real. “Sin might be shown to be sin.” In other words, that’s the worst word you could use, and that’s what the Bible says. It lets us see sin for what it is, “And through the commandment, it might become (what?) sinful beyond measure.” What does that mean? That means it would be seen for what it is, and that it would excite and demonstrate the sinfulness of sin, the law does that God gave it for that purpose. It was never going to be the moral compass that would get you right with God, nor will it be the moral compass that causes you to be more sanctified, because the law, yes, it is spiritual, absolutely, it is but the weakness of the flesh, we’re unable to keep it in that sense. Still true. The way in is the way on. And then verse 14. Finally, he says it this way, “For we know that the law is (what? it’s) spiritual. Right? It’s breathed out by the Holy Spirit. It’s breathed out by God. We know that the law is spiritual. In other words, deep and truth. It’s something that issues from the Almighty. It’s actually perfect, it’s sufficient, it’s authoritative, it’s absolute. Right? We know the law is spiritual. And now he makes a statement. We have to understand what he’s talking about. He says, “But I am of the flesh.” If we were to look at the actual noun here, it would be, but I am fleshy. How many of you are more fleshy than you want to be? Ah, man, I wish I could just eat whatever I wanted to, and it would just melt away like when I was, like 16. Now that I’m not 16, it doesn’t work that way. He’s not talking about that kind of fleshy. He’s talking about the vestiges of sin that remain. Listen, in our members, that is our actual body, you realize this body is not going to heaven. It can’t. The body you have is not going to it’s not going to go to heaven. If Jesus tarries, it will go in the ground and it will return to dust. Why? Because it is still under that curse from Genesis chapter three, you’ve been redeemed from the curse of the law. There’s not condemnation upon you but the body that you still have is still under that curse. Why? Because it still carries that sin. That was not what Jesus was doing on the cross. He was not cleaning up your body. He was causing you to be able to be forgiven of God and born again spiritually, and as your mind, your will and your emotions and your soul, you’re going through a process of sanctification, and one day, you’ll get a new body saved, being saved, will be saved. That’s actually what’s happening. If you’re a Christian, you’re right in the middle. Okay, he says, But I am of the flesh sold under sin.” This literally means in bondage, underneath bondage, to sin. Now, if you take that by itself, you’re going to think, “Wait a minute, this is talking about an unbeliever.” No, Paul’s talking about himself. He’s saying this, my carnal body, my natural body, the flesh that I have. There’s sin in my members. And listen, it’s not going to get better. We can put those things to death in that we starve them and we don’t allow them to function. I got it.
And the way we do that is, what? Well, we have two options, and that’s called The War of the Will. You can either choose to stand up in pride and say, “I’m going to vow and I’m going to do better, and I’m going to keep the law.” Or you can humble yourself. There’s only two ways, pride or humility. You can humble yourself at the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need. Those are the two options. And the Christian who tries in their own strength fails constantly, and the Christian who humbles himself under Jesus, that’s the Christian that receives supply of the body of the Spirit, and bears good fruit. And there’s always a back and forth. You’re never going to reach a point where you say, “I just I do it. I abide perfectly, right? Draw me close and you taught me to abide. You change the lyrics to the song, because now you’ve arrived.” That’s a doctrine in some churches. It actually is. They call it complete sanctification. There’s people who are so deceived that they think they don’t sin anymore. And so, what they do is they redefine the definition of sin. I’ve never actually met a person who said that, if that’s you, can I meet you afterwards. Just ask to talk to me. I would love to laugh because I want your spouse to come with you. We know the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh sold under sin. What is my flesh? That’s why it’s going to die. You see, that’s what he’s speaking about. Don’t get those two things backwards.
In fact, look down in the same chapter at the first part of Romans 7:18a verse 18, he says, “For I know that nothing good (this word “nothing” in the Greek, it means nothing) I know that nothing good dwells in me.” Now you got you can’t stop there because you’d say, “Well, Holy Spirit dwells in you. Christ is in you the hope of glory.” That’s right. He says, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my (what?) flesh.” Circus, the carne, the body, the meat, right? That’s what he’s saying. There’s nothing good in that body of mind. That’s why it will one day go, in essence, into the ground, to disappear, and it will not come back. You’ll come back because your spirit will be raised, but you will receive a new body, incorruptible and immortal. This is the goal of chapter seven is that you would come to a place of utter despair, and you would surrender to the fact that you can’t fix you, and you would humble yourself before the only one that would. A prideful Christian, which should be an oxymoron, but it’s not a prideful Christian is a Christian that’s not growing. If you think you’ve already arrived, you stop traveling. Isn’t that, right? We have tendency, just like the churches in Galatia did, to say this up, “Thank You, Jesus, thank You for salvation. Amazing Grace. Oh, that was wonderful. I’ll take it from here.” Right? Like the MC says before he goes off, “That’s it for me, take a look at this.” And then we throw it to the video bumper, right? We say to God, “That’s it for You. Take a look at me. Watch God, I’m now going to please You.” Now it’s good to do what pleases the Lord, but if you think you’re earning His love. You’re mistaken. Jesus did that for you. God set His love on you. If you’re a Christian, before the foundation of the world, the Bible says He’s loved you before you were you. He foreknew you and predestined that you would know Him. And that is a wonderful, liberating truth but we tend to do this.
Look at what Paul says to the Galatians 3:2-3 in chapter three, verses two and three, he’s speaking to Christians here. He says, “Let me ask you only this.” By the way, he just called them “foolish”. So, you know, I left out verse one, you’re welcome. “Let me ask you only this: did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” Now, when we talk about this, when you started out, this is salvation, right? That’s what it’s talking about. It’s a rhetorical question because they know they received it by faith, not by works of the law. Now, the problem wasn’t how they saw their salvation. The problem was how they were seeing their sanctification. They forgot, or they never learned, that the way in is the way on. You’re ever dependent. It’s always of grace, salvation and sanctification. And won’t resurrection be as well? Won’t it? It will be. You weren’t in charge of your salvation any more than you were of your natural birth. When you were born, did you come out and go, “I just never gave up hope. I saw the light and baby, I moved toward it”? No. And when you’re laying in the ground. If Jesus tarries, what are you going to what are you going to do one day? The trumpet is going to sound, you’re going to be like “I’m going to muster on strength, and here I come.” No, the same is true here. Is it synergistic though? Do you have a role? Yes, you do have a role. What is your role? Your role is humility at root. It is to be humbling yourself underneath His mighty hand, before His throne of grace, to constantly going to Him for the fruit of the Spirit. And you’ll see how that applies. Look at the next verse, though he says, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the spirit (that would be salvation) are you now being perfected (that would be sanctification) growing up (into teleos) maturity by the flesh?” Look, did you start in the
spirit by grace, and now you think you’re going to work this out in the flesh? We could ask ourselves that, couldn’t we? Most of you in here your first service, you’re all saved. I’m sure of it. If I said, did Jesus save you, or did you save yourself? You’d say, “Jesus saved me.” And if I said, Well, what about sanctification? You said, “Well, I have a part in it.” Yeah, you do. How much of a part? Well, it’s synergistic. There’s both. And so, it does require something of you, but it’s not you standing up to the law and making a new vow and finally saying, “I’ll take it from here.” Philippians 3:3 says it this way, Paul says, “For we are the circumcision (in other words, he’s referencing that term to the true people of God) we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.” Why? Why? Because, what does he say in verse 18 of chapter seven? “I know that in me dwells no good thing that is in my flesh.” That’s what he’s referring to. Your flesh is not gonna be able to do it. No matter how religiously hard you try, moralism will ultimately fail you.
Now I want to take a little journey, or take a little journey into some Old Testament, and there is a real reason for it. Yeah, by the way, if anybody ever tells you need to unhitch from the Old Testament, tell them they’re unhitched from reality, because there is no New Testament without the Old Testament, guys. The depth and the riches of that thing fulfilled in Christ is how God determined in those 66 books to reveal Himself and His Son. Okay, so we don’t leave that out. And when you look in the Old Testament, there’s two kind of things you need to know. It’s called your hermeneutic. There’s your $3 word you can impress people at parties. Say, did you know I have a hermeneutic? Is that a dog? What is that? No, your hermeneutic is your lens by which you view scripture. And when you read your Old Testament, here’s what you need to know, all of the Bible is about Jesus, including all your Old Testament, it’s all about Jesus. Now that doesn’t mean every verse is directly about Him personally, but it’s either about Jesus or it points to our need for Jesus every single every single chapter of every single book. And so, when we read the Old Testament, we know that it is actual and when we read stories and we read statements, they were actual, they were historical, they were literal, they were grammatical, right? In other words, they were real for that moment. But so, so, so often they weren’t just for the moment that they were written, but they were also pointing toward another moment. Right? They are prophetic, and if they’re prophetic in nature. They are multi-dimensional in nature. In other words, it’s all going to be speaking about something in the person, the work of Jesus Christ, either in His first coming or His second coming, or both. I want to give you an example here. Let me just give you an example. This isn’t really about the message right here, but this is an example. This is Hosea 11:1, chapter 11 and verse one, right? You probably heard this verse. God says this, “When Israel was a child (that’s talking about the nation of Israel, literal, grammatical, historical), I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” Now He refers to Egypt or refers to Israel as His Son. Here. How do we know that? Well, because. He did He called him out of Egypt. That’s what you see in Exodus, right? You read Exodus, that’s Him doing this. And there are several references where He refers to Israel as His child or the firstborn. That’s very common. But how many of you know that Hosea chapter 11 verse one, though it is literal, grammatical, historical, it’s true. It was actual, referring to Israel. It also referred to somebody else, didn’t it? It did. Let me show you. Here’s the story of Jesus’ birth right in Matthew chapter two 2:13-15, the wise men have just left. And, by the way, there weren’t three of them. We don’t know how many of them there were. That’s just from your nativity scenes. Give it a goog. It says this, “Now, when they (that’s the wise men) when they had departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.’” Remember that story? Watch look at the next verse. “And He rose and took the child and his mother that night and departed to Egypt. And (verse 15, finally) remained there until the death of Herod. This was (to what? FUL FILL) to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet out of Egypt. ‘I called (who?) my son.’’ And who’s that referring to? Jesus. Jesus. See? It’s multi-dimensional. It’s a very simple concept. Don’t get tripped up over the words hermeneutic and those terms. Just know that your Old Testament, either is talking specifically about Jesus in one way or another, as Hosea 11:1 is right as well as literal, grammatical, historical or it’s pointing to our need for the Savior, right? The greater Prophet, the greater Priest, the greater King. We see that throughout the entire Old Testament, that’s one example.
I want to show you another one, and this one will land the point home in Romans chapter seven. We’ll see if you pick this up. Psalm 80:8-15 chapter 80, start, verse eight, speaking to God, the Psalmist is, “You brought a vine out of Egypt.” Now I wonder who he’s talking about there? He’s talking about Israel. You brought your son out. You did that. “You brought a vine out of Egypt.” That’s what David has in mind. Now, David was a prophet, the Bible says, so he probably saw the multi dimensionalness of this. But Israel is, through your Old Testament, referred to in many kinds of types and shadows or names, we would say. And often it’s son and usually it’s vine though. You see that? “You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root and filled the land.” Right? That’s when they come into the land. “The mountains were covered with its shade. The mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its branches to the sea and it shoots to the river.” This was the design of Israel, wasn’t it? This was the design in the people of God that they would do what? That they would be, the ones that would testify to the nations around them that Yahweh was God, and God would be glorified through Israel. And how would they do that? While it’s is very simple, they would keep the Torah, they would keep the law, they would keep the commandments. They would be submissive and obedient, and they would love God and the law was the issue. Obey the law. That was what you were to do. He goes on, though, in verse 12, “Why then have you broken down its walls? (This is of the vine, right?) So that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit. The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again. O God of hosts, look down from heaven and see; have regard for this vine.” Care about Israel. That’s what he’s referring to literally. “The stock that your right hand planted and for the son, (there it is Israel) whom you made strong for yourself.” Who’s he referring to? Well, let’s keep going.
Let’s look at Isaiah. How about Isaiah chapter five 5:1-7? Here’s the Prophet, verses one through seven. He says, “Let me sing for my beloved, my love song concerning his vineyard: (see the theme?) my beloved had a vineyard (it’s an allegory, isn’t it?) on a very fertile hill.” Who’s he referring to? He’s talking about God and His vine, His vineyard, He’s speaking about Israel. Verse two, “He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; (he’s caring for it, it’s a perfect picture of what He did with Israel) he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewned out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield (what?) grapes.” We have another word for that. The “fruit”, right? That’s the fruit of the vine. That’s what it’s referring to. But here’s the problem, and here’s where it points to the need for a greater vine, for a greater son. Because this vine failed, this son failed. We say it to you this way, the law did not succeed because of the weakness of their flesh. Would you agree? Exactly right. This is the contrast, and we’ll get clarity out of it, “But it yielded (what?) wild grapes.” Those that that word in Hebrew literally means “sour berries”. You ever had a bad grape? You know, I don’t know about you, but I put a bunch of grapes in a bowl and sit down take a break. When I’m working, I’m studying, I’ll just start popping in my mouth, you know, and I’m watching, like, you know, cat videos, and then you get a bad one. It’s like, oh, that’s it. That’s a picture of it wild. Was terrible. It’s called bad fruit. Look at verse three, and “Now O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah (see Israel) judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it when I looked for it to yield grapes? Why did it yield wild grapes?” Or sour berries? Why did it do that? “And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge and it shall be devoured. I will break down its wall and it shall be trampled down. I will make a waste and it shall not be pruned or hoed and breathe, or rather briars and thorns shall grow up, and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, (you see this, right?) and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting. And he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed for righteousness. But behold, an outcry!” In other words, they blew it. They didn’t do it. They didn’t do what? They didn’t keep the law. They didn’t love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength nor their neighbor as themselves. That’s an Old Testament command you understand. Jesus just repeats it. But this is a picture of them failing. This was the vine.
Here’s another instance, Hosea 10:1-4 chapter 10 look at one through four. I just want the point driven really deep home. “Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit (that’s what it was intended to, right?) The more its fruit increased, the more altars he built.” These are not good altars, family. Those are altars to the Baals. In other words, the more they were blessed, the worse they became. And or, “As his country improved, he improved his (what?) pillars.” Those are totems to false deities. Asherah, right? That’s what those were. The better he had it, the worse he became. He goes on, “Their heart is false.” Remember, they’re a luxuriant vine we saw in verse one. “Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. For now they will say: ‘We have no king. We do not fear the LORD; and a king-what could he do for us?’ They utter mere words. Watch. They utter mere words.( What is that they make?) Empty oaths. They make covenants.” What did this thing sound like? “I’ll do it. I’ll keep it this time. This time, we’re going to nail it. Oh, I’m turning over a new leaf at the youth camp.” That’s been tried before. It didn’t work. “The utter words empty oaths make covenants and judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrow of the field.” In other words, the vine failed, did it not? Jeremiah 2:20-21, two. What about this? 20 through 21. “For long ago, I broke your yoke and burst your bond, (speaking of Israel), but you said, ‘I will not serve.’ Yes, on every hill and under every green tree, you bowed down like a whore.” Ooh, oh my gosh. Can you imagine if you talked like that to people? God has blessed you but you bow down like a whore before these false idols. You’re like, “That pastor’s mean.” Yet verse 21, “Yet I planted you a choice vine. (What I did was good, but you ruined it.) Holy of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?” That’s a worthless vine. The Old Testament, your Bible describes that the original vine, the picture of the true vine as defective, degenerate, corrupted, empty and fruitless.
Now this should change the way you hear this next sentence. John 15:1 chapter 15 verse one, Jesus says this, what? “‘I am the true vine.”” Do you see it? “I am the true vine.” They were a vine, but they failed. This was a vine in Israel, and they were given the law and they could not keep it. And no matter how much they vowed, no matter how many oaths, no matter how many times they tried to clean up their act, and how many covenants they would blurt out and make, they did not come to the place of finally just saying, “We can’t do it.” And so, they established whole groups, Pharisees, Sadducees, right? The Sanhedrin. That would sit around and think of how to keep more, even more laws on people, and they wouldn’t even lift a finger to help them, but Jesus is speaking here in John 15, and he’s speaking in terms of sitting there with His disciples. You remember He’s going back, and you got to keep in mind, this is the same conversation, if you will, that started in John 13, and Judas has gone out. There was a false branch, right? But Jesus is introducing this concept to them because He’s claimed so many I ams, including just the I am for Abraham was I AM. Now He’s making something extremely clear that the old vine had failed. Now, does that mean Israel has done away with no, it does not mean that, by the way, and we’ll get to that in Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11. Some of you will make it, and some of you won’t. But He says, “‘I’m the true vine and my father is (what? he’s the husbandman or) vinedresser.’” He’s the farmer, if you will. “I’m the true vine.” Now listen, I want you to think with me, Israel was a vine, and the attachment you had to Israel was what? It was the law. You keep the law, the ceremonies. You could even be a proselyte. You could come into it, and you could even become, so to speak, a Jew, right? It was all through Torah, all through law. Jesus Christ comes along with grace and truth. The law came through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And what does He say? I’m true vine. I’m true vine. The other vine? Yeah, that was pointing to their need for the true vine. It’s me. That’s what He’s telling them. “I’m the true vine. My Father is the vinedresser.” “‘Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he (that’s the Father) takes away. (They’d just seen it happen. Judas had gone out.) And every branch that does bear fruit, he (what? Oh) he prunes it that it might bear more fruit.’” You might be hearing you say, “Well, I’m in Christ. I trust Him. I love Him. I don’t love Him as I should. Trust Him like I should. I know it. I feel like a disappointment in the family.” Well, listen, your merit is not what God’s looking at. He’s looking at the merit of Jesus. That’s your acceptance in the family of God. You say, “Well, I do have a little bit of fruit. I think. My wife told me I’m nicer.” Good. Did you good boy? You know what He’s going to do now, He’s going to prune you. He’s going to snip away things. He’s going to go to work on you. If you’ve ever seen something truly pruned? Oh, it’s like, oh, I think you killed it. You ever have those times, yeah, where you’re like, “Man, am I even a Christian? Still what’s going on with me? Man, it’s like everything’s just gone right?” Because He’ll clip off the superficial sucker branches, He’ll take away the things that would be wild berries, and He’ll strip you down to one nugget, maybe. And guess what you’ll get out of that abiding in Him? Bigger fruit, more fruit, 30, 60, and 100 fold. These are the ways of God. This isn’t human opinion. Jesus is telling you this with authority.
He said verse three. Look at verse three. “Already you’re clean because of the word (you’re clean because of the word) that I’ve spoken to you.” What is that? That’s salvation. You hear the Word and you believe. Romans 10:17. What is it? “Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of Christ.” That’s already happened already. You’re clean because the word that I’ve spoken to you. What does he say next? “Abide (oh, remain, continue with) abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself.” Even if it attaches to the law. Guys, we saw it. Did it work? I mean, flash forward to chapter eight. I’m not going to go there. But just think about this. “For there’s therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ, Jesus for the law of the Spirit of life. In Christ, Jesus has set you free from the law and sin and death.” What’s next? “For what the law could not do weak as it was with the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.” Whoo, vroom. It. That’s gospel, guys, that’s gospel. It’s incredibly good news. You can’t attach to the law. You have to attach to the vine. The true vine, “As the branch, cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you unless you abide in me.” He goes on and on. “I am the vine. You are the branches. (It’s like we’re not hearing Him.) Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me, you can do (yeah, you know what that is in the Greek, right? I touched that already. Or somebody yelled from the back) nothing.” It means “nothing”. “What do you mean I can do nothing?” You can do nothing that’s inwardly pleasing to God. Now you can be outwardly moral, and people can look at you and be like, “Whoa. He’s got his life together. That guy’s really well, he’s a straight arrow.” But God sees your heart, and the only change that comes at the heart level is from the heart changer. He is the heart surgeon, the law works on you to take you to the one who can work in you, the will and the to do of His good pleasure. Look at this verse.
He goes on. Verse six, seven and eight. “If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. The branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.” What’s that a picture of? It’s a picture of hell. Obviously. This isn’t saying a Christian gets taken out and thrown into hell. No. But there are people that superficially attach to churches and attach to the name of Jesus. And if you’re here and you’re saying, “Oh my gosh, I’m scared, that might be me.” It isn’t, because the people that do that, that are scared about it. Or the people that do that, they’re not scared about it, they feel totally confident. I’d even say, if you’re sitting here and you’re going, “You know what? I need more of the Holy Spirit’s assurance. I want to see more of a change in my life.” I’m telling you where to get it. The Bible’s telling you where to get it. It’s not by turning over a new leaf. It’s rushing to the throne of grace. You understand, this is just the fourth time I’ve said the same things. He goes on. He says, “If you abide in ne(oh, there it is) and my words (that’s why it’s important) abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Now is He saying? Mercedes! No. You know what He’s saying? What would you be asking? You’d be singing that song, “Draw me close and teach me to abide.” You know what the answer is to that prayer? Yes. “Lord, don’t leave me where I am.” Okay. “Lord, I humble myself at Your throne of grace. God, I need mercy.” You got it. “I need grace to help in time of need.” Here it is. It’s always going to be that way. It’s never going to change. It will be a lifelong dependency upon Your Savior. And then finally, He says that, “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit.” And so, what prove? “Prove to be my disciples.” You say, “does every Christian then biblically speaking, does the Bible teach that every true Christian will bear fruit? Yes. Will it be perfect fruit? No. Will it be every single fruit you could bear? No, it won’t be. Will it be variable one person to another and in terms of maturity and brokenness? Yes, and there will be conditions upon it. That’s right. It doesn’t mean everybody’s the same in that sense but we’re the same when we come to the Lord. We’re all equal with the gravel at the foot of the cross. Jesus is the true vine. Abiding in Him is where fruit comes from. Through Him, the life of God flows not from the law, Israel proved it. And apart from Him, nothing good is produced. Salvation is monergistic. God does it by Himself. Sanctification is synergistic. You have a role. What is it? It’s to humble yourself. It really, really is. Guys, I don’t know if you know this, but you can read the Bible to your blue in the face, but if you don’t do it with a humble heart, it doesn’t change anything. People stand over the Word of God and they read it. They try to tell the Bible what it’s to say. When you approach the Word of God, you are to come underneath it. You’re to put your “yes” on the table, as it were, on the very altar, and say this, “God, if it’s your will, it’s my desire. And that’s what I want, and if I don’t want it yet, change my heart. Help me. I’m dependent upon You, and Your Word is over me. I’m not over it.” That prayer will be answered, and then you can pray prayers like this, right out of Psalm 119, “Open my eyes that I might behold wonderful things from your law. I want to see things in the Bible. I want it to be elucidated.” Good, great. You can have that. Humble yourself. Humble yourself. Jesus is the one that opens minds to understand the Scripture. No man can do that. He does it by His Spirit. He’s still does that. The only value you get out of any sermon or any time with the Lord is going to be what the Holy Spirit is actually doing. It’s not going to be you self-focusing or self-effort but humbling yourself. That’s a choice. By the way, let me just give you a little hint of pastoral care. Please don’t ask God to humble you. You don’t want that. That’s a dangerous prayer. That’s like, “Lord, give me patience.” I quit praying that about 30 years ago. This is my spiritual birthday, by the way, I’m 39 today. I didn’t do it. Yeah, I just never gave up hope. No. 39 years and I really thought I’d float by now. It didn’t work. It hasn’t worked. In fact, the older I get in Christ, the more dependent I realize I am. And people ask, and I love what MacArthur answered this question one time. People ask, “As you get older in the Lord, will you sin less?” Yeah, but it’ll hurt a whole lot more when you do. You feel it like a hot poker in your mind and through your heart.
I want to bear fruit. Where am I going to go? I’ve got to go to the throne of grace. James 4:6 says it this way, “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘ God opposes who the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.’” We humble ourselves. That is how we are going to bear fruit. It will not be by bowing up and vowing that will keep the law again. Hebrews 4:14-16. Oh, I hope this one sticks. “Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast to our confession.” What’s the confession? That He is our Priest, our Prophet and our King. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who, in every respect, has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence, (do what?) draw near to the throne (throne of what? law? No, the throne) of grace that we may receive mercy (that involves repentance, that’s confession on our part) receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Grace to help in what area? Every area. “So, I want some areas of my life that are independent from my need for Jesus.” Well, if you’re a Christian, buckle up buttercup. You’re about to get a spanking. Oh yeah, He does. That’s who He paddles. That’s when the paddle comes out. So, what does the paddle look like? Don’t know. Don’t want to know. He knows how to do it. He’ll afflict your conscience. He’ll go right at your heart. And if you stop right there, the discipline can end. The discipline stops when the child actually receives it. Did you know that? You don’t spank beyond that. Not in the natural and certainly not in the spiritual. God’s a good Father. He knows exactly how to get your attention. I mean, you’re here, aren’t you?
Let me end with this. This is Colossians 2:6-7. It says this, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord.” Okay, I have a question. “As you received”, how did you receive Christ Jesus the Lord? By grace through faith in Him and His person and work, right? That’s right. That’s how you received Christ Jesus, your Lord. “As you received him, so walk in him.” This is referring to salvation. This is referring to sanctification as you received so walk in Him as you came and humbled yourself as He opened your eyes to see your need and His sufficiency. That’s how you walk in. It’s the same thing. The way in is the way on. It’s a really good kind of a little catch phrase to remember. What does it look like here? It is “Rooted and built up.” Think about it, “rooted”. You are the branch and you are in the vine. You are rooted into the life of God. “Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” That is the peaceful power of losing all hope in yourself. You should say this in your heart, “I can’t do it. You never said I could. You said You would and You did. So, I’m going to go to You. I’m going to abandon all hope of fixing myself. Now, am I going to die to the things I need to die to?” Yes. Does that mean you’re going to go out and be like, “Well, out and be like, well, until He changes my heart, I’m just going to bank robber, you know?” No. But what you’re looking for is a change of heart. You’re looking to the One who changes the hearts. That’s where it is. It’s simply a place of humility. This is the setup, believe it or not. This is the jab before the hook of chapter of Romans seven. And we’re going to go off, we’re going to go out of Romans for a few weeks and teach on stewardship. We do it every four years. It’s part of the part of the milieu, if you will, of the church life. We have to cover those things and we do that to help people understand it. But when we come back, this is still going to be true. And from here, we’ll go into look at Paul’s what? The association between his spirit and his flesh, where he says, “I do the thing I don’t want to do and the thing I want to do I don’t do.” Right? And there’s this back and forth that leads him to do what? Finally despair, “Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?” And then he thanks Jesus Christ. I pray we’re ready for that. I pray hearts are humble and hearts are open.
KEYWORDS
Romans Chapter Seven, Peace, Hope, Sanctification, Law, Sin, Spiritual Law, Flesh, Humility, Grace, True Vine, Throne Of Grace, Pride, Fruit Bearing, Old Testament, New Testament, Salvation, Stewardship, Wild Grapes, Sour Berries, Fruit, Vine, Branches, Abide, Audio Sermon, Bible Sermon, Humble, Gospel, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Hermeneutic, Christology, Monergistic, Synergistic, Spirit, Legalist, Teleos, Texas, Sherman
SPEAKER
Steve LeBlanc