Sermon (09-Jul): "The Struggle is Real!" Romans 7:15-25

Scripture:

Romans 7:15-25a (SLIDE)

15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;

23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Big Idea:

The objective of this message is to recognize our one defense in life’s struggles

(SLIDE) Introduction – The Struggle is Real!!

- As I was preparing this message, this title was one of the first to come to my mind

- And, I started to think where did this expression even originate from?

- So, I did a little digging…some date the expression back as early as 2002 from the late rapper 2Pac—

- Where he happened to use it in one of his lyrics

- Then, over the next decade and even up to the present day it has become popular on social media, across the media…other places

- Just so that we are on the same page, what is the meaning behind “The struggle is real”?

- (SLIDE) The struggle is real is a phrase used to describe a small, everyday frustrating situation or setback

- Maybe you’ve seen instances like this…

- So, you may be asking yourself, “Chaplain, what does this have to do with our passage?

- Well, if anyone could speak to the struggle being real, it is the Apostle Paul

- I know that I have said it many times but I believe the Apostle Paul is arguably the most popular, effective Christian of all time

- But, if he were to tell it, he didn’t necessarily view himself that way

- Paul saw himself as the “worst of all sinners,” the chief of all sinners if you will (1 Tim 1:15)

- Think about that for a second; the one who championed salvation to Gentile people—meaning you and me

- He didn’t rest on or rely on any accolades

- He didn’t go around proclaiming that his Christian character was head and shoulders above anyone else’s

- He did just the opposite—he acknowledged that his strength came from God through Christ

- Remember when He wrote this (SLIDE; 2 Cor 12:8-10),

8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

- Paul knew the difficulty in living life as a Christian—that in his weakness that’s where he could find God’s strength

- He opens Romans 7 with a quick look at the Law and it’s relationship to sin…

- How the law awakens sin that is in us

- It pokes, nudges and prompts us; and, what we fail to realize sin had us bound

- Paul makes it clear that the Law isn’t the bad thing here; he explains that (SLIDE)

“the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good” (Romans 7:12)

- The problem is us

- What we inherited by Adam’s nature and shaped, in many ways, through our own nurture of it

- Sin aroused in us—the Law showed us our shortcomings of how we couldn’t measure up on our own

- In essence, Paul says in Galatians (SLIDE; 3:24),

“the Law has become our tutor and our disciplinarian to guide us to Christ”

- So, here, Paul begins to address it head on regarding his struggle

- Which if we can take it, understand, and learn from it

- We can get ahead and stay ahead of the game that the enemy has masterfully prepared for

- When we regard what one of the greatest patriarchs of the faith went through,

- We put ourselves in a better position to battle in a way that God wants us to battle

- So, where do we begin?

The Issue Begins with “I” (SLIDE)

- Over the course of these ten verses or so, Paul uses the pronoun “I” around 26 times depending on the translation

- A handful of other times you see Me or My

- Clearly, we see that the issue of sin centers on us

- Whenever the word “I” comes into the equation and leads the conversation, the results won’t be the best God has for us

- Personally, I’ve noticed that my biggest problems begun with “I”

- When I’ve led with “I” problems have been sure to follow

- Thankfully, with age and God’s wisdom, God has allowed me to see things from a different angle

- But the total battle hasn’t or doesn’t stopped

- So, you can learn at any age, angle or season you find yourself in

- Perhaps the most important and compelling question is, “Are we willing to?”

- Paul’s desire to understand his own nature and the battle he finds himself entrenched in;

- It’s something we need to take seriously as well

- That internal battle that we face as followers of Christ and as believers

- It can cause angst, frustration and can be vexing when you’re trying to live for Christ—especially when you’re trying to live out loud

- Some have said that Paul details the “inner struggle of every heart.”

- Others have said that Paul isn’t speaking for himself

- I happen to believe that Paul shows his hand and is willing to humble himself for all to read his life

- He allows others to see themselves in him

- It’s not to give us an excuse or justify ourselves—"Paul couldn’t help it so how can I?”

- No, the idea is that if Paul battled then we’d best be prepared

- Paul found himself at the juncture where “I” was the issue

- I find it interesting that the stories you hear of a person who pulls oneself up by your own bootstraps

- To me, those stories can be a little over glorified

- If we’re not mindful of it, the center and glory of those stories will be me, myself and I

- But, the thing is, and it’s no disrespect to any person or their humble beginnings or how far they’ve come

- Still truthfully, most times, God has placed people in his or her path to help get that person to where they are or are going

- There’s a level of healthy interdependence that is in play most times

- The saying “No man [or woman] is an island to themselves” is true

- History says that 17thcentury English author John Donne coined that saying in a sermon

- His intended meaning—No one is self-sufficient; everyone relies on others

- There’s an African proverb that says,

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

- If it were up to me by myself with myself, I would not have made it

- Without my wife, children, family and others—

- The early outlook on my life wasn’t great and could have taken a different turn

- Often, like Paul, I found myself frustrated;

- Then knowing what God’s word said and my own inability to make it happen

- The letter “I” in the middle of the word sin was sabotaging me all along

- We see from the passage that the law is in line with God’s will more than you or I ever could be

- And, when it came time to measure up

- Paul like the rest of us fell short

- It’s one thing when you’re a small child and ignorant

- Yet, it’s quite another thing when we know what to do; we just cannot seem to do it

- Paul says, that “evil is right there with him” (v.21); it’s close at hand

Transition: Paul found himself at the juncture where “I” was the very one who couldn’t help him

We Can’t Help Ourselves (SLIDE)

- When all is said and done, Paul is saying to us that we cannot help ourselves

- We can read self-help books, google great tips, listen to inspiring podcasts, or attempt to numb ourselves

- None of that provides a solid resolution to the dilemma of “I” and the problem of sin that we have

- It’s THEproblem we have had since the fall in the Garden of Eden

- Adam’s attempt to cover himself with fig leaves didn’t help

- His attempt to blame shift didn’t help

- Since then, humankind has attempted to cover and to help ourselves

- Yet, that will only take us so far

- Paul recognizes that he cannot help himself out of the “pit” of sin that he was born into

- Paul did not have to do a thing before he was looked at as guilty before God—

- His birth right showed and proved him to be guilty

- And, how many of us are willing to look at ourselves that way?

- I’m not magnifying that we are simply sinners saved by grace

- I’m just introducing the truth that none of us can afford to look down on anyone else

- Attending chapel and church doesn’t give us the latitude to be condescending to those who have yet to heed the gospel

- I like how the gospel group the Williams Brothers (1985) say it (SLIDE),

“I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody about somebody, who can save anybody”

- That was recorded over 40 years but still holds true today

- Paul had it right when he wrote (SLIDE; Rom 7:24),

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

- We cannot help ourselves nor can we rescue ourselves

- My good intentions and good deeds are not God’s motivating factor to Him sending His Son to die for me

- Because my intentions and deeds could be rooted in self-centeredness and God nowhere in sight

- And, really, what would be the measuring stick of good works that I would have to fulfill to qualify?

- Will I face an eternity without God if I missed it by one, two, or ten good deeds?

- Interestingly, Paul’s word choice of wretched means, “Oh, how miserable a man I am”

- For those of us that are taught to be independent and self-sufficient, that could be troubling

- We embrace the most often quoted non-biblical phrase and mindset,

"God helps those who help themselves" – Algernon Sydney (1698)/Benjamin Franklin (1757)

- Paul reminds us earlier in this same letter that we all are contaminated (infected) by sin (Rom 3:23)

- From the highest office in the land to the lowest;

- Oldest to the youngest

- The rift in our relationship with God is irreparable to even our best skills and abilities

- In some ways, when we try to leverage our willpower to salvation,

- We negate God’s original intent for us

- His intent for us was not to make our own way or develop our own plans

- His intent was not for us to craft and devise an alternative way to fix the breach between Him and us

- No, God had a plan in eternity past

- Adam disregarding God’s command in the Garden didn’t surprise God

- When Adam hid himself, I believe the all-present God was right there

- But, getting Adam to admit his shortcoming…

- That was an entirely different story

- And, as I mentioned earlier, Adam missed it and diverted the spotlight

- He shifted it from himself to God and his God-given help meet Eve

- This is before the fall and Adam’s deliberate disobedience and he blames God

- Paul addresses his shortcomings a bit different—his inability to conquer that which is without

- It’s in conflict with the spirit that’s on the inside of him

Transition: (SLIDE) how does he remedy this spiritual dilemma and his faltering? And, what about us? In essence…

Who Can Save Me From Me? [SLIDE]

25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

- Paul finds himself facing an inevitable, unsurmountable foe—his inadequacies, insufficiencies, and miseries

- All his actions and reasonings have proven ineffective

- In King James language, from whence cometh his help?

- After Paul, you and I have tried and/or reasoned in our minds,

- Sometimes the glaring answer was closer than we realized

- When we have seemingly tried all that we can, sought out whoever we could,

- There’s only One Who can fully liberate us

- There’s only One to deliver us from the spiritual bondage and warfare that we’re engaged in—Jesus

- Our deliverance is only secured through the One God-man

- Don’t forget that God required perfection to heal the rift in our relationship with Him

- The Old Testament alluded to it; the New Testament says it directly in different places,

- Whether it’s John 10:9, Acts 4:12, Eph 2:8,

- Jesus is clearly shown to be the only door to God, the only way of salvation and our faith in Him is THEessential access…

- That we all need—every race, creed, and color—no one is left out

- Look at what this verse says (Romans 5:9),

9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Closing:

- So, as I begin to wrap this message up

- Faith in Christ is about acknowledging His rule and reign and committing to Him

- And, with any commitment you make, there may be a time that it is tested

- I believe that Paul understands this and wants us to as well

- You might have noticed that I didn’t mention any one type of sin—lust, adultery, fornication, idolatry, murder, etc.

- That’s for God to directly deal with in you—overall, it’s sin that we each must go before God with

- We can measure our sins against each other and still be found on the outskirts of heaven

- Together, we can all say in unison that “The Struggle is Real!”

- But, what if we looked at it this way,

“The Struggle is Real But So Is Our God!”

- Trust God to be greater than any high, any low, any struggle and any sin

- Will you pray with me, please?

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins known and unknown, I renounce them all. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me and arose and sits at the right hand of God praying for me, interceding for me. Lord Jesus, I give you everything. I thank you for saving me, delivering me and setting me free, in Jesus’ name!

Communion slides and servers (need instruction) needed: "This is His body broken for you." "This is His blood shed for you." This is the time where we look back and reflect on the Last Supper. Jesus, fittingly, wanted to spend His last earthly ministry moments with His disciples: Luke 22:19-22 NKJVrecords it this way, "And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you." His body broken supports the prophet Isaiah’s prophecy that “He was wounded for our transgressions…bruised for our iniquities…and by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.” (Isa 53:5) His shed blood points to the Book of Hebrews to justify/verify that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” (Heb 9:22) His sacrifice grants us grace and salvation eternal. The Apostle Paul in addressing the Corinthian church wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:28-29 (AMP)exhorts us to "prayerfully examine our self and our relationship with Christ" Let us take a moment to do just that. (Pause then pray) Prayer: "Thank You Father that You have promised to hear the prayers and petitions of Your servants. Help us to prepare our heart as we partake of the elements, which are the beautiful symbols of Christ body – broken for me and His precious blood – shed for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Please join me in our confession to God.

Confession: “Father, today I acknowledge anew that my Lord Jesus was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquity and died on Calvary’s cruel cross to pay the redemption price for my sins.

As I come to this communion table today, in my heart there’s grateful remembrance of what You did for me at Calvary, with a heart full of humble thanksgiving.

I confess that I am imperfect and failed at loving You and my neighbor as MYSELF SO I ask that You would cleanse me of all my wrongdoings and self-centered thoughts. Thank You that I have been washed in the blood of the Lamb and clothed in Your own righteousness, by grace through faith. I praise Your name and will continue to do so for ever and ever, Amen.”

Let us prepare to receive Communion. (Servers come forward) The Apostle Paul gave instructions on the correct way to celebrate the Lord's Supper. Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV) "For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."- 1 Cor 11:23-26 NRSV