Winning The War Inside You Pt 2 6-13-2021

THE INVISIBLE WAR WINNING THE WAR INSIDE OF ME Sunday June 13, 2021 Scripture Reference: Romans 7:15-25 (NLT2) "I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 21 I have discovered this principle of life-that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God's law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. Romans 7:15-25 (NLT2) Intro. A. Today I am taking up where I left off last week as we begin to talk about winning this war that is going on inside of us. We are considering two things here, the cost of this battle and today I will finish up a couple points about the cost that I couldn't get to last week, then we will consider the cause of this inner war and then I will give you some insights into what we will be talking about next week as we explore Romans chapter eight. 1. For those who were not here and even those of you who were let me give you the four of the costs of this inner war. If you missed the message, I recommend you watch it on our Facebook or YouTube page and you can find those on our web site. I won't elaborate on these points because I have a lot I still need to share today. Cost number one was: a) Confusion b) Guilt and Shame c) Compulsions and Addictions d) Self-Condemnation Trans. OK let's look at two more costs we pay for this inner battle. I. THE COST OF THE BATTLE. The fifth cost is: A. Frustration 1. This is what we see in a Christian who is trying to win this battle in their own power. Look at what Paul said in V.17-20 from The Message. "But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time." Romans 7:17-20 (MG) 2. Friends this might be frustrating to hear, but no matter how strong of a person you think you are you do not have the power within yourself to conquer sin. It's like trying to defy the law of gravity. I don't care how much you believe you can fly, if you try to jump out a plane and flap your arms the end result will not be good. Let me read you part of a children's story that you might have read to your children at one time. It's from a series called Frog and Toad Together and this is from a story called cookies. "These cookies smell really good," said Toad. "I ate one and they tasted even better," he said. So, Toad ran over to Frog's house. "Frog! Frog!" cried Toad. "Taste these cookies that I've made." Frog ate one of the cookies. "These are the best cookies I have ever eaten," said Frog. So, Frog and Toad ate many, many cookies one after another. "You know, Toad," said Frog with his mouth full, "I think we should stop eating. We will soon be sick." "You are right," said Toad. "Let us eat one last cookie. Then we will stop." So, Frog and Toad ate one last cookie. But there were very many cookies still left in the bowl. "Frog," said Toad, "Let us eat one very last cookie. And then we will stop eating cookies." Frog and Toad ate one very last cookie. "We must stop eating," cried Toad as he ate another. "Yes," said Frog reaching for a cookie, "We need willpower." "What is willpower?" asked Toad. Frog said, "Willpower is trying hard not to do something that you really want to do." "You mean like trying not to eat all these cookies?" asked Toad. "Right," said Frog. So, Frog put the cookies in a box. "There," said Frog. "Now we will not eat any more cookies." "But we can open the box," said Toad. "This is true." So, Frog tied some string around the box. "There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies." Toad said, "But we can cut the string and open the box," "That is true," said Frog. So, Frog got a ladder and he put the box up high on a shelf. "There," said Frog. "Now we will not eat any more cookies." "But" Toad said, "We can climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf and cut the string and open the box." "That is true," said Frog. So, Frog climbed up the ladder and he took the box down from the shelf and he cut the string and he opened the box and Frog took the box outside and he threw all the cookies out and he shouted in a loud voice, "Hey birds! Here are free cookies." Birds came from everywhere. They picked up all the cookies in their beaks and they flew away. "Now, we have no more cookies," said Frog. "But we have lots and lots of willpower." "You may keep it all, Frog," said Toad. "I'm going home now to bake a cake." 3. How many times have you played this game with yourself? You think you can invent a way to prevent yourself from doing the thing you don't want to do, but just as you invented the way to stop you invent the way to do it again anyway. It's frustrating, isn't it? OK let me give you one more cost of this battle. B. Discouragement and Despair. 1. I think that it is sort of obvious that this is going to happen to us. I mean just look at all the other costs that have been added up. Confusion, Self-condemnation, Compulsions and addictions, Guilt and Shame, frustration. I think the only thing left for us to be discouraged and to feel despair. Look at what Paul said in V.21-24 "It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love to do God's will so far as my new nature is concerned; 23-25 but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God's willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin. Romans 7:21-24 (Living Bible) Notice Paul said that this issue just seems to be a fact of life. In other words, there is nothing I can do about this so why fight it? Notice also that Paul says there is a war in his mind. What did Paul tell us in Romans 12:2? "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." Romans 12:2 (NLT2) Folks this is another little glimpse into what we will talk about next Sunday. Romans seven is not exactly one of the most encouraging chapters in the Bible, but as we will see in just a moment it is not the end of the story. Here in Romans 12 Paul tells us what we are going to see in V.25 in just a moment. Now before we get a glimpse of what lies ahead, we need to understand the cause of this war. I will make this brief. II. THE CAUSE OF THE BATTLE. I won't spend much time here because we have seen the cause of this battle as we looked at the costs. The cause of this battle is that: A. We Have Two Natures. 1. Again look at what Paul told us in V.22-23. "I love God's law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me." Romans 7:22-23 (NLT2) Many of us have walked with Christ for quite a long time and some of us have not. Either way I think most of remember what it was like when we first opened our hearts to Jesus and asked him to forgive us of our sins and come into our hearts. We remember the joy we felt knowing that all our past sins had been washed away. We knew God had forgiven us and had transformed us, but we also know it didn't take long to realize as Paul said, that there was still this inner war going on. It was like there were two "Me's" inside me. Look at what Paul said in V.24. "So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I'm in!" Romans 7:24 (Living Bible) Again this shows us a vivid picture of a defeated Christian, but Praise God that is not the end of the story. Let's look at V.25 then I will share with you a few things to help us to begin winning this battle. I love how this was also translated in the living bible. "Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free." Romans 7:25 (Living Bible) Trans. OK enough of the defeat, let's look at a few things we can begin to do to win this battle. III. OUR FIRST STEPS FOR WINNING THE BATTLE. The first thing I would say we need to do is: A. Deepen My Understanding Of Christ. 1. Friends let me use this opportunity to say this is why we want to be a Purpose Driven Church, because one of God's purposes for our life is the purpose of Discipleship. It is to follow the command of Jesus to teach people his word so that we can understand who we are in Christ and understand what is really ours as God's children. If you have walked with God for very long you have witnessed people who made a decision for Jesus, but then you saw them walk away from Jesus. What happened? I suggest to you that they didn't grow up in their faith. They did not cloth themselves in God's armor and they were defeated. Another one of God's purposes for us is to evangelize, to win people to Jesus Christ, but that must not be the end of the story. Jesus didn't tell us to simply get people to come to the altar, sign a card or raise their hands. We are also supposed to disciple them. To help them grow up in Christ. 2. Listen Jesus doesn't simply want to be a resident in your life, he wants to be the President of your life. He doesn't want to simply take up space in your life he wants to be in charge of your life. If you have accepted Jesus as your savior then you are under new management. Whenever you see that sign in the window of a business what comes to your mind? Things have changed here. This business is not being run like it was before. Someone else is in charge. Friends that is how it must be with us! 3. In V.24 Paul said, "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?" Romans 7:24 (NLT2) Those words "dominated by sin" actually mean "body of death" and here is what Paul was referring to. The Romans were very good at dolling out pretty severe punishments and one of their punishments that I think was even more cruel than the cross was this one. For punishment they would strap a dead body to the person convicted of a crime. They had to carry this dead body around on their body. Now what do you think is going to happen after a while, aside from the stench? That dead body is going to infect your body and cause you to die. 4. Friends to be honest with you this is why I am a Wesleyan in my theology. I just don't think Jesus died on that cross so that I would have to carry a dead corpse around for the rest of my life. No matter how many showers I take and no matter how much smelly juice I put on, I am still carrying around a rotting corpse that is rotting my body away as well. There must be a better answer than trying harder and Paul told us there was. 5. Paul tells us something in V.24 that is extremely significant. Let's look again at what He said, "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?" Romans 7:24 (NLT2) For me it is one little word that makes all the difference, and that word is "WHO". Praise God Paul did not tell us that it was some program that could save us. It wasn't some seminar we could attend or some book we could read. It wasn't psychology, or therapy, or philosophy. IT WAS JESUS! And it is Still JESUS! I love how in V.25 Paul just seems to blurt this out, "Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 7:25a (NLT2) OK let me give you another step towards ending this battle. B. I Must Detect and Disarm The Lies I am Believing. 1. Listen people Satan is a liar and the father of all lies. Satan does not know how to tell the truth. Please remember that Satan does not know how to tell you the truth. He is not capable. This is why the first point is So important. If we are not growing up in our faith, if we are not spending time in God's word, if we are not praying, if we are not attending church, we are simply painting a bullseye on our backs. 2. But let me add this. This goes back to something I said last week. Sadly, sometimes the Devil doesn't have to lie to us because we lie to ourselves. One of the best lies we tell ourselves is this, "It's not my fault." I mentioned this last week, but we like to say, "Well it's the fault of my spouse" or "It's because of my finances, or my job" and the list goes no. So, let's be honest with ourselves today and answer the question, "What are we pretending is not a problem in our lives?" Jeremiah said, "The heart is the most deceitful thing there is and desperately wicked. No one can really know how bad it is!" Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT2) Let's face it we have an amazing ability to deceive ourselves. The truth is the biggest liar you know is you and the person you lie to the most is yourself. We must stop rationalizing and excusing ourselves. Are you putting up with a self-destructive behavior in your life? What is the truth that you need to admit to today? Jesus said the truth would set us free, but we need to also acknowledge that it usually makes a miserable before it does. We must decide today whether we believe God's truth or Satan's lies, or even our own lies. If we want to be set free, we better listen to God. Conclusion A. I have been saying that Romans seven is the picture of a defeated Christian. Did you know that in Romans 7 the Holy Spirit is not mentioned one time? Instead in Romans 7 the words "I", "me", "my", "myself" and "mine" are mentioned 41 times. You see when it's all about "me" I can't help but be defeated, discouraged, frustrated, confused and more. In Romans 8 that we will begin to look at next Sunday the words Holy Spirit is mentioned 19 times. That's the difference between defeat and victory. It is either going to be by my spirit, small "S" or His Spirit, big "S". 1. Let me give you one last illustration to finish today. [] Let's say I went down to the beach today and as I am walking along the beach; I happen to find a seagull that has just died. Its body is still warm. The seagull still has its muscles, its bones, its feathers and its blood. So, I pick up the bird and decide I want to make it fly again so I toss it into the air. What happens? It comes right back down, doesn't it? Why didn't it fly, it had all the elements it had before so why didn't it fly? It was because the life had gone out of it. The life that God put into that bird is gone so flight is not longer possible. It is God's Spirit that is put within us that enables to live. You are going to leave here today and probably see people who have all the parts God gave them to live, but they are the walking dead because they do not have the Spirit of God in them. It is God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit in you that empowers you to live the life God has for you. It is that life that we are going to talk about next Sunday. I hope you will be here for that message. 2