Sermon Tone Analysis

ENGAGE

The looming Ukraine/Russian war.

If one is on the side of the Ukrainians, one knows who the enemy is.

If one is on the side of the Russians, you too know who the enemy is.

While the situation is complex, who is against whom is pretty cut and dry.

Not so much with another enemy.

A very real enemy.

An enemy that is real, powerful, and insidiously stealth!

The enemy’s name?

Sin!

And one thing you will learn today from Paul’s writings in Romans 7:13-20 is that sin, for the believer is alive and living within each and everyone who names the name of Christ.

If you are saved, sin didn’t leave you when you became a Christian.

Wouldn’t that be nice!?

No, sin is still a part of you becuase of its relationship with the fleshly nature.

Paul, in this passage wants us to understand that sin is alive and well within us!

And How we should live in light of this reality.

Honestly, does Paul really need to tell us this?

Don’t we, in our heard of hearts know and understand this?

But, isn’t it cool that Paul does take the time to not just tell us about this, but tell us about his own struggle with sin in the process?

Listen, it ought to give you some hope this morning to know that Paul, the great apostle, even nearing the end of his ministry, lived with the tension of sin still dwelling within him, yet having the new mind of Christ.

This was Paul’s reality and it is for us as well if we are in Christ.

ENCOUNTER

Main Idea - You Have An Enemy Lurking Within!

What Should You Do?

In order to deal with this enemy that is living within you, there are three things from the text that you need to understand.

And the first is...

1. Know Your True Enemy (vs.

13-14)

Explain - One of the basic tactics of war is to know your enemy.

Understand how your enemy thinks and functions.

Sun Tzu, in “The Art of War” says,

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This is wise counsel.

I’m sure Sun Tzu wasn’t giving this counsel for the believer struggling with sin, but it is good to understand that the sin and the evil lurking within so we can not be taken off guard and consequently defeated.

There is something I want you to keep in mind as we walk through chapters 7-8.

They are one unit of thought.

Sometimes chapter and verse divisions can mess with our interpretive process.

Remember, they were added in the twelve hundreds rather dispassionately and mechanically.

They are a tool for location not interpretation.

So over these chapters you will see not only Paul’s very real struggle with sin, but what he teaches about it and how to walk not in sin, but in a way that pleases Christ.

And the first way to do this is to know your enemy!

Look at verses...

What is the “good” thing that Paul is referring to?

The Law!

Did the Law kill Paul?

Absolutely not!

What did kill Paul?

Sin!

How did Paul learn about his sin?

Through the law which is good!

Remember, the law reflects the very character of God.

And the law’s responsibility isn’t to kill, it is to point out the killer!

Illustrate - The Law is the good police officer pointing out the criminal.

You have criminal living within you.

A law breaker.

A murderer.

This criminal has the potential to you great harm.

Paul understood something about himself.

He understood that there is a part of him still, even as a regenerate follower of Christ, that is corrupt.

You must not be naive, you like Paul, are not a good person apart from Christ.

I mean, even as a follower, you are tempted to things that are not pleasing to Christ.

This is why Jesus had His followers pray...

Temptation to sin is real and it doesn’t only come from the Evil one.

It comes from the depths of our flesh as well.

Paul makes it clear again that the law is not our problem.

The law is good and merely exposes our problem.

Our problem is the sin that still lives within each of us.

Apply - What do we do about this insidious evil entity within us?

The first thing we do about this enemy is to KNOW IT WANTS TO PLEASE THE FLESH and not God.

And we must know it will TEMPT us accordingly.

So the next time temptation washes over you and is pulling you away from the things of God - stop and know that this feeling, emotion, thought, if it fails to align with God, it is probably against God.

So don’t entertain it because it will wreak havoc on you if it grows into full-blown sin.

Review - You Have An Enemy Lurking Within!

What Should You Do?

Know Your True Enemy - it’s not the law, it is the sin that dwells within you!

Transition - Not only should you know your enemy you should...

2. Understand the Plan of Your Enemy (vs.

15-17)

Explain - Yes, sin is alive and well within you.

It is not passive, rather it is active and it has an agenda.

In verses 15-17 I want to understand the plan of the enemy that is living within you...

Your Sin Pushes You To Do The Very Things You Hate

This is your sin’s agenda!

Remember, this is Paul talking here.

Paul is a born-again believer in Christ who, at this point in his life has walked with God for a long time.

And what does he say?

“I do not understand my own actions...” - “I’m a Christian and I want to be Christlike, yet there is this force in me, compelling me to do something different, something that goes against the Word of God and the Spirit of God that dwells within me.”

Your Christlike mind lives in tension with your indwelling sin.

Your Sin Is Against the Law

Again, Paul takes another opportunity to prove that the law/God’s moral law/written on our hearts from God/is not the problem.

What does Paul want?

He wants, in his “Christian mind” to please God.

If he actually engages in the temptation that sin is driving him toward, he will prove that the Law is good and right and holy.

Your Sin Is The Culprit - Not You!

Paul makes a startling claim in verse 17!

Paul’s new mind in Christ has no desire to do that which is displeasing to God.

However, the insidious enemy within does.

It is not the new man that wants to sin, but the old man that still lives inside him!

Folks, Paul is talking about the very real tension every Christian lives in.