Sermon Tone Analysis

Let’s face it.

We don’t like to struggle….

with anything.

Period.

Given a choice most of us would rather have what we want when we want it without having no work or fight for it.

Material possessions without sweating for them.

Great relationships minus the conflict and confrontation.

Excellent health and physique apart from diet and exercise.

Great children without the constant disciple and love.

Becoming a computer genius with no leaning curve.

And oh yes, instant spiritual maturity.

But life doesn’t work that way does it?

Not in the professional life.

Not with our relationships.

Not in rearing children.

Not in the physical or intellectual life.

And definitely not the spiritual life.

Now that doesn’t mean everything about the spiritual life is hard work for us.

Our eternal destiny is settled for us in Christ!

No work, or worry or anything on our part can take away or add to what God has done for us in Christ.

The only thing it cost us was but simple faith.

Your faith in the Gospel is all that was needed to justify yourself in the eyes of God; plus nothing and minus nothing!

The first part of the Book of Romans explains what it means to be justified in the eyes of God without the works of the Law, i.e. being saved without any works of our own.

However, our sanctification is a different story.

The word “sanctify” means to separate from, to take away, to remove, to set apart.

Where as our justification is a done deal, our sanctification is an ongoing process.

As we grow in the faith we are becoming more and more sanctified as Christians.

I.e.

sin that we used to live in, is slowly but steadily being separated from us.

Sin can not be our master again, because we are saved, however we can still be influenced by sin and live defeated lives.

So Christian growth doesn’t come without a struggle.

I have said all this to come to this point; we as Christians must deal with our sins in an objective manner or we will lose our mind.

I mean it literally, some have lost their minds over trying to reconcile the fact that they are saved and that they still have sins in their lives that must be dealt with.

Or we will become like so many others; that have lost the desire to go on and become what God wants them to be in their lives; so they go back to living life like they did as a lost person.

They are saved, justified yet they lost heart because this new life requires guts and desire---a struggle.

They lack both so they give in and live like a lost person, even though they can possible be truly saved.

I want you to know that every genuine Christian struggles with some type or form of sin in their lives.

And what I mean by struggle is, not that they are struggling to be saved, No! Nor or they struggling to become more saved, No!  They are struggling because the forces of sin are dug deep within our bodies and bring us to defeat.

They pop up when we least expect them and ruin our lives.

Think of your struggling with sin like this.

To say the least the war in Iraq has been a struggle hasn’t it?

Boy it sure has.

More coffins are coming back every day.

But what a minute; didn’t we dethrone Saddam?

Didn’t we liberate the public?

Didn’t we kill Saddam’s sons?

Isn’t the US occupying the land of Iraq?

If we have done all this, then why are we still struggling for control in Iraq?

One reason is because the enemy is so well dug in, to the point that you can not tell friend from foe.

And by the way, there will never be peace between Christianity and Islam.

True Islamic faith demands the death of all Christians and Jews.

The reason why we have what was know as the age of the crusades was because Turkish Muslims invaded Palestine around the 4th century killing all the Jews and Christians until they captured Jerusalem.

The crusades happened to rid the holy land of the Muslims.

So don’t except peace, when they reject the prince of peace.

Though we have dethroned Saddam and are occupying the Land; we are still struggling for control of it.

Now think of this; sin was dethroned in your life when you became saved.

You are now the property of God and his banner flies over your soul.

And when we are defeated we are at the risk of losing our objectivity on the situation and do dumb things, say dumb things that we will regret for a life time here as well as in heaven.

Speaking of struggles, Paul had his.

Don’t think for a minute that Paul was a superhuman.

That he didn’t have sin in his life, he probably did.

In fact, it is Paul who writes of his own struggle with sin in Roman 7, and it is no cake walk!

I want us to notice some thoughts here from Paul’s own struggle that will help us in ours.

I.

Our struggle with sin is a good sign that we are really saved.

This might not mean much now, but it will make sense in a minute.

Can I say from the very start, that Paul knew what it was to be defeated by sin.

In fact, he was so grieved by it that he said what we read a moment ago/,// //Rom.7:24

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

/Paul called himself a wretched man!

The idea here behind the words “body of this death” is very strong.

One of the ways the Romans would discourage murder, is that they would take the died body, the one that was murdered and tie him to the murder, limb to limb.

And where ever this murder went he would have to carry around this dead, decaying corpus that just ruined whatever he was trying to do.

Paul says that’s the way my sin is.

He knows what is right, but he does the wrong!

It ruins me my best intentions, it ruins my best plans, it ruins everything it touches and leaves me in a state of despair and defeat.

This cry of despair in v24 is not the cry of a lost person, No! This cry is indicative or characterizes the conscience of the saved!

The Lost are not burdened by their sin.

They drink it in like water, they breath it in like the air, they can’t image life without their sin.

No, they don’t cry out for deliverance they are asking for more of it!

Paul says there is something in me that isn’t right.

Something is wrong, I want to obey God and do right, but there is a force (Law) that is pulling me away from my desire to do God’s will.

Probably the only consolation that this struggle brings is that only truly saved persons feel the weight and despair that the flesh brings in their lives.

There is a serious problem when a Christian can sin and sin and think nothing about it.

A true Christian can not sin and be happy in sin like the lost person can.

The Holy Spirit won’t let him or her be happy, but depressed and sad.

These persons that can enjoy their sin and have no hesitation at all it seems about it; and say to others well when you are as mature as I am you can have some sin in your life and still enjoy God.

Don’t believe them, real spiritual maturity is the opposite; the more mature you are the more sensitive you will be to your own sin!

Things will be revealed as sin that you didn’t think were sin before.

Notice what some men said as they drew closer to God.

Job became closer to God and what did it produce in Job? /Job 40:4 “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee?

I will lay mine hand upon my mouth”./

Isaiah had a similar experience; /Isa 6:5 “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

/Daniel knew what it was like to come into the presence of God/;/ /Dan 10:8  Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

/

We know what Paul said about himself as he no doubt was walking in the light; /Rom 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

/

The fact is; if a Christian can sin and never see themselves as Paul saw himself then they are not saved at all.

Chances are that they are backslidden or really lost, resting in some false assurance, some false hope but they will pay for their hypocrisy.

If you feel the struggle of sin and of good in your heart then that is good sign you are saved.

II.

Realizing what the flesh looks like.