Dr. Jack Graham's mission is to glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ as Lord to all people.
#Religion
#Sin
#Salvation
#Condemnation
#Redemption
#Lifestyle
#Christ-like
#Complete in Christ
#Righteousness
#Holy Spirit
#Jack Graham
#Romans 8:1-11
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Power Point with Jack Graham | Spirit-Filled Living | June 26, 2022
- [Announcer] Uncertainty about the future is running rampant,
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- and a lot of people are wrestling with fear. But as
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- followers of Jesus Christ, we know that God is in control.
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- And that's why we're excited to tell you that generous friends
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- have stepped forward with $150.000 matching grant, which
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- will double your gift to help PowerPoint finish this
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- financial year strong by June 30th.
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- As a thank you for your generous gift, Pastor Graham
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- would like to send you a copy of the Roman Scripture Journal
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- to help you explore all the richness of this life changing
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- book. Just go to JackGraham.org, text the word
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- Romans to 59789, or call the number on your screen and we'll
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- send you a copy of the Roman Scripture Journal when you send
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- your best gift.
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- [Announcer] Today on PowerPoint with Jack Graham.
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- “I can't do this anymore! It's too hard!” But I tell you, if
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- that's you, I have a hope and a promise for you, a promise from
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- God, and that is it's not a matter of you trying harder or
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- doing more. But trusting Him who already lives in you and
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- His Spirit who is alive in you will enable you, not just to
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- start, but to finish the Christian life.
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- [Music]
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- This is the book of Romans and we couldn't be in a more
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- important passage of Scripture than we are today and the days
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- coming up, and that is Romans chapter 8. So take your Bibles
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- and turn to Romans chapter 8. This is a message for a
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- Christian in all times, but certainly in times of struggle
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- and s... suffering, because the message of Romans chapter 8 is
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- a message regarding security and life in the Spirit. Romans
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- 8 has been called the greatest chapter in the Bible. We could
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- debate that; there are many chapters in the Bible, there
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- are many great chapters in the Bible. This is the greatest
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- book ever written! It is the infallible, inerrant, eternal
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- Word of God! And everything else we learn is through the
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- lens of this Book.
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- Which is the book of redemption, it's the book of
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- salvation. And how you can know God and how we who are broken
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- and ruined, how a world that is broken and ruined can be saved.
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- And if it's the greatest book, and then if you say Romans 8 is
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- the greatest chapter. We might again debate what is the
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- greatest chapter of the Bible, you might say that Romans 8,
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- verse 28 is the greatest verse in the Bible. “For we know that
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- all things work together for the good to those who love the
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- Lord and who are called according to His purpose.” So
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- we're looking to the Book, the greatest Book and the greatest
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- chapter at the heart, the greatest verse, or one of the
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- greatest verses in the Bible, Romans chapter 8, verse 28. But
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- it's all about this security and the plan of God and the
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- purposes of God and the protection of God and the
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- provision of God in our lives as followers of Jesus.
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- The great evangelist D. L. Moody, nineteenth century Billy
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- Graham, if you will... He once said, "I would rather live in
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- Romans 8 than in the Garden of Eden. He said, because in the
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- perfect paradise the Garden of Eden, man sinned and fell and
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- was cast out. But in Romans chapter 8 it begins with no
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- condemnation and closes with no separation! There's no failure,
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- there's no falling, there's security, there's salvation now
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- and forever. It begins with the words of verse 1: "There is
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- therefore now... (Remember this? Now! Not when we get to
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- heaven but now) ...There is no condemnation to those who are
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- in Christ Jesus." This is what Christ has done, is doing for
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- us. No longer slaves, no longer bondservants, no longer living
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- in shame. But living in hope.
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- When Deb and I got married, we collected some old furniture
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- from relatives for our... for our house out at Hardin-Simmons
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- University. We were married as college students and so we had
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- all these antiques for our furniture. And we had a bed. It
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- was actually a beautiful bed. One of her aunts gave it to us
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- and it had a beautiful bedstead, a strong footboard,
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- and it has springs and a mattress. And it really was a
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- nice looking... looking bed and we had a mattress that was
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- given to us as well. The only problem was that that mattress
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- sagged in the middle. I couldn't figure out why back
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- was constantly hurting! We were... we were sagging in the
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- middle! We had a strong headboard and a strong
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- footboard but sagging in the middle!
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- And I often think about that old headboard and that old
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- footboard and that old antique bed and it's descriptive
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- unfortunately of so many Christians lives. I mean it's
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- strong at the front end. You have salvation in Christ. You
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- know that you have been saved, forgiven, that Christ is given
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- you eternal life. I pray you know that! And it's strong at
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- the back end on the footboard. I mean, you know you're going
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- to heaven. You believe Christ is coming for you. So you got
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- the front end settled and the back end settle, but so many
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- are sagging in the middle! And you got aches and pains
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- spiritually.
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- So many Christians don't understand the Christian life
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- is to be lived in victory from the beginning to the end and
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- throughout all eternity! And how are we to live this
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- victory? How can we live strong in the middle? All the way
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- through! From the beginning to the end and forever! I'm
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- talking to you today and over these next weeks about... from
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- Romans 8... about life in the Spirit, because that's what
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- this is all about. This security we have, this
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- salvation we have is given to us by the Spirit.
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- You know God planned our salvation. God the Father
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- planned our salvation. God the Son by His blood on the cross
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- suffered and died and rose again to provide our
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- salvation... or rather to purchase our salvation. And
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- then the third person of the Trinity- coequal, coeternal
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- with God Himself... the Holy Spirit, God the Spirit has
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- procured or provided this salvation to all of us. We are
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- born again by the Spirit. And Jesus said, "Unless you are
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- born of the Spirit, you will never see the kingdom of God."
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- So God planned it... God the Father planned it. God the Son
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- purchased it, and God the Holy Spirit has provided it,
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- procured it for us! So the Christian life is the Christ
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- life, it is the Spirit-filled life, it is the God life in you.
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- Beginning in verse 2, the Scripture says, chapter 8 of
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- Romans:
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- 2) For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ
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- Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3) For God has done what
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- the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his
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- own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh...
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- Not in sinful flesh but in the likeness of sinful flesh.
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- Christ came in humanity, though He never sinned.
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- 3) ... and he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the
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- righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us
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- (That is, that we might be saved... that we might be
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- declared righteous in Christ.), who walk not according to the
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- flesh but according to the Spirit.
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- The next message is going to be called “Walking in the Spirit.”
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- What does that mean?
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- 5) For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on
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- the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the
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- Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6) For to
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- set the mind on the flesh is (what?) death, but to set the
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- mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7) For the mind that is
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- set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to
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- God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8) Those who are in the flesh
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- cannot please God. 9) You, however, are not in the flesh
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- but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.
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- So if you are a saved person... if you have been born again
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- from above, as Jesus taught us, then the Spirit of the living
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- God is present in you. God dwells in you. You are a
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- sanctuary, a temple of the Holy Spirit. God dwells in you.
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- And anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ, does not
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- belong to Him. Underscore there the little phrase... 3 words...
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- Spirit of Christ... the Spirit of Christ. Four words. But
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- Christ is in you! Although the body is dead because of sin,
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- the Spirit of life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of
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- Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who
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- raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to
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- your mortal body through His Spirit who dwells in you.
- 00:10:51.707 --> 00:10:57.146
- Spirit-filled living... what is it? The Christian life apart
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- from the Spirit of God, living in you is impossible. If the
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- Spirit of a living God... if Christ is not in you then you
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- are not a saved person. But when you come to faith in
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- Christ, then He moves in... His Spirit moves in. And so verse 9
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- speaks to the Spirit of Christ, and verse 10 speaks of Christ
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- in you. So the Christian life is the Christ life in your
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- life. The Spirit-filled life is the Jesus life in you! And the
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- Holy Spirit does numerous things in us, saving us...
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- That's one thing. I have a little list for you.
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- He is saving us, and then He is securing us. This is the work
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- of the Holy Spirit. What God starts He finishes. Sanctifying
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- us, which means He is making us more and more like Himself.
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- This is the work of the Spirit; to make us like Jesus, and then
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- sending us... empowering us to take the Gospel into the world!
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- My friend David Jeremiah writes of an unusual situation in a
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- former pastor. He now pastors in Southern California in San
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- Diego. Well known author and Bible teacher, wonderful
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- friend... David Jeremiah. He was writing of a... of a lady
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- who made an appointment, came to his office and when she
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- came, she brought her Bible with her, and said to her
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- pastor, "Here, you can take it. I'm done with this." She said,
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- "I can't do this anymore. I can't live this life anymore.
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- It's too much pain, too much struggle, too much sorrow. I'm
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- out! Here's my Bible! Take it!"
- 00:12:55.798 --> 00:13:01.303
- You ever felt like quitting? Paul did. Yeah, the Apostle
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- Paul. Remember Romans chapter 7? When he was saying, "O,
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- wretched man that I am. Who can deliver me from this body of
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- death?" It was a desperate cry of an unhappy man, a miserable
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- man who was struggling to do the right thing. He said, "I
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- want to do what is right to please God, but I find myself
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- doing what is wrong. That what I want to do, I do not. That
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- which I do not want to do, I don't do... That which I want
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- to do, rather, I do! O wretched man that I am!" And then after
- 00:13:33.969 --> 00:13:39.575
- that desperate cry, thank God, he made a declaration. [He]
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- Said, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." He
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- declared his victory in Jesus.
- 00:13:46.048 --> 00:13:49.485
- But if you've ever come to the place like Paul when you're
- 00:13:49.485 --> 00:13:52.221
- crying out "I can't do this! I don't know if I can make this!"
- 00:13:52.221 --> 00:13:55.224
- Or like that woman, you want to... as some are doing today,
- 00:13:55.224 --> 00:13:57.927
- apparently, they're calling it deconstructing their faith.
- 00:13:57.927 --> 00:14:01.530
- Just giving up! "I can't do this anymore! It's too hard!"
- 00:14:01.530 --> 00:14:07.903
- But I tell you, if that's you, I have a hope and a promise for
- 00:14:07.903 --> 00:14:12.341
- you, a promise from God, and that is it's not a matter of
- 00:14:12.341 --> 00:14:15.577
- you trying harder or doing more. But trusting Him who
- 00:14:15.577 --> 00:14:21.183
- already lives in you and His Spirit who is alive in you will
- 00:14:21.183 --> 00:14:25.788
- enable you, not just to start, but to finish the Christian
- 00:14:25.788 --> 00:14:28.958
- life and all the way through. The victory is in Jesus and
- 00:14:28.958 --> 00:14:33.696
- this is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
- 00:14:33.696 --> 00:14:36.298
- The Spirit is mentioned 20 times in Romans chapter 8,
- 00:14:36.298 --> 00:14:42.504
- while it was just mentioned 3 times previously in the book of
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- Romans. But now because of Christ alive in us, we have a
- 00:14:46.275 --> 00:14:52.614
- new desire. Before Jesus we had really no desire for... for
- 00:14:52.614 --> 00:14:57.753
- God. No one seeks God. We may have a desire for religion or
- 00:14:57.753 --> 00:15:01.890
- other things but no real desire for God. But now we have new
- 00:15:01.890 --> 00:15:05.961
- desires. We want to live a righteous life; we want to live
- 00:15:05.961 --> 00:15:09.498
- godly lives. We have a new direction: we were going in one
- 00:15:09.498 --> 00:15:12.601
- way, but we turned around and repented and now we're walking
- 00:15:12.601 --> 00:15:15.804
- with Jesus and we're talking to Jesus, and in order to this
- 00:15:15.804 --> 00:15:19.675
- we... Oh, by the way, we have a new destiny. We're as sure for
- 00:15:19.675 --> 00:15:23.612
- heaven as if we were already there. And on the way we have
- 00:15:23.612 --> 00:15:27.116
- this new dynamic, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit who lives
- 00:15:27.116 --> 00:15:34.690
- in us!
- 00:15:34.690 --> 00:15:36.392
- This new desire includes the desire to live godly lives.
- 00:15:36.392 --> 00:15:43.866
- Titus chapter 2, verses 11, 12 and 13. Look at it on the
- 00:15:43.866 --> 00:15:49.838
- screen, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
- 00:15:49.838 --> 00:15:53.642
- salvation for all people... (Christ died for all, not just
- 00:15:53.642 --> 00:15:57.012
- a few.) ..." training us to renounce... (one version of
- 00:15:57.012 --> 00:16:03.285
- this says, "teaching us to say no...) to ungodliness and
- 00:16:03.285 --> 00:16:08.524
- (worldliness)...worldly passions, and to live
- 00:16:08.524 --> 00:16:12.628
- self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
- 00:16:12.628 --> 00:16:20.002
- waiting for... (looking to the horizon) waiting for our
- 00:16:20.002 --> 00:16:26.475
- blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and
- 00:16:26.475 --> 00:16:29.611
- Savior Jesus Christ." This is called the blessed hope. The
- 00:16:29.611 --> 00:16:33.449
- appearing of Jesus Christ.
- 00:16:33.449 --> 00:16:37.352
- Romans 8 is all about this. The God life, the Spirit-filled
- 00:16:37.352 --> 00:16:46.662
- life, the Jesus life. Did you know that Jesus lived a
- 00:16:46.662 --> 00:16:56.472
- Spirit-filled life? Though God Himself... the Second Person of
- 00:16:56.472 --> 00:17:03.745
- the Trinity, Jesus was Spirit-filled. So if you're
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- taking notes... You don't have much longer in this message but
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- the Spirit-filled life is a Jesus-centered life... it is a
- 00:17:11.653 --> 00:17:15.891
- Jesus-centered life. The same Spirit that filled Jesus, fills
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- you. The very name Christ-Jesus means Anointed by the Spirit.
- 00:17:24.566 --> 00:17:37.980
- Jesus was anointed and appointed by the Spirit as the
- 00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:40.916
- Messiah! The Spirit of God was the one who conceived Jesus.
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- That beautiful story in the account of Mary as she was
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- overshadowed by the Spirit and conceived in her womb. Jesus
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- was conceived by the Holy Spirit!
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- When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit of God rested upon Him,
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- the Spirit of God came and gave Him authority and the baptism
- 00:18:03.438 --> 00:18:08.777
- of the Spirit at that point in His life. Jesus was led by the
- 00:18:08.777 --> 00:18:13.515
- Spirit in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, where He
- 00:18:13.515 --> 00:18:17.486
- overcame the devil. Jesus performed wonders and miracles
- 00:18:17.486 --> 00:18:24.126
- in the power of the Spirit!
- 00:18:24.126 --> 00:18:28.597
- We read in this passage that God sent His Son in the
- 00:18:28.597 --> 00:18:31.400
- likeness of human flesh... in the likeness of sinful flesh.
- 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:40.108
- So He wore our flesh, but He bore our sin to the cross. It
- 00:18:40.108 --> 00:18:48.250
- is this Spirit-filled life that we all can live because Christ
- 00:18:48.250 --> 00:18:54.423
- lives in us. To know Jesus is to love Him and to love Him is
- 00:18:54.423 --> 00:18:58.293
- to serve Him and to serve Him is to walk with Him every day.
- 00:18:58.293 --> 00:19:04.633
- I tell you, I would... I would walk with Jesus... I would
- 00:19:04.633 --> 00:19:09.504
- follow Jesus if there was no heaven or no hell! Because
- 00:19:09.504 --> 00:19:18.113
- Jesus makes life worth living if there were no heaven, if
- 00:19:18.113 --> 00:19:25.320
- there were no hell! There is both a heaven and a hell. But
- 00:19:25.320 --> 00:19:33.061
- for this life to walk with Jesus, to talk with Jesus. We
- 00:19:33.061 --> 00:19:40.902
- say a lot about a personal relationship with Jesus. This
- 00:19:40.902 --> 00:19:46.208
- is what we're talking about here. That Jesus is alive in
- 00:19:46.208 --> 00:19:53.582
- you, and as noted, the same power that brought Jesus out of
- 00:19:53.582 --> 00:19:58.820
- the grave... Spiritual power is alive in us. We have the risen
- 00:19:58.820 --> 00:20:07.029
- power of Jesus in us.
- 00:20:07.029 --> 00:20:12.434
- So if you're discouraged and you want to turn in your Bible,
- 00:20:12.434 --> 00:20:18.373
- ... if you're struggling and you don't know if you can keep
- 00:20:18.373 --> 00:20:21.576
- going. Maybe you're willing to give up on this whole thing and
- 00:20:21.576 --> 00:20:26.581
- just hope for the best. No! Your birthright as a believer
- 00:20:26.581 --> 00:20:31.119
- in Christ is to know Him and to grow in Him and to experience
- 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:35.190
- Him. Eternal life begins the moment you receive Christ and
- 00:20:35.190 --> 00:20:39.661
- this eternal life is an empowered life. More about that
- 00:20:39.661 --> 00:20:46.068
- the next time.
- 00:20:46.068 --> 00:20:47.169
- But let me just maybe close this with a... with a
- 00:20:47.169 --> 00:20:50.038
- testimony. I was saved as a child. And then as a teenager
- 00:20:50.038 --> 00:20:59.715
- God called me to preach... 15-16 years of age. And God
- 00:20:59.715 --> 00:21:10.559
- spoke to my heart as a young Christian. And as clearly as I
- 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:17.299
- can stand here and say it again today, God spoke to me and told
- 00:21:17.299 --> 00:21:22.804
- me to do three things with my life. You ready for it?
- 00:21:22.804 --> 00:21:31.813
- Number one, to preach the Gospel and teach the Bible...
- 00:21:31.813 --> 00:21:36.752
- to preach the Gospel and teach the Bible. That's my calling.
- 00:21:36.752 --> 00:21:42.824
- The second one... and I like this one very much... is to
- 00:21:42.824 --> 00:21:45.994
- marry a godly woman. I was a young teenager but God said,
- 00:21:45.994 --> 00:21:53.902
- "Wait on a godly woman. Give your life to someone who loves
- 00:21:53.902 --> 00:21:56.905
- Jesus like you love Jesus." And then "Lead a family to take the
- 00:21:56.905 --> 00:22:00.542
- faith... your faith forward in the next generation." God spoke
- 00:22:00.542 --> 00:22:03.178
- to my heart and said that. And then the third thing that He
- 00:22:03.178 --> 00:22:08.517
- told me was, "Be a pastor all your life." Don't do anything
- 00:22:08.517 --> 00:22:14.322
- else. Don't desire anything else, just be a shepherd. Read
- 00:22:14.322 --> 00:22:22.431
- and feed the flock of God. Shepherd His church.
- 00:22:22.431 --> 00:22:27.469
- So I said to those three things: the call to preach
- 00:22:27.469 --> 00:22:32.941
- Christ and teach the Bible, to marry a godly woman and build a
- 00:22:32.941 --> 00:22:41.616
- godly family and legacy together, and then to pastor
- 00:22:41.616 --> 00:22:44.786
- and lead and shepherd the flock of God... the church of God, I
- 00:22:44.786 --> 00:22:47.322
- said, "Lord, anywhere, anytime, all the time."
- 00:22:47.322 --> 00:22:55.664
- And after all these years, that call to preach Christ and teach
- 00:22:55.664 --> 00:23:03.038
- the Bible by the Spirit is still echoing in my heart. God
- 00:23:03.038 --> 00:23:09.845
- gave me a godly girl named Deb to be my wife. We got married
- 00:23:09.845 --> 00:23:19.087
- while we were in college. Now we've been married for 52
- 00:23:19.087 --> 00:23:23.625
- years. We're blessed with three children... we're blessed with
- 00:23:23.625 --> 00:23:30.065
- three children and their spouses who love the Lord and
- 00:23:30.065 --> 00:23:36.438
- serve Him. Now we have eight most perfect grandchildren who
- 00:23:36.438 --> 00:23:46.181
- by God's grace will keep it going for generations to come.
- 00:23:46.181 --> 00:23:53.321
- And I've been a pastor now for over 50 years, starting when I
- 00:23:53.321 --> 00:23:56.458
- was a college student. And I've been strengthened and sustained
- 00:23:56.458 --> 00:24:01.630
- (how?) by will power, by intellectual power, by
- 00:24:01.630 --> 00:24:08.470
- personality... None of that! "'Not by might, not by power,
- 00:24:08.470 --> 00:24:13.875
- but by My Spirit,' says the Lord." So I keep doing this...
- 00:24:13.875 --> 00:24:18.513
- I keep showing up and looking younger than ever [laughter]
- 00:24:18.513 --> 00:24:24.686
- because the Spirit of God enlivens me and empowers me!
- 00:24:24.686 --> 00:24:29.391
- First Corinthians 15:58: "Therefore, my beloved brothers
- 00:24:29.391 --> 00:24:33.261
- and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in
- 00:24:33.261 --> 00:24:36.531
- the work of the Lord, for you know your labor in the Lord is
- 00:24:36.531 --> 00:24:39.868
- not in vain."
- 00:24:39.868 --> 00:24:41.436
- And when you do it God's way, filled with the Holy Spirit,
- 00:24:41.436 --> 00:24:44.239
- whether you're a preacher, a plumber, a baker, a
- 00:24:44.239 --> 00:24:46.608
- candle-stick maker, an educator, a teacher... whatever
- 00:24:46.608 --> 00:24:50.979
- God has called you to do... a doctor, a... a... a
- 00:24:50.979 --> 00:24:53.915
- construction worker... Whatever God has called you to do, do it
- 00:24:53.915 --> 00:24:58.787
- in name of Jesus and in the power of Jesus who lives in
- 00:24:58.787 --> 00:25:02.791
- your life! Live a Christ-centered, Christ-focus
- 00:25:02.791 --> 00:25:07.862
- life! This ... this is the life. And I promise you He will
- 00:25:07.862 --> 00:25:17.072
- do it. You will never turn in your Bible! You'll never quit
- 00:25:17.072 --> 00:25:23.612
- because God will keep you going. Keep walking in the
- 00:25:23.612 --> 00:25:28.016
- Spirit, keep living in the Spirit... it's the Spirit of
- 00:25:28.016 --> 00:25:31.786
- Christ in us.
- 00:25:31.786 --> 00:25:34.422
- [Music]
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- [Announcer] Uncertainty about the future is running rampant,
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- and a lot of people are wrestling with fear. But as
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- followers of Jesus Christ, we know that God who's in us is
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- greater than anything that's ahead of us. That's why we're
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- the richness of this life changing book.
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- [Pastor Graham] I can't think of a better way to dig deeper
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- into the transforming power of God's Word than to actually
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- have a copy of Romans and then to record your own notes, study
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- notes beside the Scriptures right alongside of it. That's
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- why I want to send you a copy of the Book of Romans ESV
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- [Announcer] To double your gift today and get your copy of the
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