0:06 Romans chapter 8 and verse two and that phrase is the law of the spirit. Most people are familiar with the law of Moses. 0:25 [Music] That was what's known as the old covenant. Here it speaks about the law of the spirit. And if we can understand the difference between the law of Moses and the law of the spirit and we understand 0:43 it in our hearts, that can make all the difference in our Christian life. And this is so important because it's possible to be a born again 0:58 Christian and live under the law of Moses. Not that we are Jewish people, not that we believe in sacrificing lambs or bulls, but living by the 1:17 principle of the law of Moses. I'm talking about the principle. There's a certain principle that we see in the law of Moses which is the old covenant. And God gave it for a particular purpose and that was to 1:36 reveal man's inability to rise up to his standards. That was one purpose of the law, to show man, no matter how hard you try, you'll never come up to my standards. And so the law revealed man's sin and showed 1:55 him that he was a guilty sinner, which he would not have known if the law had not been given. The law of the spirit is not to show us our need. The Holy Spirit does show us our need to 2:14 a much deeper extent than the law of Moses did. But more than that, the Holy Spirit is a person. The law of Moses was a something written on stone. There were commandments. There was nothing personal about it. There was 2:33 no contact with God there. It was a revelation of God's eternal standards and it just showed man his need just like a mirror would show you whether your face is dirty. That's all the law did. But the mirror can't clean your 2:50 face. It just shows you the more you look at it the more you feel guilty. So that's what the law did. The law of the spirit is different. Now the reason I mentioned this is that over the years I have found in all the countries I have 3:07 visited that most Christians live under the law of Moses. The principle of the law of Moses and one proof of that is a verse that we find in Romans 6:14. To me, this is one of the clearest 3:26 proofs that somebody is living under the law of Moses and not the law of the spirit. Grace is a word that's found in the New Testament. Primarily, when you read its occasional occurrence in the Old Testament, like Noah found grace in the eyes of the 3:45 Lord, it doesn't really mean grace has found in the New Testament. What it means is Noah found favor. But John 11:17 says, "Grace was brought by Jesus Christ." So here is a contrast between what Moses brought and what Jesus 3:59 brought in Romans 6:14. And even a child could answer this very simple question just from this one verse. Sin shall not be master over you for you're not under law but under grace. Now you 4:18 could u repeat that verse to a 10-year-old boy and ask him, can you therefore tell me what is the proof the man is under law just from that one verse? And the proof is that he's still defeated by sin. Sin rules him. He 4:37 cannot rule sin. Sin rules him in the conflict between sin and him. Sin wins. Why? because he's under law. When can he in this conflict overcome sin? It's when he comes under grace. So that is the clearest proof 4:57 since most Christians that I've met, born again Christians, I was still defeated by sin. That to me is the proof that most Christians live under law. I lived under it myself for many, many years after I was absolutely convinced. I was born again. My sins are 5:11 forgiven. I was on my way to heaven. If I died, I would have gone to heaven. But I would have died as a defeated Christian and that was not God's will. I had heard and received half the gospel that my sins could be forgiven. And it's 5:25 because I didn't understand the law of the spirit. Now what is the law of the spirit? The law of Moses was a whole lot of commandments. You mustn't do this, you mustn't do that, you must do this, you must do the other thing, etc., etc., 5:37 etc. And u Peter describes that law in this way. Let me show it to you in Acts chapter 15. There's a little expression he uses at a discussion that the apostles had concerning concerning one aspect of the 5:57 law. Shall we should we make allow the Gentiles should we force the Gentiles to be circumcised? And they were discussing that and Peter said, "Well, um, verse 6:13 10," why do you put God to the test? Acts 15:10, "By placing upon them, upon the neck of these new disciples, a yoke," he's referring to the law, a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been 6:32 able to bear. So you ask Peter, "Peter, you've lived as a Jew under the law for at least 30 years. Tell me your opinion about the law." He said, "It's a yoke we just could not bear." And my dad felt the same way and his dad felt the same way. 6:51 We and our fathers could not bear this. It was to such a group of people that Jesus came with these words. Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, who are struggling and struggling and struggling to try and live up to God's standards 7:09 and failing and failing and failing. Come to me. I will give you rest. But they didn't come to him. They came to the scriptures, but they didn't come to him. And you know it's very easy to go to the Bible and not go to Christ. Jesus said 7:27 in John's gospel chapter 5 verse 39. This is another mistake that a lot of Christians make. John 5:39. You search the scriptures. Isn't that a good thing? And Jesus was speaking to the 7:46 Pharisees whom he already said in Matthew 23 that they were all destined for hell. Who were these people who were destined for help? People who were searching the scriptures, people whose doctrines were all correct. We place a lot of importance on 8:03 doctrine and that's right. There's a lot of false doctrine today in the world and we don't want to get involved in that. But many a Christian finds a comfort in the fact that his doctrines are right. And if you read the first three or four 8:18 verses of Matthew 23, you'll find that Jesus told the Pharisees told his disciples, "Whatever the Pharisees tell you to do, do which means their doctrines are all correct." He wouldn't have ever said that about the Sadducees. The Sadducees 8:34 was another group that had some of their doctrines wrong. For example, they didn't believe in the resurrection. They didn't believe in angels or spirits or things like that. And Jesus would never have told his disciples, "Whatever the Sadducees 8:46 tell you, do it." He only said that about the Pharisees because their doctrines are all correct. They searched the scriptures. They got the right doctrines. Their doctrinal statement was something that even Jesus could say. Otherwise, he wouldn't have told 9:01 his disciples. Whatever they tell you to do, he said their only problem is they don't live according to what they preach. And so to such people he says you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal 9:20 life but those scriptures are bearing witness of me. Jesus says and you don't come to me that you may have that eternal life. You go to the scriptures to get eternal life and you don't get it. You study the scriptures and search the scriptures and 9:37 you are still a generation of vipers ready to go to hell. And is that possible today that people can have the right doctrine, search the scriptures, have a regular quiet time, read the Bible every day, get all have the most 9:50 fundamental evangelical statement of faith and still end up in hell. I believe it's possible. If it was possible 2,000 years ago in Jesus time, it's possible today. But do you think those Pharisees imagined that they were 10:05 going to hell? Oh no. And do you think all these Christians whose doctrines are right imagine they're on their way to hell? Oh no, they don't. Jesus came to reveal to those Pharisees their true condition and they were upset with it. Yeah. And today when 10:21 the Lord comes through his servants and reveals a condition to many Christians to themselves saying your doctrines are not going to save you, they get upset with it because they all their life they believe if our doctrines are right, we 10:32 go to heaven. It's almost as though at the judgment seat of Christ, God's going to give us a doctrinal questionnaire and if we get it all right, we get into God's kingdom. It's not like that. So he says, if you want this 10:46 eternal life that you're seeking for, it's not enough to search the scriptures. Is it necessary to search the scriptures? Sure. There is no book in the whole world that's written by God Almighty except this one, the Bible. And 11:01 when I understood that 45 years ago, I made it my life's passion, God is my witness to study this book. If there was only one book in the whole world written by God as I believed, then it was absolutely essential for me in my own life to study 11:19 that book. Even if I didn't have time to read a lot of other books and magazines and newspapers written by men, even if I didn't have time to watch so many television programs, I must get to know this one book. I can get to heaven 11:32 without watching so many programs and without reading so many other books. And not just get to heaven. My goal in life is not just to get to heaven. And my goal in life was to live as God wanted me to live on this earth before getting 11:44 to heaven. And I hope that's your desire, too. Amen. And I'll tell you something. You'll never be able to live the way God wants you to live on this earth if you don't know his book. You may know everything about politics and about the 11:59 different things that are popular among men and about cricket scores and things like that. But if you don't know what God's written in his book, you're not going to fulfill God's will before leaving this earth. And so it's good to search the 12:17 scriptures. I've searched the scriptures for years. But when I was a young Christian, I grew up in a group of assemblies that majored on studying the scriptures, but made the same mistake. They didn't find Jesus in the scriptures. What did they see in the 12:33 scriptures? Doctrines. But Jesus said, "These scriptures testify of me." They're not talking about doctrines that you've got to formulate and, you know, um, fine and make it polished up and make the point firm and, uh, make little footnotes and 12:52 all that. That's not, that's what the Pharisees did. And if you didn't follow all their footnotes and read all the fine print, you were not accepted. That's not God's way. God says, "These scriptures point to me." And it's been a tremendous joy 13:05 for me to see Jesus in the scriptures to see that everything in scripture is to show me something more of the glory of Jesus. And the Holy Spirit wants to make me like that. He shows me that glory makes me like it. So you are unwilling to come to me that 13:24 you may have that eternal life. So we want to keep that mind. Keep that in mind as we study. Turning back to Romans chapter 8. The law of the spirit verse two the law of the spirit was different from the law of Moses in this 13:42 sense the law of Moses was a written code it wasn't just ten commandments by the way the ten commandments is the most well-known part of that written code but included so many details as to what you were to do if you found a little bird's 14:01 nest with it little ones in What are you supposed to do? Which are you supposed to take the mother and the little ones or take only the little ones and let the mother go? There was a law concerning that. There was a law 14:12 concerning what to do if a lizard fell into your pot when you're cooking. There was a law concerning how to deal with people who are lepers. There there was a law concerning many many things, many little details. what type of food you were supposed to 14:27 eat and which fish you could eat and which fish you couldn't, which animals you could eat, which animals you couldn't, what type of clothes you're supposed to wear. You're not supposed to wear anything woolen and cotton mixed 14:37 together. So many laws in the law of Moses, it was all replaced when Jesus came. He abolished that law of written commandments and replaced it with something better which was God's 14:56 original intention in any case and thus he accomplished something in man that the law could not do. Here is another wonderful expression in verse three before I explain what the law of the spirit is. 15:13 what the law could not do. What is it the law could not do? Well, let's see what the law could do. The law could lead the people of Israel to such a high moral standard of [Music] 15:33 life that they would they would not even tolerate a woman caught in adultery. They would stone her to death. And that's what raised Israel as a nation above all the other nations of the earth because their model standard 15:50 was so high. Stealing, murder, nothing of these things were permitted in Israel. So the law could accomplish a lot. Think that the law could produce men like Elijah. John the 16:09 Baptist, these were godly men, Isaiah, some of these great prophets, the law produced some wonderful men. But the law could not do something. I mean, we would think that if we came to the level of John the Baptist, if we 16:26 could become all of us could become like John the Baptist, we'd we'd be wonderful Christians. No. God has provided something even better than what John the Baptist could have. That's why Jesus said in Matthew 11 that John the Baptist 16:42 is the greatest man born of women, but you get into God's kingdom, you can rise even higher than him. Not that everybody will rise higher than him. But the opportunity is there. The possibility is there. The potential is there. Whether 16:56 they actually make use of it is another thing. You know a lot of things God gives man doesn't make full use of. I when I studied about the about electricity. I realized that there's a difference between inventions and 17:15 discoveries. Inventions are something a man invents. Discoveries are what he discovers in nature. And I I learned that electricity was not an invention. It was a discovery. And if Adam had discovered it, it was in 17:34 nature. He could have had electricity thousands of years before Christ. Well, he didn't know how to get it. I mean, magnets were available on Earth in Adam's time. Waterfalls were there. 17:51 And if Adam only knew how to put magnets in in such a place and let the waterfalls turn the wheel, he could have had electricity in Eden. And think of what a blessing it would have been if there is electricity on earth for 6,000 years. 18:11 And you know what a tremendous blessing it's been for us to have electricity. So many things in our home. Can you imagine what your home would be like without electricity? Peaceful. Well, that's one part of it. But there 18:27 are many other benefits. Otherwise, uh if peacefulness outweighed those other benefits, we would have got rid of it. But we haven't got rid of it because um we get so many benefits. Now it's something like that. Life without 18:42 electricity. Life with electricity. What a difference it made. And all along it was there. man had to discover it. And until he discovered it, he couldn't get the benefit of it. It's like that with the laws of the spirit. They're there. You don't 18:59 discover it, you don't get the benefit of it. Some Christians discover it and live in the benefit of that. Some others don't. Like Adam, live without electricity. don't understand the law of the spirit and think there's nothing 19:15 better than living by certain rules and regulations. And that's how a lot of churches in order to keep their people holy, not become too worldly lest the church loses its testimony, they make either a written or an unwritten 19:32 code. If you belong to this church, you're not supposed to do these things and uh you must do these things. And if everybody follows that code, they're a good church member. It's just another law, the law of that pastor, let's say, the law of 19:48 that particular denomination. And that's how a lot of Christians live. And I see they certainly are better than a lot of people in the world, just like Israel was better than all the other nations of the world, but they still had not come 20:00 into what God wanted them to come into. There was something the law could not do. We saw that in Romans 6:14. The law could not lead a man to overcome sin. Now, is overcoming sin a sort of a new message that comes up? God suddenly 20:18 thought of it. On the [Music] contrary, do you know the first place in scripture where God says you must overcome sin? It's in Genesis chapter 4. Right in the beginning of the Bible, the very first chapter after man is turned out of Eden. God's first message 20:36 to man is, you know what it is? Must overcome sin. I'll show you that in case you're not familiar with it. In Genesis chapter 4, this is the first chapter outside the Garden of Eden after man has been turned out. And it's a story of 20:52 Cain and Abel. And Cain has not yet killed Abel. He's just upset that God accepted Abel's sacrifice and not his. And God saw the beginnings of something dangerous in Cain's heart. And he warned him just like he 21:11 warns us through our conscience, through the Holy Spirit, sometimes through our Bible reading, sometimes in a meeting. He warns us, "Hey, I can see the beginnings of something in you. You better watch out. If you allow that to grow, it'll destroy 21:26 you." That's what God was trying to tell Cain. And the Lord said to him, verse 6, "Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen?" That verse encourages me to believe that God wants our countenance to be cheerful all the time. When your 21:44 countenance is fallen, when your face is depressed and gloomy, it's a clear indication something is wrong. God never intended man to live with a fallen face, bad moods. No. A lot of people who live under the law, they live like that. They think 22:02 there's nothing better than that. Well, of course, we're human, so we got to be in bad moods once in a while. Well, that's right. If you're not a Christian, I agree. But there's a better way. And the devil's aim is to tell you 22:18 there is no better way as long as you're a human being. He's a liar. He's been a liar from the beginning. He fooled me for 16 years of my Christian life after I was born again till I discovered there was a better way in the 22:30 scriptures that I could come to another level of life that I had not even tasted before that see the deeper Christian life or the overcoming life is not just a theme for conferences it's a reality it's something we must know as a 22:48 reality in fact it's a thing that um spreads the aroma of Christ through us to other people. So the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? There's no reason for us to be angry under grace. Why is your face fallen? There's no need for us to 23:06 be depressed if you're under grace." If you have good intentions, I want to paraphrase verse 7. If you have good intentions towards others, your face will be lifted up. But if your intentions are not good, then your face will be 23:23 fall. And when that is the case, when you got plans in your heart which are not good plans towards other people, sin is crouching at the door like a tiger waiting to put its foot in. You just got to get a foot in and it'll 23:41 come right in. And here's the the passage I was talking about. Sin's desire is for you to master you, but you must master sin. That's not Romans 6:14. That's Genesis 4:7. So, when did the Lord speak about 24:00 mastering sin? Not 4,000 years later. Right at the beginning, as soon as man was turned out of Garden of Eden, he told them, "You must master sin." He made provision before they left Eden for 24:17 forgiveness of sins. He told Adam, "See that the woman will come and crush the serpent's head." That was a clear prophecy of the coming of Christ. And he slew an animal or perhaps two animals and clothed them uh with the skin of an 24:34 animal. We read in verse 21. So there was the first animal sacrifice in Genesis 3:21 picturing the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. taking away the fig leaves, picturing God getting rid of human righteousness with which we try to cover up our sin 24:50 and clothing him with the skin of that animal picturing our being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. It was all there in Genesis 3 was that the seed of the woman coming crushing the serpent's head the animal being slain a picture of 25:05 Christ dying on the cross and being clothed with the animals came a picture of the righteousness of Christ. What's the next step? Genesis 4, we must master sin. We don't stop with Genesis 3 and verse 21, which picture our being born 25:20 again, being clothed and justified, declared righteous. The next thing God says, you must master sin. And that's what the law could not do. But it says in Romans 8:3, what the law could not do, God did. 25:39 That's the great message of the gospel which is not being fully and sufficiently proclaimed among Christians. What the law could not do, God did. What the law could not accomplish even in a great man like John the Baptist, God is 25:57 done. What was it? What is it that we can have that John the Baptist could not have? the Holy Spirit dwelling within our hearts. John the Baptist could only have the experience of the spirit upon him making him a great preacher, fearless, 26:17 fiery preacher. Yeah, the spirit can make a man like that even in the Old Testament. Samson when the spirit came upon him could do many things but the operation of the Holy Spirit right from the first anointed person in the Old Testament right up to 26:32 the last was always on the outside was always on the outside for a ministry always for a ministry for a work it could never change a person's character nobody's character was 26:50 changed David was anointed fell into adultery, married seven or eight wives. Samson could overcome a lion but couldn't overcome Delilah. The spirit could not work 27:09 within and therefore the law could never never accomplish what God wanted to accomplish in man's heart. Even Jesus could not make two of his disciples one because the spirit did not come within them. And that's why he said to his 27:29 disciples before he left when the spirit comes you fellas will be able to do something which even I will not be able to do till now. John 14:12 greater works than I have done you do. What was that? It was that God could now make two 27:43 people one. Amazing things happened. which the law could never accomplish in people when the holy spirit came. So to understand the law of the spirit brings tremendous results not only in our personal lives but also in our mutual 28:00 fellowship in the church. The church the whole character of the church will change if everyone in that church lives by the law of the spirit. What the law could not do, Romans 8:3, God did by sending his own son in the 28:20 likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh on Calvar's cross. The whole purpose of it was so that verse four Romans 8:4 that this righteous requirement of the law which could never 28:35 be fulfilled in anyone can now be fulfilled and the important word there is the word in inside us not outside us like it was under the old covenant. You know that rich young 28:53 ruler who didn't want to be a disciple of Jesus. He had fulfilled all the commandments externally. When Jesus made a list of commandments, he said, "I've kept all of that from my childhood." The Apostle Paul said before 29:06 he was converted, he said all from my," he said, "I've kept lived with a good conscience before God all my life." He told the high priest in Acts 23, "The law could make a man live with a good conscience." And perhaps you can live with a good 29:21 conscience too concerning your external life. That means you don't cheat anybody. You're not in you don't have any unpaid debts. You don't do evil to anyone externally. Your standard is a good moral standard. 29:38 But the inside you have no control over your thoughts, attitudes. The law could do nothing there. But now this righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled inside us because now we have the ability after the coming of the Holy 29:57 Spirit dwelling inside to walk according to the prompings of the Holy Spirit and not according to the prompings of our flesh. The Holy Spirit gives us a inner power to live according to his prompings. 30:15 He just the law just gave you a commandment gave you no power to live according to it. But the Holy Spirit gives us um a standard higher than the law but gives us the ability to keep it. And now we come to Romans 8:2. The 30:34 law of the spirit can be summed up in this phrase life in Christ Jesus. So the law of the spirit is not a bunch of commandments. It's a life. And so a bunch of commandments was replaced by 30:53 life. It's this life in Christ Jesus that's going to be make me free from sin. Not a theory, not a doctrine, not a technique. It's not three easy steps to victory. It's not like that. It's life in Christ Jesus. It's a 31:11 life that lifts me up from the power of sin. That is the law of the spirit. Whereas the old testament law was a code of commandments. The law and new testament law of spirit is life. And these two are 31:28 symbolized in that in those two trees in the garden of Eden. You remember the two trees mentioned in Genesis chapter 2. One was a tree of knowledge of good and evil. That symbolized the law. What is the law after all? What is 31:44 any law? Traffic laws or moral laws. Any type of law is something that tells you what is good and what is evil. We can say the law is a knowledge, a tree of good and evil. 32:02 Um, we can say what's wrong in knowing good and evil. It's a good it's good to know it, but you won't get life by it. The law brought people to death spiritually. And you know, you take the ten commandments. What is the ten 32:20 commandments? You look at it, it's a tree of good and evil, of knowledge of good and evil. These are the things you should do. Have only one god. Keep the Sabbath. Honor your father and mother. These are things you shouldn't 32:35 do. Don't take the Lord's name in vain. Don't take Don't make idols. Don't steal. Don't kill. Don't commit adultery. Don't coveret anything that belongs to your neighbor. Things you should do, things you shouldn't do. A 32:50 tree of knowledge of good and evil. And if you live by these principles in your life, a lot of moral people in the world, even good Christians who are born again, they're proud of the fact that they have certain standards. I don't 33:04 cheat anybody. I have a a code by which I live. I don't do these things and I do these things. And you come to a pretty good moral life. But it may not be the life in Christ Jesus. Not at all. There a lot of I mean 33:23 I've seen people in India who are non-Christians who got very upright lives outside very honest they don't cheat [Music] anyone I've known people are atheists who are absolutely honest and they don't have any life in 33:43 Christ Jesus but you look at their external life I tell you some of them behave much better than a lot of people who call themselves born again Christians you've probably seen that too in every country, never because they 33:54 live by a certain moral code of conduct. But in God's eyes, that brings spiritual death. That's what God told Adam. You live by that tree, you will die. And everyone who lived under the law, tried to live by that standard, 34:09 lived in spiritual death. Even though their moral standard was higher, you see this is what the Pharisees could not recognize. Even though their moral standard was much higher than the prostitutes and thieves, they were also 34:20 in spiritual death just like the thieves and the prostitutes. And they just couldn't understand that. How could we be in spiritual death when our moral standard is so high? You can keep the external code of the law and be spiritually dead. 34:36 I've seen Christians who uh have got a very high moral standard but who are so sour and so hard to get along with. That's not the life of Christ. The aroma that comes forth from them is one of spiritual pride that 34:55 I'm better than you and spiritual arrogance. That's not the life of Christ. Even though haven't you met people who are very morally upright and also very proud they you can't fault them in 35:13 anything in their life. They're living under the law because there is no commandment in the law which says thou shalt not be proud. There was no such commandment because nobody could keep it. There was no commandment which said 35:28 thou shalt not be depressed or discouraged. There was no such commandment. But when you come to the new co new testament, there are commandments like that. Rejoice in the Lord always. There's no room now for, you know, your countenance to be fallen 35:45 like Caines. Yeah. I remember as a young Christian, I was challenged by that. [Music] I was born again. I accepted Christ. I was really born again. And I was absolutely sure if I died I'd go to heaven. And I believe 36:03 if I died, I would have gone to heaven because my sins were forgiven. But I thank God I didn't die before I understood the purpose of my life on earth. It was not just to go to heaven, but to be a a living witness to the resurrection power of 36:18 Jesus Christ that could lift us above the law of sin and death. Are you a living testimony to that? You know, I I I used to be frequently depressed and discouraged, but I was born 36:35 again. I never felt there was that this is something not God's will till I saw in the scriptures when I, you know, like Jesus said, you search the scriptures, but you don't see me in them. Well, I searched the scriptures and I saw Jesus 36:47 in them. And one of the things I saw in Jesus was he was never discouraged. He was never in a bad mood. Is this the life of Jesus? The law of the spirit of the life of Jesus. I mean, I could never attain 37:04 that. But if that life came into me, I suppose it would produce in me what it produced in Jesus. In other words, the Holy Spirit was the one who enabled Jesus who came like me to live this life. If Jesus had lived that earthly life in his 37:22 inherent power as God, he would be no example for me because I don't have that inherent power because I'm not God. I'm created human being. So if Jesus had lived his earthly life with inherent power is God, he could never say follow 37:42 me. He could only say admire me. And I could spend all my life admiring him like a lot of Christians do and not follow him. I say it's impossible to follow him. You know, deep down in the hearts of many Christians, they're 37:55 convinced that they cannot follow Jesus. Because the devil says he wasn't like you. Remember, even though the Bible says in Hebrews 2:17, he was made in all things like his brothers. But people would rather believe what 38:11 their logic tells them than what God's word says. You know many many areas I want to tell you my dear brothers it's possible that you are believing the lie of the devil. I want to say that graciously but firmly so that we get out of it. Jesus said you 38:27 shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. And one of the truths that made me free was when I discovered that what it says in Hebrews 21:17 is absolutely true. He was made like me in all things. And what it says in Hebrews 38:42 4:15 is true. that he was tempted like me in all things and he did not sin. Made like me in all things. Tempted like me in all things and still never in a bad mood. Never discouraged. How often have we gone to the Old Testament to find comfort in our 38:58 sin? I know Christians have done that. Television evangelists who fall into adultery will come back on the television screen a few weeks later and say, "David also fell into adultery. He was a man after God's own heart and he 39:15 came back and I've come back. Well, if you're running the race looking unto David, the author and finisher of your faith, that's that's the level you live at. They say, "Well, Elijah got depressed sitting under a tree. How can 39:34 we bear better than him?" I say, "Well, if you're running the race, looking into Elijah, the author and finisher of your faith, that's all you can do. But the wonderful verse in Hebrews 11, you know, I'll tell you, I really 39:49 feel sad for some of these chapter divisions. I feel they've been put in the wrong place in some places in scripture because, you know, those of us who got a good habit of reading one chapter a day, when you begin the next 40:00 chapter, the next day, forget where the previous chapter ended and don't see the connection between the previous chapter and the next chapter. Let me give you a little suggestion. Those who read one chapter a day, whenever you begin to 40:11 read a new chapter the next day, please go back three, four verses to the last verses of the previous chapter and start from there. You may see a connection. There are many places like that between John 7 and John 8, for example. It's a 40:26 wonderful connection between those two chapters. Many places. And here's another one of them. Hebrews 11 and 12. Actually, the first four verses of Hebrews 12 should have been the last four verses of Hebrews 11. That's how I see it because Hebrews 40:41 11 says all these great men lived by faith, but they could only do external things. And what could they do? They could split red seas and shut the mouths of lions and pull down walls of Jericho and all that. But it says in the last 40:52 verse of Hebrews 11, God has provided something better for us. Tell me, is there something better than shutting the mouth of a lion? There is. Is there something better than splitting open the Red Sea? I mean, if you were 41:04 given the opportunity to split open the Red Sea, God says, "I'm going to use you to do a miracle just like Moses did. Split a sea open and show people the mighty power of God." God says something better than that. Something better than 41:17 pulling down walls of Jericho. Something better than putting even armies to flight. What is that better thing? It is overcoming sin. Do you believe that? I wonder whether we do. A lot of people don't believe it. That's why when you 41:34 don't value it, you don't go after it. And that's what it says in chapter 12. God has provided something better for us. And that is we have all these wonderful witnesses. This great cloud of witnesses are the ones listed in chapter 11. 41:49 He says now we can lay aside every weight and every sin. Even the sin which you're always falling into. What is the sin which you're always falling into? For each of us it may be a different thing. For one person it may be lust. For another it may be 42:09 internet pornography. For another it may be anger. For another it may be an unforgiving attitude. for another it may be a spiritual arrogance over other people who you think are inferior to you. There are so many sins that people 42:23 get entangled with with and some that we fall into frequently. He says you can even overcome that. We can lay aside and run the race looking unto Jesus. So, here's a chapter which says, "By faith Abel, by faith Enoch, by faith 42:42 Noah, by faith Abraham, we know what all they did. By faith, Sarah got a child. By faith, Moses split over the Red Sea. By faith, Joshua pulled down the walls of Jericho. By faith, Daniel shut the mouth of lions. And now it comes to by faith 42:58 Jesus. What did he do? That's the last in the list. By faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, Jesus, what did he do? He overcame sin. He never shut the mouth of his lies. But he endured the 43:16 cross, despising the shame. He couldn't care less for what people said of God. He resisted sin. Verse four, to the point of shedding blood. That means to paraphrase it, 43:35 shedding blood is death. He resisted sin to the point of death. Means here was Jesus by faith. His whole attitude towards sin was I would rather die than sin and displeas God even the slightest. I mean you see that in the wilderness 43:55 when he was tempted 40 days he was hungry and perhaps he was so weak he was about to die. And the devil came to him and said, "Why don't you use your power, your God-given power? You were anointed with the spirit 44:13 40 days ago. You have power now. It's not like the old 30 years when you were not anointed. No, you're anointed. You got power." No, I'm asking you to use that power. I'm not asking you to use that power to harm anybody else. I'm not 44:26 asking you to use that power to make money for yourself. You know, a lot of preachers use their God-given gift to make money for themselves. That's evil. God. The devil didn't. He knew he didn't have a chance tempting Jesus with such 44:37 stupid things. But he, this has sounded so legitimate. Don't you want to live? Don't you want to live and serve God? Why not use your power to survive? Use your power now. There's no bread available here. Turn stones into 44:53 bread. He said, [Music] "No, I haven't had a word from the father to do that. You mean you need a word from the father or little thing like that? Jesus said, "Yeah, that's how I live. I don't do anything unless the father tells me to. I will not use the 45:11 power he has given me for myself. Even if I have to, if that's the only way I can get bread, I'd rather die. If I don't eat bread, I'll die." Fine. Man's not going to live by bread alone. It's more important to live by every word 45:26 that proceeds from God's mouth. I tell you there are very few Christians who live like this who say well I'm not harming it. They say I'm not harming anybody if I do that. I'm just I just have to live that's all. But have you heard a word from God 45:42 to use your the gifts he has given you for that purpose. When you examine the standard by which he lived, it was so high, so high, the standard by which Jesus lived that he would not do even what was [Music] 46:01 legitimate until the father prompted him. There was nothing illegitimate or illegal, just bread to survive. So that's the meaning here. He would rather die than disobey God. He'd rather die than do something which the father has 46:20 not told him to do. And that's how he finally went to the cross. And he says that was his faith. The manifestation of Moses faith was in spitting the Red Sea and getting man up from heaven. The manifestation of Daniel's faith was in shutting the 46:36 lion's mouth. The manifestation of Jesus faith was in this that he would rather die than commit sin. And because he had that attitude, the father was so delighted in him. I mean, he had manifested that attitude for 30 years in 46:55 Nazareth. And the father was so thrilled with that. He said, "This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased." He hadn't preached a sermon. He hadn't done a miracle in those 30 years. The father was delighted in him. Can the father be 47:09 delighted in a man who has never done a miracle? never preached a sermon, never traveled outside the bounds of his little village, never gone around like an evangelist. And the father said, "My I'm so pleased with him." Why? Because of 47:24 the attitude of heart that he saw in Jesus for 30 years. I would rather die than displease my heavenly father. I will not go and do something which my father has not prompted me to do. At the age of 12, he knew the scriptures. He 47:40 could have gone out and preached but he didn't. The father said not your time. The father was so delighted and you know the father is even today delighted in those who have that attitude. But Jesus valued that. He wasn't asking the father for a 47:59 better house or a better chariot or something like that to travel in. He prayed to the father that he would have the power of the spirit to please him. This is the life of Jesus. This is the law of the spirit. Now you know we don't 48:17 get something. I mean we value it. Why is it so many people don't seem to be able to find this life? Why did Jesus say in Matthew chapter 7 after describing that wonderful life in chapter 5 6 and 7 he said in conclusion 48:36 he said well you heard about this wonderful life first I want to tell you something very few will find it very few will find it this life few there be that find this narrow way to 48:54 life Matthew 7:14 I I don't believe that Jesus made a mistake. He knew that in the history of the human race. Many would call themselves Christians. Many would say they are born again. Many would do miracles. Many would preach great 49:09 sermons. But very few would find this life, this new covenant life, this life in Christ Jesus, this law of the spirit. Why? And I think I have the answer in Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 49:29 11. Jeremiah 29, sorry, verse 13. Jeremiah 29:13. The Lord says, "You will seek me." Many of us do. But why don't we find him? Many who seek do not find. Many will seek for 49:47 this life, but they won't find it. You will seek me and you will find me when you search for me with all your heart. That's a law. It's a law of wholeheartedness. God says, "If you 50:05 honor me, I will honor you." 1 Samuel 2:30. You seek me with all your heart, you'll find me. You seek for me like something which something cheap you won't find me. That's the reason many never find this life. It's not the most 50:23 important thing in life for them. Paul said in Philippians 3, he tells us how he found this life and we know he found it. He says verse 8, I suffered the loss of all 50:42 things and I count them all as rubbish that I made in Christ. You know Jesus once told a story about a man who sold all the pearls he had in order to get this one pearl of great price. Those other pearls are a big pile quantity-wise many. And this one pearl 51:00 was just one. But he placed a value on this one thing more than all of that. And he sold all of that to get this one. And Paul says, "Everything I counted valuable on earth was compared to was rubbish compared to this." But you've got to be 51:15 a discerner of good pearls to be able to evaluate this pearl of great price. I mean, it's like if somebody asks you, "Well, how much did that diamond on your ring cost you?" And 51:32 this lady says, "Well, $50,000." $50,000. Look at mine. Just like yours. I paid only $5 for this one. Do you want that? Do you want the $5 diamond? Why did this stupid lady pay 51:52 $550,000 when she could have got one which looks exactly the same for $5? One was concerned about appearance before men. So long as it looks the same, I can fool people. So long as my Christianity looks like the genuine 52:10 thing, it's okay. The other person was concerned about in inherent value. There's a Christianity with inherent value for Richard to pay a lot. And there's another Christianity which looks similar which fools most people. I 52:27 mean, I would be fooled. I wouldn't be able to distinguish it, you know, a $5 diamond and $50,000. One's a piece of glass, probably worth less than $5 and the other's $50,000. I wouldn't be able to make out. And most Christians can't 52:38 make out. If your external life is okay, they admire you. But the life of Christ Jesus, you know whether you got it or not. You know whether you have this wonderful surging life of Christ communicated by the Holy Spirit that's 52:51 always lifting you up from over sin and temptation in your daily life in your home life. Your wife knows whether you're radiant at home or not. Your fellow brothers know only whether you're radiant in the church on Sunday 53:07 morning. The life of Christ is not something you can switch on and switch off. It's wrong all the time. It's the same all the time. If I'm any different in my behavior at home than I'm in the pulpit, something's wrong. Dear 53:23 brothers, you know the invitation of the Lord to you this morning. Come up higher from where you are. If you seek him with all your heart, if you're willing to pay the price, you too can find him. Let's pray. While our heads bow in prayer, I will 53:47 invite you to respond to God's word that you've heard today. Say, "Lord, I want this life at any cost. Forgive me my hypocrisy. 54:10 Forgive me my lack of zeal and eagerness to rise up to this iconic. Lord, I want to follow you all the obey. I know what you've done for others, you'll do for me. Thank 54:27 you. I trust you in Jesus name. Amen.
