The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 3: Rescued From Condemnation

Episode Date: December 18, 2022

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Well, if you showed up the week before Christmas looking for a cute little Christmas homily, you were in the wrong place. Anytime you see this little anointing oil on the podium, that means it's going to be a doozy. In about 50 minutes, what we're going to be doing is gathering down front at all of our locations and asking the spirit of God to set some of us free from the chains of sin and shame. Amen? Amen. And could at all of our locations, including.

online if you're watching a coffee shop by yourself, could you thank Sean Osmond for the courage it takes to stand on the truth of the gospel? In the lobbies of all of our campuses, this whole weekend, First Coast Women's Services, which is a partner, has been a partner of ours for a really long time, they are there. And because of your generosity in the 10-10 life, we are able to increase our partnership like crazy. And not only are we going to send a whole bunch of finances their way to accomplish a bunch of the things that God has called them to, but we also need lots and lots of volunteers. So when this service is over, then as you were exiting and you go through the lobbies,

I'd love for you to go by the First Coast Women's Services tables, whether you need their services or you want to volunteer or you know somebody that may need their services, it would just be a great idea to get to know them. And we thank them like crazy for their partnership in the gospel, fighting for the rights of the unborn to make it into what God had planned for them. Amen? Amen. So, hey, it's good to be back. I want to thank also publicly, Pastor Britt, for just doing a phenomenal job last week on the flight. Didn't he did it? It's a great job. And, church, I'm so proud of you in all the right ways. Well done. Last week, you sponsored

1,287 kids through Compassion International, which puts us as a church at over 17,000 children have been released from poverty in Jesus' name. Now, it's not a competition, but we're winning, like, we're lapping all the other good churches in the world. I'm just telling you, all my famous Christian friends, you know what I'm saying? They're not even close to catching up with us, and, again, it's not a competition, but we were in first place by a long way. So, way to go there.

And here's what's even crazier, man. And it comes right on, it was the weekend after our big give weekend that kicked off. our 10-10-life initiative. And I want to thank you because not only what is it the largest numerical financial weekend we've ever had here, but we had the most people participate ever in the history of the church of 1122,

bringing their first and best to God. Way to go. Way to go. Now, we are in week three of this series called Rescue Mission. And the idea is that I want you to get really focused in on what Christmas is all about. Again, I'm not anti all the stuff.

I mean, see, all the 13 Christmas trees that we had. Somebody asked me, was there significant to the number 13? You think I think that way? No, okay, don't be done. So, but hang your stockings and drink your eggnog and do the santa, don't do something. Whatever, I don't care, man, I don't care. But whatever you do, don't miss the actual point

of what Christmas is all about. That in the beginning was the word, and the word put on full. flesh and didn't just like move into the neighborhood like you move into a neighborhood. Huh, maybe we'll meet the neighbors. No, no, no, no. That this is a landed invasion where the king of kings dresses himself in flesh and then humility comes on a rescue mission for us.

And then what we're talking about is what is he rescuing us from? And so week one, we talked about we need to be rescued from human tradition. And I want us to be careful because the very fun Christmas traditions, can sometimes blind our eyes to exactly what Christmas is. And so we need to be rescued from ourself. We need to be rescued from our success. We need to be rescued from spiritual darkness, all those things. And then last week, we partnered with Compassion International

to rescue kids from poverty in Jesus' name. And this landed invasion, I hope you picked up on this. Last week, Pastor Britt taught us about Maph. Tough name to say, but Mephishv. And then he is a picture of us. that he was a cripple man that got invited to the table with the king, and the way he became cripple is there was a transfer of power, and in that transfer of kingdoms, there was a fall and due to that fall, not because of anything that he had done, but it happened to him

that he was crippled. He was fallen. He was broken. And yet God showed his kindness. And Pastor Britt said this four or five times, and kindness changes things. And the kindness of God has been demonstrated to us because the king of kings has come. He did not send us an invitation to come sit at the table. He came and gave us a personal invitation by knocking on the door of our heart. And anybody that would say, I hear that knock and let you in, then he would come in and eat with us and us with him forever and ever. Amen. And then what we're going to talk about in our time together today is being rescued from condemnation. You see, Jesus came to ransom us. So the question is, not just what are we being saved from, that's what we covered on

week one, but this week we're talking about who are we being rescued from? Because the reality is we have an enemy. And he's a thief. And to know what thieves do? Thieves try to take what is not theirs. And this thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. And it's crazy around Christmas, is it not? Whatever feelings you have during the regular year, they get more amplified during this season. And this thief wants to steal your joy and he wants to kill God's purpose in your life, and he wants to destroy your understanding of who God is. There's three things that he always wants to destroy in your life. He wants to destroy the Word of God, the work of God, and the worth of God in your life. He wants to destroy the Word of God in your life. He wants you

to say, did God really say, that's one of his lies, man. And here's how it comes across. That's how he said it in the garden. Here's how he says it to you. What does Paul know about dating? The apostle Paul, 2,000 years ago, writing from a jail cell, he didn't have dating apps. He don't know what he's talking about. Did God really say sex is for married people? Nah, see what he does? He wants to destroy the work of God. You know what the work of God is? you. He wants to destroy your understanding that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, that counted for you, that his sacrifice was an atoning sacrifice sufficient to pay the dead. And what you'll begin to believe, because the enemy will lie to you, is you'll begin to believe, I know it counted for all

those good church folk, but did it really count for me? And he wants to destroy the worth of God, the worthiness of God. He wants to destroy your worship. And here's the way he does it. Are you sure God's worthy of your worship? Because if he really loved you, wouldn't he take better care of you? He wouldn't let you get sick. He wouldn't let you get divorced. He wouldn't let you lose that level. And you see how he works?

And it's the only thing that he does. This is called spiritual warfare. Now, the preeminent text on spiritual warfare is Ephesians chapter 6. And Charismatics, don't get too into this. I'm not going all the way down that rabbit hole. But let me just read your favorite text to you real quick. Finally, this is Paul talking to the church in Ephesus, finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand. That word stand does not mean stand up. It means take a stand. It means stand your ground. It's fighting terms, all right? That you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. That word schemes in Greek is methodias, where we get methods. This means the end and enemy has a method by which he attacks.

us. And God is going to give us, in his word, how we are to take a stand against the methods of the attacks of the enemy. And he goes on in verse 12 to say, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Now, we talked about this last year. Let me just review. When you hear like warfare, our minds typically, like these days, our minds go to like Russia, Ukraine. This is not how the enemy attacks. This is not like World War II where there's two superpowers

and they meet on the battlefield and you're not sure who's going to win. This is not like an evil force stacking up a whole bunch of equipment and coming through your border and then waiting to try to take over and then you rally and fight back. That's not how it works. Why? The reason the enemy cannot go full frontal assault. Now occasionally he does, there are times when the enemy manifest themselves

and people spin their heads and they spew pea soup over everybody and you hear weird, okay, sometimes. But that's not like an everyday occurrence. And the reason is because the war is over. Like it's already done. That it is, like when Jesus says it is finished, he has dealt the death blow to the enemy, and it's like when you shoot a big buck with an arrow and it zips right and you double onion. It's just a matter of time until he topples and falls over.

The toppling buck is the devil in this illustration. You tracking? Okay. So, so basically as believers, then, you look at the scoreboard, it's already won. We won, okay? It's like Georgia, Alabama last year in the national championship, all right? 32, 18, you just kneel it until we're championship, all right? Now, how does that happen?

Colossus 2 tells us, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, how? by canceling the record of debt. This phrase record of debt was a legal term. So like when you went to court in the first century, you had to bring your record of debt. They couldn't look at you on Google to see all the laws you broke.

They didn't have an extensive filing system where they could share files from Philippaida or Thessalonica to wherever you were coming from. So you would literally bring your record of debt to court. Can you imagine that? You would bring it. You would go like, here it is. That's what I've done wrong.

And what Paul is going to say is by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. In other words, you come before the judge with your record of debt, and then what Jesus does is take your record of debt, he holds it at his hand, the nail goes through his hand, and then the blood of Jesus covers your record of debt. And the judge is like, I can't see your debt anymore.

All I can see is the blood of Jesus. And then Jesus' perfect record, which he has no debt at all, he imputes unto you, gives us his righteousness in him. That's what happened when you believe that Christ out on the cross it counted for you. It is finished, bro. And then as a result of that, he, Jesus, disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them. This means he is disarmed.

The enemy against you is weaponless. Now, he's still got tricks. He's still got methods. He's still got schemes. We call him lure. He's still got lures, okay? And even when he snags you, though, it's all catch and release because he can't take you to hell. Because you're already paid for it.

You understand what I'm saying? Now, it'll hurt your lips, so you better watch yourself. That's what he's saying. So since he can't just, like, face off with us and take us over, then what he does is he launches, not a full frontal assault necessarily, but a dirty war of the mind. So these days, the many, many countries, the many, many people that hate America that want to take us down, they can't just line up and bring it on. Can you imagine if Canada tried to fight? They can't.

Their mounted horsemen look like they're trying to go to prom. Like, it would be, wouldn't even, Mexico. Come on, man. You understand? You can't fight us. Why? America. That's why, all right?

So, however, however, so there are dirty tricks. And so what is happening right now through things like social media, the internet, all these things, is there are people that hate us that launch at us a misinformation campaign from whatever you want to think and so that we will all hate each other. It's working real good, by the way. Have you noticed? Have you noticed, right? And so this is what the enemy does.

does. If he can't just stand before you, because if you're a believer, greater is who you was in me than this snake I'm staring down, then what do you do? Then he is the accuser. He is the liar. Jesus says in John chapter 8 that whenever the devil is speaking, he is lying because that is his native tongue. And here's why he does this. Here's the dirty war campaign. Have you ever have a thought that you, it's just out of line with what you actually believe, but you have that thought? Where do you think that comes from? The father? No, he doesn't speak that way. It's the father of lies. And here's why.

Because if he can get you to think a thing, he'll get you to feel a thing. You begin to think and feel a thing, you'll begin to do a thing. Listen, man, this is new. That's Plato. Logos plus pathos equals ethos. That's what he taught.

Google it, okay? That's what he's doing. So if he can get in here and get us to believe his lies and then begin to line up our hearts with our minds, then we will act in a way that we know is actually. out of step with the truth of God, and we know is actually the worst thing for us. One of the names, one of the translations of the name Satan is accuser. He is an accuser.

Let me ask you this. You ever play for his team? The moment you find yourself all judgy and accusing other people all the time, you are playing for a team, but it ain't team Jesus. Now, I'm not talking about loving a brother, loving a sister, and holding them accountable and say, hey, hey, hey, I see this area in your life, and if you keep going down on this path, I think it's going to lead to death, okay? And so I love you and I want to help you. There are actually ministries right now on the interwebs, and all they do is accuse people and tell us why they are unfit for use. I don't know how you call it a ministry.

You see, we have an enemy, and he's a liar. And he wants to plant thoughts in our heads, these lies, this misinformation campaign, because if we'll think them, then we'll feel them, and then we'll will. act on him and he will only kill still and destroy. And the enemy's got all kind of lies. Here's a few that you've thought, you're a bad mom. You're a bad dad. You've thought this, it's all your fault. Here's one. You should hate the way you look physically. Here's another one. You'll never be enough. Here's a lie. Politicians will fix everything. If you can't see that one for a lie, good gracious man. You're done. Okay.

Here's a big one. You do you. Here's a prominent one these days. Your self-actualized feelings are the truth. Here's one of his oldest. Did God really say on and on and on and on? And one of the biggest lies that he continuously spits out from the garden to the mountain of temptation to behind this stage before I walked out here.

five minutes ago is this, your past defines you. You're a fake. You are damaged goods. You can never be forgiven. You'll never live up to God's standards. Anybody? All of that is simply called condemnation. And it is the native tongue of the enemy. Condemnation. And then you allow, with enemy is trying to do in here, and then you have somebody else come and echo those same things. Who do you think? I thought you said you were a Christian. You're nothing but a hypocrite. You don't live up to that. Do you realize when people say to me, I'm not going to church because it's full of hypocrites? I tell every, you would fit in here perfectly. You think I can live up to the sermons I preach? Are you kidding me? You got to listen all the way to the end, because the point of every

sermon is, I ain't got this. I need a savior who died on the cross for me. Here's evidence, say my whole life, you understand? I think the moment you admit your hypocrisy, you ain't one. I think that's how that goes. And yet he whispers and whispers and whispers and I'm just going to confess it to you once again. This is my struggle. This is my struggle, man. I look at what God is doing in this church right now, man, you. The amount of people that are being saved, the amount of people that we baptized, the amount of people that show up at all of our places and listen online and give generously and go on the mission field and all of these things. And the constant whisper I hear if I'm not paying close, if I don't take my thoughts captive

is this, you don't deserve to be the pastor here. I told you to wait in the truck, okay? Hold on. So, but I'm just saying it's just true, man. You ever know some people and the good people love the Lord and their life's on fire and you look at your life and you're like, how am I the blessed one? I don't deserve this. You see, because what the enemy wants to do is,

you to get your attention off of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and put it all on you and have you believe that lie? Because the reality is I don't deserve it, but when I tell you, I can't get over the gospel, it's because I didn't deserve that either. I didn't deserve for Christ to put on flesh stuff off of the throne and come on a landed invasion to take over and establish his kingdom and then for whatever reason for his own glory, select and elect me and call my name and say follow after me and then put me in the kind of situation and the I have and give me the way he's given me to be able to live the life I live. So I can't get over the gospel, and you better not either.

Romans chapter 7. Not exactly a Christmas passage, but we need to be rescued from condemnation. Romans chapter 7, the Apostle Paul, is going to deal with the same thing, the same whisperer. Here's the thing about Romans 7. It comes after Romans 6. You got to know the chapters before so you understand. chapters in the Bible. He's just writing. Okay? And basically, in the first six chapters of the book of Romans, basically what Paul unpackes is sin, sinfulness, and its impact on humanity,

and that the power of the gospel that he is not ashamed of is the only thing that has the power to free us from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and one day the very presence of sin. And he says, man, we once were dead and now we're alive. We once were slaves. We're and now we're sons and daughters. This is what he's going through for six full chapters. And after he unpacks grace and unpacks the gospel and unpacks grace and unpacks the gospel, then he will, like a good lawyer,

he went to the school called Tarshis, which was law school, and so he is going to pre-answer the questions that you would have when you're reading Romans. That's what he does. In fact, American law schools used to be, when they used to have some sense, you know. They used to read the Romans as required reading because of how smart Paul was when he would pre-answer the questions that he knew people

would ask in defense of it. And so he says, all right, man, so where sin increases grace abounds. And then he says, so does this mean that we should sin all the more so that we would get more grace? And he says, by no means, no way. If you think that grace frees you to sin, then you don't know what you're talking about. grace frees you from sin, not to sin. By no way we're not going to live that way. And then all of chapter 6 is basically this. He goes, why in the world, if you are dead to sin and alive in Christ, don't you remember

your baptism? At your baptism, that's what you professed, that Jesus Christ was your Lord and Savior, and then some preacher took you and dipped, dunk, submerged, baptisteau you into the water, and the old you was dead, and then you were resurrected in the newness of life with Jesus Christ. So if you have been born again with a brand new nature and you're alive in Christ and dead to sin, then why in the world would you still be struggling with the same sins? And you hear that and they're like, yeah. And then he ends chapter six with, all right, you have been set free from the chains of sin

and you are now a slave of righteousness. You have a right standing before God. Therefore, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. And at the end of chapter six, you're like, I ain't know. ever sinning again. I don't even want to. That's how you feel. Okay? And then Paul kind of leans in personally. He goes, yeah, y'all believe that? And everybody's like, yeah, you sure? Yeah. Okay. Anybody's still struggling with sin? They're like, yeah. Yeah. So that's what he's answering. He says, and then Paul, the apostle Paul, can we agree? The apostle Paul is a Christian when he writes

in Romans chapter 7? Okay. And he goes, yeah, me too. Me too. And so in chapter 7 verses 1 through 6, basically lays it out this way. It's not about keeping a bunch of rules. It's about a relationship with Jesus Christ. And when you have that right relationship with him, your desires change and you don't want to do the things that destroy that relationship. And everybody's like, yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And then in verse 7 through 13, and he says, and basically, no matter how hard I try to

keep the law, no matter how hard I try by my own religious efforts, I just can't seem to pull it off on my own. Around here, we call that sin management. Like being the follower of Jesus is not primarily just sin management. I just made this up one year. This is, I call it beach ball theology. Imagine trying by your own power to take a beach ball out in the ocean and hold it under the water. The beach ball is the power of sin in you.

How long could you do it? Well, it depends on who you are, you know? I mean, some of you, some of you yoked up guys, Pastor John Barringer, he could hold it there for days. surely. But eventually, you get tired. You get sunscreen on your hand. Wave catches you off guard. And what happens, man? You lose your grip on it. And I don't know, try this next time you're in a pool or the ocean. It does not just gently make its way back to the top. Explodes in your face. Right. Now, nobody ever told me explicitly that's what we're doing as a Christian, because it's heretical, but that was the implication of the Southern Baptist churches I grew up in.

I love the Southern Baptists. They're great. Okay, they need Jesus too. But you know what I'm saying, all right, they're great. Good Bible teaching people. But depending on what tradition you grew up in, this is what you were taught. There was like a list of rules that you keep. So like Catholics, you had like really specific holidays and things to do, right? Our list of sin management was good Christians don't drink, smoke, or chew, or go with girls who do. That was it. We only I went four commandments. That was it. And I knew it wouldn't work because I was like, those are the only girls in Dillon. The prom queen's like, how y'all doing? I understand what I'm saying? So, so I was over for four. Now, then I'd go to camp. I get me a good Jesus talk,

get all fired up, and I would try to grab hold of my sin, and for many, many days, I could be in control. And then it would blow up in my face, which would lead me to go, what is wrong with me? And so the good news of the gospel is not. God is good. You are bad. Try hard to see you next week. It's not the good news of the gospel. In this beach fall illustration,

Jesus comes by with a pocket knife and just stabs a hole in your beach ball. That's it, man. That's what happens, okay? So that's what he, Paul didn't talk about beach balls, but that's what he is talking about in verses 1 through 13 of Romans chapter 7, and then he's going to get very, very personal,

very confessional. And he says this, Romans 7, 14. for we know that the law is spiritual. In other words, what he's saying is how good is our God that he would love us enough and he is the author of life and he has given us his word, the law, and his way works better every single time. Every single time.

And when we break God's law, you actually just break yourself against it. And when we are obeying or disobeying God's law, here's what you've got to think about. You've got to quit thinking about right and wrong. It ain't just about right and wrong. Some of us are by nature are wired more to do the right thing

because you're good at being good. I married one of these humans, okay? I'm good at being bad. You know? Like if I ever go to a, we were in this museum in Scotland last year and every time the thing would say do not touch, I would just be like,

oh, Gregson's like, what are you doing? I'm touching it. Why? Because I said don't. I don't know what's wrong with me. But it's not just about right and wrong. It's about life and death. And every time, especially when you don't understand,

especially when it doesn't make sense to you, especially when it's countercultural to this world, and you take a step of obedience to what God has told you to do, you're always stepping towards life. So listen, man, God says some radical things about sex and sexuality in this book. Okay, so you're dating, okay? You're dating.

And everybody in the world is saying, y'all should just sleep together and just figure it out, and it's going to be fine, and everybody doesn't, whatever reason. However the enemy goes, did he really say? And even if you can't understand it, and it doesn't make any sense in your mind, the way God has designed us and our marriages is if you will surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and trust what he says and do it, you are stepping towards life in your life, in her life, and the life of that relationship every single time. And when we go in the other direction, we're essentially going, forget you, I do what I want, I'm the Lord of my own life, and it always leads to death. This is the end of Roman 6, for the wages of sin is death. And so Paul says, listen, man, I'm not down on the Bible. I'm not down on the law of God. For we know that the law is spiritual, that His word is a light and a lamp to us.

It's a very good thing. But, however, I am of the flesh sold under sin. It's not necessarily that I don't know better. It just seems like there's a thing in me that won't even do what I want to do and what I believe in my mind. And then he gives some commentary on this. Check this out. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Anybody ever been there? Testify with your hand up, if so. Okay, so there's two groups. There's us, and then the liars that are still looking at me like a dummy. So that's the two groups we have today. If you ever do something, and somebody go, what were you thinking? And you're like, I don't know. I don't know.

And it could be a stupid, silly thing. I mean, it could be a thing like, you know what? I'm going to lose weight, and then you just eat cookies. You're like, what am I doing? Okay. Or it could be a horrendous thing. The hymn writer says it this way, man, prone to wonder. Lord, I feel it.

Prone to leave the God I love. That doesn't make any sense at all, does it? Why would you leave the God you love? In here, you're like, no, I'm not going to do that anymore. And yet there's a war going on inside of us between the spirit and the flesh. I think what is happening here, it's amazing to watch the commentaries fight over this passage. There's two extremes. Some people say, Paul's not talking about when he was a Christian, he's talking about his life before Christ.

Nowhere doesn't say that. They're making that up. Other people say that Paul is talking about how he used to be, and now he doesn't struggle with sin anymore because he is totally sanctified. There's a group of, there's denominations that think that, that you can be wholly sanctified this side of heaven. Have you met those people? They're the worst.

They're the worst people. I mean, they're so, they're perfect. Imagine that. Imagine their marriage. Well, darling, I obviously am perfect, so you're going to have to work on this on your Okay, that's terrible. I think it's just Paul being an honest Christian. That's what he's being.

He's being confessional here, man. I don't know, I don't know what's wrong with me. For I do not do what I want to do. Now, his desires have changed. If your desires have not changed at all, you might want to check that relationship. So it's not a desire thing. It's I do not do what I want to do,

but I do the very thing I hate. Verse 16. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, with the Bible, that it is good. In other words, thank God for the guardrails. Thank God for the speed limit. Thank God for the road clothes don't go this way.

It's going to ruin your life. That's what he said. Verse 17. So now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Now, he is not making an excuse. He's not saying, well, the devil did this, so it wasn't me. It was, the devil made me do it, so I'm not accountable. He is just making an assessment as a Christian.

There is a war going on inside of here. Verse 18, for I know that nothing good dwells in me. If you think that we as human beings are born primarily good, help you. Help you, man. It's God's common grace that you live in a society that was built by a whole bunch of people that rooted this thing in a Judean Christian ethic that believed every human being was an image bearer of God. Now, it took a long time in our country for all of that to catch up. is still catching up, but that was the foundation.

If you think we are born good, you've never met a toddler. Have you ever met one of those things? They're not good. They're cute, they're fearfully and wonderfully made, but they're evil, little selfish liars, are they not? Yeah. And what's real funny is you crowd that don't have the babies yet, and you're just like, well, my little Susie's not going to be.

I'll help you, okay? Yeah, man, that's terrible. for I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh and here it is for I have the desire to do what is right but not the ability to carry it out. You ever been there? This is why I ask you to get a Bible out and look in it because this sounds like somebody that's just struggling and their walk with Jesus is making up. And here's when we have the desire to, like right now when you're sitting in church, when you're hearing the message, it's God's grace, it's his kindness. that would convict you, man. God would never condemn you if you were in Christ.

It is his kindness that draws us to repentance. And his kindness of conviction of sin in our life, it's not a scolding, man. It's a warm blanket that says, you need to run to me, not from me, because in me you're going to find the power for victory over this sin that you're fighting against. You ever break a promise to God?

Never break one to you? Like, more than one time? I am not going to yell at the kids today. You ever do that? Today is the day. Okay, I'm not going to yell at the children. I'm not going to look at that online anymore. It's like it torments you.

I'm not going to sleep with her again. I'm not going to drink that anymore. I'm not going to participate in God's. That's it. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to use my credit card as therapy and buy stuff that I don't need. I'm not going to do it.

Here's a big one. This Christmas is going to be different. That's so funny, man. That's why we have to do Christmas every year. Sometimes you'll see these lines, these little signs, and it's like, Jesus, the reason for the season. It's actually not true. You're the reason for the season.

Jesus was doing just fine in heaven pre-Christmas. You realize this? But you and I are wretched, black-hearted sinners that need a Savior. And so you and your sinfulness and all your jacked-up family and your crazy aunt that's going to drink too much and your uncle that's going to lie at your Christmas Eve, all the sin that we are infected and infested with. That's the reason for the season. That's why we need this Savior. And so the Apostle Paul is looking at his life and he's saying, I have the desire. Thank God he's changed our desires because hopefully this has happened to you. If you've been walking with

Jesus, are there some things that you used to be into and now you despise? there are in my life are there some things that you used to despise and now you're into if you would have told me when I was a teenager that I would stand in front of all these people

and preach the Bible or I would stand over there with two hands up singing I mean I'm raising my hand of Christmas carols who does that? I do because he's worthy of it. You know what I mean?

And so the desires are changing from the inside out not the outside in but I can't seem to pull it off. I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

Now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. He's saying this, something is going on in here that does not even line up with what I know that I believe about God's goodness to me and the Word.

Now, if you read it all fast, it sounds like green eggs and ham. It's like a Dr. Seuss thing. But he's being, he's, he's bearing his soul to the church in Rome. Because he's being honest. Being honest, man. While he is an apostle, a church planner, a pastor, a believer, it's an internal war between the spirit of God and his flesh. So he says so.

So here is his diagnostic conclusion. I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. Four, I delight in the law of God in my inner being. Like at church or on a retreat. Or when you wake up in the morning early and you get your big cup of coffee and you sit down with your Bible and you go watch your bird feeder and the birds show up. and get you, you know, like you're in the right context. You're like, oh, I love this word. So I desire it.

In my inner being, I delight in the law of God, but I see in my members in my body another law waging war against the law where. Look at this, look at this, look at this, of my mind. Why? Because it's a dirty war campaign. Because the enemy has launched a misinformation campaign in the minds of us, try to get us to buy into the lie, to try to get us to buy into the sinful desires, and making me captive through the law of sin that dwells in my members. That's what he's

trying to do. This is his scheme. This is his method. Therefore, his conclusion, if you're being honest, is this. Verse 24, wretched man that I am. Now, this is true. You and I are Wretched, wretched, crooked and depraved black-collaried sinners. But that's not the whole story, okay? And you see, the enemy, what the enemy is really good at. If he just launches like bold-faced lies that don't have anything to do with our human experience or reality or the truth of God, then it would be kind of easy to identify those things. But what he will do is he will take a part of the truth that God has given us and then he will twist it.

So it's believable. That's what the misinformation is. You see, what the enemy wants us to do is see all of this. The enemy quote scripture. He's okay with parts of it, and he wants us to get to right here, wretched man that I am, and then put an exclamation point there and never move on beyond that. And then he finds us in that moment.

And while it's true, it's not the whole truth. And this is where the enemy piles on condemnation. Listen, I've been to Mayo a lot this week with the hacking stuff up and all this. Okay, so I go see my doctor at Mayo. Man, praise God for, honestly, all the hospitals that we have here, we're pretty blessed in Jacksonville, right? And just to be clear about this, okay, God is the great physician, and so he gives common grace to all of us, and sometimes he heals through miracles and sometimes through medicine and sometimes through prayer, whatever, man. People, pills, prayer.

That's how God heals, but it's all his healing. And so I go see my doctor because I'm coughing stuff up, it's gross. Now, would it be loving for my doctor to look at me and be like, you're not sick? Everybody's just got a way of living and bronchitis is yours. So it's fine, right? No, that wouldn't be loving at all, you know? He's like, do identify sick?

Because if you don't, then you're not sick. You know, that's it would be like, hmm, I don't know. Okay, no, man, there's objective truth here, and I'm sick. We call this stuff up. You can't talk. Now, can you imagine if you ran the test and be like, all right, and he just stopped it there. and he didn't, I mean, the diagnosis is one thing. But we expect doctors to then make a prognosis and give us some help, right?

Can you imagine if I go to my doctor and it wouldn't be loving for him to just say, no, no, no, you're fine, just the way you are, you know what, it's going to be fine? Or can you imagine if he got there and he says, guess, okay, you're sick and then he piled on to it. What are you doing? This is your fault. Who do you think you are? You know, if you don't sleep enough, this is going to happen. and if you don't eat right, and why are you being around people?

Don't you know people are nothing but germ bags trying to kill everybody? Do you not watch the news lately? And he just piled on and piled on and piled on. What kind of doctor would he be? Not a good one. That's condemnation. Now, my daughter loves me. He actually prays over me.

He writes out these prayers. I don't know what the Mayo protocol is, but he don't care because he just prays over me. And then gives me medicine. Okay, so here's what the enemy does. The enemy wants to stop right there. He wants you to know your sin. He wants you to feel the sting of your sin.

He wants you to look at yourself and go, what a wretched man am I? Exclamation point. And then there's nothing more to the story. This is called condemnation. And in the 30 years that I have been in ministry, I see it as one of the primary lies of the enemy to shackle Christians to sin and shame

and they cannot walk into freedom. that Christ has purchased for them. It's called condemnation. You see, most of us think we're about 90% saved. That we're pretty good, but God can't forgive certain things. And the enemy weighs us down with a label. The dictionary has three definitions of condemn.

It says this, to express complete disapproval of, typically in public. Does that describe you? Is that the whisper you get? When you get to the place in your life or you say, wretched man, am I? And then you hear the voices in your head in public go, yeah, that's right. That's exactly who you are. You are a bad mom. You are a bad dad. That divorce was your fault. That sin. How in the world could you consider yourself a Christian if you continue to struggle with these same thoughts? What is wrong with you? The second definition is this. Sentence to sentence someone to a particular punishment, especially death.

Man, this is the world that the enemy lives in. The only thing he wants to do is steal and kill and destroy. And he begins to whisper the lie of condemnation. You're not alive in Christ. And the chains of sin and shame are debilitating. And they define you. and this thing is as heavy as it looks. And you roll into church, but you've got to crack in your back

because you've been carrying around the lies of the enemy in your heart and in your mind for years now. And depending on the church you go to, some churches only talk about some sins, but it's only going to be the sins that are out there somewhere by this evil and pagan world. And then some churches have looked at you and said that sin that you struggle with and you don't belong here.

and some person with my positioned joined the accuser and told you that you were condemned. The last verse, the last definition, for condemned is a building term. It means unfit for use. I know this one personally. When I was a, I think I was a junior in college, and we were outside throwing the football on campus and a fire truck come screaming by. And we thought, wonder what that is. And it was my apartment.

and they caught on fire and they put a big sticker on it and it said it, condemned, unfit for use and we can't go in anymore. And this is what the enemy does to you. You see, he wants you

to think you're defined by your past. The enemy tries to define you by your scars. That abortion? You know you can't be forgiven for that. You know what the church thinks about that. that sexual immorality

God would never forgive you for that I mean all other sins a man commits are outside his body but he who sends sexually sins against his own body and the fact that it's not just all the way in your past that's the current struggling with you you're not even really forgiven your hypocrisy is evidence

that you are unfit for use that divorce in fact some of you were told at churches you're not welcome there because of that label and it feels like a 100 pound weight around your neck. That addiction, here's one that Christians almost don't have a category for, that mental health issue? How could you even consider yourself a Christian if you struggle with depression? I thought you're supposed to have the joy of the Lord, fear, anxiety, suicidal thoughts. Who are you? It's a dirty war campaign of the liar, the accuser, the evil one,

Satan that does not want you to walk into freedom that Christ has for you. And so what he says is you, because of your past, you are unfit for use. And then the good news of the gospel is, nope, because the text doesn't stop there. He does say, wretched man that I am. That is a good place to start. The way Jesus will say that is blessed or the poor in spirit. Congratulations when you realize I am spiritually bankrupt and I need someone to do for me what I cannot do for myself.

And then notice his next question. His next question is not, what do I do? That's the American way. The American way is what do I do? And I'm telling you, a Christless psychologist will say you've got two options, management and medication. Bro, I'm pro-psychology. You need somebody with a biblical worldview,

but the good news of the gospel is you need a Savior. And so his question is not what do I do. His question is, who will deliver me from this body of death? Who? And the who is the savior that came on a rescue mission. He gives the answer in verse 25. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh. I serve the law of sin. And then he makes a turn to the greatest chapter in all the Bible, Romans chapter 8, verse 1, based on this struggle of condemnation that the apostle Paul is struggling with in Romans 7, that leads him to ask the question, who would save a wretch like me?

And his answer is, praise God, for his son, Jesus Christ, that came on the rescue mission. And so the point of it all is this. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now, you see, the enemy tries to slap condemned on you, like you're going to wear this around for the rest of your life, because he wants you to be defined by your scars. Well, Jesus came and died on a cross, and he's got his own scars, and he wants you. you to be defined by his. The enemy may look at you and say, hey, man, because of the things that you have done,

because of the labels this world has given you, you are unfit for use. I need you to know that Jesus Christ, because of the gospel, his life, death, resurrection, and return, he looks at that same vessel, you. And he goes, no, no, no, you're not condemned. You're not unfit for use. You're actually going to be the temple of the spirit. Here's how Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?

whom you have from God, you are not your own, you were bought with a price, so glorify God with your body. Jesus came to set us free from condemnation that we would be filled with the Spirit of God that we would be able to walk into freedom that he purchased for us. That is, I'm telling you, that's better than a Christmas present. Therefore now, therefore is because of what Christ has done on our behalf. Therefore, now, not when you get to heaven, not next week when you get to your act, you're back together, not when you get control over this struggle and this sin that you have.

Therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, Jesus. And then I need you to hear this just a bunch of Bible verses. Then Paul is going to give commentary on how you are set free to walk in the freedom and not in the heavy burdens of condemnation. He goes, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free. Past tense, in Christ Jesus from the law of sin. sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He condemns sin in the flesh in order that the

righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death. Do you see the dirty war campaign of the mind that Christ has came to set us free of? For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile towards God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God, but you, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If, in fact, the Spirit of God

dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, how do you know if it's Christ is in you? Have you ever surrendered your life to the Lordship of Christ? If so, he's in you. How do you do that? You admit it. I'm a sinner. I need a Savior. I believe when he died on the cross, that counted for me. So if that's you, whether it's been a minute or it's been a hundred years. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. The way we say this around here is this. If the

tomb is empty, anything is possible. That's what he's saying. And that means even you, No matter what you struggle with in here, no matter what you've done, no matter what your current struggles are, you can be set free in Christ. So who wants to walk in freedom, man, and shake the shackles of condemnation, sin, and shame off? And the moment you're like, you know what, man, I did that last time, it didn't work. How about this? How often does Jesus say that we're to take up our cross and follow him? Every day.

Every single day. Martin Luther writes that the life of the Christian should be that of daily repentance. None of us graduate from this moment. And I'm telling you, man, I struggle with it as much as anything in my life. The whispers of the lies of condemnation of the enemy. And not because it's going bad because it's going real good. See how he twists that? So I need prayer as much as anybody else in the room.

The brother of Jesus James says this, Anyone among you suffering? Some of you are suffering under the weight, the heaviness of condemnation. You know what Jesus says? Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burden. Man, you carry around that thing for a long time. It will wear you out. And some of you are living worn out lives.

And he goes, but come to me. I'll give you rest for your soul. Anybody want some of that? Well, his brother James tells you how to do it. He goes, anybody's suffering? All right? Let him pray. So that's what we're going to do.

Anyone cheerful? Some of you're cheerful here. I mean, praise God God as cheerful as it gets, right? So there you go. So what do you do? Sing praise? So in just a minute, we're going to line this place up at all of our locations with anointers, with prayers. And if you need the chains of sin and shame and condemnation to fall off of you to come and repent,

to bring it before the Lord, to cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you, then we're going to pray that this is going to happen. He says, is anyone among you sick? It doesn't just mean physical sickness, man. It means that too, but it also means spiritual sickness. It means heart sickness, emotional sickness. Some of you're walking around in a hopeless state because of the lies of condemnation.

And the Bible says hope to verd makes the heart sick. Some of you got a sick heart, and you need to come confess it to the Lord. Does anyone among you sick, let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick. And the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. Then he says, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. You know who the righteous people are? I'm one. Not because of my right activity,

but because of Christ's finish work on the cross. and I got credit for his work. And so I have a right standing with him just like anybody else that's put their faith in Jesus. And so we're going to have some righteous people pray for you. And again, man, you don't get a special robe here at 1122 if you become a Christian or a hat or a wand, no things like that.

That if you know Jesus, then when you stand in heaven, your testimony is I'm with him and you are righteous before the king of kings. And he came this Christmas to see. save you, he came to set you free of the lie of condemnation. And so we're just going to do what the book says. We're going to do what the book says. We've got a whole bunch of prayers in just a minute. They're going to come, and you're going to confess your sin. You don't have to get all into it, okay? This is a very short statement. And no matter what it is, and let me just warn you here,

man, you don't have to fake it. Fake you's doing just fine. You can lead to fake you in your seat. But a real Jesus died on a real cross for the real you. and he really wants to set you free. And so we're just going to do what it says. So I would invite you to stand up at all of our locations. And we need prayers and we need singers, okay? That's what we're going to have here. And so if you are one of our anointers,

I want to invite you to come forward right now. And in just a second, I'm going to start praying. And if you are ready to be set free of the lie of condemnation, if you want to be able to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I'm not saying you're going to be perfect when you walk out of this place, but you will be perfectly loved by our perfect Savior. And in him is life. And wherever he shows up, the darkness has to run the other way. If you need some darkness, if you've had some struggles over and over and over, if you're the kind of person like me that has a tendency to believe the lie of the enemy that our past defines us, then we're talking, you need to come down here, confess your sins to one another, that you can celebrate the forgiveness that is.

in Jesus Christ. You're going to come, confess, and they're going to pray over you, and they are even going to have you repeat some things. Because remember last week, Mephishev says, I'm a dead dog. Some of you believe that lie. And you need to hear your own mouth say out loud. Your ears need to hear your mouth say this so that your brain will understand it and your heart will believe it. No, no, no, man, I'm a son or a daughter of the most high king. I am forgiven. I am set free. I am a new creation in Christ, Jesus. So if you need prayer, if you want to be set free because you have been burdened by the chains of the lives of the enemy. I want you to come right now as I start praying.

Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. God, we thank you that you held nothing back, that you look down upon your creation and you hear the cries of your people. And not as a reaction to it, but in fulfilling your purposes and your plan that you had laid out before the beginning of the foundation of the earth, you knew this day. in this moment and these campuses would be some of your people saying, God, I need your help. Who will save a wretched man, a wretched woman like me?

And, God, we give you the glory that Jesus Christ came on this rescue mission to set us free. Lord, I pray that today supernatural things happen. Lord, I pray that addictions are broken. God, I pray that marriages are restored. I pray that condemnation and the liar who spits that, his mouth is shut in this place. And every single man, every single woman walks. out of here, fully confident that they are the beloved of God with a seat at the king's table

forever and ever and ever and ever. God, we can't make this happen only you can. God, would you, by the power of the blood of Jesus, nail that document of death against your cross once again that we would know that it is covered in the blood of Jesus, and may we walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus, and may we know, therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. If you need prayer, won't you come? Everybody sing.