Thanks, Stephen and Rebecca. I appreciate that so much. Let's bow together in prayer. Let's pray as we seek the Lord together. We want to remember the McCrudden family. I think it's quite amazing. I was so surprised to hear the news of Sadie's passing this morning, given that I had such a good opportunity with them when I visited with them and spoke with them. And Sadie was inquiring how the church was going. And I just say this, our times are not in our hands. and God has saw fit to take her home, where her struggle and her suffering and all has passed away, and that separation and all the restrictions of age has passed away, and she's now joining with the saints in glory and singing the songs of Zion. I do pray for Jimmy as he was taken in quite ill this morning in hospital. He is quite low. I was delighted yesterday when I phoned the hospital in Antrim to see if I could get pastoral visit with Paul McConnell. And they said that I can come in giving them as a pastor. So I was in at seven o'clock last night. I was with him until eight o'clock. And the only inquiry he was making was about how was the church going. and how is the folks there, and how is Jimmy and Sadie and the different ones, and he that is so low, and do please continue to pray for Paul. He's by no means out of the woods, but nevertheless, I was so delighted. I was looking forward to it, to be honest, to see him. It was good just to spend that hour with him. God's people are special. And they're precious to the Lord. And he cares for everyone. And I trust that we have that same care for one another. Let's pray together in prayer, let's pray. We are so thankful, Lord, that we can come into the house of God and come and bring our prayers and our requests and our petitions before thee. We thank you, Lord, that we can sing these songs of Zion. We can, Lord, rejoice at our great God and we can worship around the throne. Lord, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. You are everything that those words convey to us and much more. We bow in your holiness. We bow in the presence of your almightiness. And we wonder and yet we rejoice that we sinful men can come to God and bow before him. And all we can say, Lord, as we consider that is this. Thank you, Lord, for salvation. Thank you for Christ. Thank you for what he has done for us. Thank you that this way is open back to God from the dark paths of sin. That door that was opened 2,000 years in Calvary, Lord, that was mirrored in the Old Testament sacrificial systems. Thank you, Lord, that God always had Our reunification, our reconnection with God was always in the agenda of our heavenly father. Right from man fell in the garden. Lord, you initiated the gospel of salvation, and we are thankful that we serve a God who loves and cares for his people. And so Lord, we know that you want the very best for us this morning. We know you want to talk to us. We know that you want to speak to us. We just pray, Lord, that we will have open hearts this morning. Lord, that we have not arrived at this next passage in Romans with any preconceived notions or ideas, and Lord, therefore, being deafened to what God would say to us. But we pray for open hearts and open minds. We ask, Lord, that you'll help in our meditation and in our communication. We remember, Lord, the McCrudden family. We ask, Lord, that you continue to minister to Jimmy and the family circle. We thank you, Lord, for the sense of celebration on Lottie's funeral this past week. Pray for Tommy, Lord, as he continues to mourn the passing of someone that he was married to for over 60 years. We pray for all those who are going through sicknesses. We think of Paul and we pray, dear God, that you'll meet his every need. We think of Adrian Bennington, Lord, who's received bad news this week. We think of Marian Ross. We think of Bobby Gilliland and all those who are struggling and fighting disease of the body. And Father, we don't know what to say about this next strain of the COVID pandemic. We really don't know. We don't know where it's taken us, Lord, and we don't know where it's gonna take us. But thank the Lord you know. And Lord, whatever might be in decisions that are made, we pray that first and foremost, Lord, we will be a people who will honor God. We ask, Lord, that you'll give us fortitude of spirit and heart. We pray, Lord, for guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, because, Lord, that's the only inspiration and guidance and direction we can really trust in. And so we pray your help, Lord, in these days. We pray your blessing as we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. If you've got your Bible, and I'm inviting you to turn with me to Romans chapter 7. If you're a preacher, and I know there's few preachers in the church today, this is the passage that scares the living day light out of you. Because I know I'm going to maybe say things that you won't agree with. You will have been taught differently, perhaps, and a lot will depend on your position, your starting position. Can I say one thing? The overriding Truth in this next passage is Paul is saying to us that flesh has no answer to living the standard that God wants us to live. If I said nothing more, that's enough for you to ponder for the remainder of the day. Our old flesh, our old sinful nature, the life that we were born with has no answer and will give us no ability to live the life that God wants us to live. The only way that we will live to please God is with the help and with the direction and the indwelling Holy Spirit. I think far too little has been made of the Holy Spirit in church. Not this church, but in church in general. I think far too little is made of the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we get to Romans chapter 8 you will see just how important the Holy Spirit is in the Christian life. So if you want there's a contrast between Romans 7 and Romans 8 and the contrast is the life that's lived in the flesh Romans 7 and the life that's lived in the Spirit in Romans 8. And the interesting thing is we don't seem to be able to make the connection somehow. I've often said from the day I was saved that the Christian life is a supernatural life. That's the truth. It's nothing else. And to try to live a supernatural life in the power of the flesh, you're destined to failure. That's why Paul says that we pray in the Spirit, we live in the Spirit, we walk in the Spirit. How many times do we need to hear it from different directions? That it is in the Spirit that we will be victorious. And so sometimes our emphasis is on the wrong thing when we come to the Scriptures. And so, I haven't even started preaching yet, but I wanted you to get that point before I forget. Let us read from Romans 7, and we're reading from verse 13 to verse 25, and with the Lord's help, we'll get through it this morning. Well, we'll indeed. Sorry, it's verse 14. Verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. I'm already confused, are you? If then, I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is in my old sinful nature, dwelleth no good thing. For to will, or in other words, the desire is present with me to do the right thing. But how to perform that which is good, I can't get an answer. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that which I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. Oh, in my heart I want to do what's right. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind. and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And I want to thank the Lord for this verse. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I serve myself, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Amen. This is one of those passages that we have heard debated and discussed and preached about and listened to and and we've tried to read it and we can't understand what on earth is Paul talking about. And I have to say I have spent many hours and many revising and many times editing. I got up at four o'clock the other morning because I wasn't happy with what I had prepared and I prepared it all over again. And so you can bear with me. I might even get a wee bit confused myself on this passage, but I am going to try my best to bring over what I believe the Lord would have us understand, but much more than that, that the Lord would have us live in this day. This is the third, this passage is the third of three categories in Romans chapter seven. I gave you the first two, there's the believers past, sorry, the believers present relationship with the law. In other words, the law is dead to me, or sorry, the law is dead to me because I died in Christ, so therefore I do not have to answer them anymore to the law. Secondly, we dealt with the believer's past relationship with the law. In other words, it showed me how sinful sin really is, and it showed me how bad a sinner that I am. Today we're looking at the believer's problemed relationship with the law. It's a problem that many believers, in fact I would say every believer, if not every day on many occasions has to deal with this problem. It's a problem in their walk with God. The problem is an up and down kind of walk. I've been singing over this song, it's a worldly song, so I'm not gonna sing it to you, because I know that wouldn't help anything in the spiritual life of the church here. But the line goes, I'm sometimes up and I'm sometimes down. But then I've realized that the next line, love makes the world go around. So I don't know what that's got to do with it. But it's an up and down kind of walk with God. One minute, they're living out the words of the song. I'm living on the mountain underneath the cloudless sky. I'm drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry. Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply, for I am living on Beulah land. And then the next minute, they'll be repeating the words of the song that W.P. Nicholson taught the world, down in the dumps I'll not go again. You remember that one? Down in the dumps I'll never, you remember him singing that? You must be a fair old age. Down in the depths of despair, defeat, broken, disillusioned, guilt-ridden, embarrassed, ashamed, angry at yourself for letting yourself slip so far down. And if you're not there, then you're somewhere in between. Sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes on fire for God, and sometimes there is but just a glimmer of life. Sometimes really strong and able to stand against the temptations of the world, and the next time you're completely defeated. Really weak and falling for every temptation. If you're a true believer, you'll not like an up-and-down Christian experience, if you're a true believer. The Lord doesn't condone the up-and-down Christian life either. And I would be surprised if the majority of everybody that's here and listening to me over in the hall, and those of you at home and online, if you'd be happy with this up-and-down, defeated, embarrassing life that, for the most part, many of us live from time to time. Can I also say the absence of desire to live a virtuous and victorious life is a bad sign? I'll say that again now. Because these are sermons that are not preached very often. Some people just want their ears tickled and to feel good and make me happy. Listen, there's no point in being happy in sin. And there's no point in being happy in defeat. And if God has a message for our hearts about victory over sin, then we need to hear it. And not only that, but we need to live it. And I'm gonna say this again. The absence of desire to live a victorious life is a bad sign in any Christian. A bad sign. Like Paul, we ought to mourn our failures and praise God for our victories. Now when I speak of victory, I'm speaking about a life that we are living that agrees with God's standard of the life that he has for us. The law of God being the standard of the lifestyle. You'll hear me mention the law of Sinai, which the law of Sinai is where the Ten Commandments were given. And that's the law, that's the standard, but it's not the obeying and the keeping of those Ten Commandments, but it's a life that lives holy and pleasing to God. But then you'll also hear about another law, the law of sin, which is written on my heart. I was born with it, I was born sold in sin, I was a slave to sin, and my old flesh will never be anything different. So once we get that into our heads, we know what we're talking about when we're talking about victory. And that's what we want to talk about today. So the first thing that I see, and I've only got two headings, not good, but I want to tell you there's an awful lot of sub-points underneath each one of them. We will do our best. Because one of the burdens of any preacher, when you come to important topics like this, it might not be important to you, but it's important to God. One of the things is that it's communicated to you as clearly, so that you can understand it. Verse 14 to 16, I see a universal problem. A universal problem. Paul says, We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal. I like what John Phillips, how he breaks this passage up, and he's probably influenced me quite a bit in some of the thoughts that I will convey to you. John Phillips speaks about the spiritual man. He's delivered from the law, the first six verses. And then there's the natural man, he's doomed by the law, verses 7 to 13. But verses 14 to the end of the chapter, there's the carnal man, and he's defeated by the law. So I see first of all in verse 14, there's a clarification that reasons. Paul instantly identifies who this third person is, he's carnal. The Greek word is, and I spent all week now, I spent all week trying to pronounce this word for carnal. It's sarkikos. I know it sounds simple to you when you hear it. Sarkikos. And sarkikos in the Greek means someone who's characterized by their old sinful nature or the flesh. Listen to this. A person who can do differently, but doesn't. God's people are people who can do differently, but they don't. We're going to discover what that is later. We could live more righteously. We could live more wholly. We could be more surrendered. We could be more involved. We could be more dedicated. We could be more surrendered, but we aren't. because a war goes on. A battle, the flesh, fighting against the spirit, wanting to get the upper hand, wanting to get the prominence, wanting to be in dominance, wanting to control, to rule our lives. This person would like to live to please God, but finds his old nature, fights against desire, and knows rather than the law help him in this battle, it condemns him. If you notice in verses 9 to verse 25, the pronoun is used 40 times. I, me, and my. 40 times plus. This person is still in bondage to the power of the old sinful nature. The carnal Christian cannot behave as God expects, even though they have every desire to do so. Listen, it's not like us all, isn't it? I want to live to please God. From the day I could see it folks, I have always wanted to live to please God. But have I succeeded in every day at every moment? Absolutely not. To my shame, no. But I want to live to please God. I want to live to honour God. I want to be surrendered. I want to be in the very centre of the will of God for my life. Paul gives us the reason, and I've already explained to you, it's because our old flesh, whenever it dominates, it's already sold in sin. It can do nothing but go the way of gravity. It highlights our fault line in our faith. And Paul emphasizes throughout this discussion that the flesh, the big A, has not the ability to do that. Between the law and the carnal, Christian, there is a lack of moral adjustment. There's a failure to thrust themselves solely on Christ and die to self. Whenever Esther and I were over in our last week's trip to America, I don't think I'll be going anywhere there again soon, it seems like. We heard, I'm gonna let you into a wee secret. You like wee secrets, don't you? I know you do. We heard that there was a bluegrass sort of concert a way up the country. We didn't realize it was 200 mile away, of course. But up we got at five o'clock in the morning. We were in California at this stage. Put it in the sat-nav. It could have taken us anywhere, but it took us to the wee Bluegrass Festival. Didn't we enjoy it? I said, didn't we? What we didn't know, but we learned on our way, was that we were travelling up along the San Andreas Fault Line. All 200 mile. I don't know which was best, travelling the San Andreas Fault Line, or getting to my Bluegrass concert. It's wonderful to see the different sites. What is the San Andreas fault line? It's a fault line in the Earth's crust that gives way to the pressure in the centre of the Earth. I'm not a geologist or whatever it is that deals with these things, but now and again you've got these earthquakes because the Earth gives way to the pressure. The fault line in the Christians, many Christians, most Christians, is we don't learn strongly enough, deeply enough, intently enough, our identity, what we have in Christ. What it means to be baptized into his death. how that we can put to death the things of the flesh so that we can live. And I still agree with that song. He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be. And he brings me to circumstances, to situations, even to fall flat on my face so that helps me to, so that he teaches me to be on my guard, to not fall for that temptation again. The fault line of the carnal Christian is the overdose of vitamin A, me, myself. There are some who believe that defeat is your lot. That's all you'll ever be, that's all you'll ever have. You'll never get any better than living a wretched, miserable, oh, how does Paul put it? Oh, wretched man that I am. Some people think that that's your lot. I have to say I disagree. I disagree. And they also say that Paul is speaking from an everyday, personal experience. That that's him, that's him, a butch and all. There's nothing better for Paul. Then I have a big question for you Paul. Why did you tell me in the first six verses that there's victory in Jesus? And why do you tell me that there's therefore now no condemnation to that who are in Christ Jesus, who walked not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit in Romans chapter 8? Why are you telling me there's victory when you yourself, hypocrite Paul? Are you telling me theory without experience? Surely if Paul was able to expand and expound in what is ours in Christ and he's able to encourage us to live in the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit to pray in the Spirit and to do everything in the Spirit then surely he must know what he's talking about. So that's a wee bit of clarification. I want you to notice where we get a wee bit more where the rubber meets the road now. A conflict that rages. Boy, I didn't know there was a devil I could save, did you? In fact, whenever I was a young fellow running around after the things of the world, I didn't even know what the meaning of the Ten Commandments were. I knew they were there, but I didn't know what they meant. And when I broke them, I didn't care. It meant nothing to me that I was taking the Lord's name in vain. It meant nothing to me that I was breaking the Sabbath day. By the way, I believe in the Lord's day. I don't believe it's the Saturday, I believe it's the Lord's day. And I believe that there is a life that God wants us to live to glorify him. And by the way, the Lord's day is not Granny's day. And it's not Granda's day. Sunday morning and it's not the children's day. It's the lord's day. Amen. And I believe we used to be in church on Sunday morning and I believe that we should be in church on Sunday afternoon and I believe we should be in church in the evening and just before we go for supper, we should be in church again. Amen. Well, not just but it's still the lord's day. This is the And the Lord deserves our worship and our praise. Now listen, we are very quickly getting to, I don't know why I'm on this, but I'm on it now. We are very quickly getting to one hour a week Christians. Well, now you could see it. I'm not gonna get finished here. That's what I'm going about, but just say that, I'm not. When I could see it, I fell in love with the Lord. Oh, I did. I mean, I did. God got something in my heart that I didn't know existed, and I began to see then that there's a spiritual life that I could live. But then I saw another side to me which I couldn't stand. Let me go through a few of these conflicts and we'll stop at that. and then we'll come back next Sunday. It's the best thing I think. Notice verses 15 to 17, there's a conflict of potential. There's what I could be and there's what I am. Hands up those of you who used to watch Jekyll and Hyde. You know who Jekyll and Hyde is? It reminds me whenever Esther and I were down in Cork, there were three ladies, there were two ladies, was there three? And then one died and then there was two. Not Esther, I'm not sure. But I remember we used to lift them in the car and we used to take them everywhere and they used to say, do you know that the lion's the king of the jungle? Well, I thought that was a wee bit random. And I says, yes. And they said, well, we just learned that this week because we got a new television and we were watching an animal program. And all of a sudden, the world opened up to them, to the things on the television. Imagine that. And that's only about 20 years ago. Well, you've all seen Jacqueline Hyde. Well, to be honest with you, I haven't seen that much. But there's this character, one minute he's Jacqueline, next minute he's Mr. Hyde. Well, that's who Paul is explaining here. spiritual nature. We know them. Listen, we know them as the old Adamic nature or the old flesh or the old carnal nature. Whatever term or as Paul puts it, the law of sin. And then there's a new spiritual nature which you and I got when we were born again. Hallelujah. I wish I'd got a double dose of it. God put a seal upon us, a mark upon us, a stamp upon us that made us see the world through different eyes. And we began to live in a different route, and we wanted to go a different direction. But we found then there was law, and it was making us go the other direction. And there was a conflict of potential. You see, the old nature can never do anything that will please God. And the new nature can do nothing that will displease God. Well, I say that again. The old nature can do nothing that will please God. The new nature can do nothing that will displease God. And that's why Paul says in Romans 8, and we will get that sometime before the next millennia. That's why Paul says, walk in the spirit and you'll not fulfill the lusts of your flesh. I hope I'm being simple enough. These two natures, which you are now in possession of, will always be on opposite sides. They're incompatible and irreconcilable. One has the potential for greatness, the new nature, and the other has the potential for shamefulness, the old nature. and the reason that we make a mess, so much a mess of our Christian life. I'm gonna ask you another question. You're not very good in answering my questions, because you won't put up your hands or nothing, but anyway, we'll press on. Anybody like Lauren and Hardy? What about Stan and what about Ollie? That's another fine mess you've gotten me into. And it was always Ollie's fault, wasn't it? The old nature wants you to think that it's your fault. That's another mess you get into. And the Spirit is reeling and longing for you to walk in the Spirit because the old sinful flesh will continue to bring us from one mess to another. One has the potential to exalt Christ and the other has the potential to exclude Christ. So when I'm walking in the Spirit, everything in me will want to exalt Him, and I will be exalting Him. But when I'm walking in the flesh, I'll have excluded Him in my life. So there's a problem with potential. There's also a conflict of purpose, verses 18 to 20. You see, verse 18 says, I take some time to make sense of these words. Maybe I've read the NLT, I've read the ESV, I've read the NIV, I've read the ESV, I've read everything, Holman's version of the Bible to see what we can get of this, so it's taken quite a wee while. But it says, verse 18, With that which is good, I find not. For the good I would, for the good that I would, I do not, but the evil that I would, not that I do. Now if I do that which I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. The carnal man finds himself at a crossroads. He desires two different qualities of life at the same time. That's why James says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. He's spiritually alive enough to know that he loves and honors the law by, he agrees with the law. He is enough of God in him, he is enough of spirituality within him to hate the things that he, I hate the sins that made thee mourn and drove thee from my breast, said the hymn writer. It didn't stop him from doing it. Because as I said earlier, the flesh has not the ability to live to please God. But he is also so spiritually polluted enough to forfeit his purpose of glorifying God, and instead he satisfies his own sinful appetites. Intellectually, I know this is heavy, but you're fit for it, aren't you? Intellectually, morally, and optimistically. Paul says this individual agrees with and desires to live the godly standard that is laid out in God's word, but as he walks in the flesh, he has not the ability to do so. As one commentator I read said this, this individual is in a mighty struggling and he's shouting. Would someone please tell me how I can live a victorious Christian life? Would someone please show me where I may gain victory over lust, over bad temper, over jealousy? over two-facedness, over greed, over envy, over spite, over anger, because I really do want to glorify God, but I find myself doing these things that I know God hates, and I even hate them myself. Would someone please tell me where I might get victory? That's why I can't believe that this is Paul's daily, everyday experience. There's a conflict of purpose. My flesh wants to be satisfied, but my spirit longs to exalt Christ. There's a conflict of principle, and with this we'll finish today. You'll find it in verse 21 to verse 22. I find in a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me, for I delight in the law of God from within. You see, this is where the old flesh plays tricks with us. And it started from the day you were fallen. How many times have I gone to houses of unsaved people in my days of evangelism within the faith mission, and I go to church, and I pay 100 pence in the pound, I tithe, I give money, and I help old ladies across the street, and I do good deeds and everything, and surely that's good enough. And it spawns from there. Because our old sinful flesh makes a fool of us. It deceives us. It's the barrister for the defense. That sounds different, strange, but that's what it is. It's trying to defend your old sinful nature. You see, hating sin and desiring to be more Christ-like and accepting and agreeing with God's standard of holy living does not help me in the struggle. Aspiring to live a holy living means nothing. you're not living it. But my flesh tells me there's merit in it. But here's what James says in 4 and 17. So what whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it for him it is sin. In John 9 and 41 Jesus said to them if you are blind you would have no guilt but now you say that you see your guilt remains. So if you know to do the right thing and don't do it listen it's the law of sin that's overcoming. You're in sin. The old nature is so deceptive it seeks to fool us into thinking that it is sufficient to possess the desire in our heart to live a godly and pleasing life even though we're not living it. It thinks it's sufficient. It seeks to fool us into thinking that there's a merit in all of this. You know all it does? All it does is feed our old sinful ego. I'm doing well. I was at church last Sunday and I was at church last Sunday week. In fact, I haven't missed church since this church opened. Attending church doesn't mean that you're walking right with God. And paying 100 pence in the pound doesn't mean anything. There's a lot of good people I know pay 100 pence in the pound but don't believe in God. The old Adamic nature, the old fallen nature, the sinful nature, the flesh, the law of sin, whatever phrase you want to put on it, is always seeking to take precedence against the law of Sinai, which is the law of God, or God's standard of life. And it is that law of sin that makes people do what they do. and it feeds the ego. I'm going to try and remember a story I heard a long time ago and I've written down as much as I could remember of it, but it'll tell you something about our whole human ego. Here goes. He was an old captain in the Navy, no criticism intended, but he was an egotistical captain of a Navy ship. He had won many battles and survived many overwhelming odds, so therefore he had a fair bit of experience behind him. As he received many accolades and won many medals for bravery and for his leadership, but he did, however, have a stubborn streak. One dark and foggy night as he was sailing somewhere, we're going to call him Mr. Captain Egotistical. Is that right? Because I don't know what his real name is. He was sailing somewhere, and his radar picked up another vessel, and it lay straight in his path. He signaled the vessel, this is Captain Egotistical, and your vessel is in my path. I suggest you alter your course. The vessel simply replied, no, you alter your course. This went on for a little while. This is Captain Egotistical and you're in our path and we have no intention of changing direction. Would you please alter your course? And the reply came back four times. No, you alter your course. Mr. Egotistical or Captain Egotistical replied on the fifth time. He says, I am a highly decorated Navy captain and have won many accolades and many, many medals. And I am in a huge Navy frigate. And unless you alter your course, I will run right through you. The vessel replied, we're a lighthouse. You see, Intellectuals of our world have ignored the law of sin as they teach behavioral patterns within our universities and our prisons. The law of sin explains why people do what they do. It is the very root of all behavioral problems. For example, you can educate, isolate, insulate, infiltrate, negotiate with men, but it won't really change their hearts. Problem's not in the symptoms, the problem is in the heart, and that's why God says, a new heart I will give you. The flesh wants to congratulate itself. The flesh wants to be praised for the ability to live a relatively good life, but there are things many times he's overcome and in defeat. And the only thing you've succeeded in doing is feeding this old egotistical mindset. And one day you come against God. And it's you must alter course. That's the philosophy of politicians the world over. Give man better living conditions, more pay, more freedom, and he will improve. It's a load of nonsense. Have you noticed that the more comfortable that we have become, the more sinful we have become? With this, I'm done, because I've as much again. But here's the bargaining that the ego does, the flesh does with the spirit. The spiritual preserves godly things, the carnal barters, does a deal over godly things. The spiritual values godly things, but the carnal violates those which are godly things. The spiritual prefers godly things, but the carnal pollutes them anyway. The spiritual prohibits sinful things, but the carnal practices them, even so. The spiritual prioritizes godly things, but the carnal plays them down. Because the law is spiritual and perfect and will never alter course. See, sinfulness exists in the flesh. And try as I may, I'm never going to live God's standard while all the while I'm living according to the flesh. So I get back to my previous point, which we will finish next week, God willing. It all depends if you're walking in the Spirit. That's the answer, that was gonna be the conclusion of this message, if you're walking in the Spirit. How do I walk in the Spirit? Where can I get the answers to walking in the Spirit? Well, you'll have to come back next Sunday. This is one of the most important subjects that anybody has ever preached in any, because this is right, but I believe God wants you and I to live in victory. Now, I'm not a sinlessly perfected individual. I know some people believe that. I don't believe in sinless perfection. I do not believe you can ever get to a state where you'll never ever sin again. Would to God that we would, and we will when we get to glory. But I do believe this. I believe God wants his church walking in victory. He doesn't want you losing your temper. Where's the glory in that? And by the way, and I'm neglected to say, there is a verse there, I'm going to try and find it for you again, that a lot of people say, well, this is my lot. Yes, verse 21, I find in the law that within I would do good, evil is present with me. So therefore it is not me that does it, but it's sin within me. And some people let themselves off the hook and said, well, it's not my fault, it's within me. Well has God not done everything that he can to deal with that which is in me? Is that not why Christ died? Is that not why he gave his life on the cross? Is that not why he took our sin and our punishment and he died in my place so that I might have victory? What kind of salvation have we got? If you can curse and swear and look in pornography and deal with the things and indulge yourselves in the things of sin and of the world and all the time and all the while profess to be a Christian. That's carnal Christianity and it's not glorifying to God. Deception and deceiving and jealousy and envy and spite and gossip and slander, that is not glorifying to God, and there is no get out clause. It's sin, and it's the law of sin, and it's the law of sin that's dominating your heart, and God doesn't like it. Christ died for better things. And I know we can all think of one person or other people or this person, that person, say, well, they're in that category. Would you stop thinking like that? It's not about what other people's doing. It's what I'm doing. Let's pray together in prayer. By the way, I'm not angry. I'm not angry. Let's pray. Father, we want to thank you that there's victory in Jesus. Who shall deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I know this has been heavy. I know that it's been difficult to comprehend. But I pray that you, by the Holy Spirit, will burn these truths in our hearts and bring your church again to that glorious spotless bride that you're working on till the day Jesus comes and takes her home. Oh God, we pray for a baptism and an anointing of the Holy Spirit to fill us, Lord. Give us victory over those things that are not glorifying to you. Lord, help us each one to put the flesh to death and to live in the Spirit. Dear Father, We really do want to live to please you, but we know our faults and the fault line of our faith. Would you imply, would you apply these truths? Inspire, give us a hunger to learn, to want to learn how to please God, we pray. And Lord, help us never to put things down to the way we were brought up and the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Are you not greater than all these things, Lord? So we ask your help in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm going to ask Stephen if he'll close in prayer after these things.