I ask you to turn in your Bibles, please, to the book of Romans. Romans chapter six, verse one to 14. Romans chapter six, verse one to 14. While you're finding that, I'll read a passage for you from Romans chapter seven. Romans chapter 7 verse 22, Romans chapter 6 verse 1, I trust you've all found that and will read to through to verse 14. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the death by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. for he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he dieth, he dieth unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield you yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Continue in sin, far be the thought. Let's bow for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for your word and the power that is in your word, that, Lord, your word goes forward in might and, Lord, is able to divide even asunder. Lord, we do claim that promise tonight, that, Lord, your word would not go forth without accomplishing it. Lord, you know all things and know the need of every heart here tonight. Lord, we pray that 2025 be a year of renewed Vigor for you and revived life Lord that we may be acceptable living sacrifices in your sight We do pray Lord help us in this time help both the speaker and the receiver this evening Lord that the word may be applied as Only you know how we do pray in your name. Amen Romans chapter 7 I wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this sin that is like when we pick something up and Look for something. The piano. We're not going to pick it up, but we're going to look at it. A car, a boat, a house. We look at it and we go, that looks nice. How did we get here? Well, thankfully, the Apostle Paul gave us Romans chapter 6. We see that the Lord Jesus Christ brought us to a point. Romans chapter 6 gives us the how-to. How do we do it? Romans chapter six outlines under three points, three keys for the Christian's victory. We need to know some things. We need to reckon some things to be so, and we need to yield to those things. To give you a bit of background, Romans was written by the Apostle Paul. We are so thankful for his input here around 56 AD. As pastor said this morning, it outlines neatly under four divisions, God's wrath, Romans 1-5, God's Way Romans 6-8, God's Wisdom 9-11 and God's Will Romans 12-16. They can be found in your Wilmington's Guide to the Bible. One author has put it, Romans is not the first epistle to be written in the New Testament, but it is of note until we know the righteousness of Romans, we cannot move on to the order of Corinthians, the liberty of Galatians, the calling of Ephesians, the joy of Philippians, the head of Colossians, the coming of Thessalonians, and the substance of Hebrews. I love this old message, all came apart, came apart, sorry, I hope it doesn't. Came about because I was listening to Pastor Ian Weston, he had a very good series he did here at this church, The Crucified Life. I encourage you to listen to it. He says in Romans chapter 7, he said we need to be holy and set apart, sanctified. That is how this all comes to be. So I thank him for his input and his time in allowing the Lord to use him there and I encourage you, listen to that. The crucified life is what we need as Christians until we come to that point Yeah, we will struggle through every aspect of life. Everything we have and everything we enjoy is because of Christ. What He has accomplished on that cross, we enjoy. There is not anything we enjoy without Christ. The key to victory in Christ is found in our text. Know some things, we need to reckon some things to be so, we need to yield to them. So tonight, I'd like to look at know. We need to know about our sin and we need to know about our Saviour. So Romans chapter 6 verse 1 says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? So we have the decry of sin, that's what we need to know, Romans 6, 1 and 2, and the declaration of our death. God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Sin is that missing of the mark, so as not to share in the prize. I think the analogy's been drawn before, you draw an arrow, aim at the target, and if you're as good as me at archery, you're gonna miss. Sin is far worse than that in God's standard. We draw the arrow and it doesn't even leave the bow. We don't even register. All of our works are as foothy rags in God's sight. So that is sin. To Mr. Marks was not to show him the prize. What an offense it is to God's grace for us to remain in that place. Let's not dilly around. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound to take our sin before the Lord and continue in it? Relying upon that grace is an offence to God. Continue, Strong's defined, is as to stay over, to remain, abide, or to tarry. How often, I know this is for myself, how often our sinful flesh will try to tarry in that place of sin and find excuses for it. This shouldn't be the case. We cannot continue or abide in the place of sin. It is not the life that God has called us to, nor will it allow us to enjoy the blessings of life he has promised. I know it's person easy also to say, you can take all this Lord, but I'll keep this. I've got it covered. We can't keep back anything, we have to give all to the Lord. We cannot continue in sin in any way, shape or form. John 10.10 has been a personal blessing to me of recent that we can have life and life more abundantly. John 10.10, God came to give us life and life more abundantly, not just a little bit of life. Abundant life. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. It is emotional, emphatic plea, a steadfast renouncement of the idea of remaining in the place of sin. Let it not be. Far be the thought. The statement God forbid appears 10 times in Romans, twice in chapter 6. As a Christian, we should echo the thoughts of Paul. our desire most emphatically should be away with the thought. That is what we need to know about our sin, there is the decry or the denouncement of our sin, but we also need to know that we are dead to sin, the declaration of death. How? Sorry. Verse two, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? How is that thought provoking word, it has the idea of an exclamation, like how, how, how do you plan to do this? Meaning in what way or what manner? How shall we as Christians seeing we are dead to sin? We're dead to sin. He's just stated that for us. It is not possible for us to do so. The Apostle outlines the Christian's divine position in Christ, positionally when we accept Christ as our Saviour, we are transformed from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of life and light. Isn't that a blessed thought this evening? Where we are positionally because of what Christ has done. Pastor touched on this this morning. We are saved from the power of sin, that is justification, We are saved, sorry, we are saved from the penalty of sin. I made a typo in my notes, sorry pastor. We are saved from the penalty of sin, justification. We are saved from the power of sin, that is sanctification. And we shall be saved from the presence of sin, that is glorification. Once again we can see how much we enjoy because of what Christ has done for us. I could not stand here and read the Word of God to you and you receive something from the Word of God, not because of me, but because of Christ. Likewise in your hearts. The Lord needs to do the cutting. That is all because of what Christ has done. We are dead to sin. How can we possibly live any longer therein? Dead too does not mean an annihilation, Wu says, rather a rendering powerless. To paraphrase the monarch, sin no longer reigns in our lives but has been deposed by God and his great grace. 1 John 1.8 makes it clear that the sin nature still indwells us. However, it is still powerless. We can come to him and confess our faults, 1 John 1.8. Live any longer therein. By simple deduction, we're dead. We cannot live in sin any longer. We're dead people. is not possible to live in sin. So we're to know about our sin. but we are also to know about our Saviour. Verse 2 continues on, How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Paul proceeds to outline the reasoning and the power behind the statement of verse 1 and 2, know ye not in verse 3, know ye not that so many of us That is the linking statement there. It's translated 13 times in our Bible, out of the 22 times we see it, ignorant or ignorantly. I believe Paul is appealing to us here as be not ignorant or do not ignorantly continue. Know ye not. We have been identified with Christ and his death, verse 1 and verse 2. And now we see we can identify with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection, and thereby we have the power to overcome sin. So we know about the Saviour, we have the illustrations that follow, verse 2 to 10, or the pictures. The Apostle uses great word pictures here, we have verse 3 and 4, it says, into Jesus Christ, were baptised into his death. Verse 5, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death. Verse 6 and 7 goes on to say, knowing this that our old man is crucified with him, that we should not serve sin, so we say that we're not to be a slave of sin. And then we also have the picture of the resurrection, verses 7 to 10. Those pictures I think are a great way for us to try and get an idea of what the Apostle Paul's trying to bring through here, that we are baptised, we are planted, we have been crucified, we are a slave to sin but no longer, and we are to partake in part of the resurrection. So they're the pictures that we see there. I want to turn your attention to verse 3 where it talks about that we are dead, Known ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. There's a death to self. Baptized into Jesus and into his death refers to the act of God introducing a believing sinner into that vital union with Jesus Christ in order that the believer might have the power of his sinful nature broken and the divine nature implanted through his identification with Christ in his death, burial, Resurrection, thus altering the condition and the relationship of that sinner with regard to his previous state and environment. Listen to this, bringing him into a new environment, the kingdom of God. It is only by the baptism or the identification with Christ that we can have power over indwelling sin. It is not us that can do it, we cannot, we are human beings, it is impossible. It is that identification with Christ that holds the power. Planted in verse five, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of death, we shall also in the likeness of his resurrection. I like the idea of planted, you know when you go and dig something in the ground, you place a plant in the ground, that's planted. But I think this has a broader picture to that as well. We're made like to or the resemblance. How many people are really good with gardens? I would say I'm a brown thumb, not a green thumb. I kill things, I don't keep things alive. I do understand the idea of grafting. So you dig a hole, you put your original stock in, something that's strong, hardy, takes well to the soil. You then have something else that's not doing quite so well and you cut a slither off, insert it and graft it into the plant. That picture is throughout the Bible. We see we're grafted in as part of the olive tree there too. But the idea that when we are grafted or planted into that stem that is Christ, is when we draw a great conclusion there. When we graft in that plant or the stem to trunk which is already established that is Christ, the graft draws its nourishment from that stock root. It is not the graft that is doing the work. The stock root is what's doing the work. Likewise, it is the act that is performed but the one by God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I also like the idea as your grafted plant grows and becomes part of that plant there, you see the scar becomes less noticeable. It is not obvious as it was, but you can still see it's grafted in. Likewise, I hope in our lives as we become more like Christ through the time, we can see we're still cracked and scarred, but we're more like that stock root than we are who we were before we were saved. I want to bring also to your attention that it's planted, crucified, buried, baptised, past tense, positional. The same death he experienced, planted or buried in the ground, we share in like a plant that we expect the expected fruit as well. It is something he has already done for us, past tense. That's something for us to glory in, it is not something that is future tense, present tense, past tense, Christ has already accomplished that for us. Crucified with him in verse 6, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Paul once again boards our mind back to the Saviour where we find all things, that we are crucified with Him, impaled in the company. There's a great hymn that talks about, I was crucified with my Lord. I think your dad brings that up as part of his message. It's very, very important that we realise who we are in Christ. Without Him we are nothing. If you don't take anything else away from this message, remember that. We are nothing without Christ. The crucifixion is a severe and lingering death. It was reserved for those who had committed the most egregious sins. The converted sinner must likewise give themselves over to God, not a reformation of self or any idea of lordship salvation. Simple repentance, a turning away from self and sin to the God that died for us. that dead and died is repeated 13 times in these 14 verses, we are positionally dead. Despite how we feel and what we think, the Word of God says we are positionally in the similitude or the same idea of Christ's death. That's where we are. So we need to know about our sin and know about the Saviour. But we also need to know that we are alive in Christ. We know where we were, now we want to know where we're going and where we have been taken because of Christ. The term into, in, with Christ and together appears ten times in nine verses. I think that's an important word for us to remember, that we are in Christ, buried with Christ, together with Christ. also it goes on to say that we are we live we are alive and we liveth is mentioned six times in these 14 verses so verse 6 and sorry verse 4 says therefore we are buried with him Even so, we also should walk in newness of life. So we are called to a walk of newness of life only because of what God has done for us. I've got this quote from David Cloud, it really stuck out to me. The Christian life is often described as a walk. Romans 13, 13, Colossians 7, 17. Walking is an action, an incremental and gradual moving forward. We do not fly above our troubles and trials, but walk in that newness of life. David Card continues, the walk is seen in the man sick of the palsy, the Lord says, take up thy bed and walk. Although we may wish to fly above our troubles, the walk is the command issued by our God. I would add to this, if God commands us to do it, not only is it possible, but God will give us the power to do so. We'll keep moving through our passage here, we'll look at the tail end of verse 6, also that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin. So we have that picture once again that Paul is bringing to mind of the slave that is bound to sin. Wrote this little illustration, so you might have to use your imagination a little bit here. Take your mind back, you have a slave who from his time of birth was bound to that cruel and hateful master. This master sought only the master's interest, promised the world and all its enticements, but left only sorrow and want. One day the slave was going about his daily task and heard another master call unto him. This master said he was willing to die for him, and was willing to purchase him then and there if he would allow him. The slave agreed and went with this new master. This new master fed him, clothed him, provided him only the best, but asked him to remain faithful and loyal. One day, the old master came along and promised him again the good things back when he once walked. In the back of the slave's mind, he wasn't so sure, but went along anyway. The slave consumed again, found no fulfilment in the old master, went back to his new master expecting a punishment and berating for his foolish actions, but found truth and love. This is the way. Walk ye in it. Thanks be to God that giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. As time elapsed, the slave under the new master gets back to work. Again, the old master comes along and says, come, follow me. The slave says no, to which the old master replies, but you must. The slave contemplates this for a moment, then the word of the wise new master came to mind. No, I need not, for I am a new creature. We are new creatures, raised with Christ to walk in newness of life. Verse 8. Now if we believe, sorry, now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. We are raised with Christ. What a blessed thought, there is so many things that we can know about our Saviour. We can know that we are alive in Him, we are to walk after Him, we are free in Him. We're not bound to sin any further and we can be raised with Him as well. Guaranteed by Christ. If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him. It is a guaranteed thing because Christ has accomplished it. Pastor Simeon in this portion here said that, Christ dieth no more and died once unto sin. It is a done, completed, finished action. This guarantees my death and unending life with him. What a blessed thought. We know these things. Now we go on to reckon these things to be so. Verse 11 says, likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Reckoned, as a word defined, is an accounting term. It means to think, count, or impute. We reckon our position to be so because it is a fact. So we know these things, that we are dead to sin, we are alive in Christ, but we need to reckon these things to be so. By faith we are to reckon the things we know to be true, we are baptised, planted, crucified and resurrected with Christ, we need to reckon these so. What can we reckon upon but the things that are settled in the word of God, the settled actions that we are crucified with Christ and resurrected with him once again. Discerned, what is the power source of our reckoning? So we saw the definition of our reckoning and see it discerned as well. Verse 11 goes on to say, likewise. So we know and we can do so because of what Christ has done for us. Likewise, or in this way and manner as Christ was, we are to reckon ourselves dead. It also says indeed. I'm actually jumping ahead, I think. Hang on a sec. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Indeed is defined as truly, verily, in fact. So if we put the two of them together, we are in this way or manner, as Christ was, truly and verily, in fact, dead to sin. The reckoning is the outward action. So I've got a couple of illustrations here. One I borrowed from our pastor here. And one, we'll see how we go. I'll tell you afterwards whether it was mine or not. Pastor Ian Western illustrates it such, if I reckon that my bank account was to have $40,000, which I can tell you, it does not. It does not go, and I go about trying to spend it, it won't happen. It is based in fantasy, it's not based in a fact. All the reckoning I can summon will not put money in my bank. Pastor Simeon elaborates on the illustration and says, so our reckoning to be dead, buried, and risen with Christ does not make it happen. However, we can safely reckon on our co-crucifixion with Christ because it has already happened and is underwritten by the word of God. It is a true fact, it is done. In the face of searing temptation, I can aggressively count on the fact that I am dead, buried and risen with Christ. I do not have to serve sin. Sin's mastery is defeated, broken forever. As I reckon on this, God begins to pour his power into my life for that situation until I gain the victory. The Holy Spirit honours the cross of Christ and my union with him. We've been doing some painting at home. I think I just gave away that it's my illustration. We've been doing some painting at home and I was trying to put this into terms that I could understand simply. We have a paint tray. Everybody's had a go at painting at some point in their life. Have a paint tray, paint and a roller. When we fill that paint tray up with paint, knowledge. The more knowledge we have within that paint tray, the more potential we have for change, correct? We can see more change. But that paint tray and the paint, that paint in that paint tray is not going to do anything. You can leave it there and it will go hard over time, but it does not change anything. Knowledge is good, yes, but it needs to be applied. Reckoning is taking that paint, applying it to the wall, knowing that that paint is going to change that wall. That is knowledge reckoned to be true. That temptation comes along and you say, Lord, I know your word says I am dead to sin, anger, bitterness, self-centredness. We heard a list this morning, pride, lustful, addiction, whatever it may be. And I know that I am raised in newness of life. I know these sins don't have dominion over me. I am crucified with Christ. Lord you promised you will provide a way of escape and I cast myself upon you and reckon myself dead. I yield myself to the filling of your spirit and trust in Jesus to live through me in this moment. Amen. That is reckoning, something to be so. As we continue down in verse 12, Likewise, reckon yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, that you should not obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. There's two things that we need to yield. Yield not to sin, and we are to yield unto God. Right there in our text. We don't need to go looking for it anywhere else. The Word of God has it there for us. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God. Let it not, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Sorry, going back to verse 12. Verse 12 says, let not sin therefore reign. That letting means forbid. Deny at place, neither allow, because of our position in Christ, his death, burial and resurrection, we can deny at place. Let it not reign in your mortal bodies, we've touched on this briefly before, it's like the king has been deposed from his throne. We must not allow sin to dominate our lives. If we allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies, we will follow it to its ends, the lusts thereof. We must cut it off, or we will reap its due rewards. For what we sow, we reap. Galatians 5, verse 7 and 8. Verse 13 goes on to say, Neither you, ye your members, as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Yield is defined as to assist or stand beside. Stand beside, sorry. It comes from a compound word, self and stand or abide. Putting the two together, you get that stand beside. The picture here, I think we get here, is that we are not to move ourselves to stand next to. The word instruments is defined as an implement, a utensil or a tool, especially offensive for war, armour or weapon. Further, we see that unrighteousness is defined as injustice, unjust, inequity, and wrong. So if we combine these things together, we see that the Apostle Paul is exhorting us, do not stand next to or assist sin and use your tools of war or your weapons for injustice or sin or inequity or wrong. The Bible says, do not allow the old man who is dead to reign. that you may fight against what God has for you and his desires and his plans for you, but fight alongside your old sin and your old nature. May I encourage you that if you're not fighting on that side of the war, you're fighting on that side of the war. You're either fighting for sin and with sin, or you're fighting for God and with God. War has a cost. I know which side I'd rather be on. The cost of sin is high. The cost of sin is high, very high. I think the pastor normally has that saying, it will take you further than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay, keep you longer than you want to stay. That's what sin does to you. It does not let you go. Yield unto the Saviour. but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. That word righteousness is defined as an equity of character. What a contrast we see. We are to present ourselves as the servant of Christ, holy, acceptable, living sacrifices, which is our reasonable service. Romans chapter 12, verse one. This is in direct contrast to who we were, servants to the master of chaos, sin and unrighteousness, but God wants us to be his holy living sacrifices. Unto God appears in that verse twice as well. You present yourself, you are to yield yourselves unto God and as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. So That's a very important part of it as well. I think that's something that studying this out really stood out to me, that if we are not yielding to God, we are yielding to sin. We are in the one of the two camps. We have being brought up in a Christian home, we have knowledge, we get good preaching here at this church too. We all have an expectation of what we need to do and we know how to do it, but to reckon it to be so and to yield to it is what we struggle with. That is the crucified life, that is the crux of the matter, a wretched man that I am. Thanks be to Jesus Christ. We need to reckon these things to be so because of what he has done and yield to him, not to our sin. I'd say in conclusion, we'll read verse 14. If you are here tonight and this sounds foreign to you, this, what is sin? I'm a slave of sin, what does this mean? I encourage you, seek it out. It is the most important decision you can make to find out that there is a God in heaven that loves you. and died for you, that you may not be bound to that master of sin. You can be living a life, an abundant life, through the Lord Jesus Christ. I would encourage you also, if you do know the Lord as your saviour, we know that we are dead to sin. Are you living a defeated and powerless life to overcome sin? Come to Christ, the cross. Know or understand, reckon it to be so, account it true, so that you are dead and raised with Christ and yield to him, that he may work in you. The apostle by the Holy Spirit leading gave us verse 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Let's close in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you that we are not bound under the law, but Lord, we are under grace. Lord, we thank you for the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that is able to give us the power over sin that we can know, reckon, and yield unto you. Lord, we thank you for all these things and for the time in your word, we do pray now in your name. Amen.