you you you you you you you For your endless mercy follows me. And I will trust in Jesus, I'll trust Him I'm not a trustee For your endless mercy, for your endless grace. O trust in Christ, I trust in you, for your endless mercy follows. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to church this morning. It's good to have you with us. If you're still joining with us online, then you're also very welcome, those in the hall as well. We want everyone to feel very much a part of our gathering together, where the spirit of the Lord is, it's there, there's a liberty, and the Lord is in the presence of his people, no matter where or when they gather. So one of the things that we can definitely be confident and assure of that the Lord is with us today. This is his covenant and promise to us. Just a few verses, or sorry, one verse that I want to read out to you just before we have our time of worship. And in Colossians chapter three and verse 16, there's an interesting thing you should do sometimes when you want to pass a little bit of time. Go through the chapter three 16s of the Bible. Do that. The chapter 316s of the Bible. See how many significant verses pop out. There's a wee afternoon, instead of watching no rubbish on the television, 316s of the Bible. It'll be interesting, the stuff that you pick up and you find out, and what a good exercise to do to spend some time. Here's what Colossians 316 says. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom. teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. When you look at that verse, really, worship is an overflow of our experience of God. And sometimes maybe we've got a wee bit back to front. We sing before we preach, and I think you should be singing before we preach and singing after we preach. because we should be worshiping God in response to his word that comes to our hearts. That's for another day. But the thing that we're thinking here is singing with melodies of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs amongst ourselves unto the Lord. That's what we've come to do. Let's pray together in prayer. Let's pray. Our Father, as we gather together today to sing your praises, Lord, we have to acknowledge and say some of us aren't great singers. Lord, but we thank you for the great song that we have. We can sing praises, we can make a melody unto the Lord. Father, we pray that that grace that transforms hardened, harsh sinners into those who wish to offer praise and glory to the man of Calvary, and to our great God will be very prevalent in our time of worship here in Abbots Cross. Bless us, we pray. May your Holy Spirit take over as we worship him in spirit and in truth. Amen. I'm going to ask Jackie to join me here, and we're going to start a few songs. I am a poor substitute for Sharon Kirkpatrick. But nevertheless, I'm happy to sing these praises. You sing with me. I'd rather hear you singing than me singing. So let's sing this first song. I think, Jackie, you're introducing it. No, am I? I mean. Oh, it was a happy day. I've often talked about our yappy days. Well, let's remember that happy day whenever he washed our sins away. Thank you, Glynn and the band. Oh, happy day. It's my choice, only my Savior and my hope Will hear this glowing heart rejoice Until its rapture's all approached Oh Jesus Oh Based on the great transactions done, I am my Lord's and He is mine. He drew me out, I followed on, Joined in the festive voice He invites. When Jesus washed my sins away He taught me how to watch and pray And He rejoiced in every day Hallelujah, happy day Oh, happy day When Jesus washed my sins away Now if my love divided Oh my when Jesus was my sins I have not that's all about that Bobby Lady lives a high bar and lives in death upon some hill have a The next song we're going to sing is How Deep the Father's Love and I picked this because tomorrow is Valentine's Day and we meant to show love to each other but there's no greater love that the father has shown us by giving his son a Calvary. Beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son, to make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss The Father turns His face away As blue-trimmed Spartan chosen ones Bring many sons to glory my my It was my sin that held Him there Until He was accomplished His idleness has brought me here I Jesus I Why should I give up his reward? I cannot give an answer But this I know His wounds have made my heart soar She him brings, landed on His throne Then shunned, all brought to glory Cry hallelujah Absolute redemption story And all creation bowed in awe The wretch is now God's treasure In Christ alone forever. Right, kids, put your hands up. Where are you in the service this morning? Where's all the kids? Put your hands up. Young at heart. Oh my goodness, there's not very many. Sure there's not? Well, do you like counting? No. Yeah? Good job. We need help doing this next song for counting, because it's one, two, three, Jesus loves me. Okay, can you sing it out for me? Yeah, good job. Good girl, Harper. There's actions as well. One, two, three. Jesus loves me. One, two, three. love me We love you more than you've ever been loved before. Five, six, seven, we're going to heaven. Eight, nine, the mansion is mine. Nine out of ten, there's time to end. There's no time to say it again. And just before Belly comes to do the announcements, the children can leave the stepping stones now. So off you go. Thank you very much. Thank you, Billy. Well, good morning. It's really good to see you here before me in the church. I know some are in the prayer room or the minor hall, and if you're watching online, then we're delighted that you've joined us this morning. This evening, our service is at 6 p.m., and the pastor will be speaking at that Then tomorrow night, can I just remind parents that the girls' brigade is off this week. There's a rumor, can't prove it, but apparently the officers are going out for Christmas, for Valentine's Day dinner with their husbands. But I haven't been able to get to the bottom of that rumor. Tuesday we have our church prayer meeting at half past seven. You don't need to book for that. Do just come along and pray that the Lord will really undertake in the work here at Abbots Cross. Many people have many things that we need to bring to the Lord, illness and so on. So do come along and pray on Tuesday. Just a reminder that the youth club is started on Saturday from 7.30 until 10 o'clock for secondary school kids. Great turnout last week. And so if you know of anyone who would benefit from coming along to our youth club on Saturday night, those are the details. Next Sunday, we have the services at the normal times of 11 in the morning and six in the evening, and the pastor will be speaking at both of those services. Today is our 10th Sunday. Now, if you are strangers in the church, every 10 Sundays, every 10th Sunday, the entire offering that comes in today and during this week goes to particular missionary projects And this week, the money is being split between Open Doors, who work with the persecuted church, and the Barnabas Fund, who provides help and relief for believers and others around the world. So all the income today and this week is split between those two organizations. For members, our AGM will take place on the 24th of February. That's Thursday, not this Thursday coming, but the following Thursday, the 24th of February, our annual general meeting. I have been given some leaflets about abortion, just what's happening politically about abortion. So please take those as you leave the service this morning. And then finally, can I express our sympathy to two families who have lost loved ones recently? First of all to Stevie Barr and Andre Orr on the death of their father Drew. Drew was was buried on Friday. And then also I'd like to express the church's sympathy to Tom Orr on the death of his brother Bobby. So again please take these families in your prayers on your hearts and pray for them in the coming days. These are all the announcements and they're all made God willing. Hi, Bobby. Thank you, Bobby. Thank you, Billy. Thank you, Billy. We're going to sing one more song then before we come to the message. This song is about our higher throne. We have self often on our throne of our hearts and of course there are authorities right around the world. The world is holding its breath regarding Russia and the prophetic elements surrounding Russia and all of those things in Ukraine. I received a message yesterday from the church within Ukraine, and they're expecting something significant to happen in this incoming week, and we will be making that a matter of prayer both today and also on Tuesday. But there are powers at work. And the prince of the air is the enemy, the devil himself, but there's even a higher power again. And that is the power of God. God's throne. And whilst we might hold our breath and gasp at all that's happening, God is still that higher power, isn't he? Isn't that a great assurance? And by the way, as a believer, greater is he that's in us. than he that is in the world. Always remember that. There is a higher throne. Now we've been struggling with the timing of this, but Glenn, you just give us a wee shout or a nod and we'll keep right on it. Thanks very much. Oh Oh He poured His love on this earth, He called His true love, And in His heart I promise faith! yeah yeah Oh Oh yeah Oh Amen. Shall we bow together in prayer? Let's pray. Let's just commit ourselves to the Lord. as we settle ourselves down now and invite the Holy Spirit to come amongst us, not only in worship, but also with enlightenment on his word. Let's pray. Father, we do want to thank you for that great confidence and assurance that is ours, that our God is still on the throne. He's in absolute control of every circumstance and of every situation that happens in life. Lord, We learned so acutely, so wonderfully, that even as we studied through the book of the Revelation, we noticed that it was God who was in control. And so we bow down to your authority. We bow down to your power. and we bow in submission and surrender to the will of God in every circumstance and in situation in life. You are the thrice holy God. There is none like thee. As often we quote, who is like thee, glorious in holiness, wonderful in power, doing great things. And Lord, we know that we are miserable sinners. That's the way we were born. We were born with that sinful nature. And Lord, right until we get to glory, we'll still battle and struggle with all the strife that goes on in our hearts. Oftentimes, Lord, our lives and our mannerisms and our actions and our thoughts offend thee. So Lord, we confess our sin to you now. We ask again, Lord, for that forgiveness that comes only from God. We thrust ourselves, we cast ourselves on Calvary and on the finished work of Christ. We ask again for that fresh cleansing so that, Lord, your Holy Spirit may come with that illumination, that inspiration, that revelation that only he can bring to the darkened hearts of mankind. We come, Lord, with confidence and assurance that God hears and answers prayer. The Spirit answers to the blood and tells us we are his. And we come, Lord, with that desire to hear from God today. We ask, Lord, for your comfort for those who have suffered the passing of loved ones. We think of Stevie and Andrea and the Barr family. We think of Thomas Orr and the Orr family as they mourn the passing of Thomas's brother. Lord, regardless of how ill they were, regardless, Lord, of how old they were, we still, Lord, mourn the passing of loved ones. And Father, we thank you for the confidence that those who die in Christ is absent from the body and is present with the Lord. Bring comfort to those who've lost loved ones, we pray. And grant, O God, that they may, in these days, recognize and realize the Lord's comfort and help. Lord, there are two issues before us this morning, what the world's governments are trying to force upon us in regarding to abortion. Lord, we believe the Word of God, and we believe that a baby at conception is a human being. We believe, Lord, that little life has rights, even though they're not able to express them. We ask, Father, that common sense and good sense will prevail, and Lord, that you again will strike the hearts of those who want to impose upon us laws that are an offense to God. We pray that you'll move in this situation. Lord, it would seem we are powerless to influence people and governments, but you step in. We think, Lord, of this threat with Ukraine and Russia. We ask, Lord, that as we've been hearing report after report that if war does break out, and we've heard of provocation, acts of provocation happening, Within those two countries, Lord, one trying to provoke the other. Lord, we pray that you will step in, Lord. We ask, oh God, that you will give common sense, and Father, that you will arrest the hearts of those who are evil-minded, we pray. We ask specifically, Lord, for the church in Ukraine. Lord, we know their hearts are failing. The missionary organizations are seeking to fund, Lord, in many areas and aspects of the church there over difficult times as war always incurs debt on the people. We ask, Lord, that the church may find the resources to able to support pastors and believers in their work for God. We ask, Lord, you'll throw your arms around, send your guardian angels and camp around about your people, and may they know your peace. Now, fathers, we turn to your word. We're excited about it, Lord. It's your word. And we pray that you will apply it to our hearts by your Holy Spirit, enabling us, Father, to comprehend your truth and your correction and direction into our hearts. We want to live in everything that your word explains that we can. And so we pray, give us help to understand it at this time. In Christ's name we pray, amen. We're gonna turn to Romans and chapter eight. We're gonna read the first 13 verses. Last week we sought to try and unpack the first four verses. There are quite a lot of things I didn't even try to explain to you. For example, the end of the first verse, it says then that walk according to the spirit and not according to the flesh. The translators say that that really doesn't belong there. We'll read that and then explain it to you. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. The oldest documents of the New Testament doesn't have the next phrase, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. The theological word is an interpolation, an interpolation. It's been inserted there. I can give you a whole explanation as to how that came about when they were writing and rewriting, because if that's true, then salvation is reward. That has often tripped me up. It means that I'm rewarded for my living, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. I know it's in verse 4, we'll explain that later on, maybe. It's an interpolation, and the best reason given that it's inserted there is they didn't have cut and paste, they hadn't a computer. What they had was, as the scribes were writing, oftentimes they would set something on the margin, and then when others took up those same parchments, someone would see this, maybe hundreds of years later on, why did he leave that out? That's important, so he stuck it in, not knowing what he was doing. Look it up for yourself. It's an interpolation. It's taken that phrase in verse four and also inserting it in verse one. But by inserting it in verse one, it almost puts it like a gospel of works. It's important to know that. But what we were trying to do last week was trying to explain, and I know that this, let me tell you folks, Romans chapter eight is a deeply theological, doctrinal chapter of God's word. and you have to use your intelligence and your brains to try and come along with what we're trying to say. But the first four verses, we emphasize justification. That Christ had, and we will repeat that in a wee moment, Christ suffered for us, and because he suffered for us, he took our pain, he took our judgment, we are justified. Justification is the basis in which we receive the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit. I can't improve on Warren Wearsby's outline, so I'm gonna just use his three outlines just to give you the summation of what we tried to say last Lord's Day morning. I'll be honest with you, I went home last Sunday morning and I said, I wish I had that to preach all over again. And hopefully it will come out a wee bit clearer. The first thing that we learn as we go over those first four verses, by way of summary, is the law cannot claim us. Verse one. Now when he's talking about two laws, there's two laws here. We need to explain that as well. There's Moses' law, the law of Moses, the moral law. And then there's the law of sin, or the principle of sin, and the principle of the Spirit. Those are two different laws. The law of Moses is the moral law. But the law of sin is the principle on which sin works. So if you live in sin, and if you live according to the flesh, The principle is, you'll die. You're dead in trespasses and sin. But if you live according to the Spirit, the principle of the Spirit, the law of the Spirit, will lead to life. So don't mix up the two words of law here as we try to unpack these verses. The law cannot claim us, or in other words, it has no jurisdiction over us. Remember we said in Romans chapter seven that it's not that the law went away, and it's not that the law died. It's that we died to the law. Now, let me try to keep this as simple as I can because this is vitally important. Whenever you're saved, whenever you're born again, whenever you're trusting Jesus Christ as your savior, he has defeated the law on your behalf. And the Bible says that we're in Christ. And you can't be tried for it again any more than if a dead man, I was driving up to see Olive Reed yesterday on the Falls Road. And there was about 10 men, well, at least seven policemen in big high-vis jackets. And they pulled me over. I thought, it's gonna take an awful lot of men to arrest me. And he says, we're doing spot checks for breathalysing. Oh, I says, that's exciting. That's never happened to me before. He says, would you consent to being breathalysed? I says, of any choice? He says, not really. So he pulled me in, and I have to be honest and say, I had a wee embarrassing kind of emotion going on. I says, what if anybody from Mother's Cross is driving by? That was the next thing. And he says, have you ever done this before? I says, no. And he says, have you had a drink in the last 24 hours? I says, I haven't had a drink in the last 37 years. He says, have you had a smoke in the last 24 hours? I says, I haven't had a smoke in the last 37 years either. He says, and why is that? I says, because I became a born again Christian. God changed my heart and changed my life. And he says, tell me this, would you consent then, he says, to having this breathless? I says, not a bother. And he says, what do you expect the breathless to result? I says, absolutely zero, nothing. And he says, is that right? And I says, if there's anything other than that, it's you as the problem, not me. But it just happened. This is what they're out about, you see. I would hope to think that I wouldn't be trying to defend anybody from Albert's Cross for having been done for drunken driving, because you know as well as they do that drink is the ruination of all humanity. Anyway, I've got one or two AMNs for that one. I'm not trying to play to the sound bites, by the way. Anyway, but just imagine, just imagine I'd been out the night before and had a belly full of drink. I'd have been done for drunken driving. But, and the next thing then, you get a summons to the court, isn't that right? But what happens if I die before I answer to the court? What happens? The law has no jurisdiction on me. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ, because he fulfilled the requirements of the law. the law has no claim on us. The second thing, just to give a summary for last Sunday, the law cannot condemn us. Have you ever heard the law of double jeopardy? You have. You cannot be tried for the same thing twice, not it? So in Christ, because of Calvary, he already has been tried for your sin. What's your name? Oh, Mark. And Bobby, and John, and Billy, and Eleanor. He already has been tried for your sin, so you can't be tried twice. The law of double jeopardy. So the law cannot condemn us. And we discovered that the law cannot control us. The law can't control us. All that the law can do is try, is detect sin. That's what the Ten Commandments were given for. To show how sinful we are. But distorted man took the Ten Commandments and tried to use them as a stepladder into favor with God. That is not why God gave the Ten Commandments. God gave the Ten Commandments so that we could take those Ten Commandments and look at them and apply them to our lives and see how far short we fall from the standards of God. But then he talks about a new law, and this is where we finished last Sunday morning. Romans 5.5, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that is given unto us. So he puts now a new law into our hearts. A new law of love. A love for God. Does anybody remember the song, I keep falling in love with him over and over and over and over again. I keep falling in love with him over and over and over and over again. Oh, what a love between my Lord and I. I keep falling in love with. He goes sweeter and sweeter as the days go by. Oh, what a love between my Lord and I. I keep falling in love with him over and over and over and over again. How do I maintain that relationship? Because there will be people who look back 50 years or 15 years or five years or five months ago and said, that was the day I was saved. But what has happened since then? How have you maintained that relationship? Have you learned about, have you had communion, have you communed with him? That's the secret of falling in love with him. It's not just an emotion, it's a reactive emotion to, as we said earlier on, as we speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, as a consequence and as a result of learning more and more about him. A love for God, a love for holiness, a love for Christ, a love for righteousness. And we see what legislation has tried to do in our world. And the more legislation we have, the more laws that people have to break, because they can't fulfill them. So with that in mind, we'll stand and read together Romans chapter eight. We'll start at verse five. There's no point in going back over those verses again. We'll stand and read together Romans chapter eight, and we're gonna read from verse five to 13. For they that are after the flesh do maim the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally maimed, it is death. but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can be. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God, but ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. and if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life. That's that new principle, that new law. The spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, We are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Amen, and we trust that the Lord will bless that reading of his words to our hearts. You may be seated. I quoted from H.C.G. Mew last week as he stressed the importance of everyone knowing how vital it is to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. But in that quotation, which I didn't complete, he goes on to warn the preacher and anybody and everybody of stereotyping everybody's journey. I don't know many's in church today. I don't know many's online. I don't know many's over in the hall. I don't have that knowledge. But I will say this, we're all in a different stage in our walk with God. We're all in different stages. And he warns against trying to stereotype everybody into one type. What affects our stage and our walk? our knowledge, our understanding, our background, where we come from, who we are, our culture, the level of teaching that we receive from the Word of God, and the level and the amount of time that we put into that Word, and also our willingness to obey and be disciplined in our walk, all of those things come together to conclude, to produce, every one of us are at a different stage. You could be saved 50 years and be no further on than you were 49 years ago. Or you could be saved three months ago and be further ahead. It's all to do with our response and our opportunities of hearing God's Word, and as we respond to it. Last week, the message was just to clearly highlight the fact that there's power for living. There's power for living. The Christian life is not an ordinary life. It's not the old life warmed up. It's not just a few things made new, even though that was our experience. God switched on the light and there was a lot of things we became conscious of that we were doing that we knew was wrong and instantly, in a moment, that ceased. But there's a whole other world that the Holy Spirit begins to open up to us. challenging us to enter into this life, to apply this truth to our hearts, to begin to walk in the Spirit and be focused on a life that's lived for the glory of God. I also said last Sunday, The very fact that we need the Holy Spirit in our lives is an evidence that no matter how long in our Christian experience we still have this inner conflict, this inbred sin. And if it were not the case, then why would we need the Holy Spirit to help us live above sin? God's blueprint for your life and mine has always been to live for His glory and to live out the life of Christ within us. to live a life of holiness, purity, grace, mercy, a righteous life. Jesus put it like this in John 16 and verse 14. He shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall make it known unto you. Or in other words, he'll take the graces, he'll take the nature, he'll take the character, he'll take the love of Jesus Christ and begin to produce it within us and through us. And now the fun begins. From verse five down to verse 15, Paul begins to give us three levels of life that we may live, three lifestyles that we may adopt. Here's the first one. The first lifestyle is life without the Spirit. And as he points out to us, that life without the Spirit, he makes four contrasts between life in the flesh, that's life without the Holy Spirit, and life in the Spirit, that's lived according to the Spirit. You'll find them in verse five. For they that are after the flesh to mind the things of the flesh. Here's the first contrast. Life in the flesh as opposed to life in the spirit. In our own saved state, We are transfixed. We are dedicated to living to please self. In fact, what we have in some educational institutions, they tell us that I'm the most important in the world. Whatever you see, Get it. Whatever you want, go for it. Mind not the things of God. Don't be taken up with that religious stuff. Don't worry about pleasing God. He's only a figment of your imagination. And it's not hard to encourage the flesh to live for itself. The first contrast. My opinions, my feelings, my rates matter more than what God wants. That's the first contrast. That's where we all started. That is how serious it was that day when Adam and Eve fell foul of Satan's deceptions. And though it looked like a silly little thing like eating a bit of fruit, A fundamental change happened within the heart of Adam. And as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And after all, remember, the law, if you live according to the flesh, it's death, but if you live according to the spirit, it's life. Adam changed from living according to the spirit to living according to the flesh. Death. Death. Second contrast, death and life, verse six. Not only is it living according to pleasing myself, but I'm dead in trespasses and sin, and it's like Nicodemus was so confused whenever Jesus told him, you must be born again. Nicodemus had the same problem that humanity has, that they think that death is the spirit, or life is all that there is, and that there's nothing more. But he's trying to emphasize here, there is something significant here. It's life according to the flesh will bring death, as we've already explained. So there's death and life. That's contrast number two. Contrast number three is war and peace, verses six and seven. See what it says there. Because the carnal mind is at war against God. No need to read any more of those verses. This is the contrast of war and peace. Our old nature is rebel, is a rebel. It rebels against God. whenever we're put up with two ways to travel, God says, this is the right way, and he says, that's the wrong way. What did Adam and Eve do? They chose the wrong way. That's rebellion. Every time, brothers and sisters, that we are confronted with God's word to either go the right way or the wrong way, and we go against the right way, that's rebellion. And what does rebellion bring? Well, it brings about disturbance in our soul. There is no peace like his peace. And the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, and I think it's about verse 19, to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. And this could be one of the problems that's in our world today. People haven't really found peace in Christ. Because if there's such a disturbance where doctors' waiting rooms and psychologists are inundated with people who are disturbed and unsettled, and I've never lived in such an unsettled day as I have in these days, and I'm sure you're the same, it's because there's a lack of His peace, His peace. And what happens is, we have people running to and fro, delving into this and that, looking after this and that, to try and get peace, when Christ alone is our peace. Christ alone. Isaiah writing in chapter 48 and verse 22 says, there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. Contrast number four of the people that live out of the Spirit is in verse eight. We've already said some of these things, pleasing self as opposed to pleasing God. So they that are in the flesh cannot, did you notice it says that, cannot please God. You can do all the righteous religious things that you that you care to fix your mind on. You can pay a hundred pence in the pound. You can become a volunteer in some organization trying to bring relief and release to those who are bound and who are suffering. You can be the goodest or sorry the best person that ever had breath in your body and it matters not. You cannot please God because you're still out of the Spirit and you're still in the flesh because the flesh is full of pride and it loves people to acknowledge me and it loves people to respect me and the flesh wants people to praise me and so therefore my flesh can even deceive me into thinking that I'm pleasing God by the things that I'm doing. Out of Christ, let's get this, you can't please God. Isaiah 64 says, but all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight of a holy God. These four contrasts represent, and I'm going to call people names here, these four contrasts represent a low-level life. Look at that low level. a low-level life. The low-level life can scale the dizzy heights of moral excellence, of religious observance, of generous benevolence, or it may trail the depths of depravity, obscenity, cruelty, degeneracy, and debauchery. but it's still describing the life of an unsaved man out of the spirit. Every soul that comes into this world has the potential naturally within themselves to live at whatever end or whatever scale of this low level they desire, whether it's the lowest level of that low level or whether scaling the high dizzy heights of moral excellence. That's low level one. For the sake of time, let us go on to level two, verses nine to 11. Life with the Spirit. He says, but, isn't that a great word? It's like he turns the page, changes the chapter, changes the channel on the television. He's now after giving us a brief summary. By the way, describing low level one is not where he wants to get to. He wants to get a wee bit further on. But he has to have a starting place for you and me. Can I ask you, are you still on level one? You've reached the dizzy heights of moral excellence and generous benevolence, but you've never been born again. But, says Paul, verse nine, ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. I don't know how many times in my life I have been confronted with those who say, I'm a Christian, but I'm not a born again Christian. You ever heard that? It's almost as if there's a stigma on Christianity. It's almost as if it's an offense to say I'm a born again believer. Well, here, I love a good biblical word and I'm to put it in Northern Ireland accent, I'm saved. Amen. I'm born again. I'm part of the blood washed. I have been redeemed. I am a But, it's another thing to be born again. Being born again brings us into the relationship where Christ is our religion. Understand what I'm saying there. A lot of people have religious experiences and religion is their religion. But when you're born again, Christ becomes your religion. He is my everything. He is my all. He is my everything, both great and small. He gave his life for me, made everything new. He is my everything. Now, how about you? Is Christ everything to you? Does Christ mean the world to you? Does Christ mean the eternity to you? Is Christ the all and everything that's possible to be? Is he everything to you? Is he the reason you get up in the morning? Can I also very quickly say, the measure of the experience that you have at conversion is determined by how low level of life you started off with. But it matters not what happened when you started off, it matters where you are now. Paul declares their conversion experience. There's an interesting question asked by Paul as he was doing his missionary journey in Corinth, and it's asked in Acts chapter 19 and verse 2. Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any holy ghost. Now, as I looked into that, you look into the various different versions of that. What does that mean? Does that mean there's a second distinct experience? No, it doesn't. What he's really saying is, well, you say you believe, Well, he says, did you receive the Holy Spirit that day you received then? That word since is not talking about time. It's really saying, well, have you received the Holy Spirit because you received? What makes the difference? between the child of the world and the child of God is the Holy Spirit has given us a deposit into our lives. We are born again with God's Spirit. We are quickened. Paul says in Ephesians two, you have he quickened. You've heard me describe that verse before. You have he exploded into life who were dead. Once you were dead, have you ever tried to talk to a dead man? You've heard me ask you that question before. They'll give you no response. So spiritually, we were born dead, but when the Spirit of God comes, we are alive in him. My living head. That's how he describes their conversion experience. Notice how he defines their conversion experience, verses nine and 10. Verse nine and 10, we continue to read verse 10. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. We enter into Christ by faith, and Christ dwells in us by his grace. We are hid in him through faith, and he receives us by grace. It's Christ's Spirit dwelling within us. It's not an idea, it's not an ideal, it's not a theory, it's not a tradition, it's not rituals, it's not rates, it's not formula, and it's not fashion. It's Christ in us. Jesus said this in John 14 and verse 23, if a man love me, he will keep my words and my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. The greatest declaration of our love for Christ is to invite him to be Lord of our lives. And through faith in Christ, our bodies become a temple of the Holy Spirit and he establishes HQ, headquarters. So a Christian is someone in whom Christ is Lord. And I was talking about Mark Lads, he came to see me, he's with the EFCC, and we had a wee chat during the week there. Spent about two hours. And we talked about this point. And I don't, and he agreed with me, we don't go down the road of Lord, I'm gonna use a term here that most of you won't have heard. Some of you will. We don't go down the road of Lordship Salvation. You can look that one up as well. But what we do is, we agree that if Christ has paid the penalty for our sin, he is every right to be master and Lord of our lives. And the third thing, in the second level, and I want to get to the third level, Paul describes our conversion experience. The very essence of the spirit of the Christian life is supernatural. Look at verse 11, and we'll try and explain this verse to you. But if the spirit of him that raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the spirit that dwelleth in us. there's the beginning of a transformation taking place through the fact that that power that is effective at resurrection is that same power that brought us to life spiritually. Now, when we were born again, our bodies will go through the natural aging process. And we will come to a stage like many of our brothers and sisters and loved ones have over this past number of years and down through the years have taken their last breath and passed into the near presence of the Lord. But if that same power, keep with me now, If that same power, Paul said here, that had the power to raise the body has come into our spiritual beings, he has given us access, the ability, that power. Our spirits have been regenerated by that same power that will raise the dead on the last day. And that's what makes the difference. But it's very possible to live, to have the Spirit in you, and still have more downs than ups, still have more of those defeats than victories, to still allow the old carnal nature to have headquarters and not the spirit. And Paul is saying to us here, it is possible to get to a life where it's more ups than downs. And that leads us then to the third level. Level three. Paul talks about verses 12 and 13, where the Spirit has us. The first level, we have not the Spirit. The second level, the Spirit is in us. But level three is where the Spirit has us. He has full sway. Now, If our spirit, our means of fellowship, our communion with God is functioning again, it controls and affects our whole approach to life. The change, the alteration is just as real and obvious as someone who has been raised from the dead. Have you ever seen someone, boy, we're changing that boy's life. Even his language has cleaned up. Even their lives are a living example of godliness. This is the life that has the Spirit in full sway. The things that they were unable to do now become very possible, living above temptation. The things they couldn't understand or see, they now see more clearly. The things which when they were on level one were impossible now become possible because of that power has raised them and given them spiritual energy and vitality. And there's only one thing I want to point out here before we finish. Because John Phillips His outline for Romans chapter eight is a new law, we've discussed that, a new life is what we're discussing, and then his third heading is a new liberty. Other preachers say they go down the same route, and it's expressing a life that is absolutely, totally transformed, having start from the ashes of fallenness and sinfulness. But I want to point out, this life that we're talking about for level three is contingent upon our surrender and our submission to Him. And here's the simple answer. Every morning I get up, I say to the Lord, Lord, I have the possibility of living according to the flesh today. I have the possibility of living to please self today because my old inbred nature wants to always be resurrected. But Lord, I also see there's an opportunity. If I submit and surrender to your lordship, to the spirits working in my life, I can live a life of victory. A life that will please God. A life that will bring glory to Him. And Paul finishes this section, it's our obligation to the Holy Spirit to give Him sway in our lives. And why is that? He has brought us into this new life. He has honored the work of Christ and his death for us. He has convicted us of our sin and caused us to seek for salvation. He has made Christ real to us. It is he that has imparted eternal life to us, and he has imparted the life of the eternal one in us. And it is he who will cause us to see the loveliness of Christ, the riches of glory, the glory of the Father. And it is he who will take control of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Later, Paul encourages believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice in Romans chapter 12. But I believe he's here now telling us to present our lives and allow him to become full sway in our hearts. In closing then, which level would you like to be living? The Holy Spirit is a perfect gentleman. He'll not take possession of anything that you don't give him. But also remember this, he is highly sensitive and can be easily grieved. And that's something I've been thinking about very much in recent days. Let's pray together. Can I ask prayer for tonight? As we're speaking on the second part of Great Gospel Words tonight, we run repentance. And it's something that hasn't been preached about much in recent days. And I had great trouble in preparing the message. That doesn't mean to say it's the wrong message. but I would value prayer and your encouragement in that. Father, as we bow together again at the end of this service, Lord, we've been looking into deep truths. We've been seeking, Lord, to unpack truths that were going through the mind of a spiritual giant in Paul the Apostle. We ask, Lord, that you will make these difficult things to understand simple within our minds and our hearts, we pray. Lord, help us not just to appreciate a sermon and then forget about everything that was said. Lord, we really, really, really want to live and apply truth to our hearts. So please, Lord, give us the courage to apply these truths to every one of us, we pray. Remember Lord Adrian Bennington in hospital. Remember Marian Burroughs and a wee woman called May Hamilton who have all asked for prayer. Lord, we ask that you will meet their need today and help them, Lord, to know the peace of God and the touch of God upon their bodies. In Christ's name we pray, amen. We're going to sing a song that I've never sang since I came to Abbots Cross, which is 11 years and six weeks at this stage. And the song is 648 in the book, Live Out Thy Life Within Me, O Jesus, King of Kings. You might not know it, but you'll certainly know the tune. We'll remain seated and sing together. Live out thy life within me, O Jesus, King of kings. Be thou thyself the answer to all my questioning. Live out thy life within me, All things have thy name. I, the transparent medium, Thy glory to display. The temple I've been given, And here if I don't sing, Oh Oh Oh Have the innocence, or not the youth at all? Then may my prayers get glory, or strain, or strength, or death, or change, and thy feelings, or thoughts, or Oh Oh Now in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, our Heavenly Father, and Lord, that Holy Spirit that we so long to be in full sway and full control of our lives, bless, abide, and be with us, Lord, throughout this day and the days to come. and all God's people said. Amen. And shout. Hallelujah. Can I say thank you for listening so well this morning. I had a lot to say according to God's word. Greatly appreciated the level of concentration that you put in this morning, and I trust that it will have been a blessing to every one of you.