Which Side of the Cross - Lesson 8 Week 2

All righty, well, we are on lesson eight of which side of the cross you live on. And we got, I think, we're just starting question six. And we left it with that wonderful thought. Can you receive any rest from the world? And we had one response. hot baths. So we see that Phil is very much into the worldly things, hot baths, chocolate, the pleasures of this world. So I hope you have been pondering that for the last week. Is that true rest, is having a hot bath or chocolate? Is that what we mean by true rest?

I don't think so. Momentary. Momentary at best. So what does the world offer? Chaos. Nothing good. It really doesn't when you really look at it. Just looking at the news the other night and I think the first like eight stories were people who were killed or run over or whatever.

That was just here locally. Then you go to Chicago. or anything like that. Just how the world is. I think we were talking at lunch. It seems like the world is almost getting out of round. It's like a tire. It's a tire that's getting worse and worse and worse. Look around and what's going on. I hope that means the Lord is returning soon. Again, you don't get rest from the world.

So, what did Christ offer? Same thing? Trials? A hot bath? What does Christ offer? Same thing? Peace in the midst of trials. Peace in the midst of trials? What else? Is that basically it? Rest? Salvation. Salvation, yeah, number one. Salvation, and then you receive all the rest.

He offered us, I think, rest for our souls is how it goes. I think that's it. I was thinking about yours. That's temporary and it's kind of exterior. But the peace that He offers is the interior, the soul. In the midst of everything you go through, there's a peace. For me, the Lord's really been trying to show me about His sovereignty and the eternal love. So in the midst of anything, The rest is there.

Because in a trial, is he still in control? Did he allow that to happen? Absolutely. Sometimes very hard to understand that, when you couple it with the other half, which is, he has an eternal love for us. So how did he allow this trial to come in my life? Does he really love me? Performing as the image of Jesus. Yeah, so I mean, but a trial? Is that how you love somebody? Do you ever spank your kids? Never. That's not what they tell me. No, it is.

It's allowing you to, I think, understand your dependency upon him and the conforming. And he allows those trials in him. And I think that's when, you know, when the thing we're saying, it's come to this. You need to trust him. You know, in the midst of the worst trial, he brings you to that point where the world can't get you out of it. Nothing can get you out of it but Him. And is that where He wanted you?

I think absolutely. So, you know, I have several verses about what Christ offered. There are several verses that I think expresses the rest, the peace, all that He provides to us, that the world can't, you know. And I was thinking about this the other day. There was a guy, and I can't remember his name, and he was... I think I brought this up before, and it just seemed like it was a perfect example of what the world offers and what Christ offers.

He's a guy, and he... What's his name? Bill? Anyway, he was a guy who had all the worldly pleasures. He actually ran the largest prostitution ring west of the Mississippi. He had all the money and everything the world could provide. Everything. Going along great. I remember he met a believer and he said, you don't have peace. And he was like, what do you mean? I mean, I have every sensual thing you can have. I have all the money. I have everything you want. And just kind of shoved it in the back of his brain.

And what, a year later, two years later, they got busted. He was actually mafia too. He was organized crime. So they had a mafia lawyer there, or supposed to be, and at the day of the trial, he didn't show up. So he's there. Everything that he had was eroding around him. And I think he was in jail.

And what that believer said to him came back to him. And it's, you know, peace and the rest that Christ offered. And long story, he ended up getting out. He became a believer. And I think he's like the chaplain for some of the sheriff's departments around here now.

But the thing was, all that the world offered didn't satisfy him. And the peace and the rest that Christ offered was much more than whatever the world offered. And he finally realized that when it was all taken away and everything and all the things, he realized that that wasn't rest or enjoyment. It was temporal, not bad, but it wasn't lasting and it wasn't a deep understanding, that inner peace. And that's what really did it was a believer who just said, you don't have peace, you don't have rest. And that's what actually came to know the Lord later. So, again, what does Christ offer in John 14, 25 through 27?

These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all I said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. My peace, I always like that, it's His peace. I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." That's what he offered. Peace, and not as the world, you know, they give it to you and take it away and all that, and it's his peace. That's the thing I really like in this. How much peace does Christ have? And he gives that to us. It's like his glory, all the different things he gives to us, he gives us peace. Another one that I like is Matthew 11, 28-30.

Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. You will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So in the midst of the trials and all the different things, Take his yoke and you have the peace, the rest. Find rest for your souls. It doesn't say find rest in service or ministry or whatever. It's in him you have rest.

And then Hebrews 4, 1-3. Therefore, let us fear if while a promise remains of entering his rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also. But the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as he said."

Again, rest, peace. Hebrews 4, 8-11. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. So, this is the inner peace, the inner rest that you get through Christ. The world cannot give that to you, no matter what they promise. You know, when you look at a lot of like, I always look at this as another example, like sports figures. Trillion, million dollar contracts, have everything, and what do they do? Usually two things.

They either get in trouble and lose it all, Or they actually, the Lord brings them to Him. Because they've gotten to the top of the heap, and they're not satisfied. You have everything you've ever striven for, and you're empty. And they either go off the deep end, I think, a lot of times, or they actually, a lot of them, come to know the Lord.

Because I've had it all, and I still am not fulfilled. And so you see that a lot, I think, in a lot of these things. There was a guy who always didn't have that peace. He went through all sorts of things. wanting to become an astronaut, he's on the moon looking at the earth.

I feel empty. Yeah, I mean, when it really comes down to it, yeah, I mean, what a great position to be in, and you have everything, and yet you are, you're empty. And that's the thing that I think, you know, a lot of the world right now doesn't have is that rest. The world is spinning out of control. They don't know what's going on. They don't have any rest. And it's right there in Christ. It's ready for them.

To those who refuse or neglect to reckon themselves dead to sin as God commands, the question comes up, how are you able to believe that Christ really bared the guilt of your sins and that you will not meet them at Judgment Day? So, if you understand, the thought is, if you trust Him for salvation, everybody, yeah? But then, do you believe on your own? Are you supposed to slog it out yourself for the rest of your life here?

No, he promised us all these things, all those things that I read to you, he promised those. What is the problem? Ourselves. Ourselves. And what is the lack of faith? You don't believe the truth. And like I said, I've been going over a whole bunch of things. There's so many truths that he tells about us, but we don't believe it. Or we don't trust him. But we trusted him with salvations, and that's kind of the odd part. We trust him with salvations, but then all these other things he told us?

I don't know. I think that's where the spiritual growth comes. He'll take you through that, and that's the growth period, is where you're growing through this, and he's revealing these truths to you and making them real through faith. And that's where I think the spiritual growth and the maturing in Christ is when you start really understanding the truth of salvation is the same truth in all those things he's promised us.

And we don't believe it. And that's where we have lack of peace, lack of rest, trials that frustrate us because we don't believe it. So I think we basically fall back on, what do we typically fall back on? Self and feelings. Self, feelings, you know. Well, my experience is this. Then we typically try to find a scripture that will justify our feelings. We do it backwards. But we typically fall upon ourself and our feelings.

And that's not where we're supposed to live. were to live in His Word and by faith understand what He's told is true of us today, right now. So, I think that's where, you know, from the questions, you know, do you think there's any way to establish your soul in rest than this declaration from God? The answer is no. You can try, you know.

The Lord gives you five million dollars, twenty million dollars, a billion dollars, whatever. Is that going to satisfy you in the end? The other thing which I always like is with these guys, all these billionaires and everything. Have you ever seen a U-Haul behind a hearse? Can they take it with them? So you got 59 billion dollars and you die. Does that go with you? Again, what are you doing? What is eternal?

We were talking a minute ago about salvation and being saved, and I think sometimes that we get the information of the doctrine of salvation and we do believe it, but in the process we somehow miss the Savior. As you go on in your Christian life and the Lord tells you other things that he wants you to believe, it isn't... I mean, yeah, the doctrine is really important, but it's like, I know you and you know me and we've known each other a long time and I know that if you tell me something, I'm probably going to believe you because I know you, even if it's way off the wall somewhere. So I read in the Word of God, you know, things like the identification truths and from an objective empirical standpoint you have to look at God and say are you nuts?

I don't remember this happening. But because he said it, it has veracity and if I have any kind of intimacy with him I will believe him. And so I think sometimes where we miss, especially teachers miss, they miss teaching that intimacy with the person of Christ. Absolutely. I think, you know, we've talked about it. I always loved John 17. And that really shows the intimacy between the Father and the Son, but also with us.

And again, actually when I first met him, one of the first things he said was, you know, just read the Scriptures to know Him. Don't do huge elaborate studies, just read it. And it's get to know a person. Once you get to know a person, as Mike says, as you know a person more and more and longer and longer, you trust them more and more. It is exactly the same thing with Christ. The more and more we focus on Him and know Him, how He functions, you know, that's another thing.

If somebody is always, you know, how they function, you'll get to know that after a while. I know how a bike functions. But you know how they function. And you understand. When you get to be around somebody for 30 years, you almost know how they're going to say a sentence and you can end the sentence for them. You know how they function. You know how they react, how everything works.

Say, yes. No. Try 50. Try 53. Yeah, exactly. But that's just it though. But you know, you know how each other functions. And you know how they're going to respond. You know this. It's the same with Christ. As you know Him, you begin to trust Him when He tells us this stuff. If you don't know Him, you know, and then My kids hate that word, intimacy. In an intimate way, or in a way like that, you don't trust him. Because when he says something, it's just what these things are saying. We go, no, no, I don't think so. But what's the difference between what he said for salvation?

The other one, which is kind of an aside, is when we have the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit the same as it was in the early church? The same power, the same everything? Sure. That just kind of boggles my mind sometimes today that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the same when I read the scripture and what the Holy Spirit was doing back in the early church. The same power resides in me. It doesn't function the same way with all the miracles. In that function I think there are still things that happen, miracles that happen, but that same Holy Spirit, the exact same one, indwells you. I want to erase Christ from the world. Now all that is inside you. Now, do you believe that? And do you believe it's the same spirit?

Or do we get the 2017 version of the Holy Spirit? It definitely boggles the mind. It does, yeah. Yeah, I mean, because when you see what went on with the Holy Spirit in the early church in particular, there's a lot of manifestations and miracles and different things that I think have that have stopped or not as prevalent, maybe.

But it's the same power, same spirit in you. So when I'm reading the scripture and I see these things that the Holy Spirit does, wow, do I believe that same spirit is inside of me? Do I believe it? Well, if I trust Christ and His Word, the same. So when you're in that trial, when you're in that same indwelling Holy Spirit is in you, and the power of it.

So I, you know, just to kind of incite, this one boggles my mind, when you think about the same spirit that we read about in an early church and all that power still resides in you. So, not that we're going to be doing, like I said, huge miracles and different things, but the same power resides in you today, so. Okay. Question 7, when God says we are to obey Him, what does that mean? Does this mean we're just under another law system that we need to obey?

We've gone from the written law to the spiritual law? So, we're looking at verses 11 and 12. where it says that we're in the imperative, which is a command, reckon ourselves dead under sin and alive under God, verse 11, or in the remaining, therefore do not Is that a command? Let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lust and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Are these just new Christian laws? Are we under a law system again? No, I think he has very plainly told us what he desires of us. And then he wants us to act on the information he's provided. That's what obey means to me. Act on what you know. Okay.

Other thoughts? Yeah, I'm expanding that. Any other thoughts? Well, it's sort of like allowing him to be in control of yourself instead of you being in control of yourself. Does that make sense? I don't know. What I find is like the Lord will remind me, let me know, like, oh, you made that decision on your own. How did that go? Well, he allows it. I think that's the thing. That's where the trials and everything else. Does he allow you to sin? Yes, he does. Yes, he does. You know, he allows you to sin. which is kind of a freakish thing when you think about it, but he allows you, because what?

Okay, you think you have a great idea and a great thing and this is going to lead you to it. Okay. Go ahead. Here it is. And what does that typically lead you to do? Come back to him and go, you're right. And you know, a lot of the things, Job's, I love the speeches to Job. After he thinks he's such a hot shot, God kind of gives him those three speeches.

Where were you when we created the world? Where were you when we did all this? Are you up to speed? Are you okay with that? Are you pretty much smart as I am to get this universe together and hold it together and do all this stuff? What are you thinking there, Joe?

But he allows us to go in that path to go, you're right. So he allows us to sin, which I think a lot of people don't understand. is, you know, allowing to sin. You know, as believers, He allows us to sin. I was worried about that. He's already paid for what we're doing. Oh, yeah. Yeah, on the cross, He's already done it. He's already paid for it. Yeah. Which is why He can allow us to do it, because He's already paid for it. But it's like He gives you that awareness. You know, you're in that moment and you're aware.

Oh, oops. Oopsie. I did it again. Or whatever it is, you know. And then maybe next time you're aware that you didn't do it. Yeah, we'll get into it. And kind of an interesting thing. And I thought it was wackadoodle, which most people think I am. But it was confirmed with him. He's as strange as I am.

So when we get to reckonings. OK. So, you know, again, it's the principle of logical imperatives. We are to, you know, based on faith in what God said is true about us. It's not a law. And it's kind of what you were saying. On basis of the facts, you act. Not, you know, when we get to it, the therefores. The therefores. Okay.

All this information that we've given to you, now, therefore, because based on all this information that's true about you, therefore, Reckon yourself dead. Therefore, don't go on pretending your body is instruments of unrighteousness. But it's based on all the facts and the truths that he's already told you. So you're acting on what he's already told you in his words.

It's basically doubting souls fall back on their feelings and turn back to prayers and struggles, avoiding faith. trusting in what he said. You know, we go back to the feeling, or you know, the infamous thing that I can never remember. Faith in the facts is like train on the tracks. Facts lead and the feelings follow. So it's facts first, and then you believe.

Okay? All right, so now the next one, which is kind of, I think this is where we get into this, now I made a section. Question eight. Based on the command in verse 11, what would you say is the very essence of a holy walk? So verse 11 is, even so, consider yourself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. So what is the essence of that? Crickets. So what is the essence of that? So what does it say to do? What is the essence of it? Reckon yourselves or consider yourselves dead first, and then what?

Alive. Alive. Two parts. Reckon dead, and then reckon yourself dead, which then gets us out of the, which we've learned all the identification truths about our identification with Adam. We're now able to, through the separation of death, now be placed into Christ, and now what? We're alive to God. Okay, so those are true. So the essence of faith is believing in what God said about us. We're dead, and then we're alive. So that's really the essence of our walk, is understanding those principles. Do you reckon yourselves dead unto sin?

And reckoning is really not an activity that you do, it's an understanding of what's already true. What's already true. And again, believing. It's believing what's true of you. Yeah, funny, more and more it always comes back to faith. I'm dying of the heat here. It comes back to faith in believing what he said.

Are you dead? Number one. Did you die? Absolutely. He told us. Then what? We're alive. Two principles that you're dead first and then out of that death or baptism into his death, placed into his death, we now have resurrected life. That's the essence of the Holy Rock is recognizing those facts.

So look in Galatians 5.24.

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. So is that the part of reckoning yourself dead? Yeah, what do they say? Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Reckon yourself dead. Crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. So again, the essence is reckoning yourself dead, that crucifixion, co-crucifixion, Romans And then this in 11, not only you're dead, that'd be kind of a tragic end, if you only had that part of it, but what's the second part?

It's alive unto God. So we've been separated, which gets all the Adamic history out of our position, and then positionally we're placed into Christ. And now his history, again, where's the rest, peace, and all the things he promised us? In Christ. Where are we placed? In Christ. Okay?

In verse 12, we are commanded not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies. Why? And it says, Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you may obey its lusts. And do not go on presenting your members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. So the first thing to look at is in verse 12, therefore. What is the therefore, therefore?

Consider everything you've read before that. And what did he tell us before that? Consider yourself dead to sin. Dead to sin, Romans 6, verse 6, are we being crucified with Christ? Okay, so all those things. Now therefore, because of all this, based on the facts expressed in verses, one culminating in verse 11, we're not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies. Now the question is, how do we do that? By believing the first part. By believing. It comes back to faith. Do you believe you're dead to it?

So, remember that Reckon is in the middle voice. Therefore, we know that the Holy Spirit is working in us. That's half of the one working on it. But we're actively participating in that also, in our reckoning. So the Holy Spirit is convicting, convincing us, and we are responding to that. So that's the middle voice. The other is us believing by faith what God has said is true about us. We have positionally died to sin. Do you believe that? positionally. We're dead. Not associated with it. Conditionally is another thing.

So how does this work out today at 2pm when a temptation or sinful behavior pops up? So how do you do that? The reckoning. later this afternoon after we've had our nice wonderful time here and then you go home and it's sinful temptation or sin you know it can be anything I mean you know there are people who struggle with alcohol and there are people now unfortunately in Colorado with marijuana or anger or whatever when that pops up how do you deal with it? how do you reckon? How do you deal with that? Two o'clock today, when that...

If you've gone ahead and sinned, you better confess. Confess. And what does that... we always make that... Pardon? What does that mean by our confession? First John 1, 9? We agree with God that what we did was... Not in accordance with who we are. Not in accordance with His holiness. Yeah, and who we are in Christ. So what happens? How do you do that reckoning? This is where I thought it was strange. We talked about it and it was like, well, I'm not so strange. We're both strange.

You all know that. How do you do that? You have to say no to the old man. Say no to the old man and its desires. I mean, these are real shoe leather things. How does it work when that temptation comes? I think the Holy Spirit works in there, too. Well, that's the middle voice. To remind, you know, when that temptation comes, you know, you've probably run down that trail so many times. Oh, yeah. And the Holy Spirit, you know, interrupts that activity in your brain and gives you an out, because he shows you who you are. Some other answers. How do you, when that temptation comes, what do you do? Flee. Flee? Abide. Abide? In what he's told you? So how does that happen? How do you abide? Rest. Step back and rest and trust him. Others? Come on. If that sin tempts you, what do you do? I was sitting there thinking, I have this terrific dog, this chocolate lab, and I have trained him not to ever leave the kitchen. use him as a metaphor. So he is a slave to my sinfulness. You're going to stay there until I tell you you can leave. And he won't even venture down the hallway, even with the temptations. But if I say to him, OK, you can leave now. Come on, we're leaving.

It's like he bolts out of there to freedom. It's like us being under the slave of sin. We're so used to it that when the freedom comes, we think, it's like him. He kind of goes down the hall and goes, Until he knows he's free to leave. And when he's free, when we know we're free, then we will leave. We will, by faith, walk out of that bondage of sin.

The Spirit is persuading us as we go. The Word is there. We're finding out. And we discover, my goodness, I am free. I really am free. That's the reckoning. I really am free. And I am free from the whole sin thing, initially because God told me. But as the Spirit works you through this, He really does. The Lord said, I will make you free indeed. And that's what He means, free from sin.

Free from the entire old Adamic existence. And I think about, I can't help but think about my dog, who I trained never to leave the kitchen. I was trained by Satan never to leave sin. Never leave the legal sort of aspect of being under the dominion of sin. But I am free. And it takes a while, I think, the spirit to persuade you, hey, wait a minute, you really are free.

That's what the therefore is there for. You know, I think one of the things we talked about, and there are times when you know, whatever the temptation, whatever the thing is. And I said, you know, sometimes I verbally say, wrecking myself dead. Verbally. I say that. When the temptation's there and I'm thinking about it and it's like, wrecking myself dead, wrecking myself dead. I verbally say that, which I found out he says that sometimes too. I mean there's times when I really have come to that point where, and it's really claiming, not claiming, that's a bad word, it's really trusting in what he said. But there's sometimes I verbally say it to myself just because the temptation is so great that I'm dead to that. That's what the scripture says and I am dead to it. Don't touch.

You know, in The Hungry Heart this morning it said that we're separated from, I think you could also say we're freed from, the old man, the law, the devil, the world, all of those things. And one of the verses that we knew quoted was Isaiah 7-9 where it says, If you do not believe, you will not be established. And you're talking about establishing our souls. So it all comes down to believing what we know, what He tells us. That's why, like I said, I've become, that's why the last part of this class on faith is the key. That is the bedrock of all of this.

Do you believe it? And it's almost like, do you know it now? I can read it here and I believe, but do I actually know it inside of me? Absolutely. And that's where I think the Holy Spirit's working that through you. And that's where, you know, do you really trust? Do you do it? Okay, here it is. Here it is. Do you really believe it?

And what was so succinct in here was that if you said you really didn't believe God, you believed what he said. The flip side of it is you didn't believe him. I responded. No, that's exactly the flip side is by me going off and doing that, I didn't believe him. I didn't have to do that, but I did. I don't believe you.

I find it interesting when we are faced with our sin nature and making those choices or the temptations that sometimes it can be a full day or a week or however long that period is of wrecking ourselves dead to it and aligning with Christ which was true about us. I think it's just amazing when you're faced with those temptations or in the midst of sin 10 minutes ago or a month ago when it was done, it was done. And it's not any longer true of you.

I just think it's the more we grow in Christ and understand our relationship with Him, the quicker we can come out of those temptations and remind ourselves that that's not who we are, that's not our history. And it can be an immediate alignment. with Christ? Yeah, I think it's again the relationship with Him, a person. When you have that relationship, you trust Him, you're manifesting Him, and I think those truths will come out as you know Him personally.

And then you can trust Him, all the things He said, and that temptation comes, that's not who I am. That's because I'm My focus is on Christ. I find the biggest thing is too, for me, is when my eyes get off of Christ, that's when I crater. When I'm not thinking of Him or I know, and I talk to, I'm always talking to the Lord all day long, in all situations and things, but when my focus is off of Him, that's when I fail.

And that's really where, you know, the thought of having just a relationship with him every day, spending time with him. Yeah, we heard this morning some lady who's on whatever the Christian station. Yeah, I'm so tired of social media and how much time I spend on it. So what I'm going to do is, I'm only going to do it as long as I can plank. She said, I get stronger and I get off the social media, the thing. But I thought, well, OK. But, you know, again, it's time with a person. time with that person. 50, how many years? 50 some odd years?

I think you kind of know the guy by sight. You kind of know him, you know, after that many years. Again, it's the same principle with Christ. The more we know him, the more you know him. You know, the more time you spend with him, and not just, you know, I think of how much time we spend on, and I, looking in the mirror, you know, time on other things, but how much time do we spend with him? I don't want to make it a law or anything like that, but just try and figure out how much time you spend with him, to know him, and how valuable that time is versus time on anything else. Watching the news, watching social media, watching anything else. You spend how much time on that, but how much time do you actually spend with the Lord?

I look in the mirror myself and I've Like I said, I'm always talking to the Lord, always thinking about it, trying, but then when the little carrot comes over here, oh man, and that's when I fail and when I have the problems. But again, it's a relationship with a person. And then once you have that relationship, you can trust Him when He tells us these things. There are a bunch of hungry hearts that I had with this one.

431, the believer is never told to overcome sin. but to reckon on the ground of his death with Christ that he has died to it. On the basis of death, he is told not to let sin reign in his life. It is to be dealt with by an attitude of death, not by overcoming. The believer, therefore, is not to be spending his whole life in getting victory over sin, but understanding his position as having died unto sin." I thought that was really good. We're already dead. Why are we trying to overcome it? Believe him. Believe what he said.

And 430, voluntary humility, neglecting of the body, fasting, etc. have a show of wisdom. They gratify religious pride and self-righteousness. They puff up the fleshly mind, but they have not any value against the indulgence of the flesh. The flesh is not subdued by fasting, nor pride by whipping, nor worldliness, nor neglect of the body. These are of no avail though men glory in them.

Only the Holy Spirit brings one into liberty, and that via the cross. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." Again, the nothing that we can do, the fasting, all the showy things that we can do, is not against how we overcome sin. It's believing in what He's already told, what He's told us is true about us.

There's a couple other ones at 5.5. The victorious Christian life, this is 5.4, the victorious Christian life is a person, not an experience. Thought that was really good. And then 5.5, let the facts of your position overwhelm the feelings of your condition. Those are just some fantastic things that they had in Hungerheart. And this morning's one was really good. Again, it's a person. You know them. You trust them. You believe them. Then you have victory over sin. Because you already do. You already do.

Question 10. Maybe we can get to this and get through this. If I'm dead to sin, how can it still reign? Is that two? Quickly, how do we do that one? If I'm dead to sin, how can it still reign? It can't. But we can succumb to it. He's told us we're dead to it.

But the thing I think this also tells us, what does this tell us about our nature? Or what is true about us and our nature or natures? We have two. You know, for the single nature people, that who, you know, now that we're believers, we only have one nature, it's the Christ nature and that's it. How do you reckon these things when don't let it rain in your mortal body? Well, if we don't have a sin nature in there too, how does it rain or how does it, you know, how do you present your body as unrighteousness and all that? I think these tell us that there's two natures in us. And then it's again believing that we have been separated by death. Alright, we will maybe finish. I've got a couple, two or three more. We can maybe get through that pretty quick, these last ones. Let's close in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you again just for these truths that we have. We are to reckon ourselves dead unto sin and alive unto you. Again, it's just trusting what you have said is true. And we realize that trust comes from knowing you and realizing who you are and when you say it, the veracity of what those statements are. And we rest in those facts. We rest, again, as we've learned, there's no rest in the world. The rest comes through you.

And again, we just thank you for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the convincing and convicting of us of your Word by the Holy Spirit. We thank you for that. That is continual, never-ending, and it's through your love of us that you have that continual drawing of us to you. And we just thank you for this time. We pray for Vern as he gives us the message. and the next service and just be accurate and true and prepare hearts to receive it. We thank you for all these things in Jesus name.