It's Time To Yield Series

Series: Follow the Signs

Title: It is time to Yield

Being in Brazil gave me the basis for todays sermon

If you have ever driven in Brazil you know how “exciting” it can be.

Tell the story about Greg:

As we were driving through downtown brazil I was continually amazed at how often cars would cut in front of us or dart out of side streets. We were making a right turn merging with a round about lane. As we started the turn a car darted out of the lane beside us and Greg hit his brakes. Greg had a choice, he could yield or he could continue his current path. He chose to yield and because he did, we avoided what probably would have been really bad accident.

Today we are going to talk about yielding our lives to Christ

YIELD sign

Similar to the story in Brazil, when we chose not to yield, we open ourselves up to trouble in our lives.

It is our option to yield, it is our decision.

Let’s look at the scripture.

This scripture is talking about the old nature and the new nature of a christian

Romans 7:15-25

7:15

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

7:16

And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

7:17

As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

7:18

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

7:19

For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.

7:20

Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

7:21

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

7:22

For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;

7:23

but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

7:24

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

7:25

Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

The new nature doesn’t understand what the old nature is doing.

Have you ever felt like Paul?

I know I have.

Have you ever struggled with a sin or something in your life that you give into and then you just hate yourself afterwards?

Isn’t it frustrating when you do something that you don’t want to do? It obviously was frustrating to Paul

There are three stages in Pauls life and this is one of them.

As you probably know, the first stage was that Paul was a devout, proud Pharisee under the Mosaic system of Law.

Then He met Christ on the Damascus road. A second stage in his life was to follow Christ.

He feels He can live the Christian life and the new nature says I’m going to live for God and that was where he failed.

The third stage. Then there comes a time when he has victory and He realizes he cannot do it but only God and He must yield.

These are the same stages that most Christians today experience. The question we should look at is what stage are we in in our walk today.

Paul learned three things that are vitally important in His life and in our lives.

First, in verse 18, 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.

Have you learned this about yourself?

Do we really get it that there is no good thing living in my flesh.

So many times we want to or try to live the Christian life in the flesh and not in the spirit.

We have great plans

We get on committees or teams because of what we can do and where we want to take the church

We move into leadership or other areas in the church and we try to do all of this through our own power and not through the power of the holy spirit

We think that through our flesh we can please God. That our works will somehow be pleasing.