THE STRUGGLE
Preached on Sunday, 24 August 2008
At Shiloh Baptist Church
Waukegan, Illinois
Song: In The Name Of JESUS We Have The Victory
Text - Romans 7:14-15; 24-25
(v.14) For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
(v.15) For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
(v.24) O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
(v.25) I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Subject: The Struggle which in essence means ... the things that I should do, I don’t do, and the things that I should not do ... well, ok ... that’s what I do.
The Struggle
• Of right and wrong
• Of good and bad
• Of telling the truth or telling a lie
• Of helping or hurting someone
• Of healing or hindering
The Struggle
• Of being a blessing or being a curse
• Of yielding to temptation
• Of saying no when your mind and body says ... oh yes
• Of being strong when you feel oh so weak
• The struggle of pressing on when you feel like giving up
• Of given into temptation when you know that consequences could lead to death
I talking about the struggles of life ... the struggle with sin.
You know the things that I should do, I don’t do, and the things that I don’t have any business doing, well, ok ... that is what I do.
O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death ... I’m talking about the struggle
You know ... I like this passage of scripture right here because Paul helps us to understand that even as believers ... we will still are going to have some problems, situations, circumstances ... and oh yes, some struggles in this life.
Well that begs the question ... what is this struggle and how can I defeat it.
I. THE STRUGGLE IS WITH SIN
Oh yes, the first thing that we need to understand ... right off the bat is that the struggle is with sin. No need in beating around the bush, no need to sugar coating it, no need to find a Greek word to better define it ... it is what it is ... my struggle is with SIN.
Not sin in general ... yes, I know that sin is sin, however, I am convinced that this type of struggle typically happens with what I call my secret sin.
You know the things that we try to hid. What I like to call the “take to the grave type of sin.”
You do not tell and I will not tell -- type of sins. The Alicia Keys ... just think of me as a page in your diary type of sin.
Well let’s face it ... I don’t ordinarily struggle with things that I am good at. In fact, that would not be called a struggle at all. My struggles usually occur in areas where I am the weakest -- you know, the area called flesh.
You see this type of struggle that I and just maybe some of you are faced with in our life is with sins ... that one knows that they have no business doing ... yet they find themselves doing it over and over again. The desire to quit is there, yet the fleshly desire for “one more time; one mo gen” is oh so strong.
I need to let ya’ll know this morning that this ain’t no kiddy sermon. In fact, we goanna deal with some things that just might convince you, convicted you and if you are not saved convert you.
I’m talking about the struggle...
You know, let put it this way: with relationships that you know you have no business being involved with.
You know that he is no good, the Spirit has convicted you; you know that you need to get out; you know that you need to leave him; or need to leave her... yet the flesh (the desire) keeps you coming back for more.
I’m talking about the struggle ... and this struggle is with sin ... don’t believe me, it is right here in the text (v.14)
For we know ...
in other words, Paul is saying I’m not telling you anything new. In fact, I spent all of chapter 6 and 13 verse of chapter seven telling you what I’m about to tell you again ...
that the law is spiritual: So don’t get it twisted, this is God law. In fact, (v.12) helps us to understand that GOD’s Laws is holy, and the commandments holy, and just, and good. You see ... it ain’t nothing wrong with GOD’s Law.
Well if that is the case, what is the problem, what is this struggle all about?
Well, brace yourself, here comes the answer it is right here in our text
(v.14) but I am carnal (fleshly; incapable of yielding spiritual obedience), sold under sin.
You see, Paul helps us to understand that just because we are saved does not mean that we will no longer struggle with sin. I hate to be the one to tell you, yes, even as believers we are still subject to sin’s penalty (physical death).
As a result, indwelling sin continues to seek to claim what it considers its property (your flesh) even after one has become a Christians.
You look confused ... well allow me to help you while I help myself...
You see, Paul here was describing the conflict that he as a Christian was having with indwelling sin and its continuing efforts to control his daily life.
Watch this ... which is why he wrote when describing this struggle...
(v.17) Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
(v.20) Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
So what is the problem, what is this struggle all about?
Well that brings us back to our first point ... THE STRUGGLE IS WITH SIN
Brothers and sisters ... I am a firm believer that some of us my be struggling with what I like to call an eye problem.
Not an eye problem as in I need glasses; but an “I” problem as in “I” try to solve spiritual matters in our own strength and power.
Here is proof (v.15-19) walk with me
(v.15) For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
(v.19) For the good that I would I do not: but the evil, which I would not, that I do.
(v.20) Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Now there is really no need to vote the “I” have it.
Well some of you may be wondering “wait a second” If Jesus has died on the cross and washed away all of my sins, then why do still struggle? Why is life so hard?
Well that leads us to our second point...
II. SOLUITIONS FOR YOUR STRUGGLE
So why do still struggle? Why is life so hard? ...
Lets see ... well preacher, I know you goanna tell me that I need to renew my mind and to present my body as a living sacrifice. Well, I know Romans 12:1-2 ... yet I still struggle.
Lets see ... I know you goanna tell me ... if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Yeah, I know 2 Cor. 5:17, been saved for over 25 years ... yet as a believer, I still struggle with sin.
I know you goanna tell me, I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me ... yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah ... one of my favorite passage of scripture (I know it by heart) ... yet, I’m still struggling.
You see, I don’t need your church answers this morning -- truth of the matter, you probably ain’t living by them anyway.
• I want to know what you really do when you take your collar off
• I want to know what you do when you take your robe off
• I want know what you do when you take your title off
I don’t need no churchy answers this morning
• Yes, I know the Lord will make a way somehow ... but bills are late; gas is too high; my wife is talking about leaving me; my husband is cheating on me; my children don’t respect me ... my job is about to lay me off
• I’m going through some stuff and I need to talk to some real folks who ain’t ashamed of their testimony. Because I need help ... I’m struggling with this thing called sin.
And I do not know of anybody better than Paul to tell this type of story.
You see ... Paul help us to understand that knowledge is not enough. You see, he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God (cf. Acts 22:3).
Yet knowledge of the law and its consequences was not enough ... he still struggled with sin.
Watch this...
(v.18) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
In other words ... I have the desire to do what is good, yet I still to keep coming up short when it comes to carrying it out.
Ok ... I can that this is a tough crowd ... So here the practical application
How many of you ever made a New Years Eve resolution? How many of you have ever said, this is the week. This is the month or years that I’m going to lose weight.
Starting Monday, I’m going to start waking up at 0500 (5:00 am) and work out. Monday morning, this is the day that I am going get up early and jump on the treadmill. Then a month of Mondays comes and goes... 5 years later, you still haven’t started working out.
How about this ... this is the year that I am going to stop smoking or drinking ... this is it, I know that this stuff is not good for me, this is it, ... well, that was five years ago ... now you have gone from one pack to two.
This reminds me of a story once told by Tommy Lasorda, the former Los Angeles Dodgers Manger (Baseball Coach) about his battle with bad habits.
Lasorda says ... he took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket starred at them ad said ... who is stronger you or me? The Answer was me, so he stopped smoking.
Lasorda then says that he took a vodka martini and said to it ... who is stronger, you or me? Again, the answer was me so he stopped drinking.
Then he decided to go on a diet ... he said that he looked at a big plate of linguine and clam sauce and said ... who is stronger you or me? Lasorda says, the little clam looked up at him and said ... I AM.
Lasorda concluded ... I tried to lose weight but I just can’t seem to beat linguine.
I am sure that most of you would agree ... that some things are easier said than done when it comes to breaking a habit that you are struggling with...
So let us recap ...
#1. We have discovered that the struggle is with sin. Not just any sin, yes I know sin is sin. Yet, we do not typically struggle with thing that we are good at ... this type of struggle is with the thing that we know we don’t have no business doing ... we know better, yet the desire (the struggle) is oh so strong.
#2. We discovered that knowledge is not enough ... We all know right from wrong. We all understand that the wages of sin is death. Truth of the mater we all have probably made hundreds of promised that we will not do it anymore ... yet with all of the knowledge, with all of our understanding ... the desire (the struggle) is oh so strong that even though we know better ... we do it anyway.
The truth of the matter is that this struggle with sin is not a struggle that you can win by yourself anyway. Which leads us to our third and final point
III. STRENGTH FOR THE STRUGGLE
You see Paul knew the law, yet knowledge was not enough. He knew the law forward and backwards; and backwards and forward, or shall I say, like the back of his hand ... Yet knowing the Law was not enough.
You see ... the only thing that knowing the law did, was revealed that he was a sinner.
Hence is why he writes in (v.24)
O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
O wretched man that I am ...
• sold, under sin;
• indwelt by sin;
• enslaved to sin (the law of sin)
• who shall deliver me from the body of his death.
Excuse me ... allow me to paint the picture.
You see as customary, to Paul style of writing he wrote and taught using illustrations and visual images of his day and time.
Case in point (v.24) it is said that near Tarsus, where Paul was born a certain ancient tribe sentenced convicted murders to have the one whom they had slain, tightly strapped upon their back until the convicted murder because infected by the victims deceased body and consequently succumb to the infection and die.
This is why some believe that he used this allegory to express “who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
The Struggle...
• Everytime I try to do good, evil is always there
• Every good word
• Every good deed
• Every good thought
• Every good motive
• Every good thing that I try to do in my life is challenged by evil.
But Paul does not leave it right there (v.25) he declares his strength for the struggle.
You see ... this struggle with sin is not in knowledge (how many scriptures you know); it is not in pedigree (your family tree); we are all God’s children ... yet we still struggle.
Paul ... in our text is demonstrating that through it all. No matter what you are going through, no matter what you are struggling with ... we need to thank GOD through JESUS CHRIST who is the source of my strength.
So to answer the question, how can I find deliverance from this dilemma (this struggle). The answer, you cannot but Jesus can.
You see ... Paul vividly illustrates the weakness of the Law of Moses...
• Yes the law is holy, yes the law is good, yet it did not offer true deliverance
• It did not offer deliverance from the guilt and power of sin
• You could want to do good and the day long , yet the ability to truly do as you should is not there
So to answer the question, how can I find deliverance from this dilemma (this struggle). The answer, you cannot but Jesus can.
In the name of Jesus ... we have the victory...
It right here in the Chapter 8
(v.1) There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
(v.2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
(v.3) For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
As I close, I will leave you with this story about a Chinese Christian who shared his testimony about what it was like when he became a believer, he says it was like...
“I was walking through the road of life and I fell into a great ditch. Now this was no ordinary ditch...
• this ditch was the ditch was filled with depression,
• discouragement and sin.
He goes on to say that as he laid in that ditch
• Mohammed came along and said it is your own fault you are in the ditch. You see offended Allah and this is your just punishment
• Then Buddha came along and said you are not really in that ditch. You just think you are there. It is all an illusion of the mind. Be at peace and learn to live in your ditch.
• Then Confucius came by and said, here are the ten steps of self-attainment by which you can get out of your ditch. If you will climb and struggle, you will climb out eventually. But as much as I struggled and strained, I could not get out of the ditch because it was too deep.
• Then one day, Jesus Christ came by and saw me in my ditch.
• Without a word, He reached down and lifted me up with His everlasting arm arms and pulled me out of the ditch and I thank God that Jesus did for me what I could not do for myself.
The morale of the story ... is that some of you may feel like you too are
• stuck in a ditch
• stuck in a ditch of desire
• stuck in a ditch of hopelessness
• stuck in a ditch of discouragement
• stuck in a ditch filled with depression
Somebody may be saying...
• I’m tired of struggling
• I’m so tired of trying
• I’m so tired of failing
• I’m tired of trying to do right
• I’m tried of trying to live right and yet ... nothing seems to turn out right
• I’m so tired of putting out all this effort to improve my life with no results
Well ... I stop by to tell you this morning
• that it is time to stop trying to make it on your own and to time to start trusting in Jesus
• that it is time to stop trying and to time to start thanking Jesus for what HE has already done for you
Well ... preacher, where is the strength for my struggle ... I’m so glad you asked.
(v.25) I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
You see ... Paul is saying
• I thank God — the Source
• through Jesus Christ — the Channel of deliverance
• for doing for me what I could not do for myself
Let me make it personal ... I thank GOD through Jesus Christ
• you see ... although I’m struggling with sin and with self ... HE still love me
• Although I am struggling to get right. Although I do some things that I shouldn’t and don’t do some things that I should -- I thank GOD through JESUS CHRIST that HE still love me
Some of you may be wondering why Paul says that he thank GOD through JESUS CHRIST
• Come here John ... help me
John 3:16
• For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
So that’s why ... I thank GOD through Jesus Christ
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
That I why ... I thank GOD through JESUS CHRIST
Romans 10:13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
So Paul is saying ... I thank GOD trough JESUS CHRIST because if it had not been for the LORD on my side ... Well you fill in the blanks
O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this death... the answer JESUS.
Yet ... through all of his struggling, he thanks GOD for JESUS CHRIST
And that is the message, that no matter what you are going through ... we need to thank GOD for JESUS CHRIST.
Because if it had not been for the LORD on my side, I would have thrown in the towel along time a go.
I thank GOD for JESUS CHRIST
• That no weapon for me against me shall prosper
• Yes, it is true, that I can do all things through CHRIST who strengths me
• For reaching down and pulling me up out the pit of despaired
• For reaching out and bring into HIS everlasting love
• I thank GOD ... for sending HIS SON JESUS to die on an old rugged cross for you and for me.
• That early Sunday Morning ... while the dew was still on the grave -- early Sunday morning HE got up with all power in HIS hand
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ
Tell me who can stand before us us ... when we call of that great name ... Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus ... we have the victory.
BENEDICTION
Numbers 6:24-26
24. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
25. The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Amen.
