WHEN YOU FEEL YOU ARE MISSING THE FULLNESS OF JOY
Part one
The Causes and Cure of Spiritual Weariness - Pastor Ed Pruitt
Sunday July 30, 2000
Freedom To Obey God!
Romans 6:15-23
15 So since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does this mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!
Paul now asks a slightly different question than he did previously. In 6:1 he sought to correct any misunderstanding as to the relationship of the believer to grace. Now he wishes to correct any misunderstanding that might arise as to the believer’s relation to the law. Neither the submission to the former, nor release from the latter, is to be construed as an encouragement to sin.
See how the apostle starts at such a thought (v. 15): Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. What can be more black and ill-natured than from a friend’s extraordinary expressions of kindness and good-will to take occasion to affront and offend him? To spurn at such bowels, to spit in the face of such love, is that which, between man and man, all the world would cry out shame on.
16 Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.
17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given you.
6:17. The term conversion refers to the human response to the gospel, while regeneration is God’s creation of a new nature in the one who believes.
Conversion requires the commitment of the total personality, intellect, emotion, and will.
This is how people respond to the message of the gospel, when they understand the nature of Christ’s atonement, feel the guilt of conviction, love God, and surrender their wills to the offer of salvation.
The result of conversion is the changed life.
Illustration: Paul noted that the Romans had been servants of sin, but had “obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine,” that is, the gospel.
Application: Just as conversion results in our obtaining salvation and ultimate liberty from sin, so a continuous yielding of our will to God as Christians is the key to spiritual victory
4. He argues from their former sinfulness, where we may observe,
(1.) What they had been and done formerly. We have need to be often reminded of our former state. Paul frequently remembers it concerning himself, and those to whom he writes.
[1.] You were the servants of sin. Those that are now the servants of God would do well to remember the time when they were the servants of sin, to keep them humble, penitent, and watchful, and to quicken them in the service of God.
It is a reproach to the service of sin that so many thousands have quitted the service, and shaken off the yoke; and never any that sincerely deserted it, and gave themselves to the service of God, have returned to the former drudgery.
18 Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness.
6:18. The believer is not free to do whatever he wants. He is free only to do that which is consistent with the character of God. True freedom is freedom from sin.
19 I speak this way, using the illustration of slaves and masters, because it is easy to understand. Before, you let yourselves be slaves of impurity and lawlessness. Now you must choose to be slaves of righteousness so that you will become holy.
6:19. Holiness: They are set apart from the practice of sin and set apart to the practice of righteousness.
v. 19. It is the misery of a sinful state that the body is made a drudge to sin, than which there could not be a baser or a harder slavery, like that of the prodigal that was sent into the fields to feed swine.
You have yielded. Sinners are voluntary in the service of sin.
The devil could not force them into the service, if they did not yield themselves to it. You see the devil can only suggest or tempt he cannot force us to do anything, that come from our own choice.
This will justify God in the ruin of sinners, that they sold themselves to work wickedness: it was their own act and deed.
To iniquity unto iniquity. Every sinful act strengthens and confirms the sinful habit: to iniquity as the work unto iniquity as the wages.
Sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind; growing worse and worse, more and more hardened.
20 In those days, when you were slaves of sin, you weren’t concerned with doing what was right.
"You were altogether void of that which is good, void of any good principles, motions, or inclinations, void of all subjection to the law and will of God, of all conformity to his image.
And this you were highly pleased with, as a freedom and a liberty.
But a freedom from righteousness is the worst kind of slavery.’’
21 And what was the result? It was not good, since now you are ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.
[2.] It is an unbecoming service;
It is that of which we are now ashamed—ashamed of the folly, ashamed of the filth, of it.
Shame came into the world with sin, and is still the certain product of it-either the shame of repentance, or, if not that, eternal shame and contempt.
Who would wilfully do that which sooner or later he is sure to be ashamed of?
22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
6:23. Wages: Emphasizes what we deserve. Gift of God: Emphasizes God’s unmerited favor.
6:23. The penalty of sin is death, both spiritual and physical.
The moment Adam sinned he died spiritually; in that sense, everyone is born dead in sin (Eph. 2:1).
Ephesians 2:1
1 Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins.
Physical death, described as the separation of the body and spirit (James 2:26), is the ultimate result of sin.
James 2:26
26 Just as the body is dead without a spirit, so also faith is dead without good deeds.
People who die in their sin (in an unsaved state) will have to face a “second death” portrayed as a “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).
Revelation 20:15
15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Application: The only escape from this second death is to receive the gift of eternal life in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is true of every sin.
There is no sin in its own nature venial.
Death is the wages of the least sin.
Sin is here represented either as the work for which the wages are given, or as the master by whom the wages are given; all that are sin’s servants and do sin’s work must expect to be thus paid.
This is the gift of God.
The death is the wages of sin, it comes by desert; but the life is a gift, it comes by favour. Sinners merit hell, but saints do not merit heaven.
There is no proportion between the glory of heaven and our obedience; we must thank God, and not ourselves, if ever we get to heaven.
And this gift is through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is Christ that purchased it, prepared it, prepares us for it, preserves us to it; he is the Alpha and Omega, All in all in our salvation.
I would like to speak this morning about spiritual weariness.
There comes to many of us the sense of drudgery.
A lack of joy and lightness in our walk with the Lord.
There are many reasons for this, and we will look at those as well as the Scriptural solutions!
The power of the gospel works, it works in me, it works in you and it will work in anyone that will allow it to work!
People can be made new creatures in Christ Jesus.
We have a Hope of Eternal Life, not only a Hope but an assurance that we are going to have an eternal life!
You might say how can I make that statement?
That is truly a scriptural statement.
Jesus Christ is the say yesterday, today and forever, he does not lie!
Let’s look at,
1 Peter 1:3-9
3 All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.
4 For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
5 And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last day for all to see.
1:3–5. The portrayal of salvation looks to the future. The author of salvation is portrayed as the blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The work of salvation (vv. 3–5) is described as to its effect. Hath begotten us again refers to a new stage of life that begins at salvation.
This lively hope has no element of uncertainty, for it is guaranteed by Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
The believer’s inheritance is described as incorruptible imperishable or indestructible, and undefiled (i.e., morally untainted).
Salvation here refers to final salvation, that is, deliverance from the presence of sin and into the presence of God.
6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
9 Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
1:6–9. The problem of salvation looks to the present.
Earthly trials constitute a problem of our salvation, but they are only for a season, or temporary.
Manifold temptations means diversified trials.
True faith cannot be destroyed though God is in the process of refining faith through our trials.
I have gradually developed the conviction that many of our troubles in the Christian life come from not making a proper start.
It’s just like buttoning up your shirt, if the first button isn’t in the right hole, then you’re going to be wrong all the way down.
Conversion is the starting place for everything spiritual.
If that isn’t as big as it was meant to be, nothing else will compensate for it.
You can’t beef things up a little down the road just by trying a little harder.
You can’t fix up a faulty conversion just by finding a better church, or listening to snappier sermons, or joining the choir, or even finding a good Christian counselor.
For all of those reasons I like what Paul said in Romans 6:17
17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given you.
What I want to say is this.
Conversion is an experience of the MIND, the HEART, and the WILL.
All three must be solidly involved.
Each one is of crucial importance.
Take any one away and the whole thing will fall apart!
There are Christian people, who will experience all sorts of spiritual depression, fear and weariness simply because they never made a proper start in the Christian life.
I’m not saying they’re not saved.
I’m not saying they’re not going to heaven.
I’m talking about joy and life and power here on earth.
There are many people who live far below their provision in Christ.
There is so much more than they ever appreciate and experience.
The sad thing is not only that they will miss out on so much in their own lives, but the real tragedy is that they are such a poor testimony of the power and grace of God to others!
People don’t get to see modeled before them the beauty of our Lord.
Their lives don’t carry around that fragrance of Jesus that Paul talks about.
There are inadequate ways of making entry into the Christian life:
We need to get off on the right foot when we start our new life.
We can’t just go to the altar and get up and go home and think that is all that I have to do.
That just won’t work! We need to start right from that point and work towards and build a solid foundation in our spiritual life.
That doesn’t mean just coming to church once in a while and looking at your bible if you don’t have anything else to do and calling on someone if the fancy hits you!
It means going forward on the right foot and giving your salvation the same feeling that you would a new job.
1) THE MIND MUST HAVE A FIRM GRASP OF REVEALED TRUTH.
That’s hinted at in the verses from Romans chapter six:
Romans 6:15-16
15 So since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does this mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!
16 Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.
At least some people had bad misunderstandings about what being a Christian was all about.
Can you imagine a person thinking that the more they sinned, the more of God’s grace would be automatically manifested in their lives?
How could a person think like that?
The truth is, PEOPLE DO THINK LIKE THAT ALL THE TIME!
I talk with them week after week.
People who want to call themselves Christians, but never go to church.
People who call themselves Christians but want to maintain homosexual relationships.
People who call themselves Christians but aren’t faithful to their marriage partner.
Now, people have always sinned against the Lord.
But something has been happening more and more in the church lately.
People are starting to feel that it’s optional, whether or not they are really GOOD Christians at all.
And if they choose to deliberately disobey the Lord in some area, they just slip from being a nine or ten, down a few notches to a seven or six.
Let’s look at a married person in an affair. "Well, we aren’t sleeping together. We hold hands and kiss a little bit. But she understands me. Our relationship is a beautiful thing!"
I say, "Listen, you’ll go to hell if you continue in that relationship!"
" You might say what are you talking about?"
I’ll say, "Let’s look at, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Don’t you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals,
10 thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers, none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God.
6:9, 10. The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God: There were evidently some in the Corinthian assembly who had professed Christianity as a system of doctrine, but not as a rule of life.
The apostle warns that this is a fatal mistake.
Be not deceived:
No one who can allow himself the indulgence of known sin in his life can be saved.
This passage proves that Paul and James are in basic agreement.
Both affirm that genuine faith produces good works (cf. Eph. 2:8–10), and that the absence of good works indicates the absence of saving faith (cf. James 2:14–26).
"Do you not know?" - those are the same words that start out our text in Romans 6:16
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
People can enter the Christian life, and be way down the road in their attempts at following Jesus - finding it a terribly frustrating experience.
Nothing working - no power - no joy - no victory - all because there were certain key truths that were never firmly grasped with the mind when they first started out!
Let’s talk a little bit more about this:
a) Some people think of the gospel merely as a message of forgiveness.
And they certainly need forgiveness.
They feel badly about certain things.
The gospel comes and says "you can be forgiven" - "you can be made clean" - and they want to be clean inside.
So they take their forgiveness from Jesus and assume that’s all there is to the gospel.
They have what they wanted.
They aren’t thinking about Jesus’ Lordship or dying to self.
All they wanted was forgiveness.
They will be miserable down the road in the Christian life.
b) Some people think of the gospel only as a message of morality.
They want to do more good with their lives.
They are tired of their own wickedness.
They are looking for life on a higher, improved level.
They hear of the golden rule, or the Sermon on the mount - "How wonderful this world would be if everyone could live like that!"
Such a person may find a certain appeal in the "Christian ethic."
They are attracted to Jesus.
But if that’s the primary understanding they have of the gospel when they respond to Jesus they will be miserable in their experience of Christianity.
They will never live up to all of those ethical codes and standards.
They will wonder why they feel like such hypocrites.
Why they are still so chained to sin and rebellion?
So fascinated with evil.
c) Some people are just attracted to things mystical or religious.
They like the steeples and the stained glass windows.
They are easily moved by the music, the organs and the choirs.
They are easily moved by talk of God and love and peace.
They love to be with their friends at the church.
They enjoy the warmth - because the world and the workplace are so cold and uncaring.
They like the candles at Christmas and the dramas at Easter.
They assume that because they enjoy church that they love Jesus.
And they will always be miserable in the Christian life because life isn’t always serene and pretty.
Not everything is inspiring.
They will soon tire of that church and want another one.
Because church can never be to them what only Jesus can be!
You see, there is a big difference between church and the love of Jesus in your heart!
Now that is why both Paul and Jesus take great pains to make sure that people understand right up front what they are doing when they are converted.
There is no rushing.
There is urgency but not rush.
They answer all the questions.
They deal with all the objections.
They lay out all of the cost and hardship.
Paul says there’s a form of teaching.
A pattern of doctrine.
They had to have good grasp of the whole thing.
There is power in the truth of God! Jesus said, "You shall know the truth - and the truth shall make you free!"
2) THE TRUTH MUST BE EMBRACED IN THE HEART.
This is a hard point to really put into words.
But it’s sadly lacking in broad slices of today’s church.
There’s a radial, passionate element in true conversion and discipleship.
It was intended to be consuming!
Perhaps I can say it this way - there’s a vast difference between a person TAKING UP CHRISTIANITY and being TAKEN UP BY JESUS CHRIST!
I find the last verse in the book of Ephesians almost haunting at times:
Ephesians 6:24
24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
That’s where the grace of God dwells.
Do you really love Jesus?
Or do you love other things more?
Luke 24:32 - "They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
24:32. On reflection the pieces fall into place. Jesus makes the scriptures come alive; the Scriptures find their most central application in pointing men to Jesus.
Listen, coming to Jesus, being born again, being converted, whatever terms you want to use.
There’s nothing mechanical about Christ in the heart!
You can’t just sign up.
You must love Him!
"The True Christian’s Love for the Unseen Christ"
"Jesus knows if He has their love, their desires will be chiefly after Him.
Their delights will be chiefly in Him.
Their hopes and expectations will be chiefly in Him.
Their hatred, fear, grief, anger, will be carried forth chiefly unto sin as it is offensive to Him.
He knows that love will engage and employ for Him all the powers and faculties of their souls.
Their thoughts will be brought into captivity and obedience unto Him.
Their understandings will be employed in seeking and finding out His truths.
Their memories will be receptacles to retain them.
Their consciences will be ready to accuse and excuse as His faithful deputies.
Their wills will choose and refuse, according to His direction and revealed pleasure.
If they have much love for Him, they will not think much of denying themselves, taking up His cross, and following Him wherever He leads them."
First the MIND, then the HEART.
Now for the third part:
3) THE WILL MUST BE FIRMLY DEVOTED TO OBEDIENCE AT ALL COST.
This is not just works.
This is a person whose MIND has fully grasped the message of grace through the redemption in Christ’s atoning death.
His HEART has come to fully love the presence of the risen Christ through the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.
Now, the WILL is engaged to follow Jesus in glad obedience of love.
Notice the unusual way Paul words his teaching in
Romans 6:17 - "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted."
Normally, we would say, "the form of teaching that was entrusted to you" - but Paul says, "you obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted."
Paul is laboring to make sure that these readers understand that the MIND is vitally important in the Christian life.
BUT HE IS NOT JUST WRITING ABOUT SOME INTELLECTUAL GRASP OF TRUTH!
It’s not enough just to know a great deal.
Also, the HEART and EMOTIONS need to be stirred.
BUT IT’S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO BE MOVED IN YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THE THINGS OF THE GOSPEL.
He says there’s a FORM of teaching.
A PATTERN.
In fact, the closest model Paul can find is the past life of sin in these Roman believers.
Just as they used to be slaves to sin - dominated by it - now they are under the same hold by Jesus Christ!
It marks and affects everything they do. In fact, they don’t do anything the way they used to do it before.
MIND, HEART and WILL - you have to start right if you want to finish right.
