Romans Chapter 8:10-12

When you go through a hard time, it's like, man, I'm never going to get over this. I'm never going to be an overcomer in this area. I'm always going to have this issue or that issue. I'm always going to be living with this trial.

No, no, no. There's some beautiful words in the Bible about that. When things were going on and oftentimes a trial or tribulation or whatever was going on, these little words, it came to pass.

It didn't come to stay. It came to pass. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. You know, life as a Christian is not always easy. That battle between our spirit and the flesh is often hard, but learn today how you can take part in the resurrection power of Christ to live life to the fullest.

Join us now for Receive, Believe, Be Led. Here's Pastor David. Let's go to Romans chapter 8. Now, we're on verse 10, but I'm going to do something. I've been encouraging you folks to be reading Romans chapter 8, to read it several times when we're studying it.

Read it once a week or once a day. Years ago, I did this and it just really changed my relationship with the Lord and the way that I lived for Him. So I encourage you to do the same. But towards that, I'm actually going to go back to Romans chapter 8, verse 1, and we're going to read straight through verse 10, and we'll talk just a little bit about that. But before we do, let's pray.

Lord, thank You. Thank You for Your word. I ask, Lord, that You would bless the reading of it, bless the studying of it, and Lord, bless the application as we seek to do the things that we learn here today. Lord, thank You for preserving this word that we might know a better way to live and how to follow You. Lord, it's not a maze.

You haven't left us clueless. You've given us this book and You've given us Your Holy Spirit that You might guide us through these things. So, Lord, we're thankful. And, Lord, we ask that You would open our hearts to Your word and open Your word to our hearts, in Jesus' name.

And everybody said amen, amen. So let's go to Romans chapter 8, verse 1. It says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son and the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh.

Now, when it uses flesh, it's not talking about literally your flesh. It's talking about your old human nature, your sinful and selfish desires. Let's read on verse 4. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh or old nature but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Verse 7, Because the carnal mind is enmity or at war against God for it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he is not his. Verse 10, And if Christ is in you the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Incredible, incredible biblical truths and you may have noticed if you've been with us for a while that we're kind of slowing up here in chapter 8.

It's because there's so much here that is really theologically, spiritually deep and such great food for us spiritually and as I was going through looking at different commentaries and stuff I happened to notice that some chapters they would you know cover in 8, 10, 12 pages and then you know they get to this chapter and there's like 30 or 35 pages and so there's just a depth of stuff in here. So we're going to continue to kind of go slow through this chapter because there is so much practical spiritual information if you will. And so Paul is saying in these verses that you know there's the wrong way, there's the right way if you will and really you know the Bible talks about in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, he created the light and the darkness and the rest of the book is really about how you can figure out how to walk in the light and not be in the darkness. So Paul is saying you know live to this new nature, this Holy Spirit, yield to it and as you yield to the Holy Spirit you should be bearing fruit. Understand this is a biblical concept, Jesus talks about the Word of God talks about we should be bearing fruit as believers and now I didn't say that we should be fruits as believers I said we should be bearing fruits.

I'm not talking about getting wacky and getting weird and doing weird things, I'm talking about bearing fruit, bearing fruit. It's not like there's a group of Christians somehow we think well there's a group of Christians that that bears fruit and then there's a group that doesn't. Not according to the Word, according to the Word all those who are following Jesus are bearing fruit. 2 Corinthians 13 5 it says examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine.

Test yourselves if you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is among you it means you have failed the test. Strong words but genuine faith produces genuine genuine fruit. The Bible has pretty strong words about what we can and can't do. 2 Samuel 22 30 speaking to the Lord says in your strength I can crush an army and with my God I can scale any wall but how often we say well I can't I can't do this I can't do that I can't do this I can't do that and and you know I can't quit this and I can't I can't can't go to church I can't tell people about Jesus I can't invite somebody to church I can't I can't I can't. Spiritually speaking if you know Jesus as your savior it's not I can't let's be honest it's I won't.

I won't tell people about Jesus I won't invite them to church I won't stop doing this or start doing this. It's not I can't because according to the Word of God you can do anything you can do all things. Philippians 4 13 says this I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You know what that little word all it's very interesting in the Greek you know what it means in the Greek means all that's right it doesn't mean some of the time doesn't mean part of the time it means all the time all things all things so when we say I can't do this what we really mean is I won't do this and sometimes I can't it's good if you're talking about doing something bad you should say I can't do that I'm a believer I'm a follower of Jesus.

As far as doing something good you can't really use I can't. Life lesson here I can live for God I can live for God. It doesn't matter what's gone on in the past doesn't matter what's going on today I can live for God. His spirit will give me the strength I need to do things for him and for others. It's an amazing thing as we look at lives and see people who have yielded to the Holy Spirit we see this in their life that they're living for the Lord and their lives are bearing incredible fruit and we you know we get in the middle of stuff and we think well I can't get out of this and no no no friend a lot of times you know we get in a trial or a tribulation or kind of get stuck in a rut get out of the rut don't live in the rut. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the length and the depth of the hole. The Lord wants us to get us out of those ruts to depend upon him and sometimes I understand when you're going through a hard time it's like man I'm never going to get over this I'm never going to be an overcomer in this area I'm always going to have this issue or that issue I'm always going to be living with this trial no no no there's some beautiful words in the bible about that when things were going on and oftentimes a trial or tribulation or whatever was going on these little words it came to pass when the bible says it came to pass you know what I'm saying it didn't come to stay it came to pass it's here and it's going to be gone the trials you have today will not be the trials you have tomorrow as a matter of fact one day friend if you know Jesus as your savior trials no more that's a lot to look forward to isn't it trials no more you came to pass remember that understand and just so we're clear we've we've talked about the grace of God and now we're talking about this call to follow him let me be very clear when you come to Jesus to ask him to forgive you of your sins that is totally absolutely grace what I mean by that is you don't earn it you haven't you you don't deserve it but God is willing to give it to you okay so that's what Jesus does for you but that begins a process of Jesus working in you and so that process of sanctification is one word we use or or you're getting cleaned up in your work or in your life or beginning to follow God more passionately we can we can use a lot of phrases for it but the important thing is is it going on is it going on in your life and it should be sometimes I'll talk to somebody and they you know and it get it concerns me because I'll talk to somebody hey man you know yeah you do you know the Lord as your savior oh yeah yeah yeah I did that years ago oh really where do you go to church I don't go to church well I mean do you do you give to a church no no I don't give to church well I mean are you are you living for the Lord man not really living for the Lord and that concerns me when somebody says those things and they act like they're okay with it that disturbing forget issues of eternal security and on all these issues no no no no that person should not feel confident in their sin they should be concerned that they're not bearing fruit because if you're not bearing fruit you're not following Jesus Jesus said I am the vine you are the branch if you're in me you're bearing fruit concerns me because understand Jesus wants to do something incredible inside of us he wants us to be more like him and he gives us his Holy Spirit that we can be more like him and so we should within reason begin to look around our lives and go okay I'm more like him here I'm more like him there in John chapter 8 Jesus tells his followers if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free this desire to see others set free has led pastor and teacher David McGee on a mission to teach others the important truths of scripture these are timeless truths we're talking about people dealing with loneliness lust selfishness all these things that we're still dealing with it was this reason that David selected seven of his favorite teachings to share with you David McGee's Select Seven features teachings on finding your purpose in life how to cope with pain and suffering dealing with temptations and more each teaching is based on solid biblical study and will help set you free to experience the abundant life in Jesus Christ the Select Seven audio series is available to you for a gift of any amount to Cross the Bridge to order visit cross thebridge.com or call our friendly representatives at 877-458-5508 get to know God's word better and see your life changed with this exciting series from Cross the Bridge now let's return to our study verse 11 but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you what an awesome verse the spirit of him notice capital h talking about God the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you he'll give life to your mortal body do you understand what this is saying simply put God will live through you God will live through you God wants to live through you and in you think about that next time you're tempted to say I can't God is living in you God is living through you the life lesson here you have resurrection power available to you to overcome sin in your life you have resurrection power available to you to overcome sin in your life it's an amazing thing God says hey the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you to live a victorious life you don't have to hate you don't hate you don't have to be angry you don't have to be hurtful you don't have to be bitter you can live a life of love and joy and peace now you may choose to not do what's right but but God has given you the opportunity the ability to the power to do what's right he did it with you this morning how do I know that you're here there was a moment this morning when you were asleep the alarm clock went off or dog jumped on the bed or whatever happens in the morning at your house and your thought was I'm gonna go to church and then that was followed by another thought wasn't it I ain't going to church I'm tired there's football on the day somebody like how do you know me that that's what happens I mean there's this good thing and then there's this not so good thing well today you listen to the holy spirit you yield it to the holy spirit to come into this place that's an awesome thing that's a great step and friend you know maybe you said you go well you know it's not that's such a big deal is it it's absolutely a big deal it's absolutely a big deal now I no longer decide on Sunday morning if I'm coming to church or not that should come for you right but but no I mean long ago as a believer I saw that there was a benefit to attending church in my life that I would yield to the spirit and I would go to church it didn't matter if I met people I didn't like who were mean spiteful bitter unthankful whatever the Bible says those people are going to exist they're always going to exist they're not going to exist in heaven I'm not saying they're not going to heaven I'm just saying they're not going to be like that now and I made a commitment I'm going to church see if you wait till Sunday morning to decide if you're going to church or not there's going to be a lot of days you don't make it here why because you're waiting till the last minute to make a decision and you know when you're laying in bed and looking up at the ceiling and on cold mornings and you got that comfort or all you can think of a lot of reasons not to go to church can't you and then a lot of times you know what happened and I noticed this is interesting to me as a young believer going to church the days there was a real battle to get there were the days that were really good and the days you know on the way to church you know there'd be you know family you know marriage you know yelling screaming and hollering and arguing and I just sit there be quietly driving and uh no I can't I can't I can't but you know and then it's like you know and there's but there's part of you as a young believer you're like you know I'm turning around I ain't I'm going home but more times than not you didn't yield to that you yielded to the spirit seeing the view if you're if this is your first time here I'm so thankful you're here that was a big thing especially depending upon you know your church experiences and stuff and where you've been and and maybe you've been beaten up by churches or maybe you were raised in a traditional church and you know you you drove past the building you're like well that's not it so that's like what is that a warehouse there's no steeple there's no stained glass can't be a church now maybe you're going man you're making like a huge deal the fact that I made it through the doors I absolutely am I am because I know what some of you had to overcome to be here maybe you've been hurt maybe you've been wounded and maybe you're sitting there go well it really is it a big deal yeah it's a huge deal I mean let me tell you something as a young believer maybe I'd watch too many movies or something I don't know but as a young believer I thought temptation would take this form you know of falling away from the Lord away from church away from fellow you know I thought it was gonna that one dark night the devil was gonna pull up in a stretch limousine open the back door smoke would roll out come on in David we're going for a ride now I never saw that limousine pull up so I thought I'm doing good but meanwhile these small things not going to church not having my devotion not reading the word not praying as much the ground around my feet was eroding it was only a question of time why because I neglected the small things we think of our Christian life as these huge things and sometimes they are but it's more made up of these small things that sometimes we might think are insignificant and inconsequential but they're huge coming to church there's a reason the enemy of your soul doesn't want you to come to church there's a reason he wants to run you out when you go because it's productive spiritually and it takes a commitment you know if there's a saying that if you aim at nothing you'll probably hit it and I think we need to understand spiritually the same is true if you have no spiritual commitment no commitment to a church no commitment to the Lord no commitment to serve him or to give or do anything you'll probably hit that mark but we need to make a commitment to the Lord to to live for him to live a changed life and see what God will do through us look at verse 12 therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh again I point out when it says flesh it's talking about old nature selfish nature sin nature in other words let me let me perfect you don't owe your sin life anything you don't owe it anything but if you've asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins you are indebted to him the bible points out that in that divine transaction that you were that you were bought with a price as if you were up on the auction block and Jesus and the bible says not with silver or gold not with the blood of bulls or sheep not with silver or gold but with the precious blood of the son of God is what you were purchased with so now you are indebted to that you're indebted to God you can't say well I don't know God anything well apparently you do it's interesting to me that when people say well I want what I deserve I just have to smile when somebody says that you know why I don't want what I deserve I know what I deserve I deserve to be condemned I stand guilty because of my sins I don't want what I deserve I deserve I deserve curses and destruction and yet God says if you'll come to me I'll put blessings on you I will bless you I will fill your life with joy you'll be forgiven no friend I don't I don't want what I deserve I want God's mercy because when I come into contact with God's grace and God's mercy see the number one thing that keeps you living from the Lord is the fact that you've messed up in the past right I mean you think well I can't live for the Lord because I did this and that and the other and God says dealt with it come to me your past can be pardoned and so here's the next life lesson the grace of God sets us free to do all we can to live for him because friend again if you've entered that divine transaction when I use that phrase what I mean is when you come to Jesus and you ask him to forgive you of your sins he doesn't owe that to you you haven't earned it he's willing to give that to you and there's a divine transaction that happens you say Jesus I believe you died for me please forgive me of my sins I'm sorry help me to live for you and God does that that's a divine transaction and now the grace of God so freely given out to you leaves you indebted to the Lord now I'm not talking about you know getting into empty religious ritual and doing something because you you know you just think it's the thing to do but friend let's understand there's going to be a lot of days where you're like man and some of you shared this and it's so encouraging because you go I'm excited to go to church I know this guy but there are going to be those days when you don't feel like being here and it's so important to you to press in press through yield to the Holy Spirit and show up anyway worship is another great example you may not feel like worshiping some mornings and see it begins to erode and fall apart because you you things are going on and you don't feel like worshiping and you come in here and and one of the one of the things that happens in that moment is you just begin to tear everything and everybody down and apart you know you come in here you don't feel like worshiping so well I don't like that song that's not my favorite song what's up with the smoke what's it going on with the lights the music's too loud I you know what I don't why won't they play my favorite songs every week but what's really going on is you don't feel like worshiping and you're looking around to find excuses not to worship I've done it I've said those very things but gang I can worship to a pipe organ I can worship to an out of tune singer with an out of tune guitar why because God whether we feel like it or not is always worthy of our worship so sometimes we give it to him because he's worthy and we should always give it to him because he's worthy but sometimes we will feel like it sometimes in those moments of worship you just get it's like a little glimpse of heaven isn't it friend do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven you can know right now I want to lead you in a short simple prayer simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him please pray this prayer with me out loud right now dear Jesus I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven and I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life and I've done wrong things I have sinned and I'm sorry please forgive me of all those things please give me the power to live for you all of my days in Jesus name amen friend if you prayed that prayer according to the bible you've been forgiven you've been born again Jesus said he would not turn anybody away who comes to him and he came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness those who were sick not the righteous so congratulations friend you just made the greatest decision that you will ever make god bless you if you've prayed this prayer with pastor David receiving Jesus Christ for the first time or rededicating your life to the Lord please call and let us know we want to send you our exclusive first steps package for free this package will help you grow in your new life receive your first steps package by calling 877-458-5508 that's 877-458-5508 or visit us online at crossthebridge.com when you call let our call team representative know where you heard about our broadcast cross the bridge with David McGee is a ministry dedicated to sharing the whole bible with the whole world if you've been blessed by cross the bridge consider financially supporting this ministry your gift will be used to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ while also supplying resources to new believers to give simply call 877-458-5508 or visit us online at cross the bridge.com and click on the donate button once there you can choose to give a one-time gift or become a bridge builder monthly supporter also while visiting cross the bridge.com make sure to sign up for pastor David's free email devotional as well as browse through our many online resources the apostle Paul laid the foundation for the new testament church and yet few of us in the church today really understand the events and places that shaped this remarkable man but now pastor and bible teacher David McGee has created the footsteps of Paul tour through the heart of the ancient world you'll be a part of a breathtaking three-day tour of the famous Greek islands also during the tour David McGee will be opening the bible to teach on Mars Hill the very place in Athens Paul taught about the unknown god we'll go up to the acropolis and visit the Parthenon also we'll visit Patmos the place where John wrote the book of revelation we'll continue to Ephesus in Turkey sharing the history stories and reality of these historic places that change the future of the church plus be a part of an actual television production as we film parts of the tour for our national tv program cross the bridge the footsteps of Paul tour with pastor and bible teacher David McGee combine your vacation with an in-depth experience in the reality of God's word for more information visit cross the bridge.com or call us at 877-458-5508 that's 877-458-5508 contact us today because space is limited and this tour will fill up fast one of the most important parts of growing in Christ is being in fellowship at a local church but what happens on those times you're sick or traveling simply log on to cross the bridge.com and click the live stream button and you'll instantly be streaming from David McGee's home church the bridge catch every life lesson and scripture reference as you take part in hearing the word of God from anywhere in the world pastor David McGee teaches live online Sunday mornings at 9 and 11 15 watch this week at cross the bridge.com thanks for listening to cross the bridge with David McGee join us again next time and invite your family and friends to listen as together we cross the bridge