Know ... Consider ... Present

Throughout five and a half chapters here, Paul has been teaching theological truth. He's been expanding our minds and our vocabularies as to the great doctrines that are now the believers write and experience. Now Paul, for the first time, commands the believer to do something, and guess what he commands the believer to do? Think. See, Paul comes to this critical point in his letter and says in effect, okay, you know enough about this theological truth that you need to know for now.

Think that way as life unfolds. What do you think of when you hear the word theology? Is it boring and difficult to understand?

Is it only for intellectuals? Today, we're going to discover that the study of God can and should be the most exciting study in the universe. As Christians, our standing with God has nothing to do with how we feel. We might feel inadequate or alone or unloved or helpless, but despite how we feel, the Bible is clear. Our position in Christ is firmly rooted in His promises to us and not in our feelings. We're going to learn more about that wonderful theological truth today.

This is Wisdom for the Heart, and Stephen Davy is calling this message, Know, Consider, Present. I can remember one of my professors correctly challenging me with the truth that we as people of God cannot behave unless we believe. That acting biblically was the direct result of believing biblically. He often said that the average Christian did not behave correctly because they did not think correctly. Does the apostle Paul want us to learn anything? Does he want us to expand our vocabulary? Does he want us to think theologically? I'm convinced that unless we think correctly, we cannot live correct lives that glorify God. In fact, I think there are three key words, that being the first of the three words that Paul will use sort of as an outline over this next paragraph.

The three key words are Know, K-N-O-W. The next word is Consider, and the third word is Present. Now notice in verse 6 where we left off last Lord's Day, let's pick it up there. Be ready to circle these words as they appear, knowing, he says this, that our old self was crucified with him that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin. Again, Paul is going back to the original question that launched this chapter of study. Can we live in sin having come to faith in Christ? And Paul has already basically answered, how could a person ever want to live in sin having been immersed into the body of Christ by the agency of God's Spirit, clothed with Jesus Christ, publicly identified with Christ through water immersion, thus signifying our identification with his death, burial, and resurrection. How can we who have had that done to us and have identified that way ourselves ever go back to this prison house of sin? Paul says in effect here, if he didn't get it the first time, let me repeat myself just using slightly different language.

Let me add some commentary. The believer will sin, but the believer cannot sin without guilt and misery and discipline. The most miserable person or people on planet earth are sinning Christians. They can't enjoy, truly enjoy their sin because they know what it costs Christ and they know that it grieves the Spirit within them.

They're miserable. Whenever they do sin, guilt outweighs temporary gain. Whenever they do rebel, the discipline of God outlasts temporary delight. So for the true believer, guilt outweighs any gain, discipline outlasts any delight. Well, what about the person who says, well, I asked Jesus into my heart a long time ago and I've been living the way I've been living and I don't have anything to do with him, but it really doesn't matter. I know I'm going to heaven so I can live this profligate life of sin.

I signed the card. Well for that person, unrepentance is unmasking their temporary profession. John wrote it this way in 1 John 2 19, they went out from us, this sinning, unrepentant person.

They went out from us, but they were not really of us for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us, but they went out in order that it might be shown that they were not of us. Unrepentance, unmasks, unbelief. And anybody, because it isn't our right or role to say to somebody, well, you're not saved who might come, but if somebody might come to me and say, I'm living the way I want to live and I'm in sin, but I know I'm going to heaven. I feel it is my duty to tell them they have every reason to believe they're going to hell. Maybe God's spirit will use that to challenge and warn them that they perhaps have been deceived. You want to circle the two times Paul uses the word to know in this paragraph.

He used it by the way, back in verse three, do you not know verse six, knowing this and then in verse nine, knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead is never to die again. He says, I want you to know certain things. I want you to think about certain truths.

Thinking correctly is the foundation for living correctly. Now, what does Paul want us to know when he writes in verse six, our old self was crucified with him that our body of sin might be done away. Well, some would believe that this old self is a reference to our old nature, our sin nature. I believe it simply refers to what Paul has already been talking about, that we, the old part of us was in Christ as it were on the cross.

If anything, this old self could refer to our old way of living. Alva J. McLean, a great theologian who's now with the Lord wrote, the old man means the old self what we were in Adam. That old man was crucified with Christ at the cross and in the mind of God, the task is finished. People today talk about crucifying the old man. Paul says the old man has been crucified already.

Christ has already won the victory. If Paul is thinking about the old nature or the sin nature, which is certainly not eradicated at salvation, so we'll talk about it in a minute, Paul illustrates that truth in chapter seven, where he will talk about the struggle he has within himself between wanting to do things that he doesn't do and not doing the things that he does, and we'll study that at length when we get there. Well, some would say, well, Paul here in verse six, if you go back there, says our body of sin might be done away. That sounds eradicated to me. In fact, your translation might read the body of sin is destroyed. Something is eradicated, it would seem. Well, the Greek verb translated, destroyed or done away with is a wonderful verb, katargao, which means to be rendered inoperative, not to be extinguished, but literally you could render it to be put out of business.

I think that's my favorite one, to be put out of business. It's the same word, by the way, that Paul used in First Corinthians chapter 13, verse eight, as it related to the specific gift of prophecy. He said that prophecy will be katargao. Prophecy will be done away with. That doesn't mean God is destroying prophecy. We have it. It simply means that that gift of prophecy is going to be put out of business.

Why? He's going to give us the completed canon of scripture that you happen to have bound, sitting, I hope, in your lap. So in other words, we don't need to hear from prophets today. They've been put out of business, as it were, because we are hearing what they have already said through God's revelation.

Well, Paul says our body of sin has been katargao. He means not that it's been extinguished, this old nature. He simply means it's been made inoperative, unnecessary. It's been put out of business.

Well, then you say, well, wait a second. If it's been put out of business, how come I have so much trouble with it? Let me illustrate what I think Paul is saying when he says that our body of sin has been katargao. A number of years ago, when my wife and I moved into this area, we were doing a little shopping over by Glenwood Avenue. You know where the mall is, sort of in the base of this valley, and then you have Glenwood that goes up a steep hill. And eventually it levels out, and then there are all those shops and restaurants. We were shopping up in that area, and my wife said to me, honey, we need to stop and get gas.

We're on empty. And what did I say? Yes, dear.

No, I didn't. I said, honey, we're okay. A little later on, honey, if we don't get gas, we're going to get stranded somewhere. You've got to put gas in the car. And I said, honey, you know, why do wives do this, by the way?

Don't they realize that we're trying to be stubborn idiots at that moment in our lives, and we want to do what we want to do? So just let us go. Well, then, yeah. She said, honey, we're going to.

No, we're okay. Well, sure enough, we finished shopping. We were up there in that area and got a little bit to eat, and we were coming back, and just as we crested the hill, guess what happened? I ran out of gas. And my wife said, uh-huh.

She said a little uh-huh, you know, uh-huh. And I'm thinking, oh, no, I cannot believe this. And we were actually going down the hill. So I just thought, well, I'm going to put this thing in neutral and coast as far as I can. And so I put it in neutral, and we began to coast down that long hill. And I thought, well, I don't know where we're going to end up, but I just hope we keep coasting somewhere. And so we got down to the bottom of the hill, and you know where that stoplight is there by the corner where the mall is?

It stays red for like eight, nine minutes. Right before we got to it, it turned green. I was so glad.

I didn't want to get stranded there. We coasted right through it. There at the corner, there used to be a little gas station. We coasted through the light, turned in into the parking lot, turned around, actually coasted right up to the gas pump. Thank you, Lord.

He rescues the foolish man from calamity. That's all I could say. Man, was I fortunate. Well, my car experienced cut or go. That is, it ceased to operate. It was rendered ineffective.

Why? With any gas in the engine. Now, let's suppose for a minute, and this is not a very good analogy, so don't take it too far. Let's suppose for a minute that that car represented your sin nature.

There were times when it did represent my sin nature. But let's say for a moment then as it stopped at that gas pump, it represented your sin nature. What would you not want to do? You would not want to put gas in it. You would not want to feed it.

You would not want anything to spark in the engine. You're still in it. It's not eradicated. But you don't want to have that thing come back to life.

I think that's the point of the struggle that we might have with our old nature. We want to make sure that we do not feed it. We want to make sure that we do not cause something to spark, something that brings back that old nature where it can dominate, where it can, as Paul will later say, bring us back into that kind of living that is bondage to sin. We want to leave it on empty.

Don't feed it. Paul is going to talk about that point later on. But for now, the first key word is the word know. You need to know. You need to think theologically the truth, knowing that you've died in Christ.

Your old nature was stripped of its power. You do not have to sin. Be prepared, however, to battle sin. D.L. Moody, the evangelist who founded Moody Bible Institute and later Moody Memorial Church, as it would become known, pastored by Dr. Lutzer, who you've heard is coming, once wrote in the late 1800s, when I was converted, I made the mistake of thinking the battle was over. You know, one of the great challenges to those who come to faith in Christ is that first discovery, maybe a week later, maybe a month later, maybe two months later, that the battle isn't over.

D.L. Moody said that was my first mistake, that my old corrupt nature was gone. He goes on to write, but I found out after serving Christ for just a few months that conversion was more like enlisting in the army. And now battles were on every hand. You found that to be true?

It is true. You have a greater difficulty with sin after coming to faith in Christ than before because before you never thought about it. And now as you grow in Christ, every errant thought plagues you. Every selfish desire brings you grief. You have entered the battle.

As Moody said, what's our hope? Our hope is, first of all, that we know, look down in verse nine, we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death no longer is master over him. He died, as it were, to the penalty, the claim of sin once for all. Let me give you a second word. It's the word consider. Verse 11.

Look there. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. It reminds us of the truth back in verse seven. He who was died to sin is freed from sin. What does Paul mean freed from sin? Especially when I still battle sin.

I don't feel free. What he means is, is that you are free from the dominating tyrannical rule and reign of sin. You're still within sin's reach, but you're not under sin's rule. A freed slave can stand directly in the presence of his former master. And even though he might be shaking in his boots, so to speak, he can look his master in the eye and ignore every one of his commands.

The former slave no longer has to obey the master because the master has been put out of business. So Paul in verse 11 says, think, consider. Your translation might read reckon.

That's a great word. Reckon proves Paul was a southerner. Reckon yourself to be dead to sin. By the way, you need to know that verse 11 is a hinge in this letter. It changes something very, very important.

James Boyce made this interesting observation which intrigued me and I did a little searching and it's true. He made the thought that as he wrote that this verse is the first exhortation of Paul in this letter. It's the first time Paul tells us to do anything.

That interesting? In other words, throughout five and a half chapters here, Paul has been teaching theological truth. He's been expanding our minds and our vocabularies as to the great doctrines that are now the believer's right and experience. Now Paul for the first time commands the believer to do something and guess what he commands the believer to do. Think, consider, reckon, think theologically, consider this, meditate on this.

The Greek word is logizomai from which we get our words logic, logical. Let this impact you so that you logically consider the truth of it. See Paul comes to this critical point in his letter and says in effect, okay, you know enough about this theological truth that you need to know for now you are dead and your life is hidden with Christ. You're also buried and resurrected and ascended with Christ. Now think that way as life unfolds. Let those thoughts dominate your mind. Isn't it true that the battle in life is the battle of the mind? So Paul says, as circumstances unfold in your life, think these things to be true, reckon them to be true. Well how does that work?

Well let me give you a couple of illustrations. You're tempted to say I feel unacceptable to God. The old master of that kingdom whispers you're unacceptable to God. Well think, consider the truth of this, therefore accept one another just as Christ also accepted you to the glory of God.

That's the truth. You say I feel inadequate for life. Consider the truth of 2 Corinthians 3, not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything that's coming from ourselves.

Some put a period there, it's a comma. He goes on to say, but our adequacy is from God. I can do what? All things through whom? Christ who strengthens me.

That's the truth. You feel alone. Consider the truth for I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present or things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Think theologically. God himself said, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Hebrews 13 5.

That's the truth. You feel unloved. Consider, reckon to be true the word of God who says therefore be imitators of God because you are beloved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for you. An offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Paul would later write in Romans 8, he who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all.

This is how much he loves you ladies and gentlemen. Who is the one who condemns you? Christ Jesus is he who died.

Yes rather is raised. Who is at the right hand of God who also intercedes for us who will separate us from the love of Christ. That's the truth. You think you are hopeless. Maybe you think life is hopeless. Listen to the truth of David who wrote in Psalm 16. I have set the Lord continually before me.

What does he say? I'm continually meditating on the truth that he is with me. He is before me behind me around me.

Now notice what happens because of that because he is at my right hand because I think that way I will not be shaken. My heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh will dwell securely. You will make known to me oh God the path of life and your presence is fullness of joy in your right hand.

There are pleasures forever. You say well I feel afraid that Satan is going to get after me in some way and I don't have a chance. The Bible says the truth is that you reckon consider think greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

Paul wrote for he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sin. You say well there isn't anything really special about me. Maybe that's how you feel. Maybe the whisperings of the enemy from the old kingdom says God never really thinks about you. Oh he loves you but he's supposed to do that. He's God right. But he didn't think about you.

Here's the truth. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will. You think he thinks about you.

He's thought about you before the worlds were ever created in him. We have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace which he lavished on us. What Paul is telling them and telling us is think about these truths. By the way considering or reckoning is not acting as if something's true. It's acting because it is true. And when Paul tells us to consider something to think something here he isn't just playing some sort of word game.

You know now put on a smile and think happy thoughts. That isn't what he's saying. He's literally talking about the matter of conforming our minds and renewing our thought patterns to the truth of God's perspective. He in effect is saying you know the truth.

Now think it and let it rewrite all of the messages while you lived under the domain of the enemy. Think the perspective of God the secret to a holy life and as he begins to unveil holy living is not necessarily then how you feel. It isn't even who you are. It's what you believe you are as a man thinks in his heart. What.

So is he. Believe. Consider reckon yourselves to be dead to the tyranny of sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. There's a third word that I want to address quickly the first word is related to theological information. The second word was related to theological calculation. The third word has to do with theological application. Look at verse 12 therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. Now why would he tell them to not do that because they're going to be tempted to what to do that and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness but present. There's the word again present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. The key word in this text is the word present your translation might read yield which is a wonderful translation yield the members of your body what's that your hands your eyes your ears your feet.

Yield them to God. Now I've had a note on my desk for some time so that I would not forget because I forget just about everything. It reminded me that I had to go and get my driver's license renewed because this month is my birthday month. I am 45 halfway to 50.

I tell my kids tragic in it. Well if I don't get my driver's license renewed this month and I pass that date I've got to take that whole exam all over again. You know the exam.

So you want to make sure that you get your driver's license renewed before that date. Well I found out I still had to take a little bit of a test because I went down there this week and I waited in line and inordinate amount of time and finally got up to the little desk there and the lady said sit down please. Never looked at me I think the whole time she just kind of rattled her way through it and she said may I have your driver's license and I gave her my driver's license she looked at it and she looked at me and she looked at this and she said in this driver's license your picture does not have you wearing glasses. Do you need glasses. I don't know why I paused. I don't know why I just didn't say yes I have aged since that picture.

I didn't need them but I've actually gone from glasses to bifocals since that picture of me. Yes I don't know why I hesitated. And so she said would I take your glasses off sir and look into this little contraption here and put your eyes there and read the top line of letters. I could see something in there. She said the top line of letters so I knew there was something at the top and more than one. So I began to fake it.

E B G F which was my grade by the way for that text. She said sir put your glasses back on. I did. She said now look in there and read the first line. I looked in there and it was filled with wonderful things.

A L N P R had nothing to do with what I said. So I now have a driver's license with me in these. Now she had me look a little bit further because the test was not over. And she said I want you to look at the bottom there and there are signs. Tell me what the first one is.

There was no writing on them. This was a trick. First one.

Yes the first one. She said that's the speed limit. That's right I've seen that before a few times.

I was really going the wrong direction with this lady. She said keep keep reading. And I went through all of them and got to that triangular one. I said I know that that's yield. That's right sir.

She helped me with about two or three of the questions so that I could pass the test. But I thought about that again that I knew what that one was. And that's a pretty important sign isn't it. Because as you're driving along and maybe there's a road merging in with yours or maybe you're entering the interstate and you see that sign that means you're to stop at least slow down and maybe come to a complete stop because the other driver has the what.

The right away. You pass with a plus. The other driver has the right of way. So you've got to stop. You've got to yield to them. They've got the right to be first.

Great definition and illustration of that particular word. That means that God has the right of way over your life. And you need to slow down and make sure that you are doing with your body what God wants you to do because he has the right over the members of your body. The last thing you ever want to do is give the right of way to the enemy to the old kingdom.

Yield present them to God who has the rights over your body your heart your life everything about you. We are gods. We need to continually yield to God and pursue obedience to him. Thanks for joining us today here on wisdom for the heart.

Our Bible teacher Steven Davey is calling this message no consider present. If you joined us a little late or if you had to step away for part of this message you can go back and listen to it in its entirety on our website. In addition to listening for yourself you can share this and all of Steven's messages with others. That's a great way to help us reach more people with the truth of God's word. Our website is wisdom online dot org. Thanks for taking the time to join us today. We were glad you were with us and I hope you'll be with us next time right here on wisdom for the heart.