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How to
Overcome
Thank God, you can be an overcomer. My friend,
real salvation came to put you in a position where you can
live free from sin and do the will of God. In John 8, we read:
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye
continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They
answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage
to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus
answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever
committeth sin is the servant [or slave] of sin.
This lets us see that when we commit sin, it takes root in the
heart. It comes alive in the heart and spreads forth, and you
become the servant of sin. The Bible teaches us that when you
commit sin, you will add sin to sin from that time forth. You
will do just what people are doing--sin more or less every
day--until you get that sin out of the heart. You can join all
the churches on the face of the globe and go through all the
rituals of religion, but you will still sin more or less every
day until you get the sin out of the heart. You need to
understand, He that comitteth sin is the servant
[slave] of sin.
Romans 6:12 and 13 says, Let
not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should
obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves
unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness unto God. The only
way that sin can reign in your mortal body is when it is in
your heart. Do not forget that this mortal body is just an
instrument of the soul. If your soul is saved, there is no sin
in your soul; and there will not be any sin in these members
either. These members of the body just move according to the
directions of the heart or soul.
We need to get the
true picture of sin. He said, "Let not sin therefore reign in
your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof." (Or obey it in sin's lusts). Brother, as long as sin
is in your heart, you are going to obey it. You may not do
everything the devil says, but he will break down the fibers
of your life. You will go from one condition to a worse
condition. You never saw anybody living in sin get better.
These sinning religions have to stress the false love of God
that will cover more and more transgressions. Why? The longer
people live in sin, the worse shape they get in. As the
Prophet Jeremiah said, "They add sin to sin."
Now, Paul
said, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that
ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. In the next chapter
(Romans 7), Paul will tell you that he committed sin when the
commandment came; and he sold himself under sin. He became a
slave. I want us to see that when we commit sin, we are sold
under sin. When we are sold under sin, we are a slave to it.
We are under the power of it, and there is nothing that is
within us that is able to raise up against it. It is greater
than we are.
I want to help those of you who are bound
with the habits of life. I know that we are living in a day
and time when people will take you into their denomination and
make you feel that you are a good Christian while you are
still bound with the habits of life. Even though it condemns
you and you are ashamed to use it around the people of God,
yet false religion will be ready to accept you, if you hand a
good paycheck in and keep on working to build up that
organization. However, I want you to see what your TRUE
condition is.
Romans 7:15-17 tells us of Paul's
condition while he was in sin and had sin in his heart. For
that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not;
but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Now
THERE is a contrary condition. He was doing things that he did
not want to do. He did not really allow it, but he did it
anyway because the power of sin that was in his heart was
greater than he was. Verse 16 and 17 says, "If then I do that
which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now
then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."
Now, that is people's condition. They would to God that they
did not smoke. Others would to God that they did not drink.
Some would to God that they did not run after women. Others
would to God that they did not do this or that. Oh, you need
to see your true condition. When you do something that you do
not really desire to do, there is something which has hold of
you that is bigger than you are!
Let us read verses 16
and 17 again: If then I do that which I would not, I
consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
You can go
to any man's altar and weep over your transgressions and say,
I'm sorry that I did this, I'm sorry that I did that", but if
you do not get down to a deeper work than that, you will go
right back and do it again. You need to understand that truth:
it is not you wanting to do it, but sin that dwelleth in you.
Brother, as long as sin is in your heart, you will commit sin.
As long as sin is in your heart, you will do that which you
would not do along many lines.
Somebody might ask, "How
are we going to get free from it?" Well, Paul makes that plain
in the following verses. He said in verse 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. Now we read on in verses 19-21: For
the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would
not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law,
that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. Step
by step, Paul pointed it out. In verses 22 and 23, Paul said,
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I
see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which
is in my members. Now get this in verses 24 and 25: O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of
this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then
with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the
flesh the law of sin.
Sin is stronger than the
mind. False ministry today will just tell you that you need to
exercise your will power. Man, sin is stronger than your will.
Sin is stronger than your mind. You have no good thing in your
flesh whatsoever. This thing of reformation is clear out of
the question. Sin is stronger than you are. You need to
realize, again, that as long as sin is in your heart, you will
obey it in the lusts thereof. Remember Romans 6:12, "Let not
sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey
it in the lusts thereof."
Brother, we have to get sin
out of the heart; and there is only one way to get sin out of
the heart. Get God to put in a new heart. Thank God, when He
puts in a new one, there will not be any sin in it. When He
takes out that heart, the sinful lusts and the sinful desires
will all go. "Well," somebody said, "Where is our
deliverance?" Romans 7:24 says, "0 wretched man that I am!"
Certainly, that is a wretched individual who is doing that
which he does not want to do and cannot do things that he
desires to do. This is a perfect picture of men and women
under the power of sin.
The good that they would they
cannot do; and the evil that they do not want to do, that is
the thing they do. Paul went on to say in verse 24, "O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of
this [spiritual] death? (25) I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord…" In Chapter 8, Paul began by saying, There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law of sin and death. 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: That the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things
of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of
the Spirit. Oh, friend, there is REAL
deliverance!
Not Everyone That Saith "Lord, Lord"
I
want you to see that Christ gave Himself for our sins that He
might deliver us from this present evil world; that we might
be able to live according to the will of God our Father. Now,
you know that it takes this to go to heaven. Let us just quit
kidding around. You see, there are not as many people in real
darkness as we think there are as far as religion is
concerned. If you think so, you just talk to them a little
while; and it will not be long till they will be telling you
that they know that they ought to live differently than they
do. That is the thing that is getting them in trouble, and
that is the thing that is keeping them from greater light.
Now, you can play around all this false religion, and you can
let them tell you of their doctrine of once in grace always in
grace; but there are serious consequences.
If you read
in the Book of Revelation, you will find out, that if you keep
inhabiting those places where they teach those damnable
doctrines and heresies, you will be made to feel that you can
live on in sin and the blood of Jesus Christ will cover it
all. The Bible says that if you keep going back there and
drinking their wine, you will get intoxicated; and you will
stay under the intoxication of that doctrine. However, friend,
if you never wake up before, you are going to wake up when the
shocks of eternity and the judgment hit you; and you will find
out that there is no one going to enter heaven unless he lives
holy here. Jesus finished His great Sermon on the Mount by
saying, Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:21. How are you
going to get there? ONLY by doing the will of God.
Let
us go right back to our text. He suffered and gave Himself for
our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world
and bring us to an experience where we could live according to
the will of God our Father. Are you abiding by the Gospel?
Now, let us give the Holy Ghost a chance to check us out as to
whether or not we are living by the Gospel. How do I know if I
have the Gospel of God or another gospel? First of all, where
did you receive it? The Gospel of God is not received of men
neither taught by men, but it is received by a divine
revelation of Jesus Christ in the heart. Were you prompted by
yourself, by other men, or by a revelation of Jesus Christ in
your heart to do those actions that you are doing?
Let
us bring it down closer. Can you definitely say with heaven
and eternity in view that Jesus told you to do what you are
doing? We have people doing everything from turning cartwheels
to gibber jabbering and foaming at the mouth. Yet they say
that Jesus told them to do it all. Well, this is exactly what
He gave us the Word of God for--to try the spirit. Jesus does
not tell you to do one thing contrary to His Word. How do we
know whether we are abiding by the Word of God or another
gospel? Well, where did you receive it? Paul said that he did
not receive it of men, and neither was he taught it of men.
Let's see Galatians 1:10-12. For do I now persuade men, or
God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I
should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you,
brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I
taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ.
Secondly, how does it affect the Church of
God? Paul was living by another gospel when he persecuted and
wasted the Church of God; but when he got hold of the Gospel
of God, he became a master builder. Now, you are either
building or wrecking. We are building, or we are wasting. We
are building, or we are destroying. The Gospel of God will
make a builder out of everyone who will let
it.
Thirdly, whom are you trying to persuade or please?
Paul asked and answered this question in Galatians 1:9 and 10:
As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any
other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be
accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to
please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the
servant of Christ.
This is a question that we need
to answer. Brother, if you are living for this Gospel, you
will go out to persuade men for God; but if you are cutting
corners, going ways that are your own ideas, and living
contrary to the Gospel, you are showing all of us that you are
trying to persuade God to change His mind.
Who are you
trying to persuade--men or God? Who are you pleasing--men or
God? The Gospel born of God pleases God, and the gospel born
of men pleases men. Someone may say, "Well, a man is wasting
his time when he is trying to persuade God." Yes, but the
prophets will tell you that men do that. Some men think that
God is like them; and if they keep on like they are, God will
change His mind and change the Gospel to fit their fancies.
However, Psalms 119:89 says, For ever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven.
Brother, it has been the enemy's
move ever since there has been a Gospel to try to get the Book
changed to fit man, but the Gospel of God is unchangeable. It
is full of relevance. It is able to deal with EVERY situation.
My friend, we are not to change the Book to fit man--we are to
change man to fit the Book. If you will allow God's plan of
salvation to work in your life, your life will fit the
Book-the divine pattern. May God help us!
Therefore,
the very essence of the Gospel is that Christ gave Himself for
our sins (that is as far as too many go) that we might be
delivered from the terrible bondage which comes with sin. We
are in bondage to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life until Jesus comes; then, thank God, we
can say that we WERE in bondage to this present evil world,
but now, we are delivered from it and are able to live
according to the will of God. Remember? This is what Jesus
said when He taught His disciples to pray: Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Friend, are you living that way? Have you found this great
deliverance?
It is sad to see so many religious people
trying to pull Paul down to their level and say that Romans
Chapter 7 was Paul's Christian experience. However, if you
will read it like Paul wrote it, he will tell you that this
was his experience BEFORE he found salvation. This was his
experience when he was a sinner--when he spoke of himself as
being the chief of sinners. Brother, when Paul found
salvation, he could write to the Church over and over and say,
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and
unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe. I
Thessalonians 2:10. You CAN have that kind of an experience,
too.
I in no way have preached that you could get to a
place where you could not sin. Anyone can sin if he wants to,
but the Bible sets forth a great plan of salvation where you
can be delivered to the place you do not HAVE TO sin. This old
thing of "have to, cannot help myself, I'm under the power of
it" is what Jesus came to break. He does not make you a
righteous robot. You still are a free moral agent. Every day
you have to decide whether you are going to follow after the
flesh or after the Spirit. However, thank God, when you are
born of the Spirit, God gives you power to make the right
decision and carry it out. You CAN say no to the devil and yes
to God. |
