Studied at Universidad de Panamá; Studied Juris Doctor (J.D.) /Law Degree at De La Salle;
7/28/2024
7/21/2024
7/14/2024
7/11/2024
King of Glory - Psalm 24
0632 - King of Glory
Psalm 24; Isaiah 2: 9-10
Domini est terra - It is the Lord's land
July 14, 2024
Quacco Baptist Church
Savannah, Georgia
O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon
you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever. Amen.
Introduction
Who is the King
of Glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! The earth is
the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein Verse 1of our Psalm this morning.
Regardless of the nations, on this earth, how great and small they
are, some trying to enlarge their territory for whatever reason; we are
reminded here that the Lord God, the King of Glory, is God of all the earth.
But it’s not enough to think of God as the owner of the earth, not just the
visible surface, but as the psalmist adds, all its fullness and everything and
all those who dwell therein.
Charles Spurgeon puts it: “The
‘fullness’ of the earth may mean its harvests, its wealth, its life, or its
worship; in all these senses the Most High God is Possessor of all. The earth
is full of God; he made it full and he keeps it full.”
In 2 Corinthians we get the sense that the “world” belongs to
Satan. He is called the god of this age (2 Corinthians
4:4), and when he tempted Jesus with the promise of giving Him the
kingdoms of this world, listen, Jesus didn’t question the devil’s ability to do
so. But, Satan can only do anything at God’s allowance, so God’s ultimate
ownership is true. We remember that from the story of Job.
Paul quotes this verse in 1 Corinthians 10: 26 & 18 to
establish the principle that no food is in itself unclean and that there is
nothing that belongs to the false gods the pagans made offerings unto.
God has a claim upon every person who has ever lived. His
ownership of the earth extends to the people
who live upon it. This is because of the rights of creation and continuing
provision, The Lord God has a claim upon every person who has ever lived
because He’s the creator, of everything on and in and outside of the earth.
Look at Psalm 19 verse 1 - The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the
firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Who can come to such an awesome God? To such a great King? Who can
approach Him? There are rulers, presidents, and kings on earth but the system
is filled with so much pride that no one can approach. So the question who can?
Whom will he receive? Who would dare go into His Holy presence?
The one who has pure actions (hands) and intentions, (hearts). Who
hasn’t lifted his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.
The words we use are a good indication of the
state of our heart, the inner man or woman (Matthew 12:34).
Frank Lutz, Oxford-educated communicator and pollster wrote “Words That
Work”.Very good book, but then what is in one’s heart is what counts.
Whoever makes deceptive promises will not find
the welcome matt from God. It’s easy to look and see that my hands are not
always clean; my heart is not always pure. Idolatry can be both subtle and
stubborn in my heart. I also find it too easy to make promises with at least a
tinge of deceit.
Fortunately, God
established a better covenant through the person and work of Jesus. Under the
new covenant, we see that Jesus is the one who has clean hands and a pure heart, perfectly so.
Jesus has never
lifted up his soul to an idol and has never
sworn deceitfully. In His righteousness, given to all who believe (Romans
3:22), we can ascend His holy hill and stand in His
holy place.
Our Lord Jesus Christ could ascend into the hill
of the Lord because his hands were clean and his heart was pure, and if we by
faith in him are conformed to his image we too shall enter” (Spurgeon). your
conduct in life is a reflection of your fellowship with God. As John wrote in
his 1st letter: If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1:6).
We can say that under the Old Covenant, a righteous walk was the precondition for fellowship with God; but under the New
Covenant a righteous walk is the result of fellowship with God, founded on faith. Yet
under both covenants, God cares very much about the moral conduct of mankind,
especially those who identify themselves as His people. Do you identify as His?
If you do, you can’t ever allow to forget your own sinfulness and
that we all once stood guilty before God. J. C. Ryle wrote, “… let’s pray
for a deeper sense of our own sinfulness, guilt and undeserving. This after all, is the true secret of a
thankful spirit. …”
The more we see the depth of our sin, the more we will see the
height of the love of God. When we come to know that we have been foregiven
much, we’re going to love Him much, much more.
If you’re not a believer, well you’ve heard from this pulpit and
other what God requierers from you. Can you say your hands are clean, that your
heart is pure? God knows you to a T, hHe knows you have sinned, gone against
His Law, His requirements. What are you going to do? Keep ignoring His
commandments, His requirements today, tomorrow, up to thje day you die? You
know that your condition will keep you out of heaven…
But here’s the great news is that Jesus Christ. You on your
own will never be able to keep God’s requirements…. Never! But Jesus Christ was
the only man who has completely lived up to God’s requirements. He commited no
sin, no sir, He didn’t. T was pure, He was full of grace and truth, Psalm24:4.
John 1:14. He trusted in God who judges justly. He was truthful, “No deceit was
ever found in His mouth. Jesus Christ alone met these four requirements, has
clean hands and a pure heart, never lifted up his soul to an idol and
has never sworn deceitfully.
Here’s the news. Jesus didn’t meet the
requirements just for himself. He came to make you and me qualified to come
into God’s presence. He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin on our
behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor. 5:21..
He died in our place,
He rose again so that our stained, guilty hands could be washed clean, our
impure hearts could be purified. He did this for us to wash away those things
that keeps us from coming before a God who is like a consuming fire.
Verse 6, Such is the generation of those who seek him, of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob. We see that this, what He has done is for an
entire group of people. One man, Jesus Christ, kept the entire Law, the
requirements of God for the entire human race. By believing in Jesus Christ,
all who do, are saved and will enter too along with Christ the Hill of the
Lord.
Lift up your heads, O gates; lift them high, O
everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in.
"Who is this King of glory?"
The Lord, strong and
mighty, the Lord, mighty in
battle."
Jesus triumphed over, death, Hell, and the grave through the
cross. He rode up to the gates of heaven as a conqueror; so the battle is won.
When Jesus Christ returns to call us, all believers throughout the
whole world, home He will return to Heaven with crowds of believers following
Him.
Your creator cares for you, even if you have given yourself to
some of the worst things this world offers. He knows you are not fit for Heaven
now; so His Son Jesus Christ made a way for you. Why don’t you come to Him
today? Let Him change you.
If you know Jesus Christ, then you will be a part of the crowd of
true believers, and Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, will lead you in victory,
along with all those who have gone before you.
Lets all here celebrate in the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of
What the King of Glory has done for all so that they may be saved.
0632.1 - REI da GLORIA
0632.2 - Rei da Glória
Salmo 24; Isaías 2:9-10
Domini est terra – É a terra do Senhor
14 de julio de 2024
Igreja Batista Quacco
Savannah, Geórgia
Ó Senhor, receba misericordiosamente as
orações do seu povo que o invoca, e conceda que eles possam saber e compreender
as coisas que devem fazer, e também possam ter graça e poder para realizá-las
fielmente; por meio de Jesus Cristo, nosso Senhor, que vive e reina contigo e
com o Espírito Santo, um só Deus, agora e para sempre. Amém.
Introdução
Quem é o Rei da Glória? O SENHOR, forte e
poderoso, o SENHOR, poderoso na batalha! Do Senhor é a terra e a sua plenitude,
o mundo e aqueles que nele habitam. Versículo 1 do nosso Salmo desta manhã.
Independentemente
das nações nesta terra, quão grandes ou pequenas elas sejam, algumas tentando
ampliar o seu território por qualquer motivo; somos lembrados aqui que o Senhor
Deus, o Rei da Glória, é o Deus de toda a terra. Mas não basta pensar em Deus
como dono da terra, não apenas da superfície visível, mas como acrescenta o
salmista, de toda a sua plenitude e de tudo e de todos aqueles que nela
habitam.
Charles
Spurgeon afirma: “A ‘plenitude’ da terra pode significar as suas colheitas, a
sua riqueza, a sua vida ou a sua adoração; em todos esses sentidos, o Deus
Altíssimo é o Possuidor de tudo. A terra está cheia de Deus; ele o encheu e o
mantém cheio.”
Em 2
Coríntios temos a sensação de que o “mundo” pertence a Satanás. Ele é chamado
de deus desta era (2 Coríntios 4:4), e quando tentou Jesus com a promessa de
dar-lhe os reinos deste mundo, ouça, Jesus não questionou a capacidade do diabo
de fazer isso. Mas, Satanás só pode fazer qualquer coisa com a permissão de Deus,
então a propriedade final de Deus é verdadeira. Lembramos isso da história de
Jó.
Paulo cita
este versículo em 1 Coríntios 10: 26 e 18 para estabelecer o princípio de que
nenhum alimento é impuro em si mesmo e que não há nada que pertença aos falsos
deuses aos quais os pagãos faziam oferendas.
Deus tem direitos sobre cada pessoa que já viveu. Sua propriedade da terra se estende às pessoas que vivem nela. Isto se deve aos direitos de criação e provisão contínua. O Senhor Deus tem direitos sobre cada pessoa que já viveu porque Ele é o criador de tudo dentro, dentro e fora da terra. Veja o Salmo 19, versículo 1 - Os céus anunciam a glória de Deus, e o firmamento proclama a obra de suas mãos.
Quem pode
chegar a um Deus tão incrível? Para um rei tão grande? Quem pode se aproximar
Dele? Existem governantes, presidentes e reis na terra, mas o sistema está
cheio de tanto orgulho que ninguém consegue se aproximar. Então a pergunta quem
pode? Quem ele receberá? Quem ousaria entrar em Sua Santa presença?
Aquele que
tem ações (mãos) e intenções puras (corações). Quem não elevou a sua alma a um
ídolo, nem jurou enganosamente.
As palavras
que usamos são uma boa indicação do estado do nosso coração, do homem ou mulher
interior (Mateus 12:34). Frank Lutz, comunicador e pesquisador formado em
Oxford, escreveu “Words That Work”. Livro muito bom, mas o que está no coração
é o que conta.
Quem faz
promessas enganosas não encontrará o acolhimento de Deus. É fácil olhar e
perceber que minhas mãos nem sempre estão limpas; meu coração nem sempre é
puro. A idolatria pode ser sutil e teimosa em meu coração. Também acho muito
fácil fazer promessas com pelo menos um toque de engano.
Felizmente, Deus estabeleceu uma aliança
melhor através da pessoa e da obra de Jesus. Sob a nova aliança, vemos que
Jesus é aquele que tem as mãos limpas e o coração puro, perfeitamente.
Jesus nunca
elevou sua alma a um ídolo e nunca jurou enganosamente. Na Sua justiça, dada a
todos os que crêem (Romanos 3:22), podemos subir ao Seu santo monte e
permanecer no Seu lugar santo.
Nosso
Senhor Jesus Cristo pôde subir ao monte do Senhor porque suas mãos estavam
limpas e seu coração era puro, e se pela fé nele formos conformados à sua
imagem, nós também entraremos ”(Spurgeon). sua conduta na vida é um reflexo de
sua comunhão com Deus. Como João escreveu em sua 1ª carta: Se dissermos que
temos comunhão com ele e andarmos nas trevas, mentimos e não praticamos a
verdade (1:6). Podemos dizer que sob a Antiga Aliança, uma caminhada justa era
a pré-condição para a comunhão com Deus; mas sob a Nova Aliança uma caminhada
justa é o resultado da comunhão com Deus, fundada na fé. No entanto, em ambos
os pactos, Deus preocupa-se muito com a conduta moral da humanidade,
especialmente daqueles que se identificam como Seu povo. Você se identifica
como Dele?
Se fizer
isso, você nunca poderá permitir esquecer sua própria pecaminosidade e que
todos nós já fomos culpados diante de Deus. J. C. Ryle escreveu: “… vamos orar
por um sentimento mais profundo de nossa própria pecaminosidade, culpa e
indiferença. Afinal, este é o verdadeiro segredo de um espírito agradecido.
...”
Quanto mais
vemos a profundidade do nosso pecado, mais veremos a altura do amor de Deus.
Quando soubermos que fomos muito perdoados, vamos amá-Lo muito, muito mais.
Se você não
é um crente, bem, você já ouviu deste púlpito e de outros o que Deus exige de
você. Você pode dizer que suas mãos estão limpas, que seu coração é puro? Deus
conhece você perfeitamente, Ele sabe que você pecou, foi contra Sua lei, Suas
exigências. O que você vai fazer? Continuar ignorando Seus mandamentos, Suas
exigências hoje, amanhã, até o dia da sua morte? Você sabe que sua condição o
manterá fora do céu…
Mas aqui
está a grande notícia: Jesus Cristo. Você sozinho nunca será capaz de cumprir
os requisitos de Deus…. Nunca! Mas Jesus Cristo foi o único homem que cumpriu
plenamente os requisitos de Deus. Ele não cometeu nenhum pecado, não senhor,
Ele não cometeu. Eu era puro, Ele era cheio de graça e verdade, Salmos 24:4. João
1:14. Ele confiou em Deus que julga com justiça. Ele foi sincero: “Nenhum
engano foi encontrado em Sua boca. Somente Jesus Cristo cumpriu esses quatro
requisitos, tem mãos limpas e um coração puro, nunca elevou sua alma a um ídolo
e nunca jurou enganosamente.
Aqui estão
as novidades. Jesus não cumpriu os requisitos apenas para si mesmo. Ele veio
para tornar você e eu qualificados para entrar na presença de Deus. Ele fez com
que Aquele que não conhecia pecado fosse pecado por nós, para que nele
pudéssemos nos tornar justiça de Deus. 2 Cor. 5:21..
Ele morreu
em nosso lugar, Ele ressuscitou para que nossas mãos manchadas e culpadas
pudessem ser lavadas e nossos corações impuros pudessem ser purificados. Ele
fez isso por nós para lavar aquelas coisas que nos impedem de chegar diante de
um Deus que é como um fogo consumidor.
Versículo
6, Tal é a geração daqueles que o buscam, daqueles que buscam a tua face, ó
Deus de Jacó. Vemos que isso, o que Ele fez é por um grupo inteiro de pessoas.
Um homem, Jesus Cristo, guardou toda a Lei, os requisitos de Deus para toda a
raça humana. Ao crer em Jesus Cristo, todos os que o fizerem serão salvos e
entrarão também junto com Cristo no Monte do Senhor.
Levantem
suas cabeças, ó portões; erga-os bem alto, ó portas eternas; e o Rei da Glória
entrará. “Quem é este Rei da Glória?” O Senhor, forte e poderoso, o Senhor,
poderoso na batalha”.
Jesus
triunfou sobre a morte, o Inferno e a sepultura através da cruz. Ele cavalgou
até os portões do céu como um conquistador; então a batalha está vencida.
Quando
Jesus Cristo retornar para nos chamar, todos os crentes em todo o mundo, para
casa, Ele retornará ao Céu com multidões de crentes seguindo-O.
Seu criador
cuida de você, mesmo que você tenha se entregado a algumas das piores coisas
que este mundo oferece. Ele sabe que você não está apto para o Céu agora; então
Seu Filho Jesus Cristo abriu um caminho para você. Por que você não vem a Ele
hoje? Deixe Ele mudar você.
Se você
conhece Jesus Cristo, então você fará parte da multidão de verdadeiros crentes,
e Jesus Cristo, o Rei da Glória, o guiará na vitória, junto com todos aqueles
que vieram antes de você.
Vamos todos
aqui celebrar a Ceia do Senhor em memória do que o Rei da Glória fez por todos
para que sejam salvos.
7/09/2024
7/07/2024
565 Jekyll and Hyde Romans 7: 17 - 25 July 7, 2024
0169 – Dr. Jekyll
& Mr. Hyde
(Freedom in Christ
Jesus)
Romans 7:
July 7, 2024
Quacco Baptist Church
Savannah, GA
O God, you
have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor:
Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our
whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Introduction
Paul
used an analogy of marriage to illustrate how we all relate to the law of God.
In Roman law and Jewish law, the woman was bound to her husband for life. The
only way she could be freed from this was through the death of her husband.
Then she was perfectly free to marry again.
He applies the analogy to the believer and his relation to
the law, the woman is the believer, and the law is the husband. But in that the
law can’t die he has the woman, the believer, die in verse 4: Likewise, my
brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you
may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that
we may bear fruit for God.
Identifying with the death of Christ, we died with Him,
we’re married to Him and the Law has no claim on us. The dissolution of being
married to the Law results in our serving in a new way of the spirit.
There now is absolute freedom, no death but life. We don’t
belong to the Law but to Christ. Paul then asks the question is the Law then
sin? He says no that the Law is good because if it hadn’t been for the Law he
wouldn’t have known sin. He says “If it had not been for the law, I would
not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law
had not said, “You shall not covet.”
I attempted to explain this by using the analogy of traffic
laws. Speed restrictions serve a purpose, they’re good for your safety and that
of others. The
point is, that the Law reveals sin. Exceed the speed you are in the wrong. Now
we can, like Paul had been, be oblivious to the Law. But, the Law also
activates sin. Take the commandments. You can do ok and keep them. But what
about the last one? Don’t covet. Paul had realized that the rest of the
commandments all are broken through sins, that originate in coveting. And what
is to covet? A verb, yearn to
possess or have (something).
In Verses 7&8
he writes: I would
never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not
covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires
within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. (NLT).
Now, all Paul can do it seems is to covet. Romans 5:20
he writes, God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they
were. And 1 Corinthians 15:56, for sin is the sting that results
in death, and the law gives sin its power.
In his book Confessions, Augustine describes how this
principle works: “There was a pear tree near our vineyard, weighed down with
fruit alluring neither in appearance nor in flavor. To shake this tree and make
off with its produce, we no-good youths made haste in the dark night when we
had carried on our game in the streets according to our pestilential custom. …
not to feast upon ourselves, but to throw them to the pigs, though we ate
enough to have the pleasure of the forbidden fruit. ...they were nice pears, but
it wasn’t the pears that my wretched soul coveted, I had plenty at home, and
better. I picked them in order to become a thief. … What was it that I loved in
that theft? …. it was pleasing to us to do that which was not allowed. … The
desire to steal was awakened simply by the prohibition of stealing”.
The law says don’t covet. But my nature says, “It sounds
exciting.” You’re about to enter a building you can follow the walk around a
manicured lawn. There’s a sign that says keep off the grass. But it’s easier to
just walk across the grass.
It’s pleasurable to speed, it’s fun to see what you can get
away with, and feel the need for speed and danger. The law reveals and
activates sin. Keeping the law would bring life, but breaking it brings death.
Before you learned of the traffic laws, many were very
unaware of the depth of the violations one commits. There are 48 contiguous
United States and many of them have different laws concerning crossing an
intersection when the traffic light is yellow.
Well, before we
came under the teaching of the gospel, many of us were blissfully unaware of
the depth of our sin. Then we began to see God’s righteous requirements and our
sinfulness became very apparent. Because life is then a continuing revelation
of the radical nature of sin, as we grow in Christ we become aware that though
we’re born again and we are covered by the blood of Christ, at least as for me,
I find myself thoroughly sinful. The more I read, listen, study, and understand
God’s Law, the more I see that my sin is FUBAR. Fouled Up Beyond Repair.
We come to what
it’s like for the believer to struggle against the Law on his own. By himself. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it,
but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me,
that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the
ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do
not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no
longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law
that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the
law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging
war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that
dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this
body of death?
There’s
been controversy over the centuries as to who is the subject. There are three
views: 1. The non-christian, view taken by the Greek fathers; 2. The normal
Christian; view taken by Augustine, Luther, and Calvin; and 3. The carnal
Christian. Paul talking of himself doesn’t see himself as a carnal Christian
but as a normal Christian. He’s not putting on any prissy piety. He speaks with
a candor that can be praised. He states the problem of the struggling Christian
in verses 14-16: For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the
flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not
do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not
want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
Here
we come to the title of this message, Do you all recall the story of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde centers a conception of humanity as dual in nature. Jekyll asserts that “man is not truly one, but
truly two,” and he imagines the human soul as the battleground for an “angel”
and a “fiend,” each struggling for mastery. But his potion, which he hoped
would separate and purify each element, succeeds only in bringing the dark side
into being—Hyde emerges, but he has no angelic counterpart. Once unleashed,
Hyde slowly takes over, until Jekyll ceases to exist. If man is half angel and
half-fiend, one wonders what happens to the “angel” at the end of the novel.
Perhaps the angel gives way permanently to Jekyll’s devil.
How many of us know what we want to do
but don’t do and what we don’t want to do we do? How many have said this to
counselors, a pastor a close friend? One finds themselves in a quandary, this
is the cry of a believer who is trying but is relying on himself. Paul finds
himself dominated by sin. Verses 17-20: 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells
within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.
For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep
on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but
sin that dwells within me.
Thomas Kempis a German-Dutch Catholic canon regular of the
late medieval period and the author of The Imitation of Christ wrote of this
frustration.
I desire to enjoy thee inwardly, but I
cannot take Thee. I desire to cleave to heavenly things, but fleshly things and
unmortified passions depress me. I will in my mind to be above all things, but
in spite of myself I am constrained to be beneath, so I, unhappy man, fight
with myself and am made grievous to myself while the spirit seeketh what is
beneath. O what I suffer within while as I think on heavenly things in my mind,
the company of fleshly things comes against me when I pray.
Kempis writes for all, and I mean all of
us. How many times have you tried with all your heart, mind, and soul to follow
Christ only to be pulled by your own flesh? Paul knows and understands
what’s really going on and records in verses 21-23: 21 So I find it to be a law that when I
want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God,
in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against
the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my
members.
Paul recognizes that man has two
natures. One delights in the Law of God. The other wages war against God’s Law.
The Christian is subject to two forces at the same time and therefore lives a
life of tension. Like Jekyll and Hyde. Galatians 5:17 - For the desires of
the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the
flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things
you want to do.
Here, a believer who tries to please in
his or her own strength will always come away disheartened, and frustrated.
Always, This happens to “good” Christians, more so to “Super” Christians.
Paul was perhaps the greatest Christian
ever, and buddy, this was his experience. He had more theology and passion in his
pinky finger than any of us, anyone will have in their entire lifetime. Paul
understood how sin defeats us through the Law and he may have come out, in time
from under the bondage of sin, but never came to “perfection.”
He cries out: verse 24 Wretched man
that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Wretched, What
a miserable distressed condition. Paul has come to the end of the rope. This
takes us to the very place where Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount. Matt. 5:3
– Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the bankrupt, the wretched .. When the believer realizes his/her
complete helplessness, the believer will receive God’s help. As long as we
think we can do it by ourselves we’re going to be stuck back in verses
17-20.
How does Paul handle the situation? He
cries out who will deliver me from this body of death? Verse 25: Thanks be
to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Paul anticipates the power of the
indwelling Holy Spirit. Paul’s words can help us get rid of the graveclothes of
the Law…
Some teachers say that a Christian goes
through this condition in Chapter 7 only once and then goes on. But that’s not
true. When a mighty man like Paul went through it time and time again, what
makes one think that they won’t?
Here is a description of what every
believer goes through. Sin has the power to deceive us and will cause us to
trust in ourselves. The Law is what will expose the Mr. Hyde in us and drive us
straight to the place of wretchedness which then, in the devotion of spirit cry
out Lord Jesus, help, it is your problem; please take it.
If you are Christ’s, call out to Him. If
you don’t know Christ, then today is the day to come to Him so that He may also
deliver you from the body of death.
