Life In The Spirit Series, Part 3

And as you can see by way of your handout, tonight we're continuing in our sanctuary series called Life in the Spirit, and tonight we're looking at the subject of condemnation. Our text is Romans 8 in verse 1. The Bible says that there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walked not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Verse 2, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. So this is our text from which we will launch tonight, and so much we could say, but to begin I think we have to just give definition to what it means to be condemned. Simply means this, to be condemned means that we are guilty. Now the Old Testament law which is what God gave Moses on Mount Sinai, Paul and

2 Corinthians actually called this the ministry of condemnation. And what he means by that is it was the law that God gave Moses that showed us our sin. It revealed to us our need for salvation, and thanks be to God that we can gather tonight not living under the ministry of condemnation. However, that is not to say that that ministry is of no effect, and we'll address this here in a few moments, but when we look at Romans chapter 8, Paul identifies for us the two necessary requirements that have to be active or real in your life if you will live free of condemnation. So he says that right now there is no condemnation to them which number one are in Christ Jesus and number two who do not walk after the flesh but walk after the Spirit. And so if you will live free of condemnation in your life it is necessary that both of those things can

be said of you. So let's let's look at this first question. What does it mean to be in Christ Jesus? Now I did this yesterday while I was studying. If you go to Google, you go to chat GPT or some search engine like that, and you ask this question, according to the Bible what does it mean to be in Jesus Christ? You're going to find all kinds of answers. Some which have biblical truth and some which I would say are inserted into the text, and they are they are not taken from the text. And so as we look to scripture the principle of hermeneutics which is the study of the Bible, the first rule is this is that scripture interprets scripture. So if I'm reading the Bible and I come to a phrase, a word, a concept that I do not understand, I understand in every other area of life

the first thing you're going to do is get your smartphone and open Google or ask Siri that is not what we do with the Bible. The first thing we do with the scripture is we look to the scripture. So if if I read Romans chapter 8 and the Bible says that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, I have a question now. What does it mean to be in Christ? Well if I want to find that answer, according to the study of scripture, I have to look at other places in scripture that the Bible speaks about being in Christ in order to find that answer. Romans 6 and 3, no ye not that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. So according to the scripture, now this comes from the same letter that Romans 8 comes from.

So Paul has already explained to them how to be in Christ. That's what Romans chapter 6 was all about. And so by the time he gets to Romans chapter 8, these people already have this understanding. To be in Christ means that I have been baptized into him how when I'm baptized the name of Jesus is spoken over me. And so when I am baptized in water in Jesus name, I'm baptized into his death into Christ. This is important now because you don't get in Christ by showing up in the building. You don't get in Christ by identifying as a Christian on your social media profile. You don't get to be in Christ because you have a t-shirt that has a nice Christian saying on it. You don't get to be in Christ because you show up every Sunday or you sing the lyrics that are on the screen. You don't

even get to be in Christ by paying your tithes. And you should pay your tithes. The only way you are in Christ is when you are baptized into Christ which is to be baptized in water by immersion in the name of Jesus Christ. Look at Galatians 3 and 27. For as many of you have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. So the only way that Christ can be put on you is to be baptized into him. This is important. This does not negate the necessity of any other discipline. This does not deny the necessity of faith and believing. But none of these in and of themselves are complete according to the Scripture. Now I'm telling you this because I know if you go on Google you'll get a list of about five different things. It'll tell you that to be in Christ is about your spiritual

union and that this happens by faith. Well yes faith is necessary. If you don't have faith that's no different than a bathtub. We're not going to put bubbles in it for you. But if you don't have faith it means nothing. So yes faith is necessary but faith is not all of it. Faith does not put you in Christ. Baptism according to the Scripture is what puts you in Christ. And so when Paul is saying this what he says is there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. There is no condemnation to those who have been baptized in Jesus name. This is the first thing. Now to be in Christ Jesus the second blank on your handout is a past action. What I mean by this is we ought to be able to look to a time in our life where we can say this is when I was baptized in Jesus

name. This is the church. This is who baptized me. This was the day. This was the time. I can I can take you to the moment in my past that I was baptized. But it's only a past action. You don't get rebaptized every time you struggle. There's no need to be rebaptized every time you make a mistake. You are baptized once into Christ and that baptism by immersion in water is a past action. That was the only the first thing. He said that you also are not to walk after the flesh but after the Spirit and this I would say to walk after the Spirit is a daily action. So the first requirement for you to live free of the power of condemnation is that yes you have this moment in your past where you can say I was baptized into Christ. I thank God for

that. That is necessary. It is not all. There is still a daily requirement that each and every day of your life you do not walk after the flesh but after the Spirit. Now think with me in that moment that you first received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. That first that first moment when you received the Spirit and you begin to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave you the ability. I want you to recall to your mind how you yielded to God in that moment. You surrendered your mind, your heart, your hands are raised and you're lifting up your voice with praise to the Lord. You are yielding to Him and as you do that what happens? The Spirit moves in and it begins to take control of your tongue and you speak by the unction of the Spirit. You are literally speaking by the help of the Spirit. Now this is my proposition

tonight. If the Spirit can help you speak then surely it can help you make decisions. This is what it means to walk after the Spirit. I'm glad. Thank God it's necessary. We have to be able to look to a time in our lives or we can say yes. I got the Holy Ghost. Yes I spoke with tongues. I think we should all live like Paul who said I'm glad I speak in tongues more than you all. I think it's a great discipline to cultivate that kind of prayer life every day. But the Spirit was given not just to help you speak but to help you make decisions. This is what it means to walk after the Spirit daily. That each and every day I'm yielding to the Spirit not just to control my tongue but to control my mind to direct my decisions to guide my life because as Paul said

there is a law of sin and death. What is the law of sin? It is the law of separation. Sin separates you from God. This was the error of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden who came to the realization that they were naked. The conscience was born and now guilt can be felt. Condemnation can be experienced because sin separated them from God. My wife and I have been in a bit of an ongoing conversation over the past few days. She's been studying about covering and shame and the Scripture. She said to me a few nights ago well the first covering in the Bible was when God killed the animal and covered Adam and Eve. I said actually that's that's not correct. The first covering in the Bible was God himself. And when sin came it brought separation between God and man and now there was a need for a covering. And then God provided that

temporary covering. This is the law of sin. This is why this is why we take sin seriously. Why we don't play with sin. Sin is not to be treated lightly. Sin separates you from God. And there is the law of death. This is the eternal consequence of sin. That there will be eternal separation from someone's soul from the presence of God. And it is as Paul said it's the law of sin and death that condemns us because we are never good enough. Our righteousness as the Scripture says is as filthy rags. You can't you can't do enough work for God. You can't be good enough for God. None of it is good enough. But if you are in Christ and His righteousness becomes your righteousness then as Paul said for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus it makes me free from

the law of sin and death. Now I want you to understand this because if you are not in Christ Jesus the law of sin and death still applies to your life. The law of the spirit does not destroy the law of sin. It overcomes it. You say how can two laws simultaneously be true because one is greater than the other. You heard the law of gravity in elementary terms what goes up must come down. But there's also another law called the law of aerodynamics. It includes the law of lift, weight, thrust and drag. And if you take into consideration those four laws the law of aerodynamics that says what goes up must come down is surpassed or the law of gravity is surpassed by the law of aerodynamics. And because of that tens of thousands of planes today will fly all around the world well if you just consider the law of gravity the law of gravity says

this is not possible. But when you introduce the law of aerodynamics the law of aerodynamics says yes this is possible. Well the law of sin and death says you can't be saved. You can't be free. You can't be made whole. You can't live a better life. You're lost. There's no hope. There's no peace. There's no joy. You're not good enough and all of those things are true. Introduce the greater law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus and that is a greater law that overcomes the law of sin and death. But that law is only active in the life of somebody who is in Christ who has been baptized in Jesus name and who every day of their lives is making a conscious effort to walk after the spirit. If you are not making a conscious effort to walk after the spirit then your daily or lack of daily discipline your tendency to walk

according to the flesh in your mind will make the reality that you are in Christ of no effect and you will live under the lie of condemnation. You have got to live after the spirit. So let's look at at this subject of dealing with ourselves because the enemy is going to use every opportunity he can. And if there is an area of our own lives whereby we become vulnerable to the enemy I promise you he'll use it. And so first let's consider self-condemnation. This is it's the act of criticizing or blaming yourself. And I I feel quite confident that there's probably many in this house tonight that battle this or have battled this. Self-condemnation it's it's when you start to believe lies about yourself and by believing the lie about your your own identity or or who God says you are or the reality of who you are in Christ it robs you of

the ability to rest in the grace of God. Now you live under the weight of self-condemnation. It's a voice in your head tells you you're never good enough you're always going to fail. You should have known better it seems to follow you it's that inescapable voice it's that it's that weight that just settles on you that you can't seem to get out of. And then you come to church and you hear preaching and teaching and you are convicted and now you wrestle how do I decipher the difference between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and this self-condemning voice in my head. Because I'll tell you they feel a lot alike. And Jesus did say in John 16 that when the Holy Spirit came it would convict the world of sin. So we do know that conviction is of God and conviction is in order and if there's no conviction in our life if there's no

conviction in our church then I would draw the conclusion there's no spirit working in your life. When is the last time the Spirit convicted you? Conviction is this it's the mark of the work of the Spirit in our lives and I offer this as a means of identifying the difference. Condemnation attacks your identity it points to your work and as such it pushes you away from God. So when you are wrestling condemnation it's it's an identity-centered attack you're not good enough you failure you loser and all of a sudden your sense of confidence is robbed from you and you're questioning the reality of a baptism and the work of the Spirit in your life and am I really a child of God am I really saved and that that voice of condemnation that the enemy works through is always centered on attacking your identity and conviction is very

different because conviction identifies specific actions it points to God's work and it draws you closer to him. So when it's the self-condemning voice that the enemy is using he's trying to to minimize your sense of self by attacking your identity but when it's the Spirit working in your life God's not tearing down your identity he is convicting you over a particular action or maybe a lack of action in your life and in and by doing so it points to God's work when conviction shows up it's God causing you to consider the reality of the cross how much he loves you how much he has done for you and in light of that the action or the that you are doing or not doing consider that and change it that's not how the enemy works the enemy tears down your sense of self by lying to you about your identity now listen to me I'm not

condoning sin but you may make a mistake and you may struggle and you may still be a child of God but the enemy is going to show up with this self - condemning voice and tell you you've lost it all you're a failure you should have known he's attacking your identity so you'll throw in the towel instead of fighting the necessary fight to be victorious over sin but when the spirit's working he's going to convict you about the action yeah you should have come to church on Sunday yeah you didn't come to midweek Bible study and you got feeling a little bit convicted so you turned on the live stream but you know good and well you should have been here that's the spirit convicting you of the action you walk away from a conversation and you feel that feeling yep that's the Holy Ghost saying you shouldn't have said what you

said you walk away and that thought comes through your mind with a little prick in the conscience and you think I laughed at that joke they told and I shouldn't have I should have stood my ground and let them know that's not the kind of inner the conversation I entertain the spirit convicts the action in the same way that I can deal with the behavior of my children and they are still my children the spirit of God will address the action or lack of action in your life without minimizing your sense of security or identity in God Romans 2 and 4 Paul said it's God's kindness that leads you to repentance so I would say God convict me listen there's there's a whole lot of churches and Christians that don't want to talk about sin they don't want to name it now I'm not up here advocating that we need to come with a list of named

sins to the pulpit every Sunday but thank God for a pastor that will call sin sin because if the spirit is not convicting the world of sin then the spirit is not working in that place or those people you may call yourself a Christian you may gather in a building called a church but if the spirit is not convicting the spirit is not working it's the kindness of God that leads us to repentance so conviction it's just this it's God's method to identify areas of your life that he is trying to change now that that voice of self-condemnation it's it's that that silent voice that so often we can't seem to escape in our head nobody else can hear it it's it's silent to the audible ear but boy it sure is loud in your head that's that's the internal battle with self but the next is is wounds by others you say now you've you've

got this under a heading called called dealing with self and now you say wounds by others is not is not self and others contradictory one to another no because I'm not so much talking about what's done to you but your response there's a lot of things that will suffer that we not we may not control what happens to us but we do maintain control about how we respond Matthew 18 and 7 woe unto the world because of offenses for it must needs be that offenses come but woe to the man by whom the offense coming simply put there's going to be a fence you better just make sure you're not the one causing it offense is the seed that sprouts the root of bitterness look at Hebrews 12 now looking diligently lest any man fail the grace of God now make sure you get this this is not the grace of God failing you it's not God's grace

being insufficient for your trial but if any man should fail the grace of God here's how lest the root of bitterness springing up trouble you thereby many be defiled the root of bitterness now you know this you you pull a plant out of the ground and when you pull that plant out and and the roots come out of the soil all compacted in around the roots of that plant or what comes of soil and you didn't you didn't just pull that plant out now you got a little hole in the soil it's disturbed and you got a you don't want to waste that dirt you got to get that dirt out of the roots and you got to patch that hole what's the scripture trying to tell us that if you don't deal with offense offense becomes bitterness and bitterness never just doesn't ever just affect you that many

be defiled now you just wanted to pull that plant up that you disturbed the dirt all around it you just you just got you just got grumpy and offended and bitter over one thing but when you left the church you didn't leave by yourself because your attitude poisoned the whole pew your your conversation corrupted everybody at the table and I know a lot of people don't want to tell you but I'll tell you you're gonna stand before God for that now what you should have done was deal with the offense because the fence is gonna come it's unavoidable it's gonna show up and if you deal with the fence when it is in a seed form you you don't let that germinate in your spirit you don't entertain that conversation you say well this never should have happened to me you're right it never should have happened but it did

now what are you gonna do are you gonna deal with the offense I promise you I promise you the there's some there's some mom and dads who if they could go back they would do it over I've heard their stories they wouldn't have said what they said they they wouldn't have acted the way they acted because the carelessness from which they spoke in a spirit that was offended sowed something into the heart of a child and now it wasn't just their issue it was their family's issue and now they've got grandkids that are being raised haven't never been in a church no idea of God don't know the truth why because a couple generations ago somebody got offended and that that spirit of offense sprouted a root of bitterness and now they're they're bitter at brother so-and-so and bitter at sister so-and-so and bitter at the pastor and

bitter at God and bitter at the church and many are defiled listen to me I'm sorry I'm sorry that it happened I wish it never would have happened if we could go back we would try to change it rearrange life to avoid all we can't always control what happens to us we are in control of our response so what do you do when you've been hurt you go to the Scripture Matthew 5 and 44 I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you and that is easier read than lived look at Luke 17 so watch yourselves if your brother or sister sins against you rebuke them now rebuke is an action it's not an attitude so this means you can address the wrong but that doesn't give

you permission to do it in whatever attitude you want address the action but if they repent forgive them well I don't feel like forgiving them I'm sorry but the choice and the action to forgive is not contingent upon your feelings it's a mandate of Scripture and notable to me that in this passage and many others when Jesus teaches on the subject of forgiveness often you find the word brother why because he knew every family has conflict there's gonna be conflict in your marriage there's gonna be conflict in your parenting there'll be conflict with siblings and there's even gonna be conflict in the church where there are people there will be problems so I say thank God we have a Scripture that tells us how to deal with it be a lot easier to digest if he said you know if your enemy sins against you I

expect that but my brother my sister because there's gonna be conflict in the family and when there is address it correct them let them know this is not what we do it's not how we act we don't talk like this we don't we don't speak like this this is not how we live and if they repent which I hope to God they do forgive them put it under the blood put it behind you if they if they keep on doing it seven times in a day and seven times they come back saying I repent keep on forgiving them this is how the family of God functions now I know I'm well aware this is easier to read than it is to live which is why we die to self we get connected to the vine and we draw from the Lord the mercy that we don't have in ourselves the grace that we don't have in our self the

patience that I don't have in my nature I need to walk after the Spirit you see now Paul knew what he was talking about you don't have this in yourself you don't have this ability in your flesh but if every day you are walking after the Spirit because what happens is if you choose to withhold mercy if you don't forgive if you live offended the enemy says that's all I needed a door now now the voice of self condemnation is speaking in your world because you've not obeyed the scripture so listen offense is gonna come you're gonna be hurt you're gonna be bothered people are gonna wound you thank God the scripture shows how to handle it now I don't want to go way down this road but in consideration of this there's there's a lot of research on the subject of the developmental years of childhood that enforced the idea that most of a person's insecurities

will come from their childhood and so as a people of God is as Christians as disciples as a church it's imperative that we be healthy people because healthy people make healthy marriages and healthy marriages make healthy families and healthy families make healthy churches this this is imperative now I've taught on this at length before I don't I don't want to go way into this tonight for the sake of time but in Mark chapter 5 verse 24 through 34 you find the story of the woman with the issue of blood the Bible identifies her by a physical issue but if you read that passage of scripture as I submitted in a lesson some time ago called holy holy Jesus deals with a much deeper issue after she's already been healed physically the Bible said as she touched him virtue left him immediately her body has been healed praise God but when the story

started she didn't ask to be healed the Bible said she said within herself because she's having a voice a conversation with the self-condemning voice in her mind and that self-condemning voice has attacked her identity and told her according to the law you're not welcome into the house of God you can't fellowship with the people of God you've got this disgusting issue you're dirty nobody likes you nobody loves you her sense of identity her security is robbed from her but she said I want to be made whole and after she touches him and retreats into the crowd Jesus does the most humiliating thing possible she he asks for the one who has touched him to identify themselves before everybody why because he knew there was a deeper issue than her physical body and it was her war with the self-condemning voice in her head and so

he calls her out in the presence of all those people you know what those people were they were people that enforced the law of sin and death it was the voice of peers that said according to the law the law says this and Jesus looked at the one nobody wanted anything to do with and called her daughter daughter a term of identification that is possessive in nature what he was saying was they want to leave you to the law they want to sentence you to death they want to subject you to what identity that leaves you hopeless but I'm going to take you in under my wing and I'm going to make you my own I am going to silence the condemning voice in your head she asked to be made whole but wholeness didn't stop with her body being healed he had to touch her eyes her

sense of self-identity he had to heal that broken sense of security within her this is how God helps us deal with ourselves we get into his presence we hear what he says about us we let his his voice speak to us and shape us and secure our identity in him but then there's also to be considered dealing with Satan revelation 12 and 10 calls our enemy the accuser of the brethren first Peter speaks of him in a manner that lets us know he's always going looking for somebody that he might devour so thanks be to God the scripture gives us a method of victory revelation 12 and 11 speaking of the accuser now the Bible says they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony they love not their lives under death we overcome by the blood

of the lamb and by the word of their testimony now this is this is how the enemy works condemnation is his tool that is enabled by bringing to your memory past failures that are presented to you after the blood you you've been baptized you're living for God but the enemy shows up and starts reminding you of what you used to do how you used to live now this may be before your conversion or it may even be a daily thing where perhaps perhaps in that moment the spirit was convicting you don't participate in that conversation but you did maybe you've repented about it and when you did God forgave you but now the enemy comes along and starts reminding you yet you remember you remember what you said at the table you remember when when God was pressing you to stand up against that and you stayed silent it's under the blood but he reminds you to entice you to

submit your mind to that voice of condemnation now I want you to notice this look at revelation 12 the the accuser consider this an accusation verse 11 the word of their testimony what are these things their legal terms the Bible is full of them and I know we're accustomed to in our context a witness is to to tell somebody about Jesus but but but even this to witness it's a legal term the Bible speaks of our advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous what is an advocate the Greek is paracletos it literally means one who comes alongside and pleads on your behalf literally it it's your lawyer it's a legal term now this is important because I I want to present for your mind tonight the the image of a courtroom because this is this is what's happening it's like if you could just put your mind in the context of a

courtroom we we've got the judge the Almighty God and the enemies coming into the courtroom and saying hey this person who calls himself a Christian guess what I have on record that they did this I heard them say this I watch them do this and if it's true according to the law you you're condemned you're guilty there's a consequence that you'll be subject to so what then do we do when the enemy shows up with accusations that propel the voice of self-condemnation I would say that when Satan reminds us of our past we have to remind him of the reality of the cross Colossians 2 verse 11 the Bible says now I've only put a couple verses in your handout for the sake of space but I think they'll have these on the screen in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the

circumcision of Christ colon meaning Paul's going to tell you now what this spiritual circumcision is or how it happens buried with him in baptism see it matters if you're in Christ where and also you array risen with him through faith of the operation of God who has raised him from the dead and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him look at it having forgiven you all trespasses when I got in Christ he has forgiven me not just my past sins but any future sins as long as I walk after the Spirit but look at verse 14 blotting out the handwriting of ordinances oh another legal word that was against us was contrary to us but he took it out of the way by nailing it to his cross so let me show you what

happens last Sunday after church you didn't like what pastor preached and you were a little bit you know didn't like him meddling in my money that's you know I don't like that and you got home and you said some things you shouldn't have said you went to lunch with some people and you said some things you shouldn't have said well that that accuser who's always just walking around just looking for somebody said ha I've been waiting for this he walks into the courtroom and says Lord I know they're at church I I know they were worshiping they might even talked in tongues and they clap for the preaching till he got on my money and but Lord I saw your child on on Sunday in February 2025 say this and according to the law of sin and death you are guilty and subject to the consequence your sin will separate you from God unless you

choose to fall back under the shadow of the cross and you choose to walk after the spirit and not after the flesh and you repent and you rely on the grace of God then the scripture says he has blotted out the handwriting of ordinances this is so good to me wish I could claim it was mine but God gave it to Paul now if you've repented now if you've been living carnal and walking after the flesh and Sunday I hope after this lesson tonight you get it right because you're still subject to the law of sin but if you changed and started walking after the spirit then you have an advocate a lawyer that comes alongside you in the courtroom now the previous witness is true until there is an introduction of new evidence for the case to be retried well I would like to present on

behalf of my client the testimony of the cross of Jesus Christ and the judge you can find it in Revelation it's there the judge starts going through the book of life with all the deeds of man are recorded he says well let me turn to Sunday in February in 2025 because I'm always watching what you're doing even when you think God doesn't know he knows let me see I yep I have record yep I see they were sitting at the table was so-and-so yep this this was said and wait a minute I don't know what you're reading from devil but according to my record I've got about four lines that are covered in Bix wide out well and the devil sitting over there frustrated on his side of the courtroom trying to figure out why the voice of self-condemnation is not working well

little does he know it's the testimony of the cross it's God who has blotted out the handwriting of ordinances and God says I don't know what you think happened but all I know is my child turned to me in their time of need they came back to the cross they cried out for mercy they walked after the spirit and I don't know what you think happened but according to my book I just see it blotted out under the blood of Jesus so when the enemy is trying to bring up your mistake just remind him about the cross where he was conquered once and for all and when you were set free and you were purchased by the precious blood of Jesus Christ now we don't have time to go through all of Romans 8 but let's jump down to verse number 33 because God never stays silent towards the voice of

condemnation he will rise in defense when the accuser shows up who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect it is God that justifies hear it who is he that condemneth this is a rhetorical question who okay devil who who who who do you think you are to condemn my children oh I know you think you've got something to say but let me just reintroduce the reality of the cross into the courtroom of your mind and it silences the voice of condemnation and reminds you you are a child of God no you're not perfect but you were never made perfect by your righteousness anyway it was only by the righteousness of Jesus Christ that was put on you when you were baptized in Jesus name and look it says that Christ verse 34 is also making intercession for us Paul or Paul I think Paul wrote the book of Hebrews he talks about that in Hebrews

chapter 7 this great high priest who is ever making intercession for us do you realize in your moment of struggle the spirit of Christ in that very moment is making intercession just like he prayed for Peter that Peter's faith would not fail in your moment of struggle Jesus is interceding by his spirit trying to help you and strengthen you and guide you this is why it's imperative that we walk after the spirit because Paul said who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation distress persecution famine nakedness peril or sword has it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long counted his sheep for the slaughter but nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us it's not our love for him it's his love for us and he concludes I am persuaded neither death life angels

principalities powers things present things to come height nor death any other creature none of these things he says shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord none of it none of it I don't know if you've been told before I'm not condoning your sin but your sin does not stop God from loving you your mistake does not disqualify you from God's love he loves you with all your mistakes all your shame all your struggles loves you back to the subject my wife and I've been talking about she came home the other day text me guess we're here at the school talking she was speaking of the scripture I gave her credit because she wanted that she said you know that scripture that speaks of Jesus despising the shame yeah she said do you know what that means it's like those rhetorical questions you don't

really need to answer because you know she's about to give you the answer so like any good husband I sat quietly and waited she said it means that he rejected the shame and she made quite a connection that I might have to preach more than just tonight because on the cross he was stripped of his clothes and there he hangs naked in the same state that the first Adam did that first Adam felt shame in a naked state when the presence of God came so he hides himself in the trees and tries to make a little covering for his mid section and so here Jesus hangs naked on the cross he should feel that shame but the Bible says he rejected because he himself was the covering for our sin shall separate us from the love of Christ who is he that condemneth come on

thinking now this is the judge this is the judge looking down at the other side of the courtroom who is he that condemneth what baseless accusation are you bringing against my child have you not heard of the cross of Calvary have you not heard of the testimony of his blood do you not know this is my child nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ so what do you do when the enemy pulls you into the courtroom in the voice of self condemnation is beating you up and tearing you down and attacking your identity take him back to Calvary remind him where he was defeated let him hear the testimony of what his blood did to you when you were baptized in Jesus name and in closing not my focus tonight but I let me give you a take-home because to be baptized was

the past action but tomorrow morning you're gonna have to walk after the Spirit some have made mockery of the grace of God claiming they're saved by grace and they live however they want yes Paul said in Ephesians that we're saved by grace through faith this is true the Titus also tells us that that same grace that brought salvation will teach you to deny ungodliness so if you're gonna deal with Satan yes you're gonna have to take him back to the cross remind him of Calvary let him know that you're a son and daughter of God but you're also gonna have to walk after the Spirit and not the flesh there is a mandate upon us the daily action is such that we live in a manner that our lives give no place to the devil this was the admonition of Paul in Ephesians 4 and 27 and I would submit it was Jesus own declaration and John 14 and

30 when he said the prince of this world coming but have nothing in me my question for you tonight is this can you say that can you say when the prince of this world comes to me he won't find any of the world in me if the prince of the world walked into your living room this weekend if the prince of the world showed up in your circle of fellowship if the prince of the world checked your phone and heard your conversation saw your viewing history with the prince of the world find the world in you my thoughts my conversation my media choices this is how the enemy entices us to walk after the flesh and now by finding the world in us we are guilty to that voice of condemnation it is necessary that we be people of the Spirit that's what this series is all about life in the Spirit if Paul said we started week one if you

live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit if you have been made alive in the Spirit if you've got the Holy Ghost praise God now walk in the Holy Ghost listen if the Holy Ghost help you talk in tongues praise God now let the Holy Ghost help you make a godly decision I'm talking about life in the Spirit because there's a lot of people that live under the weight of a condemnation that's not of God but it's because when the prince of the world comes he finds the world in them my question tonight is when he comes to your life your family your home will he find the world because if he does that is the devil's place stand together with me so if you've never been baptized in Jesus name for the remission of sins not only according to John 3 and Acts 2 is that necessary for you to enter into the kingdom but it

is the first requirement according to Romans 8 for you to be free of condemnation somebody was just baptized here recently and just an amazing story just it's amazing and he came out of the room told the couple that were back there he said my mind has never been so clear let me tell you why cuz there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus that self-condemning voice that the accuser has used for so long was silenced by God Almighty because who is he that would condemn my children first John 3 I close the Bible says this is how we know that we belong to the truth and how our hearts we set our hearts at rest in his presence if our hearts condemn us we know that God is greater than our hearts he knows everything if our heart condemns us if that voice of self-condemnation rises up that we know

this because we are in the presence of God we are resting in his presence that's what it is to live after the Spirit to live every day with an awareness of his presence to do the things that are necessary to cultivate his presence so I say if it if it doesn't facilitate the moving of his presence in my life I won't get rid of it if it detracts from the presence of God working and convicting and speaking and God I want to get rid of it but if I'm in his presence if I'm walking after the Spirit and the voice of self-condemnation tries to rise up in my mind know this John says God is greater than your heart God knows and God loves I am a child of God condemnation is perhaps one of the enemy's greatest tools that keep people from walking in the Spirit and so yeah you have to be

baptized that's the past action but but for the rest of this night and when you get up tomorrow morning and again on Friday and Saturday and Sunday in every day that follows you're gonna have to make a conscious decision a diligent effort I'm gonna walk after the Spirit I'm gonna do those things that cultivate the presence of God in my life not the world because I don't want the Prince of the world finding the world in me I want him to knock on my door and realize hmm there's no place for me in this home I want him knocking on my mind and realizing wow there's there's too much scripture in this mind for my word to have any effect I don't want the enemy to find the world in my life I want I want to find a man a family that's walking after the Spirit so I say

let's be people to walk after the Spirit let's cultivate the presence of God in our lives let's talk in tongues like Paul every day let's be let's just be tongue-talking holy ghost filled people but let's also let the Spirit help us make good and godly decisions let's hey he said if any of you lack wisdom this is the prayer request that God will always answer you want to ask a prayer that God will always answer this is the one he said if any of you lack wisdom let him ask and he'll give it liberally God I need wisdom let's lift our hands and pray for that right now father I'm asking for an endowment of spiritual and biblical wisdom to be poured out upon us poured upon the men and women of this house give it to grandparents mothers and fathers young adults new parents God I pray that you would help us be healthy holy people

godly people people of the Spirit we're gonna live and walk in such a way that the self-condemning voice that the enemy would use is silenced we're gonna be secure and our identity is children of God walking in the power of the Spirit we pray that you would use our lives for your glory let us be a holy people a righteous people a people that are cultivating your presence in our lives in our homes I pray tonight the word of the Lord would not return void I pray you would have a continued and lingering effect in the lives of your people those who have lived under the lies of self-condemnation we lose them tonight in the name of Jesus Christ let them henceforth walk in victory and power through your word and by your spirit in Jesus name we pray in Jesus name let's give the Lord a hand clap of praise we love you father we thank

you we bless you in Jesus name