Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Freedom From Sin Pt.2

Go ahead and turn back to Romans 6. Let's pick up where we were this morning. Romans, Chapter 6. Remember, we were talking about four key words in this passage, borrowing the principle from a teaching that Pastor Scott gave years ago in School of the Prophets when he was teaching out of the book of Romans. The book of Romans was a course back then. Remember the four words that we're talking about: know, reckon, yield, and obey. This morning we spent the whole time talking about knowing. Knowing the doctrine of the crucifixion and the resurrection. Knowing the fact that we were baptized into His death. Let's read through that again just to review and pick up where we were. Romans, Chapter 6, verses 1 through 4. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

We talked this morning about the fact that the cross is the death. It is the end of your old life. It is the beginning of your new life in the mind and heart and in the economy of God as Jesus Christ took upon Himself your sin. In the words of 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5, as He was made to be sin with your sin. That's where this eternal union took place, and you were baptized into Him as He bore your sin upon His body. Then it didn't stop there, because it says in verses 5 and 6, "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, [buried with Him in death], we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this..." These are things that you must know. We talked this morning about the fact that there's a huge difference between human knowledge and revelation knowledge. Revelation knowledge has its source and origin in one place: God. That's when God peels back the layers of your heart and opens your heart and enables you to see and receive the truths of the Word of God. It's nothing that you can acquire on your own, through your own endeavors, through your own study, through education. It is not human wrought in any way; it's God-wrought. It's when God touches your heart and speaks to your heart. That is this word know that he says here three times in verses 3, 6, and 9. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him..." (verse 6).

We talked this morning about how real is the crucifixion to you. Is it just a Bible story that you learned in Sunday School somewhere, or do you see yourself hanging on the cross? When you think of Jesus taking your place beneath the load of your sin, does it cause your heart to cringe in pain? Is it real to you, or is the cross something distant, unfamiliar, unimaginable, unthinkable? "Yes, it's my doctrine, and yes, it's my dogma, but somehow it just doesn't seem real." Well, then you don't know in the way that Paul is talking about here. Your heart hasn't been touched. You haven't seen Jesus dying there on the cross tortured for your judgment; tortured for your sin. He says, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed..." (verse 6).

We talked this morning. Paul uses this illustration. It's a very Biblical illustration. It's one that has its roots all through the Old Testament, but he uses the analogy of death, not physical death. We haven't died, but we have died to ourselves. Our old man has died, and he uses that because it's a perfect illustration of something that's lost all power. Dead people don't get up and walk around unless you're Lazarus. Dead people don't exert influence and control and force over other human beings. If the body of sin, if your flesh has been crucified with Him, that's the degree to which your flesh has been rendered powerless. It has no more power to be able to control and dominate you. Now, our lives don't always act like it; do they? Like we said this morning, that's our fault, not God's fault. God's plan is perfect. He says, our old man has been crucified. That old nature is dead. Yes, it still resides in our members, and yes, we fight against it every day, but it has no power to control us. Do you know this? Is that real to you? Is this baptism into Jesus' death been made real to your heart by the Spirit of God? "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead [he that died in Christ, he that was crucified with Christ] is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: [We were baptized, unified with Him, immersed into His death when He bore our sin, but it didn't stop there. On the third day, thank God, He rose again from the dead, and we were in Him, and we rose with Him. In Him.] Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him" (verses 6 - 9). And death has no more dominion over us, who are in Him.

He goes through and he says, "Know this..." This needs to become a reality in your life. The cross needs to become that anchor of your soul that takes you in within the veil. The cross is your origin of life. That's where your new life springs forth. The cross is something that's always very dear and very precious to us. Then he goes on, and we don't want to review too much. We want to talk about that next word.

Look down at verses 11 and 12. "Likewise [do what?] reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." Reckon yourselves to be dead. Literally that word reckon, it speaks of calculating. It means to take an inventory, to compute, to calculate, to purpose, to decide, to take into an account. This reckoning is a function of the soul. It's a function of your mind.

Really, what Paul is addressing here is the battle ground of your mind. Every day you should be on the offensive. Every day when you wake up and greet that day, you're to put on your armor and set out against as we know from Ephesians, Chapter 6. This is what Paul is speaking here. This reckoning, we're going to see here in a moment, it really is synonymous. It coincides when the Scriptures tell us that we need to meditate upon the Word of God how often? Day and night. It's a function of the soul. It's a function of your mind.

What you're doing when you're meditating, what you're doing when you're reckoning, is you're really predetermining your choices. You're preparing yourself, and you're saying, "No matter what happens today, my mind is already made up. My choice has already been made. I recognize that I have been baptized into Jesus' death, that my life has fully surrendered to God, purchased by His blood. I'm no longer my own. I no longer live to myself, and I no longer live to please myself; but I now live to please Him who purchased me with His blood. This is made possible because not only was I baptized into His death, but I've been raised with Him in His resurrection. So now, I'm living by resurrection power."

That's how you reckon. You wake up every morning and face the day with that reckoning. You take on every new day and every situation with a calculated, deliberate assault. Today my flesh will die. Today I will live in resurrection power over sin. Today my flesh will experience the fellowship of His sufferings. Today my flesh will be conformable to His death. Today I will know what is meant to be baptized into His death, crucified with Christ.

There is this reckoning: predetermining your choices for the day. Setting out against the day. Taking the offensive against your flesh. This realm of the mind is so amazing. Look over at Proverbs 23 for a moment. You know there's a lot of power in your mind? There's a lot of soulish power to tap into. Isn't there? Look at what's happening today, and look how many millions of dollars are spent with motivational speakers. You know, the power of positive thinking. You really can't pooh-pooh any of that, can you? The power of positive thinking. How many of you know there's a lot of power in positive thinking? The realm of the soul is pretty amazing.

Here in Proverbs 23, verse 6, he says, "Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats." He's got some good old filet mignon cooking on the grill. We're not talking about you, Rick. Any of you if you have ever eaten Rick Martindale's filet mignon. There's nothing--I don't care where you go, Logans, or what's that place across there? Nobody can beat his filet mignon. Rick doesn't seem like a dainty guy though, dainty, but we're not talking about Rick.

Here's this guy. He's got an evil eye. He has an evil heart, and he's got some dainty meats. He's trying to come on and put on a facade and an image like he's your friend, and that he cares for you, and he's interested in you. He says don't be deceived by his offer of food and by his offer of fellowship and friendship.

Verse 7, "For as he thinketh in his heart, [what?] so is he..." I want you to know something tonight: as you think in your heart, so are you. As you think in your heart, so are you. What you think in your heart determines who and what you are. What you think in your heart determines what choices you will make, and it determines what course you're on. That's how powerful this soulish realm is. That's how powerful the battle of the mind is. As you think in your heart, so are you.

Now, the spiritual mind and the carnal mind are complete opposites, in their origin and in the results. The carnal mind thinks upon selfishness, thinks about, upon pride. If you ever see any of those infomercials, and they're talking about "the power of positive thinking" and "believe in yourself," and "think it, and it will come to pass," and "dress for success" and all of that type of stuff. How many of you know that you can make a lot of things happen that way?

They're taking Biblical principles and perverting them is what they're doing. The Bible is where this originated. Meditating on the Word of God day and night is where it originated. They've taken it, and they've perverted it. Just like their father, the devil, Lucifer, he took all of the things God gave him and perverted it.

See, the spiritual mind is totally opposite. This soulical, carnal mind believes in exalting self, taps into the forces and the powers of the mind and of the flesh and we'll take a look at that in a moment. It's all for self-gratification and self-exaltation. The spiritual mind is just the opposite. The spiritual mind thinks on things of the Word and thinks on the truth and thinks on things of the Spirit of God and taps into the power of God; and it's all to exalt who? God, not self. The two are opposite.

Look over, if you would, at Ephesians, Chapter 2. Remember the story of the Tower of Babel and how the people became one, and they wanted to build this tower that would reach into the heavens? God came down and looked and He said, "Man, the people are one. They all have one language." Do you remember what God said about the situation? He said, "Now, nothing will be restrained from them which they have --do you remember the wording?--which they have imagined to do." Nothing will be restrained from them of what they have imagined to do. Gives you a little bit of a clue in the power of the mind in the soulish realm.

Here in Ephesians, Chapter 2, he says in verse 1, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, [Now watch. You walked according to the course of this world. The course that this world is on. The course that this world is on is] according to [their father] the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind..."

Potent stuff, powerful stuff, but if you try to make the power of positive thinking work without God, without the power of God, without submission to God, all that is, is the spirit of Antichrist. The spirit of the little engine that said, "I think I can; I think I can; I think I can." And you're going to try "really hard," is nothing less than will-worship. You're now, through "self-will," are going to make this happen by thinking about it and believing it hard enough. Will worship, spirit of Antichrist, soulish and devilish powers, dangerous stuff. That's where all of these psychics and mystics and all of these people get way off track and get into dangerous ground. It's powerful, and he says here that the course of this whole world is going in this philosophy, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. They're under the control of those powers of the flesh and of the mind. Strong influence. They're all following after their father, the prince of the power of the air. He's the master of this. Isn't he the one that rose up and said, "I will exalt myself?" I will. It's the same principle, just in perversion. Now, as children of light, we don't do anything independent of our Father; and we don't want in any way to pervert His will and His purposes.

Look over at Joshua, Chapter 1. We want to use the mind that He gave us, and we want to use the mind the way that He wanted us to use it. We don't take the mind that He gave us and in rebellion to Him, seek to exalt our own will. We don't take the mind that He gave us and seek to use it to exert our self-will and to make it somehow happen and come to pass. That's what the world does.

Here in Joshua, Chapter 1, verse 7, look down at verse 8, he says, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein [how often?] day and night..." Day and night, day and night. You remember the story of Jacob and Laban? It's a humorous story, isn't it? Man, talk about two Jews trying to outwit each other. Remember the story, you know, Jacob made a deal to work seven years, and he would get Rachael. He woke up after the marriage after the seven years, and guess who he had? He had Leah. I like the Scripture there, it goes, "Oh, it's Leah." So he had to work seven more years for Rachael.

Then after that, they started to have children, and Jacob went to Laban. He said, "Laban, you know, I've prospered you. Your herds have multiplied because I've been here taking care of you and your household and taking care of them. How am I going to provide for my household now?" Laban said, "Well, name your price. What do you want me to do?" Jacob said, "Well, let me do this. Let me go among your herds, and let me take all of the spotted and striped and speckled sheep and take them for my own." Now, back then spotted or speckled sheep were defects. Laban goes, "Well, sure!"

I'm sure Laban was giggling under his breath, "I got this guy now. He doesn't know how stupid he is." So, Jacob went, and he took all of the spotted and speckled, and there was this watering hole. You remember the story of the watering hole? Where the sheep would go every day to get their supply of water; that's also where they mated. Jacob took these spikes or poles, whatever you want to call them, and he carved them so that they were all striped. When the sheep came every day to drink out of this waterhole and consequently, to mate with each other, the Scripture says that they did so right in front of, looking at these striped poles. All the babies came out, how do you guess? Striped and speckled and spotted. What happened was Jacob's share in the sheep ended up growing stronger and larger and bigger than Laban's. So he outwitted Laban in the end.

The whole point of it is this, and this is why he says meditate upon the Word of God day and night, just like Jacob put those striped poles in front of those sheep, and every day when they went to water, they saw those striped poles. When they mated, they saw those striped poles. When they gave birth, their babies came out looking at those striped poles. They thought the whole world was striped. They didn't know there was any other way to be but striped and spotted and speckled. That's what He wants with us when He says, meditate upon the Word of God how often? Day and night. Meditate upon the Word of God until there are no other options in your heart or mind. Meditate upon the Word of God until you are so brainwashed, you don't know how to think any other way. Set the Word of God before your eyes. Don't turn from it to the left or to the right until every thing you say and think and do is through the Word of God. Just like those lambs every day saw nothing but those striped spikes. They didn't know you could be any other way, and you shouldn't know that you can be any other way.

That's the blessing of the next generation that's being raised up here. They know there's a world out there, and they know that there is another way to do things, but they don't know there's any other way for them to do things. This is all they know and all they experience. That's the way it should be.

He says meditate upon the Word of God day and night. Brainwash your mind until you only think one way. " ... that thou mayest observe to do [all that's] according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way [what?] prosperous..." Then, and the wording here is key. Then you will make your way what? Prosperous. Well, the prosperity didn't come from you. You're not the author of the prosperity. God is the author of the prosperity, but through this meditation, you've tapped into the power of God. Through this meditation, you are now flowing in God's divine flow, and you're being carried by His Spirit and by His power. "...then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good success" (Joshua 1:8). Because you chose to set your mind on things above, because you chose to exercise your mind. Remember Romans Chapter 8, verse 5. "For they that are after the flesh do [What? They do] mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, [They do what?] the things of the Spirit." That word mind means to exercise the mind. It means you think about it. You imagine it. You know, in 2 Corinthians, Chapter 10, where it talks about pulling down evil imaginations.

What's temptation all about? Where does temptation get its power? It starts off, and it gets its power in the mind, because it entices you. You start to think about it. Now, you're no longer thinking about it; now, you're imagining it. Now, you can actually see it and taste it and smell it in your mind. That's the power and that's the force that compels you to partake. Now, if it's that powerful in the negative, it's even more powerful in the positive. Before you sinned, part of the enticement of sin is imagining what it will be like. Where if you exercise your mind in imagining what sin will be like, we should be exercising our mind imagining what righteousness will be like. Is that what you do when you meditate?

Meditation is not just rote memorization. Meditation is imagining, "How am I going to fulfill the Word of God today?" I'm going to go to my job, and I'm going to have a chance to serve my coworkers, to be a light there, to share with them the love of Jesus. Now, let me just imagine right now and prepare my heart. How can I do that? How can I be an effective witness today?

Instead of imagining all of the things that you're lusting after, turn your imaginations around and start imagining righteousness. Exercise your mind in righteousness. Exercise your mind in asking what would Jesus do? Then in your mind and in your heart, start to recount the stories of Jesus from the Gospels and how He handled certain situations, and imagine yourself being there, watching Him, hearing Him. Then try to imagine Him in your workplace and how He would react to your coworker.

Is what I'm saying foolishness? It's the Word of God. Exercise your mind. Meditate upon the Word of God day and night. Meditation. You're not just trying to memorize the words. You're meditating until you actually see yourself fulfilling and obeying the words. That's what meditation is all about. What happens, again, like I said before, this is just the opposite of the carnal mind.

Now, you're no longer exercising your mind in selfishness and in pride, but now, you're exercising your mind in the things that God wants you to exercise it in. You're exercising upon truth. You're exercising your mind upon the Word of God. You're now tapping into the power of that revelation knowledge, and now, when you go to do what you've been meditating on, it won't be by your own strength and by your own ability. It will be with the ability of God. It will be with His strength, with His life, because you've tapped into that supernatural source. That's the power of this word reckon. That's how we are to live our day to day life. Don't forget that one principle, As you think in your heart, so are you. As you think in your heart. If all you think about is yourself and selfishness and pride and poor me and this isn't fair and what about this and what about them and I'm going to get them back. If that's all you think about, then those that mind the flesh will be of the flesh.

If you think about the Word of God, and you let it be your meditation, and you set it before your eyes as Jacob set those striped stakes before those sheep, you won't know there's any other way to act. You won't know there's any other way to be. You'll tap into His life and His power. You won't be living your own life. You'll be living His life.

Let's move on. We're running out of time here. Let's talk about yielding for a moment. Look back at Romans, Chapter 6. It says in verse 11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield [this is the third word we're talking about, yielding, 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. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans 6:11-13).

Yielding yourselves, the complete surrender. This word yield literally means to proffer. Something that you proffer is something that you offer up. It means to present before the Lord. It's an act of surrender. It's an act of submission to where you become that living sacrifice, and now you're proffering your body and your life before God and saying, "God, I don't want to live my own life anymore. I want you to use me as your vessel. I want you to take my life. I want you to mold me and make me into what you want me to be. I'm giving myself to you and presenting myself to you. Please live your life through me." That's what that word yield encompasses there. Don't offer yourself, don't give yourself as instruments of unrighteousness, but give yourselves to God. Give yourselves, present yourselves a living sacrifice, verse 13 says, "...as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness..."

Verse 16, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Look back at Genesis, Chapter 22, for a moment. I want to show you just one aspect of this yielding and surrender. I think you--we can really see it in a lot of different people's lives, but we see it very clearly here with Abraham in Genesis, Chapter 22, verse 1. He says, "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and [He] said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (verses 1-2). How many of you could do that to your child, especially one that was a miracle child, one that you waited for, for so long? I'm sure, like Abraham, you would have said, "God, take me. Don't take my child. I'm more than happy to die for you, but save the life of my child." But that wasn't the test. Where it says there that God did tempt Abraham, another word for that word tempt is test.

Now, we know from James, Chapter 1, that God never tempts to what? To evil. He never tempts to sin. He can't be tempted with sin. So, when you're tempted to lie or steal or lust, that's not God testing you. That's your own lusts that's tempting you. That's your flesh; but in the way God deals with His sons, God does test us just like He tested Abraham. This is very much what Hebrews, Chapter 12, talks about when it talks about the chastening of the Lord or the disciplining of the Lord, the training of the Lord. How many of you realize that every day you live through is part of God's training for you? It's just as if you're in school. When you're in school, tests are given.

Why are tests given? Tests are given, number one, to strengthen what you know. Because how many of you consistently on a daily basis studied your classes, and by the time the final came, you were all ready and prepared? Pretty quiet out there. How many of you stayed up all night, drank all the caffeine you could and crammed? Regardless of our personal experience, tests are to strengthen what you know. They're to prepare you in what you've been taught.

Tests are to test your knowledge, to see what you have learned. In this chastening of the Lord, in this chastising of the Lord, every day that goes by, we are under this discipline, not punitive. Don't get a picture of your heavenly Father up there with a big paddle. That's really not what Hebrews 12 is talking about. Hebrews 12 is not talking about spanking; it's talking about the training, the discipline. Look over there for a moment. I didn't want to take the time, but Hebrews, Chapter 12. Keep your place in Genesis because we'll be back.

Hebrews, Chapter 12, verse 5, he says, "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him." How many of you parents know that parenting many times is not an easy job? How many of you parents have felt the pain and the hurt when you have to discipline your child and tell them no. Or, when you have to bring the rod of correction to them, and you see the hurt, and you see the disappointment in their eyes. That hurts you, doesn't it? Why do you do it? You do it because it's best for them.

Now, as we deal with our every life situations, either God's Word is true or not. His Word says that the steps of a good man are what? Ordered by the Lord. So, the circumstances that you face on a day to day basis, even those that seem so trivial, so commonplace, those steps are ordered by the Lord. That jerk is ordered by the Lord. He's there in your life for a purpose. He's not an accident, and he's not a mistake. Now, because of that, I have to believe and accept by faith that every circumstance I find myself in today is part of this training process. I'm being tested, and it's a good test. It's the training. It's the chastening. Look at verse 6, "For whom the Lord loveth [He what?] he chasteneth, and [He] scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

This discipline hurts. How many of you have gone out, you know, you go through years of no exercise. Then you suddenly go out and go jogging for a mile. How many of you know, you're going to hurt? Lot of pain, but it's discipline. This is what happens with the Lord. A lot of times it just plain old hurts. There's a--we kind of laughed about it in a deacon's meeting. They were talking about exercising and working out. I won't tell you which deacon made this comment, but you'd probably be able to figure it out. We were talking about exercise, and he said, "Yeah, I tried that exercise thing once, but" he said, "I gave it up because it made me tired." Well, what did you expect? Now, he was joking. In his defense, he was joking. Yeah, it hurts. There are times when it's grievous, but it's discipline. It's what we need. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and [He] scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (verse 6).

See, that's part of the problem. Too many Americans today have that mentality, and it just gets a little hard; and what do they do? They just quit because it's just too hard. It's uncomfortable, and they don't have any understanding of what discipline or training is all about.

This isn't because God hates you. It's not because He wants you to hurt. This isn't because He takes pleasure in you suffering. This is for your eternal good, that you might be partakers of His holiness. "If ye endure chastening, [verse 7 says] God dealeth with you as with [what?] sons..." Any parent knows that in this process of discipline and training, you are going to do things for that child and to that child that will disappoint them, that will hurt them, that will seem grievous, but it's for their good in this life and in the life to come. Certain disciplines have to be applied.

"... God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" (verse 7). Now, in this process--if you can leave there and flip back to Genesis, Chapter 22. I want you to think about that as you go to work tomorrow. You don't really even have to wait that long. Think about it on the trip home tonight. Think about it as you're dealing with your family tonight after church. The Lord is watching. This is a test. It's a trial, and there's a purpose to it.

Keep your finger there in Genesis. Let's look at a couple of other verses. Look over at James, Chapter 1. While you're there, look at Hebrews, Chapter 5. And while you're there, no, just those three, James 1 and Hebrews 5. Look at Hebrews 5 first of all. Hebrews, Chapter 5, verse 14. I know you know this verse, but to do this right, I want your eyes to be on it. Verse 14. "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age..." To those that are mature. Who are the mature? I can tell you right now, the mature are those that have gone through and are going through God's discipline, God's training as a son. Those are the mature. It's never a thing of, "Gee, when will I get out of school? When will I get out of discipline? When will I get out of training?" The answer is, never! We're in this school of God's discipleship until the day we go to Heaven. Just bank on it. Count on it. What is this schooling all about? What is this training all about? The mature are those "...who by reason of use have their senses [what?] exercised to discern both good and evil" (verse 14).

What this means is, as your steps are being ordered by God, God is going to see to it that you are placed in situations and circumstances, where your senses can be exercised. Case in point, Abraham. "Abraham, I want you to go and offer up your son." Abraham has to make a choice, doesn't he? "No, I won't," or "yes, I will." What is this test really getting at? This test is exercising Abraham's faith in God, and it's also exercising his love for God. Abraham has to make a choice. Do I love me more, or do I love God more? Do I love Isaac more, or do I love God more? Will I love myself and hold onto my son, or will I love God and offer him up? Do I really believe in God? Do I really have faith that He is the judge of the whole earth, and He does what is right? And if He's telling me to do this, then this is right.

That's what all of these situations are about. Tomorrow, when you go into work, and you find yourself in certain situations and circumstances, and you wonder, "Why am I here?" It's the schooling of God. He's testing, not to beat you down with a stick when you fail. He's testing you. He's training you. He's wanting your faith and your love to be exercised, so it can grow stronger. That's what you do when you exercise muscles. They grow what? Stronger. He wants your faith and love exercised, so that they grow stronger. You see it in Abraham's life, don't you?

You can take any life. Like look at Jacob's life. Look at Joseph's life. Look at David's life. God speaks to Abraham and tells him to leave his homeland, to leave his family. So what does he do? He leaves. You say, hurray! Abraham passed the test. He's doing good. His faith in God is being exercised, and he's growing stronger in faith. But, then you see that he took someone with him that he probably shouldn't have taken, and his name was what? Lot. You see Abraham go up, and then you see him kind of go down. Then you see him in the situation in Egypt when there's the famine. He kind of manipulated the situation and called Sarah his sister which she was, but that was kind of stretching things. But, he's manipulating the situation to preserve his own self. So now he's moving in selfishness, and so, now, he went up. Now, he's kind of going down. Wait a minute. Here's another test; here's another situation. Now, his herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen have gotten into strife, so what does Abraham do? Abraham tells Lot, "Look, choose any place you want. God is for me. God will take care of me." All of a sudden, we're on an upswing again. Man, he's moving in faith again. Praise the Lord, he's doing good. He passed that test. Didn't do real good in some of the other tests, but the latest test, he passed. He's doing good. Then you have the battle of the kings, and, remember, he refuses to take the spoils from the king of Sodom. He said, "No man's going to make me rich. God is my source." His faith is rising, and he's in the midst of these circumstances and situations. God is exercising his faith and exercising his loyalty and seeing where his loyalties really are. As they're being exercised, they're growing, and they're becoming stronger. He's passing more tests. Then what happens? Hagar comes along. Whew! He fails the test.

You think, "Come on, Abe. You were doing good here. You're on a roll." And he fails another test. He takes Hagar, and don't you know, he learned a lot from the grief he took with Hagar. I mean that was one of those things I'm sure he wished he had never done! By the time Sarah got through with him and got through with Hagar! Whew! "Worse mistake I've made," I'm sure he was saying to himself. Then God tells him to circumcise himself and to circumcise all of the males in his family. He hears, and he obeys, and all of them are circumcised. He's moving in obedience again. He's moving in faith. Then he has that encounter with God, and he prays for the righteousness. He's concerned for Lot, and he's praying that somehow Lot could be saved from the destruction of Sodom. It's a good encounter with the Lord, so he's moving in faith again.

If you take a look at his life, and if you take a look at anybody's life, isn't your life kind of like this? [Motioning with hand in up and down pattern.] Right? See, these are all tests. They're all training. They're not circumstances that happened by chance. It's God's schooling. In Abraham's life, all of these tests, all of these trials were leading up to the one big test: when God tested him to see if he would withhold his son. Had Abraham grown to the place where there was nothing he would hold back from God?

That's the place He's bringing you and me. I want to tell you something. In your life, the big test is coming, and you have no hope of passing the big test if you don't start passing some of these smaller tests that are day to day. Because God was willing to give up His own son for you, because God was willing to lay down His very life for you, He's going to test you, just like He tested Abraham, to see whether or not you're willing to lay down your life for Him.

Is there anything tonight you would withhold from God? Is there anything you would keep under your control, in your grasp? Or is your life that living sacrifice? Are you fully yielded? That's the word that we're trying to work on here: yielded. Is your life completely surrendered? The good news is this. Are you still in James?

Look at James for a moment because this is what, one of the things we're talking about. James, Chapter 1, verse 2, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers [what?]temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh [what?] patience." Patience, endurance, constancy, consistency. Are you going to be constant? You know what the answer to that is? Are you going to be constant? No, you're not. That's why you need the discipline. Was Abraham constant? No. That's why he needed the discipline. That's why he needed to continually be put into situations and circumstances where his senses had to be what? Exercised. If those senses are not exercised, you never grow stronger. God, in His love for you, places in your life those circumstances, opportunities for your spiritual senses to be exercised, so that you can discern between good and evil.

It says here that the trying of your faith worketh patience. That endurance is being exercised. Your loyalty is being exercised. Will you, one more time give God all that you have and not hold anything back? Will you one more time choose to do it God's way instead of your way?

It says here to let that patience have her perfect work. You're not going to pass every test, but your percentage better be getting higher and higher. Is it? How many of you can look at the tests in your life, and when you go home after church, and your child just really irritates you and rubs you the wrong way, that's a test. When you go to work in the morning, and your boss or whoever it is irritates you, that's a test. Whatever it is that you're facing in these trivial matters of day to day life, it's a test. We better start passing some of these smaller tests.

The test is always to test your love, your loyalty, your faith. Am I going to do it my way? Am I going to do it God's way? How yielded am I, really? They're all leading up to that big test. The trying of your faith works patience. "But let patience have her perfect work, [let those senses be exercised so that your faith and love grow stronger and stronger, so that you're prepared for the big test] that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting [what?] nothing" (James 1:4).

Now, to try to tie this altogether very quickly. It's know, reckon, and what's the third one? Yield, and obey. Obedience is the consequence of doing the first three. It's the revelation of who you are in Christ Jesus, that you've died in Him, that you've been raised in Him to new life. If that is real in your heart, then that's the power source. That's the power that will enable you to walk free from sin.

What do you do with that power? You tap into it. You use it. How do you tap into it? By reckoning, by meditating, by thinking on these things. Last, but not least, there has to be the yielding, the full surrender. That surrender doesn't come overnight.

I want to tell you something. Our self-will is one of our greatest enemies. Our self-will creeps in, in ways that we don't even realize, ways that we think, ways that we talk, ways that we do things. We can deceive ourselves and think that we're doing it God's way, and all the time there's a motive of pride. There's a motive of selfishness. There's a motive of "I want to be in control" that we don't even know that's there. It's one of our greatest enemies. We have to come to that place of full surrender, full yieldedness to Him. Let's stop there for this evening.

Father, we want these words tonight to become alive in our hearts. We want to know what it is to know, to reckon, to yield, and to obey. Father, we know that yielding is not easy. Yielding requires death to self. Yielding is a product of Your schooling and Your chastening. Just like Jesus learned obedience by the things that He suffered, Father, we know that we're going to have to learn obedience the same way. We're going to have to learn obedience by our senses being exercised, by being put into circumstances and situations where we have to make choices. The choice is always the same. Am I going to do it my way? Am I going to do it God's way? If Jesus had to learn obedience by the things which He suffered, we are no better than our Master. We have to go through the chastening. We have to go through the discipline.

There are times when we moan and groan and say, "Ah, but it's so grievous." But, the joy of the fruit of righteousness that it brings far, far outweighs the grief. No greater joy than when you see yourself and your family being conformed more and more into the image of Jesus. There is no greater joy. Even though weeping may endure for the night, joy comes in the morning when your children rise up in righteousness because you've made the right choices. Because of your yieldedness, you've experienced a freedom from the pollution and the corruption of the sin that's all around us. Father, we ask that You'd make it alive and real in our hearts, in Jesus' name. Dan, if you would, go ahead and play.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. Let's just worship Him as we go. Father, we do thank You. Father, as we go out tomorrow, we're going to go out and take on the day aggressively and reckon ourselves dead to sin, reckon ourselves alive unto God through Jesus Christ. Father, we want to brainwash ourselves through the meditation of the Word of God 'til we don't know how to think any other way. Father, we're going to yield to You. We're going to recognize that the circumstances of our life are ordered by You. We can either rebel against You and resent the lot that has fallen to us, or we can submit to Your schooling as true sons and find the life and the peace and the joy that comes from Your presence. We know the circumstances that we find ourselves in tonight are not by chance or by accident. The things in our life that we resent the most, they're not there by accident. The things in our life that cause us the most grief, they're not there by accident. They may not have been authored by God, but they're being orchestrated by God. It's all part of His master plan and schooling.

Let's sing this together. "I worship You, almighty God..." Sing it again, "I worship You, almighty God..." Father, we do worship You. Father, we do worship You. As you go out and face the day tomorrow, realize the schooling and the discipline that you're in. Learn something from the life of Abraham. There's none of us here tonight that are in a place of being able to offer it all up to God, but we're training to be that way. So don't presumptuously go out like Peter and say, "Lord, I'll never forsake You." Realize that it's only by His grace. Realize that the daily tests and daily trials are leading you up to that place of being able to surrender and yield all. When that time of crisis comes, when you're called upon to give all, then His grace will always be sufficient; but up to that time, He's preparing you for that time. He's disciplining you and exercising your senses and allowing your faith and your love to grow stronger and stronger. That's where the yieldedness comes from. Father, we thank You for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. God bless you. We'll see you Tuesday in prayer.

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