Good Riddance Part 1

Title: "Good Riddance | Pastor Rick Reed (Sunday Service)"

URL: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIVaUJbaMtE"

Transcript: "(00:01) Okay. Well, it's uh my joy to get to be with you today. I should introduce myself. My name is Rick Reid. My claim to fame is I am Rene's older brother. So, uh my wife Linda and I we probably if you gave an award today for who traveled the furthest to come to West Valley, I think we would probably win. (00:28) My sister Rozie and Steve would come in second probably because they came down from Olympia today, Tumb Water. But we drove here from Toronto. So, uh, not not exactly in the neighbo rhood. So, we we came across country. Um, my wife is from Lynen, Washington, which is north of Bellingham, right by the border. So, we were up in Lynen to see her mom who is, um, aging but still um, able to enjoy our visits. (00:53) So, we came and spent some weeks with her. And now we came south to Hillsboro where my mom lives, Renee and my mom and Rozy's mom. So, we get to see her. And the bonus is uh Joel and Renee said, "Listen, we're going to be in Romania. Would you be willing to help out at West Valley?" And I said, "I'd love to. (01:13) I've been a pastor most of my life and served at a Bible college and seminary." And by the way, we got some I don't know if some of you are in the loop on this, but we got some uh little pictures and texts from Renee and Joel today. They're doing really well. They're uh busy. Uh Nico is taking them all around. (01:34) Uh they've been to a bunch of neat places and every day they've also been engaged in ministry uh teaching in the Bible college th ere and Joel was preaching in church on Sunday and at special meetings. So they've they've done street evangelism, I think, with kids. So they've they've been really uh well used while they're there. (01:52) So, thank you guys as a church family for sending them out and praying for them and releasing them. I think it's going to be a fruitful visit for them and really for your church family as you're part of this. Well, it's my joy for the next three Sundays, Lord willing, to get to speak to you. And as I'll introduce, I'm doing a series called Good Riddens, which contrary to what Joel told you last week, has nothing to do with the fact that he and Renee have just left the country. (02:22) It's a I'll introduce it, but you'll see it's a series that really is one that has been close to my heart and I'm hoping it will be really helpful for all of us here today. Let me just pray for us and pray for our time in the word. Father, I thank you for this glorious Sunday. I thank you that we can gs there and all the other stops on their itinerary. And then watch over the church family here, Lord, in their absence. Thank you that we can gather here today to open your word together and to listen closely to what you would say to us in it. (03:18) And I pray this in your name. Amen. You know, when we come to church on Sundays, it's true of us back in Toronto. It's probably true of you here in Portland area. When we come to church, we typically carry some things with us. Some of us carry Bib ing them in with us and in a sense we're glad to bring them into the presence of the Lord and say, "Lord, I'm here. You know my needs. I'm worshiping you. Come, please help." We bring all those things and we're glad to bring them. But if we were honest, we also carry some things we're not so glad to have with us. (04:26) You see, all of us walk into church carrying some baggage. Sinful baggage. baggage we'd like to get rid of. For some of us, it could be the baggage of bitterness. We carry some hidden because we're ashamed of it, but we careless. (05:18) It might be the baggage of a sharp and critical tongue, the tongue that slices up people, especially the people closest to us, the ones that we live with. And though we're ashamed to have all that stuff, we don't know how to shake it. It pulls us down. It holds us back. It makes us lose our peace, our joy. (05:43) We feel like spiritual posers. And sometimes we think, "I've carried this baggage so long, I don't know if I'll ever get ri ee Sundays, I want to take you to a passage that was written specifically to help people like us get rid of unwanted sinful baggage. That's why it was written. It's a passage in the book of Romans, chapter 6, 7, and 8. Today, we launch in a new series. As I mentioned, the title of it is good riddens. how to get rid of sinful baggage. (06:58) And over the next three Sundays, we're going to look at Romans 6 today, Lord willing, Romans 7 next week, and then Romans 8. Listen, I've been soaking in th ful baggage. Dying to get free. So if you've got a Bible or can access one on your phone, join me in Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. (07:46) Today we're going to be in verses 1-15. I'm using the New International Version if you need to call that one up on your phone. So, we'll be in the same one. I want to talk to you about how to get free from sinful baggage. This will be the first installment of a three-part series. (08:03) So, you want to kind of check and follow with me all the way throu aised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. (09:02) For we know that our old self wasified with him, so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. In those verses, we find one of the most profound and one of the most perplexing hat from verse two. Look at it. Paul says it boldly and blatantly. Verse two, he says, verse one, "Shall we keep sinning?" Verse two, no, by no means. And then he says this, we are those who have died sin. We died to sin. (10:10) Now, I know that statement raises some questions. If you're if you're thinking with me, you're asking questions like, really, I died to sin? Evidently, sin didn't get the memo because it seems quite alive to me. How can Paul say that we died to sin? Is this some kind of r it over and over. (10:58) Verse three, don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may live a new life. And then look at verse 5. (11:18) For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like him. For we know that our old s w. (12:03) If you're a Christian, if you've made that statement, if you've come to the place where you have personally accepted Jesus, you've said, "I need you, Jesus. I need your forgiveness. I need your life. I give you my life. I trust in you." If you've done that, your life now is linked to Christ. So that when he sees you, he sees you linked to Christ. And since Jesus died to sin, God sees you as having died to sin as well. That's why Paul can say, "We are those who have died to sin. (12:31 e struggle? Sin has two sides. It has what I could call a seductive side, and it has what you could call a slavery side. So the seductive side of sin, that's the side that attracts us. It attracts us. It's attractive. (13:23) But the slavery side of sin is the kind the side that addicts us. You can see the difference. The seductive side of sin tempts us. The slavery side of sin traps us. Seductive side of sin entices us. The slavery side of sin enslaves us. It has both sides. Think of the sins t 's going to give me a sense of pleasure. In fact, the Bible even says in Hebrews 11:25 that there is pleasure in sin for a season. So sin has this attractive side. But if you're honest, you'll say, "But sometimes I sin not because I want to. I sin because I have to. It's got me. I feel trapped. (14:32) I blow my top and I don't want to blow my top anymore, but I still do. I look at things I shouldn't look at and I don't want to do that anymore, but I still do. Now, the Bible is saying here, catc marketing department and it's still alive and well. (15:25) The slavery side of sin is the collection agency. You died to that side. No longer is your slave master. You don't have to be enslaved to it anymore. That's what Paul is saying. number of years ago, my family, uh, Linda and I took our three kids that were in, I think, high school about that time, junior high and high school, and we drove down from our where we lived at the time in in Ottawa, Canada. (15:54) We drove down to Cincinnati, seum is located right on the banks of the Ohio River. On one side of the river, you have Kentucky. And Kentucky was a slave state. But on the other side of the river, you have Ohio. And Ohio was a freedom state. So the slaves who wanted to get free would have to cross this river. And they would risk their lives to get free. They would cross the river. (16:44) And then many of them, many of them, this is interesting for those of us in Canada, kept going on the network called the Underground Railr " See what they were singing? They're saying, "I'd rather die than stay a slave. before I'd be a fra slave, I'd be buried in my grave and go home to my Lord and be free. (17:52) Slavery was so dehumanizing, so oppressive that some of them said, "I'd rather die than live as a slave." Listen, if you've known the de the dehumanizing and oppressive burden of sin in your life, if you know what that's like, maybe you have this angry temper that's volcanic at times. it explodes and people around you sc uld say, "I know myself. As soon as things go sour, my faith in Jesus evaporates and I think God doesn't love me." And you say, "I hate it that my faith is so small. (18:55) " And if you've ever gotten so sick of yourself in the areas where you're stuck, then maybe like these slaves, you've said, "I would rather die than continue to live with this." And Paul would say, Paul would say to you, you already died. You died to the slavery side of sin. That's what he says. And he says, you got to know He will trick you into saying belong to me. I own you. You, who are you to think you could be free of that? I want you to imagine a woman who was a slave in the southern US who crossed over the Ohio River, risked her life to get free, made it into Ohio and kept going all the way up into Canada. (20:09) And now she's living free in Wellen, Ontario, and one day, let's just imagine, she's walking the streets of Wellin, Ontario, and she sees her old slave master. He's come looking for her. and he se e master. (21:07) Even though in reality she could say, "You don't own me anymore. I've crossed the river. I am free." Brothers and sisters, if you're a Christian, you've crossed the river. You've gone from death to life and old man sin is still going to come after you and say in the area where you feel so stuck, who do you think you are to be free? You you belong to me. I own you. Get back here. (21:36) And Paul is saying, if you want to find your freedom, the first thing you got to do is you g freedom. It starts with knowing. But now we got to do some doing. We got to move. (22:11) And I want to show you in the rest of our passage two steps. The first two steps towards freedom. You know this. Now what do you do with what you know? Let me read verses 8 through 15. You two steps that you and I need to take on the journey towards freedom. Verse 8 says this. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know here it again. (22:36) We got to know something ose who have been brought from death to life. And offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. (23:25) For sin shall no longer be your master because you are not under the law, but under grace. So what do you do with what you know? You you you got to know I've died to the slavery side of sin. It's not my master anymore. Now, what do you got to do? How do you step towards freedom? Here's the first step towards freedom. It comes in verses 8, 9, 10, and 11. I'd put it this with him. Verse 9, we know that Christ was raised from the dead. He cannot die again. Verse 10. The death he died, he died to sin. But the life he lives, he lives to God. You link to Jesus. Jesus was raised to new life. Now catch verse 11. (24:31) This verse is crucial. In the same way, count yourself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Count yourself dead to sin. You got to consider it as true that you've been made new. You got to count yourself dead to sin, alive to God. Here's a f self. Because look what he says in verse 11. Count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. That word count of anyone anyone here work in the field of math or accounting. Okay, you'll love this. The Greek word is an accounting word. Count. (25:43) It literally means add it up. Do the math. So Paul is saying this, listen, do the spiritual math. Count it up. What do you count up? You'd count up this. Well, you add up these things. Christ died to sin. Now you add to that Christ was ra feel alive to sin and dead to Christ Jesus some days. So, you're asking me to to do something that doesn't feel authentic to me. It doesn't feel right to me. It doesn't feel real to me. (26:48) And I would say to you, Paul did not say, "Feel yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." He said, "Consider or count yourself." Brothers and sisters, there is a spiritual logic at work here that is deeper than your feelings. He's saying what you have to do is begin to think about yourself t od says this is who you are, eventually it starts filtering into how you live. (27:42) Maybe I could this way. Uh my wife Linda and I, we got married in 1983 back when fuzzy bow ties and ruffled shirts were the rage. So that was what we wore. That's what I wore. Renee was in our wedding. She was one of Linda's bridesmaid. And we got married up in Lynon, Washington. (28:07) And on that day, my reality changed, right? I went from a single man to a married man. But for 26 years of my life, I had be 've got to think of yourself in a new way. You've got to count it as true that you've been made new. (29:04) So, functionally, what does that mean? That means when you're struggling with sin in those areas where it seems to trap you, you need to consciously say to yourself and say to God and sometimes say to the darkness, "That's who I was. That's not who I am. By grace in Jesus, I'm dead to the slavery side of sin. It's not my owner anymore. And I'm alive to God. (29:30) The deepest part of me and 13. Here's the second step on the pathway to freedom. Let me read it for you. (30:06) Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourself to God as those who've been brought from death to life, and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. (30:26) For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under out of verse 13. Look at verse 13 again. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourself to those who have been brought from death to life, and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. (31:15) Listen, the Jewish people, the Jewish Christians who first heard that, they knew all about offerings, right? They they'd grown up under a a sacrificial system where they would bring an offering to God. It could be a lamb. It cou hoice to say to God, here I am giving you myself." In fact, he says, "Get specific." Did you notice that in verse 13? Offer every part of yourself. Don't let the parts of yourself be used to sin, but offer every part of yourself to him. If your struggle, if your sin struggle is with impurity, then offer him your eyes. Lord, I'm giving you my eyes, what I look at. I'm giving you my fingers, what I type in to my browser. (32:35) I'm giving you my mind. What I let just run over and over and play my ours. You do this deliberately. That's what Paul says. Offer yourself. Offer yourself. Offer yourself. And you do it daily. (33:20) You do it daily because that's the only way you can live this out. You do it every day. Many years ago, I read a book by a guy named John White called the cost. And he said something that I looked back up as I was studying for this. Listen to what John White writes about offering yourself to God daily. He said this. (33:39) One night when I was 16, I was too excited only pay my debt in small installments. Jesus understood this when he said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." See what he's saying? He's saying on one level, you say, "God, I give you my life. (34:36) " But really, all you can give him is your life today because that's all you got. So, you want to find freedom? Here's the here's the trail that's being mapped out for it. You got to know something. You got to know that you've died to pray. (35:21) And then I have a time when I offer my day and myself to the Lord in a daily way. I actually literally say, "Lord, here I am. I got this day and you brought me from death to life. So you get my life. I give myself to you today. I give you my eyes, Lord. I give you what I'm going to look at today. What I'm going to read, what I'm going to watch. (35:46) I give you my ears, what I'm going to hear, what I'm going to listen to, what I'm going to let go into my head. I give you my mouth pened to you and then you count it as true and you start to offer yourself to God. As we close today, I want to just give you a resource and an encouragement and a challenge and then an invitation. (36:31) A resource I have for you. It's back at the back table as you leave. It's it's called baggage check. It's just a little baggage check like what baggage are you carrying? And I put this together um based on what's found in the book of Galatians and Romans chapter 1. (36:51) And what I would enc here." You'll notice that uh on the sheet there are three boxes by every one of the list. And I wrote that to say because sometimes you got a little baggage in an area, sometimes you got a medium bunch of baggage, and sometimes you go, I I got a truckload of baggage in that. So you you check off one, two, or three and you go through this and you tuck it in your Bible. And then in the (37:39) mornings as you start your day, you count it as true that you've been made new. And then you offer yourse you a little bit but I don't know any of you a lot so I don't know anyone's story but it's possible that you're here you want to get free but you're not yet linked to Jesus just because you come to church right you're not linked to Jesus linked to Jesus means that you have personally embraced (38:30) him as your savior. Where you've said yes to him, where you've said, "I believe you died for my sin. I need you. I want you. I trust you. I receive you." If you've never done that, that's where you ay this got to go? And today, I'm going to invite you, would you stand with me for a second? I'm going to put up a prayer and I'm going to invite you if you want to pray it with me, you can. Uh please don't pray it out loud. If if this isn't where you're at, God knows our heart. So (39:24) there's no scam in him. There's no there's no like I'm going to pretend, you know, it's better just to say I'm not quite there yet. But if this is your heart, I'm going to invite you to pray a prayer. I pray a ell, I'll I'll pray it out loud and uh if you can hear it, you can just kind of in your heart say, "Lord, me, too." Okay. Father, I want your will to be done in my life. So I offer myself to you again this day. You have brought me from death to life in Christ Jesus. (40:35) I have died to sin slavery and I am now your willing bond servant. Today I offer you all that I am. My heart, my desires, my will, my time, and my strength. I offer you the parts of my body as instrume"