Lament #4 Hope for the Wretched Man
Northwest Bible Church - Nov. 9, 2003 Worship Service – Alan Conner
Rom. 7:24-25
Lament #4 – Hope for the Wretched Man
INTRO
i. Condition, v. 24 – “Wretched Man”
ii. Cry for deliverance, v. 24 – “Who will set me free”
iii. Confidence in Christ, v. 25 – “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ”
iv. Confirmation of his condition, v. 25 – mind vs. flesh
Support for believer view:
I. CONDITION: WRETCHED MAN THAT I AM! (Rom. 7:24)
A. Two reasons for this condition:
Sensitivity to sin –
Desire to be holy –
B. The meaning of “wretched.”
Is this exaggeration? Is Paul really this miserable?
II. CRY FOR DELIVERANCE (Rom. 7:24)
“Who will set me free from the body of this death?” Paul knew that as long as he was in this body which was still plagued and influenced by sin and the spiritual powers of death, he would never be as holy as he wanted to be. The “law of sin” continually injected death into the sphere of his earthly life.
III. CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST (Rom. 7:25).
“Thanks be to God.” There’s his joy, confidence, hope, and faith alive and well.
A. The biblical balance. Both the “wretched man” and the “Thanks be to God” coexist simultaneously in his heart.
B. Paul’s thanksgiving.
1) It is a thanksgiving to God.
2) It a thanksgiving through Jesus Christ our Lord.
3) It is a thanksgiving for future grace. Notice the future tense, “who will set me free.” I think this is intentional and deliberate. Paul is not looking at the present but the future when Christ will set him free from his spiritual struggles.
WHEN WILL THIS BE?
- time of his death
- future resurrection of the body
Rom. 8:10-11, 23
C. The importance of this future perspective.
Heb. 12:1-2
1 Pet. 1:13
2 Cor. 4:16-18
See godly Job’s example in Job 13:15; 14:14; 19:25-26.
WE NEED TO BE LOOKING FOR THIS BLESSED HOPE, “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13). Without it, we will get bogged down in the O WRETCHED MAN THAT I AM. We will get unbalanced and discouraged.
CONCLUSION