 Anyway, with that said, you have something to look forward to in Romans 7. I'm going to begin reading at verse 1, reading from 1 to verse 6, and we'll get into our study. Again, I prepared the entire chapter. Let's see if we can go through it. I don't think we're going to, but we'll try. Paul writes, Do you not know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law, that the law has dominion or rules over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she's released from the law of her husband. So then, if while her husband lives, she marries another man, she'll be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress, though she's married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ that you may be married to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we've been delivered from the law having died to what we were held by so that we should serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. And so at this point, Paul is speaking to those who respect the validity of Moses' law. And what he's doing is he's building on something that he had written earlier in chapter 6 in verse 14. He had said, Sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace. So he's made it clear that the believer, the Christian is dead to sin, but that Christian is also alive in Christ. Believers are dead to sin. And being dead to sin, it's a picture of us also being dead to the law of Moses. He had said that sin shall not have dominion over the believer. So he now says that the law does not have dominion over believers either. And so he begins at verse 1 to speak to those who understand and know the law of Moses. And again in verse 1 he says, Do you not know brethren for I speak to those who know the law, speaking of the law of Moses, that the law has dominion rules over a man as long as he lives. So he's saying to illustrate how the law no longer has dominion over us, let me use marriage as an example. So he's saying that marriage exists as long as both partners are alive. So when one of the marriage partners dies, then the marriage itself no longer exists. It ends when one of the people who's married dies. That's the point he's making. So he's saying that's what happens when someone comes to faith in Jesus Christ. Service to God is based on God's grace. It's not built on the law of Moses. That's because the law of Moses regulates the living, not the dead. So he says in verse 2, The woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she's released from the law of her husband. And so under the law, marriage is intended to be permanent. It says a woman who has a husband is bound by the law. Under mosaic law, marriage is intended to be permanent. And that's something that Jesus taught. In Matthew 19, verses 5 and 6, Jesus said it like this. He said, for this reason, a man shall leave. That word leave, I looked that up in the original language in Greek. I wanted to know, when it speaks of leave, what do you mean by that? Just departing? Actually, the word is a stronger word than just departing. It means to abandon. It means to completely forsake. For this reason, a man shall leave for completely disassociate in terms of a father-son relationship. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined. That word joined means to be glued. It's a word that you can use to speak of gluing two pieces of wood together. So he says, a man shall leave his father and mother be joined or glued to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, Jesus said, what God has joined, what God has yoked, joined together, let not man separate. And so marriage is something that is to be a lifetime commitment between a man and a woman. But when the husband dies, he's saying, the woman can remarry. The law doesn't command her to remain a widow for the rest of her life. Now, many women do, but they're free to marry if they desire. But there is a stipulation. 1 Corinthians 7 verse 39 says that a wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes but only if he loves the Lord. So it's not just go out and get yoked with somebody. The scripture says be not yoked together with an unbeliever. You're not to be unevenly yoked. But what you do is a woman who is married to a man who is a believer. The man dies. She's free to marry, but not just anyone. She's free to marry yes, but someone who is also a servant of the Lord. And so the law commands that the woman remain with the husband that she married for a lifetime. That's what the law intends and that's what marriage was for. But it goes on in verse 3 to say so then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she'll be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she's free from the law so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. So under the law, she's not free to divorce her husband and remarry just because she feels like it. This no-fault divorce that entered into the United States legal system is unknown scripturally, biblically. That's nobody's fault. No, there's always parties at fault. And so a person is not free to divorce her husband just because she feels like it. Because if she does and remaries, she's going to be an adulteress. So each party is bound to the other and the death of either dissolves the marriage. Verse 4, he goes on and illustrates there, You also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ that you may be married to another. To him who was raised from the dead that we should bear fruit to God. And so he's making it very clear that we have become dead to the power of the law. The law is like a first husband who's died is what he's saying. It's now dead, it no longer has power over us because we are now free from the law. And so we can be married and it's a picture really he's using here. We can be married, if you will, to Jesus. And for the longest time as a man, I had a difficult time with that image, frankly. You know, the idea of as a man marrying Jesus. And yet Ephesians 5, 31 and 32 says it like this, For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, but I'm talking about Christ in the church. And so we male and female have been betrothed, if you will, engage to Jesus who is the husband. And so marriage is a picture of Jesus Christ and his bride. And so because we're free from the law, we actually have been freed to marry, if you will, spiritually in the sense of being joined together, married to Jesus Christ. He says in verse 5, when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. In the flesh, when we were in the flesh, in the flesh refers to our lives before we were born again, before we became children of God by the Spirit of God. So he speaks of being in the flesh and the passions of sins. The word passion speaks of evil desire. So the evil desires, the passions of sin, he's saying, and we'll look at this closely in a moment, the passions of sin were aroused by the law of Moses. So passions of sins refers to the inward state which is within that basically leads us to commit sin. Somebody said these passions were by the law awakened into activity. They were comparatively dormant till the law said, you shall not do this. You shall not do that. Then the sin nature awoke and act of sinning was the immediate consequence. And so sin produces the fruit to death. But now, verse 6, we have been delivered from the law having died to what we were held by so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter or the letter of the law. Now we have been delivered. We're delivered from the power of the law. We serve God in freedom. We do so by His Spirit and not just the cold letter of the law. The law says, thou shalt not. And we obey it. But now that law that was on tablets of stone is actually written on the tablets of flesh. So the things that we do now aren't simply because we've been exhorted and commanded from the outside by reading, but God has taken His words and has actually implanted them in us. He has written His word upon our hearts. Hebrews 10, 16 says it like this, this is a covenant I will make with them after that time. Sayeth the Lord, I will put my laws in their hearts. I'll write them on their minds. So verse 7, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. And so after speaking in this way concerning the law and all, some might be offended. They might be saying, are you telling me that the law in and of itself is sinful? Are you saying that the law makes you sin? And so in verse 70 says God forbid, certainly not. It is not sinful. What it does though is it reveals and defines sin for me. And in doing so it awakens within me my natural sinful inclinations. I wouldn't know what covetous was until the law said thou shall not covet. Now I have a name for the feelings I have and it actually provokes me in a sense, awakens me to it. And I'm more aware of my sinful condition because of that. So he hadn't said that the law stimulated people to sin. What he has said is it awakens me to my natural inclinations. He says in verse 7, I wouldn't have known sin except through the law. So somebody wrote the prohibition becomes the instrument of exciting the evil desire in me. The thing that was forbidden became the thing that I wanted. You can't have that. Now I want that. Some of you would remember that or may have experienced that in relationships. You had a boyfriend or a girlfriend. They didn't want you anymore. And before you know it you want them worse than anything you ever wanted in your life. You know why? Because you can't have it. And so sometimes things will provoke in us desires. And so he's saying that the law actually by saying you shall not do this. Awakens in you the reality of how enticing that particular thing is. And so the prohibition becomes the instrument of exciting the evil desires. He says in verse 7, I wouldn't know covetousness if the law hadn't forbidden it. While the law says thou shall not covet in Exodus chapter 20 verse 17. It's one of the 10 commandments. So people would have lusted after a variety of things prior to the law being expressing these things and wouldn't even have known what it was. And therefore seeing that they didn't know covetousness is wrong. They didn't have any guilt at all. But when covetousness was forbidden. Well at that time what once had been normal was identified as sinful. And so he says in verse 8, he says sin taken opportunity by the commandment produced in me all manner of evil desire for apart from the law sin was dead. He says sin taken opportunity, sin using the commandment as a base of operations. In other words the commandment thou shall not became sin starting point. And it revealed the root of my sin and the root of my sin is the inner cravings of my nature. Now in verse 8 he says apart from the law sin was dead. In other words before I knew the law sin was not recognized for what it was and therefore its power was unknown. I was deceived. I thought myself to be totally free. But in actuality I was in bondage. He says in verse 9 he goes I was alive once without the law. But when the commandment came sin revived and I died and the commandment which was to bring life I found to bring death. I was ignorant of God's demands for my inner man. So when the commandment thou shalt not. When that came it awakened me to how sinful I am. Psalm 40 verse 12 says it like this for innumerable evils have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me so that I'm not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head and therefore my heart fails me. Well the commandment verse 10 which was to bring life I found to bring death. God's commands were intended to result in meaningful life. But instead of that I discovered what death is spiritually. See the law reveals God's intention. And God's intention as he gave the law was to be a blessing. Deuteronomy 529. Oh that their hearts would be inclined to fear me. To keep all my commands always so that it might go well with them and their children forever. Every parent understands that. If you're a parent, if you're not a parent, oh how lucky you are. But if you're a parent especially if you're in that portion of life where you have younger children and all. You have to set rules up in the house. You have to. Because if you don't it's just a crazy place to be. And so sometimes you have to enforce those things. And so you know when my kids were growing up you know I had one in particular that was a little bit of a challenge. My wife, no a little bit of a challenge on occasion right. So I can still remember when he was at a certain age. I would in a way as a father I would plead with them. I really would. I'd say please don't. Please. Don't put me to that line. Because I'm going to kill you. Please. Please don't. Don't do that. And then they just would provoke you. You know just would provoke you. And before you know it. You know instead of grace you have to bring in the law. I tried to teach my son David. Everybody who knows me knows that. I'm talking about my David. I tried to teach him as a young boy what grace was. And he was probably, well he was less than 10. And I said son I want to teach you what grace is. Because he had done something wrong. And I said what you did is wrong. What you really should be is disciplined. I should probably take the board of education. And apply it to the seat of your understanding. But I'm not going to do that right now. What I'm going to do is I'm going to exercise grace to you. And to show you that it's unmerited. That grace is favor that you don't deserve. What you deserve is punishment. Is judgment. What you're getting is grace. Oh thank you dad. Thank you. Oh thou wise man. I shall learn from your fount of wisdom. You know and so a week or so later he does the same thing. And I said you know I told you not to do that. He said grace. He started yelling grace dad grace. I said no it's law time you know. And so I mean you really want to bless him. You do. So that's what the Lord's law is. So that it might go well with them. And not only with them but with their children forever. Why? Because a godly man and woman can impart potentially at least godliness in terms of what is right, what is wrong, how to live to their children. So it's not only them. They who are being blessed but their generations following. And so follow my commands and be blessed. And that can also be something that your children learned from. In Deuteronomy 6 verse 24 the Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God so that we might always prosper and be kept alive as is the case today. Leviticus 18 verse 5 God says keep my decrees and laws for the man who obeys them will live by them. I'm the Lord. In the doing there was life. There was blessing. But he says in verse 11 sin taken occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it killed me. Sin seduced me. But it seduced me from the right path. Sin encouraged me to pursue sin even more deeply. It encouraged me to not simply sin but to give in and to pursue it and to do so with a passion. And the result was despair because it delivered me over to death. I was seduced. I was seduced into believing I could be gratified and satisfied by doing these things and I couldn't be. Sin does that. You know I always have to look back at my own experience. I only use my own experience. I'm most comfortable doing that. The first time I ever drank hard liquor. I remember that it took my breath away. I mean anybody here who's ever had any whiskey or bourbon or whatever hard liquor anybody who's ever done that. The first time I ever drank it I was like six or seven years old. And so yeah my mom and dad had some friends over and they left all these glasses that were, you know, had orange juice and vodka in it and all of that. And so they needed to be cleaned and it's just and he shouldn't waste it so I drank it. And I still remember how, but you know what? After a while if you work at it it's no longer going to take your breath away. It gives you a pleasure because sin has a way of doing that. If you and I, if we could only really see what we were going to end up like, you'd have a different way of thinking. But everybody else gets messed up. We don't. You know other people can't quit. We can't. I know my limits we say. But in fact you start down that path and it will take you places that you wouldn't even believe. I've said this before. Some of you haven't heard this but when I was 16 it was Washington's birthday. We used to celebrate Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday separately. It was Washington's birthday. My friend and I went to a liquor store in Norwalk. It was called Wong's Market. I still remember that. It was the Wong place for me to be. And we ripped off some wine. Three bottles each. Yeah, we're 16. Drank those three bottles on empty stomachs. And the next thing I remember is I was in jail at the Norwalk Sheriff's substation on the ground with my back, on my back facing up. My friend Bill was seated on a little bench, as I recall, and he was vomiting on my face. I said to him, Stop Billy, stop. He goes, I can't. And the police, the sheriff, I still remember him calling, You guys gotta see this. Come and see this. As my friends just puking all over my face, right? Now, if you'd have told me in the morning, you know, in about four hours, you're gonna get a barf bath, but you never know that, do you? You never know what's gonna happen two hours or three hours or four hours later. That's the whole point of it. You think you're gonna get away with it, and you don't. Well, maybe you do for a while, but it eventually catches up. Sin takes advantage. It takes occasion, because it's deceitful. And sin's draw from within, drove him to do the things that the law was forbidding. He says, it subjected me to the death that the law promised to a transgressor. It drove me to despair, made my life miserable. That's what sin does. Again, somebody once said, every sinner is not only exposed to death because he sinned, and must sooner or later die, but he is miserable in both body and mind by the influence and the effects of sin. He lives a dying life or a living death. What a powerful way to put it. So he says, therefore, verse 12, the law is holy, the commandment holy, and just and good. It's holy because it brings glory to God. It's good because it exposes and labels sin and establishes what morality actually is. It's good because the law drives the sinner to Jesus Christ. Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? It drives you to Jesus Christ. Galatians 3, 23 and 24, before this faith came, now prisoners by the law locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. So he goes on, verse 13, and says, as then what is good become death to me, certainly not. But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. And so the law made sin obvious. Why? Because the law of Moses was used by God to reveal the inner contents of our heart. Jesus in Mark in chapter 7 of his gospel, verses 21 through 23, said it like this, Jesus said from within out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean. It isn't what was on the outside that Jesus is addressing. It's what's on the inside. And the law tells me what's on my inside. And when it tells me what is on my inside, my flesh is enticed to continue pursuing that, even though I know it's wrong. He said in verse 14, he said, we know that the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal, sold under sin. The law is spiritual. In other words, it deals with spiritual principles of life and salvation. It not only reveals actions that are unacceptable. It also reveals my inclinations. Matthew 5, 27, and 28 make that clear. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. What is Jesus saying? He's saying that it's not the action by itself, it's the motive of the heart. If I could get away with it without people knowing what I did, I would do it. There are a lot of people who won't do something because they'll get busted. But if they knew they could get away with it, that shows where their heart really is. If they knew that they could get away with it, it shows. And so Jesus, when he's speaking about that, he's not saying it's not simply the action of committing a sexual sin called adultery. It's the inclination of your heart. It's what you would do if you could and nobody found out. And so that's really where the sin lies, not simply in the action, but in the heart. He says in verse 14, I'm carnal, soul tender sin. I'm still here on the earth. I'm still dealing with desires that are sinful. He's not saying that he gives in to all his inclinations, all the things that he's provoked within to do. He's not saying that. He's simply saying I'm imperfect and I deal with the residual effects of a sinful nature every day. And that's the warfare that takes place in the heart. It's been called the war within. So you can love the Lord, but still have desires at war within you. Why is that? It's because you haven't entered into heavenly perfection yet. Sin taints everything that we do. And sin frustrates us as we're trying to please God. And that's where Paul's going in verse 15. What I'm doing, I do not understand for what I will to do, that I don't practice. But what I hate, that I do. I find myself doing what I don't want to. I want to keep God's law perfectly, but I am aware of the weakness of my flesh and that I failed to do that. I want to fulfill not only the letter of the law, I want to fulfill the spirit of the law, but I can't. Now he's not battling what has been called a besetting sin. He's not feeling guilty over past sins. He knew. And this is something important for us to rest on even now. He knew that he was completely forgiven. In 1 Corinthians 4 verse 3, he said, with me it's a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by human court. In fact, I don't even judge myself. I know that I am forgiven human court and even my own heart. But my heart can condemn me, but the one who judges me, he goes on to say, is really the Lord. And so because I'm right with God, my sins have been wiped away. I'm dead to sin, but alive in Christ. I'm aware of all of these things, but I still desire to live a better life, a more perfect, if you will, life. I want to be a more faithful servant of the Lord. And I find myself frustrated because my flesh is still weak. In verse 16, he says, if then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law. That is good. The fact that I desire to do the right thing reveals that the law is doing its job. My internal desire to please God reveals that I've been born again. You see, what happens when you are born again, and you're born again, and there are different stages of growth, and we know this. You begin as a babe in Christ, an infant in Christ, if you will, you're going to being a young man, young woman in Christ, and then you become a father or a mother in Christ. There are three basic stages. When you're a brand new Christian, there are things that you still find yourself doing that you don't even realize are really as bad as they are. You just don't know it yet. It's just, you know, your language may still be kind of like chorus or whatever, and somebody has to tell you, you know, you really shouldn't talk like that. Why not? Well, because it's just not edifying, and you have to be taught. You have to be talked to. You know, what my friend Bill told me was he said, I know you're saved, David, and I said, how do you know? How would you know? He says, you don't cuss anymore. I said, really? I had the worst, the coach in my high school said that I had the worst profanity problem in the high school. Yeah, and I did. I used to invent combinations of dirty words. I did, just to get him upset. But my vocabulary changed. I didn't realize that. I just was saying, God, make me new. There were other things that you probably didn't even realize were wrong at first, but over time you're in the Word of God, you're in prayer, you have friends and fellowship with people, and they begin to explain to you the spiritual life. You have a desire to grow in the things of the Lord, and over time what happens is you move more in what is called sanctification. Your life is being cleaned up by the Spirit of the Lord and the Word of God. And as that happens, you're being transformed. And so you have that internal desire, but it can take some time for you to mature. And what happens is as you begin to mature in the Lord, your desire grows even more and more to please the Lord. Now, if this is not part of your desire, you don't have that desire growing, then it'd be good to be aware of that so you can yield that to the Lord, because that's all that really matters is that we grow in Him. Well, he goes on in verse 17 and says, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So I have this internal struggle to be obedient. I retain a natural inclination toward a life of sin, because there are actually two, if you will, there are two forces that work within me. Briefly, the early church fathers taught that Christians have two natures. And these natures are normally referred to as the old and the new natures. Now, the old nature is called the Adamic nature because of its tendency to sin. And this old nature produces a distinguishable sin tainted life. The old nature is spoken of as the old man. We saw it in chapter 6, verse 6 here in Romans. He said, knowing that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. So he used that term, the old man, and it's been crucified with him. And he said it in Ephesians 4, 22. He said, put off concerning your former conduct, the old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. When he wrote to the Colossians chapter 3, verse 9, do not lie to one another since you've put off the old man with his deeds. And that's in reference to our old nature. But the new nature is received when you're born again. That's also called regeneration. And that refers to what is called the new man. So Ephesians 4, 24, put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness, or Colossians 3, 10. Put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. So we receive this new nature when we're born again. And though we're born again, we still have a desire and a predisposition to sin. At the same time, our new nature has a predisposition towards living for God. And so what you have is the war within. There's a struggle for domination. So what do we do? We live by faith. And we act upon the promises of God. We saw this in chapter 6, verse 11. He said, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Well, he goes on in verse 18, and he says, I know that in me that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me. But how to perform what is good, I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do. The evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now, if I do what I will not to do, it's no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. I delight in the law of God, according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members a wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh of the law of sin. So my carnal humanness has not been perfected. I still battle against the spirit. My redeemed person desires to please God, that old man resisted. He's not saying, by the way, I'm in terrible sin constantly. He's not saying that. He's saying, I am so broken because I can't always be the best that I want to be. I can't always do good. I want to serve God completely. And he's grieving because he's not always successful. He said in verse 19, the good that I will to do, I do not do. It's the evil that I will not to do that I find myself doing. My natural desire isn't to please God. My natural desire within is to resist him. And so he says in verse 20, if I do what I will not to do, it's no longer I who do it. It's the sin within me. Now he's not excusing himself. He's explaining the depth of the war that is raging. And it's really the thing that is emphasizing the need for grace and to live by faith. So in verse 21 he says, I find that Allah, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. I think this is something that every believer understands if we think for just a moment. Every believer understands this. If you want to serve the Lord, sometimes you can get so frustrated at yourself. Sometimes again I do. Lord, I just don't. And I pray every day, God help me. I want to be a better person. I want to be a better man. I want to be a better man for God's sake. I want to be a better husband for my wife's sake. I want to be a better father for my children's sake. I want to be a better grandfather for my grandbaby's sake. I want to be a better pastor for the church's sake. I just want to be a better person. And I think we all who love the Lord understand what Paul is saying, says, I want to do good. But I find that there's another law within me that rages. It's a battle that goes on. I'm the one who wants to do good. But it seems like I haven't the ability to do that. I know that God has forgiven me of all my sins. I know I have the power of the Lord to resist. I also know I'm crucified with Christ and nevertheless I live. I know these things. But in a practical way, I still find that struggle that takes place within me. And I want to be delivered from this. He says in verse 22, I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. Within me, I find absolute joy in living according to God's commands and requirements. But there's another law of verse 23. It wars against the law of my mind. There's an impulse to do evil that battles against my intellect and those things that I know are right. And it takes me captive. It actually makes me feel like I'm a prisoner. And that's why verse 24, oh wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver me from this body of death? Who'll set me free from this constant battle that rages within me? Who can deliver me from this dead body that infects me? Where does my deliverance come from? And he says in verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's where my deliverance comes from. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God with the flesh, the law of sin. I'm aware of this battle that rages. But I look forward to complete deliverance. I look forward to that final rescue and that life that I will live with him in heaven. As I'm growing older and I'll close with just a simple thought as I'm beginning to see. I'm beginning to see heaven as being more appealing. When you're young and I've had conversations with those who are young believers and all, they've said to me things like, you know, I want to go to be with the Lord, but you know, and I do hope the rapture occurs soon. And I've had this conversation, but I'd like to get married and have children. And I say, why? It's wrong with you slap, slap. And so you go through and you have all those beautiful things. You wanted those babies, you had those babies, you wanted that marriage, you have that marriage and thank God for good babies and good marriages, of course. But as you grow older, heaven becomes a little more appealing in some very practical ways. More and more of your friends and family are there now. You know, when you're young, you've got young friends normally and your parents are still young. My mom was a grandmother at the age of 37. Yeah. She had two kids by the time she was 19. My dad was young, my mom was young. I always had the youngest mom in school whenever I would come in first, second, third grade. My mom was always the youngest mom, and she kind of was proud about that. But you know what happens? Life happens. Before you know it, the goals that you once had desired to attain, many of them you attain or a lot of them you just relinquish, you realize that's not for me. You grow up and you see good things happen. Your life is blessed, but as you're growing older, your body's telling you that on a daily basis. You're not what you used to be. And that's okay. That's a natural process of aging. That's okay. You know, a lot of times we who are getting older, we think we can still do the things we used to do. And then our body says, no, you can't. But the thing that has, and I'll close with this, the thing that has made my awareness of heaven even sharper and the joy I have at being delivered and having a place that's prepared for me to go and see the Lord is that I've seen a lot of friends who have gone before me. I've seen my parents go before me. My father-in-law who gave his heart to the Lord just before he died, who's in heaven now I believe because he gave his heart to Jesus Christ. Heaven is now more populated with people that I grew up with or knew or loved, members of this church that were very dear to me, who have gone on. So heaven is more beautiful and more appealing to me than it was when I was young. You know, my wife, before we got married, my wife Marie, who is now my wife at that time, she was my fiance, she was the girl I was going to marry. One day she asked me, she said, am I going to be married to you in heaven? And I said, who needs heaven when you got me now? I am heaven. I said, why would you want that? Why would you want that? Why would you want to be married in heaven? Had no clue. I thought, why? And I actually did say that. Why would you want to be married in heaven? I said, we don't have any problems, come on. But now I understand what you was asking. Now I understand. Heaven is going to be a beautiful place. And so we have a desire not to earn it, but just to be there, to see our Savior and to be able to converse with the saints that we've read about in Scripture, to talk to Moses and Abraham, to punch Adam for what he did. And to check out Eve to see if she's really that good a babe. You're not so good looking Eve. Oh, Richard, man, that I am. Who shall deliver me from this body of death? I want to be a better man, Paul is saying. That war that rages within, it can be very tiring. I just want more of him. And I thank God who gives me the victory through Jesus Christ. I thank God who gives us a hope in him. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So with the mind on myself, serve the law of God. With the flesh, the law of sin. Until I'm in heaven, I'm going to continue to have this war. But I will be rescued. And the life that I have there, it's going to be so beautiful that it cannot hardly wait until that becomes my complete, experienced reality.