"Are You a Wretch in Need of Deliverance" by Neal Pollard

Occasionally on YouTube or TikTok or some other platform,

someone will proclaim, I have

not sinned in 20 years. Or they'll say,

since I became a Christian, I no longer sin.

Back in the 18th century, there was a man by the name of John Wesley.

Maybe we know him more for his singing or for the religious heritage that comes

out of his name, but he also taught something known as Christian perfectionism.

He taught that if one was so filled with the love of God and

Christ, they could get to the point to where they no longer

committed willful sin. And while perhaps he

would not have gone this far, those who were influenced by him took that a

lot further, and they began to teach something known as radical perfectionism or absolute

perfectionism. And this was a doctrine, the idea that

if one was truly a Christian, was really a child of God, that not

only did they not sin, but they could not sin. And they even would point

to passages like 1 John chapter 3, verse 6 through verse 9.

1 John 3:6

It's somewhat of an ancient belief, and there was a theologian in

the early church named Pelagius who would teach that if one

was a child of God, was a Christian, they would get to the point to

where they would not commit sin anymore. There's even

an entire religious group who would tell us that sin is not even

real, it's imaginary. We know that this is false.

We know that this is false because of passages like 1 John

1 John 1:6

chapter 1, verse 6 through verse 8, where we

have a writer who says, in verse 8 and 10 rather, I want us to

notice he says, if we say that we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

And we pause and we ask ourselves, who is it that actually is saying

this? This is the only one of the 12

apostles who would go with Jesus all the way to the foot of

the cross. The rest have forsaken him and have fled, and only he

is there. He is the one who could rightly refer to himself

as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

He is the one who, as he is standing at the foot of Calvary,

that Jesus would look down on as he is standing with Jesus'

mother and say, Son, behold your mother.

The Apostle John is the one who says, if we say

we have no sin. Or I want you to consider a man

who became a Christian, and that man, when he became a

Christian, so lived his life that he would examine the activity

of his life, and if he felt like it was going to cause a brother

to stumble, then he wasn't going to do it anymore. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and

1 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

verse 13. He is the one who could look at

himself as he interacted with other people and he would say, I have

become all things to all men that I might by all means save some.

1 Corinthians 9:22.

1 Corinthians 9:22

He is the one who endured such sacrifice and suffering that

we can't even imagine, that we read about it and our mouths drop

as we see 2 Corinthians 11:23-33,

2 Corinthians 11:23–33

stem to the stern of all that it cost him to be

a Christian, who could get to the end of his life though and could still

say, I have fought, I have finished faithfully, and so there's a crown

of life that's waiting for me, 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 6

2 Timothy 4:6

through verse 8. But he's also the man who

wrote those words that we just read together.

These are no doubt words that have a different impression on

you. These are words that we so often cite

to speak of the spiritual struggle that we find ourselves in.

We even sing about it. Amazing grace,

how sweet the sound that saved a wretch

like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind,

but now I see. Do you ever find yourself

feeling like the Apostle Paul? Do you ever feel

yourself, even as we sit here in the assemblies and we're worshiping God and we're

going through these acts of worship to glorify and honor

him, that there's a part of you, maybe that wheel's still turning, saying, why am

I still struggling? Why am I still fighting the same

battles? Why am I still falling into the same holes?

Why do I find myself— if I would have thought about

where I would be 5 years ago, I wouldn't think that I was where

I am right now? Why?

And some people, when they're fighting this battle, their answer

is, well, I'm just going to give up. I'm going to stop coming

to church. Why bother?

Why even try? And I think it's because God

knew that in every generation, we were going to be dealing with feelings

and thoughts like this. That he allows us to hear words from a

man like the Apostle Paul to help us to understand that

it's not his battle. It's not yours and mine individually,

but everybody who is striving to serve God is going through

the same thing. And let me make that more specific to you.

The preacher, the preachers,

the elders,

the mature Christians, the godly women,

and if we've missed anybody, are all going through what Paul

expresses in Romans chapter 7. And it benefits

Romans 7 · chapter mention

us as we try to make it to the end of this life

and we share a desired goal to be with God in eternity

forever, to examine passages like this to see the truth that

they contain so that we want come to that conclusion that

there is no use, that we might as well give up because we're not going

to be able to do it. We're just going to fall short and we're not

going to make it. I'd like for you to look with me for just a

few moments in Romans chapter 7 at 4 things that I think will help us

Romans 7 · chapter mention

to understand this plight that we're in.

First of all, as we look at this text, we see the source of our

problem. Now, as we consider what the source of this

problem is, I want us to see from the context what the problem is not.

And the problem is not the law of God.

Paul mentions it repeatedly here in the context, and Paul's going

to tell us some reasons why it's not the law of God. He says it's

not the law of God because the law of God is what tells us what's

wrong. It raises the alarm of what sin is.

In verse 7, I wouldn't know what sin was except for the law.

If sin is the transgression of the law of God, 1 John 3:4,

1 John 3:4

then we need to know what God disapproves of and what God desires.

And the law does that. It tells us what's right

and what's wrong. But then the law also contains commandments

that bring spiritual life. Chapter 7 and verse 9,

if it's something that we need in order to live, then we're going to find

it in God's Word. It's there for us to examine and to know.

When we think about the law of God, in verse 12, Paul would say it

can be rightly described as holy and righteous and good.

What's the characteristics of it? There it is. Nothing bad in that whatsoever.

And then he goes further and he says that the law is spiritual, verse 14.

So as we look at God's standard, he is telling

us and he has told us what happens when we strive

to live according to his word and what happens when we don't. For the wages

of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. He's just said

that in Romans chapter 6 and verse 23. And so if this

Romans 6 · chapter mention

is not the problem, What is the source of my problem?

Well, there are 2 answers we can give. First of all, that it's not

the law of God. We can see the source of the problem is the inescapable

reality of sin. Now, in Romans chapters

Romans 3 · chapter mention

3 through 5, Paul has laid down that principle so that we don't miss it.

There's none righteous, no, not one. Whether you're a Gentile,

Romans 1:18 through 32, or if you're a Jew, Romans chapter 2,

Romans 1:18–32 Romans 2 · chapter mention

1 to the end of the chapter, you're lumped in so that we can say,

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And there is this reality even as we're here and

as we go throughout every day that sin is present.

It's there. And the first thing he says about the problem

of the inescapable reality of sin is that it produces

death. Verse 13, that sin

is going to be the reason why every

lost person is eternally separated from

God. But then he says that we are sold under sin, and he gives

us in verse 14 this picture. He says, I have been and I

continue to be in bondage to sin. He's painting a

picture with an illustration that sinning is like being a

slave to a slave master. And the

slave master of sin is horrible, and we'll see more about that as we go.

And then he says over and over again in the paragraph that sin dwells

in me. It's so much on his mind that it's— he says that this

sin is inside of me. It's verse 17, verse 20, and verse 23.

And all we got to do is look at our world and see how it's

wreaking havoc on our world. Every abducted child,

every addicted junkie, every rape, every robbery,

every murder, every sin is a reminder of the inescapable

reality that sin is all around us. And it's not just an epidemic outside of

us. Every spiritual struggle that I have is

a reminder of the inescapable reality

of sin. That's the source of the problem. Sin is here.

We're experiencing it, and sin is here in

my life. And attached to that is the problem of

our sinful desires. That's the source of the problem. Paul talks about

these desires that are in me that cause me to do those things that I

hate and to not do the things that God wants me to do.

Sin is present in my body.

And Paul's going to point that out with 3 words he uses. He uses the

word flesh and members and body. And he is

saying, I'm wrestling in my flesh with the reality of sin.

It's the source of the problem that I face. You know,

the devil's not even mentioned until Romans 16:20.

Romans 16:20

You go all the way through the book of Romans, he's not mentioned.

We can't blame the devil any more than we can blame God for our

sin problem. James 1:13,

James 1:13

James says, for every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own

lust and enticed. And lust, when it has conceived, brings forth

sin, and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. James 1:13-14.

James 1:13–14

Paul says that the flesh is opposed to the Spirit,

and the Spirit is opposed to the flesh, so that we cannot do the things

that we desire. Galatians 5:17.

Galatians 5:17

He that sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.

He that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap

everlasting life. When I

think about the fact that I need to watch the influences in my life,

1 Corinthians 15:33, those influences

1 Corinthians 15:33

around me are not the source of my problem. When I think about

a culture that's redefining sin at all times and calling good evil and

evil good, Isaiah 5:20, ultimately, That's not the source

Isaiah 5:20

of my problem. Paul says that source of

the problem for me is not just the sin out there, but my

fleshly desires to want to do those things.

Kathy and I have fruit trees in the back of our yard. I guess you

could say that they are technically fruit trees. If you take the Picture Me app,

you go out there and it says that we have peach and pear and we

have plum and apple trees. But I'm going to have to tell you, we don't

have a bumper crop. We have problems with our trees. We've had a few plums

and an apple or two here and there in the 7, 8 years we've been

there. But I'll tell you something, when we diagnose what's wrong

with the trees, we don't go and tape fresh fruit out on the branches.

We don't paint the fruit that's so mealy and terrible looking out there,

and we don't say it's the weather every year. We— in

fact, I went up to Jackson's Orchard one year, and I sat down and took

notes as I was told about how to raise healthy trees.

And what they say is you can't have healthy fruit if you have a diseased

tree. That's what Jesus says in Matthew 7:18,

Matthew 7:18

that every good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit and bad trees

don't bring forth good fruit. And so I've got to get down to the source

of the problem. And the source of the problem is not God's

Word. It is the fact that sin is in this world and

my sinful desires are ever present in me. That's the source

of the problem. But then I want to get to where we live, and that

is the struggle that we face. As we're sitting here

in the assemblies this morning, every person who is here is somebody

who is saying, yes, I see this reality of sin, and yet

I don't want it to be this way. We can identify with Paul who's saying,

man, here I find myself failing to do what God wants me to do

and doing the things He doesn't want me to do. And here's the source of

the struggle. There are at least 3 in the text. The first is the struggle

of disbelief, not unbelief, but disbelief.

Here's what Paul is saying. I see this sin that's

happening in me and I just can't believe it.

That's not me. That's not who I am.

It's almost as if we are outside of ourselves watching

ourselves as we do those things that are wrong or we fail to do those

things that are right. And we would say, who is that? I can't

believe, as much as I want to serve God,

that this is still happening in my life. And this is Paul,

this bastion of strength, this dedicated

person who is giving his life to serve Christ.

And he's saying, I just can't believe it.

Struggle is centered in on this disbelief

that we're even doing it. But the struggle is also due to the nearness of

evil. What Paul is going to say in verse 21 is that that

evil is near at hand. It's as close as

your phone. It's as close as your flirtatious coworker.

It's as close as your friend and your neighbor that provokes you to

anger. It's as close as the world who's telling you that you need

to put yourself above everyone and anything else.

It's a world that's telling us that there's nothing you can do about

it. And yet when we look at Scripture, we see it being said

to us differently. 1 John 2:15-16 says,

1 John 2:15–16

love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves

the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that's in

the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride

of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the things

of this world pass away and the lust thereof, but he who does the will

of the Father abides forever. And so this struggle that we face is

because of the fact that sin is always nearby.

And then there is the struggle of inner conflict.

Paul says, the law of my flesh is warring against

the law of my mind. It goes on within

all of us, this conflict that we face that

causes us to fall short. And we beat ourselves up

because of the fact that this war is still going on.

And here's something that may surprise you as you sit here and think about yourself.

And maybe if you expand that to the people in this auditorium with you,

that there are— that every one of us enter into that battle every

day. And when I say every one of us, there are

people in this auditorium who have been members of the church all of their

lives, who are in their 70s, 80s, and 90s today,

who would tell you, I'm still fighting that battle. I'm still struggling

today as I'm trying to make it through this life.

If the Apostle Paul, with all that he's doing for the Lord, is in this

struggle. We need to appreciate that that war is going to be a part of

our reality as long as we're in these bodies until we die.

You know, I'm a history nerd and I love to read about

some of the things that happen that form who we are. And one

of the ways you can look at that are some of the long wars that

have taken place in history. I don't know if you know this or not,

but from 711 to 1492, the Spanish and the Portuguese

were involved in a war that lasted that entire length of time.

It was called the Reconquista. And then there was a war between the

Romans and the Germans that went 708 years. There was a war between

the English and the French that went for 706 years. And many of

the wars that have been taking place in civilization have gone hundreds

of years. And here's what that means, that there are millions of people who have

lived and died who all they ever knew their entire lives was war.

And if they thought about their ancestors for generations and they looked back, that's all

that they could remember. And as daunting as that is,

think about the fact that there has been a war that has been going on

from the Garden of Eden, and it won't end until the end of time.

It is a war that everyone is facing, but it is the war that's going

on inside of each one of us. The source of the problem is sin

and my sinful desires, and the struggle is real because I'm

doing it and I can't believe it, and it creates this inner conflict

inside of me because I want to serve God, I want to please God,

But man, I just keep doing these things. Obviously,

the point and the idea is not that we just give up and we give

in and that it's okay because Paul's going to say in Romans 6:1-2,

Romans 6:1–2

shall we continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be.

How can we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?

So Paul is not saying, hey, it's just inevitable. It's a struggle and

so you just give in. No, he is saying, be aware.

That you are struggling. And all that means,

the devil would like for you to say that means that there's no use.

But what that means is, if we're aware of it, it will help

us to be prepared for what really is the climax and the apex of this

discussion. When we look at what this text reveals to

us, we also see that it reveals the strength that we want.

Paul says, wretched man that I am,

Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Do you hear his desire for strength and for help in what he

says here? First of all, this requires a proper view of

our weakness. He says, wretched man that

I am. We talked about that word in the beginning of this lesson. That word

wretched means to be in a state of emotional and spiritual misery.

It means to be devastated. If I am going to

desire the strength that I need to win this victory,

then I need to understand that I'm weak. I can't do it by

myself. But then it also requires an appreciation

for the consequences of losing this battle. What if I

don't resist? What if I don't stand up to the temptation in my life?

Paul says, this body of death,

What's he referring to there? He's talking about the weight and

the burden and the struggle of sin that set the focus of this lesson

today. There was a poet by the name of Virgil who wrote about a king

named Mezentius, and Mezentius would take the

captives that he had carried from the spoils of war, and he would attach them

to the decomposing bodies of corpses until

they themselves died. It's commonly thought that the Apostle Paul,

who wrote after Virgil wrote those words, would use this

as an illustration, as he often does from the secular world, to say,

what's it feel like to be dragging around the

weight of your sin? It feels like that.

In fact, it has such consequences that go beyond that. He refers

to it as death. What happens if we don't resist, if we don't fight,

this battle that we're in. Revelation 21:8 says,

Revelation 21:8

but as for the cowardly and the unbelieving and the abominable and

murderers and idolaters and sorcerers and all liars, their part shall be

in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

And so that second death comes to those who

don't seek the strength that comes. But also in this, we see

that it requires a desire for deliverance. Paul says, who will

deliver me? When we

realize that we can't do it alone, that's when victory is coming.

There is none of us that can do this without God's help and without

God's people's help. We're not going to make it by ourselves.

And so often I think that we are in these individual battles,

not using the collective resources that God has given

to us. And so we think that we're on an island and Nobody

else understands. Maybe we find ourselves saying, if anybody knew the real me,

they wouldn't want anything to do with me. If they knew that I was struggling,

what would they think about me? These are all lies

that are being told. They're different forms of the same lie. And who wants

us to believe that lie? It's not God.

You know, Brandon Lilly was a skinny kid who

decided he wanted to make some changes in his life physically. And so,

He went to a gym and he started powerlifting and he found

some coaches that really took him beyond the normal level.

Brandon Lilly, as he became a powerlifter, became so renowned

in the sport that he broke many records, eye-popping records. And not

only that, he even created his own method called the Cube Method of powerlifting.

And he was going around competitions everywhere and

his physical strength was growing more and more. And in his 30s,

And not even trying to set a record, he was deadlifting.

And as he was deadlifting, trying to deadlift 750 pounds, not even close to his

record, as he went to execute one rep,

he blew out his knee. And in blowing out his knee, he had to have

19 surgeries. They didn't even know if he was going to be able to walk

again. But he, in interviews many times, has said, even when I was at

the peak of my physical strength, I dealt with depression. I had

empty relationships and I found myself unhappy.

You know, those who are physically strong can't avoid a

weakness that everyone has. When you look at the Apostle Paul, the bastion

of spiritual strength, and he's saying, I'm weak,

I need strength, I want strength, it helps you and I

to know when we find ourselves there, that we are in

elite spiritual company when we say we want strength.

But the key to this, of course, is verse 25.

There's the Savior we need. He says, thanks be unto God

through our Lord Jesus Christ. The strength

that we need is reminded— we are reminded of that in passages like 1

1 Corinthians 15:55

Corinthians 15:55, where the strength of

sin is the law, And the sting of law— of death is the

law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is about to say after this discussion in

Romans chapter 8, as he gets to the high-water mark of the assurance, the blessed

Romans 8 · chapter mention

assurance that we have as Christians, he says, there is therefore now

no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the

law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the

law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it

was weak through the flesh, God, in sending his Son in the likeness of sinful

flesh and forsaken condemns sin in the flesh, Romans 8:1-3.

Romans 8:1–3

The answer to the struggle that we face is

not to isolate ourselves from the church family. The struggle

that we face is not to just give up and to give in.

The struggle that we face is not for us to buy the world's redefining of

behavior and activity in this life. The response

that we need is not to say, I've got this, I'm okay, I'm just fine.

In fact, we think about what Laodicea said.

Jesus says of them that they say, I'm rich and increased with goods and have

need of nothing, do not know that they are wretched and miserable and poor

and blind and naked. And Jesus would say in Matthew 5:3, the first beatitude,

Matthew 5:3

blessed is the poor in spirit, for they shall see God.

And when I recognize the first 3 things that we noticed in the text,

then I'm ready for this, for the Savior that I

need. The answer lies in some truths about God that we find

throughout the New Testament. The biblical answers about the Savior

we need is that God's love is unconditional.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the

ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will some die,

yet even for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commended

His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,

Look, that doesn't mean he'll save us unconditionally, but the first thing we've got to

embrace if we're going to overcome this struggle is that God wants

me to be saved because he loves me unconditionally,

even when I'm ugly spiritually.

But a second fact is that God is love. It's his nature. 1 John

1 John 4:8

4:8, he is operating from that position.

It's his default. It's where he begins things.

But also that God's love cannot be conquered. It cannot

be dominated by any force or any power.

Look through that list in Romans 8:38-39. No matter

Romans 8:38–39

what it is, none of it can separate us from the love of

God. God wants us to overcome.

In 1 Timothy 2:3-4, God wants

1 Timothy 2:3–4

all men to be saved. And on the other side of

that is the fact that we read in 2 Peter 3:9, and that is that

2 Peter 3:9

God does not want any to perish. Now, we think about

that in terms of the whole world and our desire to want to share the

gospel, but I want you to take that to yourself. God doesn't want

you to perish. He doesn't want you to

be lost on the Judgment Day. He wants

you to be saved. If you embrace that,

that's the Savior that you need. But then

God's forgiveness is faithful and

it's fully applied based on his character and who he is.

In 1 John 1:7-9 is the assurance. If we walk in

1 John 1:7–9

the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and

the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sins. We can't

deny the reality of our sin, but if we confess our sins, he is faithful

and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And then God's love is universal and it's proven. For God so

loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever

believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And these facts

are not going to make the struggle go away. They won't

make the struggle any less severe, but it will remind you of the resources

that you have to overcome.

2010, you may remember this if you're old enough, there were

33 Chilean miners who

were trapped 2,300 feet underground for 69

days. It was really thought to be a hopeless situation.

Everybody got involved all the way up to the president of Chile.

They even set up a place near the site where they

had been trapped that they called Camp Hope. And the family members stood

there and they waited for their rescue. Can you imagine

on day 69 when they broke through and they were able to reach these miners

and it was a very tedious process even at that, that they would send messages

up from there saying, never mind, it's okay, we got it, we're good, we'll take

care of ourselves. They would not have done that.

They understood, look, this was not a problem of their own

making, but we face a problem of our own

making. They had a desire

to survive, but they knew a struggle, the struggle they were in,

and so must we. They knew that they had

to be delivered from someone outside of themselves,

and so must we. You know, this passage takes us

from wretched man that I am to thanks be to God through our Lord

Jesus Christ. And the emphasis of the text is

not to be so obsessed with the sin outside,

but the sin inside. And to realize

that as you struggle, you're right here with the rest

of us. The source of the trouble is the fact that sin's

in this world. That won't change. And we're struggling with the desires

of our flesh, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the

pride of life. There's what I know and there's what I want. There's the Bible,

there's the church, there's Jesus, And then there's those fleshly struggles.

And as I struggle with those things, I need to realize that

I need strength, and it comes in the Savior

who wants to save me. An old song says,

soul, a Savior thou art needing.

We can't do it. We're in need of his help.

Can't do it alone. He supplied the sacrifice

that we need. To provide the answer to the sin problem.

We must respond to that grace by faithful obedience

that causes us to believe that Jesus is God's Son, to repent of our sins,

and to be baptized to wash our sins away. That begins our new

life in Christ, but it's going to be a life with struggle all the way

to the end. But he gives us resources so that when we get to

the end, we can hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant.

So here's the question. Are you struggling?

Maybe you feel like you're all alone. You're not. We are here

to help you and to strengthen you every way that we can.

And so is God. If you need to respond in a public way as

a child of God, let us encourage you right now as together we stand and