Well last Sunday we celebrated Easter. I thought we'd go ahead and celebrate the resurrection one more time. How's that sound? How many of you are glad we celebrate it every Sunday morning really. Upon the first day of the week we celebrate our resurrected Savior. And today as we look at Romans chapter 6 we're going to learn some great things about the resurrection, not only the historical fact of Jesus Christ resurrecting from the dead, but also how that affects our lives each and every day. And so I want you to take out your notes this morning and I want you to turn there in your Bibles to Romans chapter 6, because Romans 6 is where we have been learning about how to experience new life every day.

You know, a lot of people can look back at the resurrection or they can look back to a decision they made for the Lord in their life, but they might say that things are not as good as they used to be, things are not as fresh as they used to be. But we're going to learn this morning that God has designed the Christian life so that every day is a resurrection day. And we learn about that in Romans chapter 6. In fact, look, if you would, at verse 4 as we get started this morning by way of introduction.

The Bible says – and we saw this a few weeks ago, "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death": this speaks not only of water baptism, but it speaks of our identifying with Christ in his 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." So God says that everyone that is saved, everyone that is in Christ that we have a new identity; and even as Christ died, our old man died and was crucified. And even as he rose again, we rise up as saved people in newness of life.

God does not want us to revert back to the old life. In fact, in 1 Peter chapter 1, he says, "But as he which has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation or lifestyle; because it is written, 'Be ye holy; for I am holy.'" Now someone might say, "Wait a minute, I can't be holy. I mean, I barely got to church today. If you only knew."

But let me help you with something. The word "holy" does not only mean righteous or good, it means to be set apart, it means to be sanctified; and what we learn from that is that God not only saves us on the day of our salvation, but he wants to keep sanctifying us or changing us until the day that he calls us home to be with him. And so, the Christian life is to be a resurrected life, a new life each and every day.

One illustration that I like in the New Testament that kind of pictures that is the story of Lazarus. You might remember Lazarus and how Jesus was called to Bethany, and he went there; and Lazarus' sisters were a little disappointed that he took so long to get there. In fact, they said, "Lord, he's been dead; he probably stinks already. He's in the tomb there."

And the Bible says in John 11:43, "And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth.' And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound with a napkin. And Jesus said unto them, 'Loose him, and let him go.'" In other words, when he was resurrected, they had to take off the graveclothes, they had to unwind all of those graveclothes so that he could begin walking in his new life. And this is what we want to learn this morning, that as a believer, God wants us to take off the graveclothes of the old life, the old man, and to walk in newness of life each and every day.

Now someone might say, "Well, that sounds like a great theory, and I really wish I could have newness of life each and every day. But how does that happen?" And that's what I want to speak to you about this morning: "How to Live the New Life. How to Live the New Life." And I'm going to teach you from the Bible the three key words from Romans 6 that teach us how to live the new life, how to experience resurrection power every day in our lives. Three words are going to sum it up for us.

The first word is the word "know," and we're going to find that we need to know our position in Christ; and that's a key word in Romans 6. The second word is going to be this word "reckon," and we're going to learn and study what does it mean to reckon. And, thirdly, we're going to study the word "yield." So three words: know, reckon, and yield. And by the time this message is over I'm going to be challenging you to remember those three words tomorrow morning and for the next several mornings until they become a part of your vocabulary, so that we can all experience new life every day.

Now when we study Romans chapter 6, the very first thing that we see God wants us to know, he wants us to know our position in Jesus Christ. Notice this in verse 6, "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." Notice verse 9, "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." So here we see the word "know." It is the Greek word ginóskó, it speaks of perceiving a truth or understanding facts.

Now the Bible speaks to us in many ways. Fundamentally it speaks spiritually, spiritually to us, and we are drawn by the Holy Spirit of God to the word of God. But the Bible speaks to us also academically and intellectually. There are some things we need to know.

For example, you cannot be saved until you know that you are a sinner, until you know that Jesus died for your sin and that he rose up again. There are some things we have to know in order to act upon them. In fact, in Hosea 4:6, the prophet said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."

They did not understand God's will for their life. In fact, we can't live what we don't know. We have to know certain truths if we're going to live new life every day. Our responsibility to live the new life, our opportunity to live the new life is linked to what we know from the word of God. And the Bible is very clear that there are some things that we are to know and things that we are knowing or understanding from the Bible.

It reminds me of the story of two little boys that accidentally cut off their pet turtle's head. And if they were like me and my brothers, I don't know what an accident that was, but the story is that it was an accident. And the turtle was running around still in the backyard, just running and running and running. And finally the older brother said, "Well, he's dead, he just doesn't know it yet." Now there are some Christian who have great victory and have had some great accomplishments made for them by the Lord, but they're not living in those victories and accomplishments yet. They don't really know yet what God has completed for them.

So what are some things God wants us to know? Let me give you a couple. First of all, he wants us to know that believers are one with Christ, believers are at one with Christ. Notice verse 6, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him." So we are one with Christ in his death. The old man, which we studied a few weeks ago, is a term that describes the dominion of the old nature; our old Adamic nature was crucified. When Jesus died on the cross, our victory over sin and Satan was accomplished at the cross.

Now we'll see in a moment Christians sometimes intermittently will sin, and we'll talk about that. But the dominion of sin, the fact that you can never escape sin, that was broken at the cross of Jesus Christ when he shed his blood for you and for me. The head of Satan was crushed. And this is a completed reality, it's something you've got to know, that you have the victory in Jesus Christ. Our old sinful identity from Adam has been crucified, that's why Ephesians 4:22 says, "Put off concerning the former conversation of the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts."

And so, we are one with Christ in that he died on the cross, and our old nature was crucified there as well. And then also we are one with Christ in his resurrection. The fact that he rose up again also promises as the firstfruits of the resurrection that we will rise up again, and that we even today have a resurrected nature within us.

Notice, if you would, in verse 8 the Bible says, "Now if we dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." Romans 6:10, "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." And I don't know about you, but I'm thankful that because Jesus Christ arose, I have the promise that one day I will rise up again as well.

The Bible says, "The trump of God will sound: and the dead in Christ will rise first, and we which are alive and remain will join him in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." And all of that is because Jesus conquered death and the grave. So believers are one in Christ, and you've got to know that. You've got to know that when he died, the old man of sin was conquered; and your life has victory because of his death; and that when he rose up again, you received the promise as a believer of resurrection in Jesus Christ. So we are one with Christ.

The second thing you need to know is that we are new in Christ. We are made new in Christ. Now look at verse 10 as we put some pieces together from Romans 6. It says, "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."

Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father. We also now as believers live unto God. We are, as the Bible says, dead indeed unto sin. Jesus died unto sin once and we identify with that victory even today. The believer is no longer under the tyranny of sin, we are resurrected in Christ.

Now that is a truth that is found in Galatians 2:20, and I want you to look in your notes. We've seen this verse before, but notice in your notes Galatians 2:20. This is what it says: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live." All right, now notice the first phrase and say it with me: "I am crucified with Christ." Let's say that together: "I am crucified with Christ." Okay, there you have your identity with Christ.

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." So the old man is crucified with Christ; that's my identity. And the new man, Jesus Christ in me, is alive and well. And so we are to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God.

And so, as Jesus lives, we now live because we have received Jesus Christ as our Savior. And that's why 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ," remember that phrase, it's very critical, "in Christ." We're talking about what we've got to know. I am in Christ, I know that.

"If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature: old things are passed away; all things have become new." That's what I am and that's what I know. I am in Christ: old things are passing away; all things have become new." So your position, your identity is found in Christ, and this is something that we know from Romans chapter 6: our identity is found in Christ.

Now back in January we talked briefly about the Super Bowl, and I shared with you a man whose whole identity was found in the Los Angeles Rams. I mean, he wears their colors to work every day, his car is painted their colors. He was so confident that they would win the Super Bowl that he actually had a Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl Winners placed on his arm in the form of a tattoo.

Now there are many things wrong with that. I don't have time to preach about piercing and tattooing bodies and all of that. Let me just say, one of the big things that was wrong with this: they lost. That's a big issue, right. The Patriots won the Super Bowl. I can imagine this guy going to work on Monday, I know what his friends would say, "Loser," right, because his whole identity was wrapped up with the losing team. He believed so strongly in it that he marked his body. Some of you are still staring at that like, "Dude, wow, wow, good markings." Hey, come on, that's not the point of this, all right. The fact of the matter is, the guy's a loser; let's focus on that just for a minute, okay.

Now what I want you to realize is he has a losing identity, right? He took a gamble, he lost. But when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you do not have a losing identity, you have a resurrected identity, you have a new life. That's what you need to know the Bible says about you. You are not a loser, you are a winner in Jesus Christ. Everybody with me on that this morning. So the first word is "know," "Knowing this, the old man is dead, the new man is alive, and you have a winning identity in Jesus Christ," that's what you've got to know, all right.

But let's look at the next word. The next word is "reckon." Now some of my Southern members here, some of you understand the word, right? "Y'all wanna go to Chick-fil-A? I reckon so, let's go." You know what I'm talking about. Now we have Cracker Barrel now here in Southern California, we feel very privileged. But I can hear someone from the South saying, "You want to go to Cracker Barrel? I reckon so, let's go.

"It's a good Southern word. And Southerners would tell you it's a good word because it's a Bible word, right? And there is some truth to that. I want you to see that in verse 11. I want you to see the word "reckon." It says, "Likewise," what's the next word say? Come on now, help me out here. "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ."

Now the word "reckon" means to calculate or to affirm in your mind or conclude to be true. Now stay with me. It is one thing to know something, it is another thing to reckon something. Reckoning is the appropriation of the truth. To "know" speaks of the mind. The word "reckon" speaks of the heart.

You say, "Well, I know that Jesus died and rose again for me, and I know the Bible says that I can have newness of life," but there's a step of faith to reckon and begin living that way, "I reckon I'll do that. I reckon that's the truth. I'm making an accounting decision," just like you take your checkbook and you figure out, "All right, da-da-da-da-da, I've got $12.11," and you reckon that to be a fact. God says, "I want you to come to my word, I want you to know who you are in Christ, and then I want you to reckon on that, and I want you from the heart to begin living that way."

Now why is it that some Christians have trouble really reckoning with who they are in Christ? Why do they live their whole life like they're a loser with guilt? Why do they live with voices from the past shouting at them, "You'll never make it"? Why do they let the Devil put them down? Why is it that sometimes we never truly reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto Jesus Christ? Why is it that some Christians never experience new life any day, much less every day? Well, I think there's a couple reasons. There's a couple ways that we're challenged at this point.

I think, first of all, as we think of the challenges to our reckoning, one of the reasons we're challenged is because of Satan's lie. How many of you know that Satan is a liar? If you don't, I'm telling you he is. John chapter 8 and verse 44, Jesus said, "Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he abode not in the truth, and there is no truth in him."

Now maybe it's hard to believe that the old nature is crucified and that Jesus is living in you, because Satan doesn't want you to believe that, because Satan lies, because Satan creates doubt. I believe that's one of the reasons. I believe another reason that people struggle is because whenever there is sin in someone's life, then sin causes us to doubt, and we think, "Wait a minute, if I thought that thought, if I did that deed, then certainly I'm not even saved. Like look at all these people in this church that are perfect. They all grew up memorizing Scripture from the nursery time, and they've never had a bad thought, and they've never sinned; and therefore I am – and the Devil." How many of you know the Devil likes to pour guilt on like that? The Devil causes doubt like that, and creates conflict.

Now let me tell you that the dominion of Adam's nature over you has been conquered at the grave; but the flesh, the body that you and I live in is still real; and there will come times when you will be disappointed even within yourself. In fact, the apostle Paul was. Look at what Paul said in Romans 7:18. He said this, "For I know that in me – that is, in my flesh," right? He's not talking about the Adamic nature that has been crucified, but in this fleshly body with which he lived, in which he lives. He says, "In my flesh dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that which I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me."

Now what is Paul saying? This is one of the reasons I believe the Bible's the infallible word of God, because God's word is honest; it tells us that David had times of discouragement, and it tells us that Elijah had times of depression, and it tells us that Paul had times when he should have done something but didn't do it, and he shouldn't have done something and he did do it. And what we realize here is that there are times in our lives when we know what is right and we don't do what is right, and it is those times that will cause doubt in our mind, perhaps even about our very relationship with God.

And let me just say here quickly, sin does not affect salvation if it's true salvation; it does affect assurance. And you'll struggle with the assurance of salvation when sin comes into your life. And Satan will sometimes compound that, and thus there is a challenge in really reckoning that I am in Christ, and that my old nature is dead. So I want to tell you that if you're truly saved, and there are times in your life when you think something that disappoints you or you do something that disappoints you, may I simply say that so long as you are not under the dominion of Satan, so long as you are feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit when you sin, then I encourage you too repent of that sin and get on living for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Challenges come though when we have doubt from Satan. Challenges come when we sin. So how can we change that? How can we change the way that we live? And that happens when we reckon what God tells us to reckon. When we change, we change when we reckon.

Now look at verse 11: "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin." Now I want to tell you how to reckon. First of all, we reckon when we believe the word of God. Reckoning is based on actual facts. To reckon is to act in faith on what you know. So you know what the Bible says, that the old man is dead, and that the new man reigns in Jesus Christ, you know that. But now reckoning, you're going to act upon that.

Romans 10:17 "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Faith gives you confidence to say, "The Bible tells me that my old Adamic nature is conquered, and that I have a resurrected presence, Jesus Christ living within me; and now then I reckon that to be true, and I am going to live that reality today. Lord, today I reckon myself to be dead indeed unto the power of sin, and alive unto Jesus Christ." And you appropriate that by faith. That's what reckoning does, it appropriates truth by faith.

Let me illustrate it this way. Sometimes I'll be at an airport and I'll observe people. And how many of you are like me, you just like sometimes just watching people in public places, just – it's curious, and sometimes humorous. And sometimes you'll see people that have their ticket; it's already theirs, it's already reserved, they've got it in their pocket or on their phone, and they're just sitting there having a Starbucks, reading emails, talking to their friends, pretty relaxed.

Then you'll see people that are on standby, and it is just the opposite. People that are on standby, they're walking back and forth, they're pacing, they're looking at the agent over here, they're trying to catch the agent's eye, "Any seats available? Any seats available?" "There's three available, but there's nine on standby."

"I think I put my reservation in three months. I think I have 12,000 miles. Does that get me up there? Am I going to make it in the top?" "We'll let you know, sir." "Okay," and they pace some more, and they pace some more; they drink some coffee maybe; maybe they go to the smoking room and smoke or something. Then they come back, "How am I looking? How am I looking?" They're on standby, so they're nervous all the time; they don't know where they stand with the airline.

And there are many Christians who are living as though they are on standby when they have a ticket. They're living on standby; they're wondering where they stand with God. And God says, "Look, you've got to know something, that when I died, your victory was won."

Adam was defeated, and you're alive in Jesus Christ. And you've got to not just know it here, you've got to reckon it here, and stop living like a standby Christian, and start living like a first class Christian and living the way that God wants you to live, with assurance in your heart that you belong to Him and that you can have new life every day. You don't live your life as a standby Christian, you live your life as a Christian that has a ticket. And God knows who you are, he knows your name. You're accepted in the Beloved, and he is ready to walk with you tomorrow morning. And so we must believe God's word. We must believe that we are no longer under dominion. The Bible says in verse 7, "For he that is dead is freed from sin."

We don't want to start tomorrow thinking, "Oh, I hope that guy doesn't come by and tempt me that way." No, no, no. I'm dead to that. I want to reckon myself dead to that. I'm appropriating that before I ever begin the day. We want to live as though we are alive unto God. The Bible says in verse 11, "but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." And so you reckon this to be true.

Now on December 27, 1980 I stood at a wedding altar in San Jose, California, and Terrie and I exchanged vows, and we said we would love, honor, and cherish one another until death do us part. And on that day, I knew in my mind exactly the commitment that I was making, and I reckoned in my life that every day there would be a reckoning. I wake up every day with the awareness that I'm a married man, and that that decision and that those commitments have ramifications every single day of my life. How ridiculous it would have been to get married at the wedding altar and go back to my dorm at college and live in the dorm, and eat food in the cafeteria, and do my own laundry, and sit at the dorm with a bunch of stinking, smelly guys, when I was now married. It's one thing to know you're married, it's another thing to reckon you're married; and I'm just simply saying that every day now that I'm married I'm going to live according to the life of a married man. I'm going to seek to be a blessing to my wife, to pray with my wife, to encourage her, to take care of problems with her, to be at the hospital with her, whatever it means. I mean, I know it, but I've reckoned it.

Listen, some of you know that Jesus lives inside of you, but you haven't reckoned with that, and you're not reckoning with it on a daily basis; it's not something that's permeated your heart. And what I want you to realize today is that we must know our position, but we must also reckon our position, that we are dead to sin. Hey, you don't say Jesus Christ is your Savior and go back to the old life. You get up every morning and reckon yourself to be dead to that old life and alive to the new life in Jesus Christ.

Now this is just three words today. The first word is you've got to know who you are in Jesus Christ, dead to the old life, the dominion of Adam; alive in Jesus Christ. And then, not only know it, but by faith reckon that to be true. And start tomorrow by saying, "Lord, I want to reckon today that I am dead to the old man, and that your presence is alive in me; and I want you to have your will and way in my life." We want to know it, we want to reckon it. Finally, a third word, "We want to yield our lives daily to the Lord." The third key word to Romans 6 is the word "yield."

Now notice in verse 12 what the Bible says: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 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." Now God calls us to yield ourselves. This speaks, first of all, of dethroning the will of sin. And I'm going to give you three steps in yielding yourself.

First of all, we dethrone our own will. You say, "Why do you use the word 'dethrone'?" Look at verse 12: "Let not sin therefore," what's the next word say, "reign." Say it again. What? "Reign." It's not r-a-i-n, it's r-e-i-g-n. The word means to exercise kingly power. God says, "Don't let sin be the monarch in your life," right?

If you were to travel over to England and have an audience with Queen Elizabeth, and if you were to walk into Buckingham Palace, you would be subject to all of the laws and rules of Buckingham Palace. You would do whatever they said, whenever they said, or they would send you out. She is the monarch of that land.

But God says don't let sin be the monarch of you. Don't let sin boss you around. Don't let that old crowd tell you what to do. Don't let that old crowd tell you what to drink. Don't let that old crowd tell you how to talk. Don't let that old crowed tell you where to go. Don't let sin reign any longer in your body and in your life. Dethrone the will of sin. By the grace of God, sin must not be sovereign. This is a command that's given. In fact, notice further it says in verse 12, "that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."

Now again, the unsaved man has no choice. The unsaved man can take twelve steps, twenty steps; he can go to jail, he can go to counseling. But oftentimes you'll find the same sin year after year, and dominion of sin over his life. But the saved man has a choice to yield or not to yield, because he has the power of the living God within his own life. We don't have to obey the lusts thereof, Romans 8:4, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." And so as we obey the law of the Spirit we are able to yield to God rather than to sin. So we must dethrone the will of sin. "Yield not your members over unto sin."

Notice, secondly, we must deny the instruments of sin. Look at verse 13: "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." Now let's read that together. A little bit different vernacular, but let's read the first sentence of verse 13. Ready, begin: "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." Instruments of unrighteousness.

Now let's just think about it in practical terms. You can yield this brain to covetousness or contentment. Your brain, your brain can be continually captivated by pornography or by the Bible. I don't know what you're yielding your brain to right now, but God says that we're not to yield our members to unrighteousness. Your ears can be yielded to rap music, full of cursing and bitterness, or your ears can be yielded to things that are pure and lovely and godly. Your feet can take you to places of ill repute and trouble, or they can bring you to church, and you can take a walk with your child, and you can walk to your spouse and tell her you're sorry. You've got to yield your members to that which is righteous. Deny these instruments to the use of unrighteousness.

Now there's a fight many times within our members, but we must yield our members as instruments of righteousness. We must find ourselves walking in the power of God's grace. Notice in verse 14, "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." You see, the law introduces sin, but grace introduces life. Let me say that again. The law tells us that we're a sinner, that we fall short; but grace gives us power and life that we might life for the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, if we're going to yield, we must dethrone the will of sin, and we must deny the instruments of sin: "I'm not going to yield these instruments over to ungodliness." And then, notice finally, we must deploy ourselves into God's service. Now this is a yielded life. I'm speaking to you about the word "yield." Dethrone the will of sin, deny the instruments of sin, and then deploy yourself in God's service.

Now look at this in verse 13. It says, "But yield yourselves unto God." Would you say that with me, please? "But yield yourselves unto God." One more time: "But yield yourselves unto God."

Now this is very important, don't miss this, we're almost done. You can sit over here and say, "Okay, okay, I'm not going to listen to rap music, I'm going to throw away all of my Blue Oyster Cult, Led Zeppelin, and Michael Jackson. I'm done with it, I'm sick and tired of it. I'm not going to touch alcohol, I'm not going to say bad words, I'm just going to sit right here and be a good boy. I'm not going to yield my instruments over to any of that stuff."

But God says not only does he want you to not yield your instruments to things that are sinful, he wants you to yield yourself to God. In other words, you've got to replace that old music with good music, you've got to replace those old friends with the right friends, you've got to replace those wrong habits with the right habits. And that's why the Bible says in Romans 12:1, "I beech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

And that means some of us as Christians, then we come and we say, "Whoa, now I know that I have victory through Jesus Christ. The old man is dead, and I'm alive in Jesus Christ; and I'm going to reckon that to be true. I'm dead indeed unto sin and alive unto Jesus Christ. And, Lord, now I present my body to you. I don't want to use these hands to fight, I don't want to use this tongue to gossip, I don't want to use these ears to hear terrible things or this brain to have terrible thoughts. So, Lord, here's my life; take it and use it; I yield myself to you."

Have you ever done that? Have you ever not just said, "I'm going to stop doing bad stuff"? Have you ever started serving the Lord? Have you ever found what it's like to come to an adult Bible class, a connection group, or a church service and try to help others, and learn, and grow, and be a witness, and learn how to be a better husband or wife? Or have you ever just started living the Christian life and reading your Bible? Oh, there's nothing like it, my friend. Yield your members to God. "Lord, here's my eyes. Here's my mouth, guard what I say. Here's my hands, help me to be a blessing. Here's my feet."

And so, three words. If you want new life today, new life tomorrow – now some people, they got saved, it was a great day, their sins are forgiven, and then that's kind of it. But f you want the joy in the presence of the Lord every day, then here you go. Know what God says about you. And God says that when Jesus died, the power of sin over you died. And when Jesus rose again, you have victory rising up within you, and ultimately a resurrection yourself. You've got to know that. But then you've got to reckon it. Now you don't reckon your finances one time in your entire life. Some of you maybe twice I'm afraid. But most people, most people take a look every so often. God says, "I want you to take a look and I want you to reckon with this."

Lord, today I reckon myself to be dead unto sin and alive unto you. Lord, before I even go out the door, before I have that cup of coffee, I just want to settle this issue: I belong to you. So, Lord, help me today to reckon that I am dead to that old way and alive to you. I know it, Lord, but I'm telling you I believe it. And then, Lord, thirdly, I want to yield my life to you today. Not only do I not want to give my members to that old way, but Lord, if you want me to say a kind word to my spouse today, and Lord, if you want me to give a gospel tract today, and God, if you want me to try to help my neighbor today, however you want to use me, Lord, I just want to present my body to you.

And if you want new life tomorrow and Tuesday and Wednesday, and if you want to live the resurrected life every day, I just encourage you, know who God says you are, reckon that to be true, and yield yourself unto him each and every day; and you'll have new life tomorrow and the rest of the week. And I want to encourage you to know, to reckon, and to yield to the Lord Jesus this week.

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