Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by life’s challenges that despair seemed your only companion? If so, I believe God has an encouraging word for you through His holy word. In 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 Paul writes of being ‘utterly burdened beyond our strength’ during his hardships in Asia. I want us to briefly look at this experience of Paul and see how it provides great insight into the Christian life, especially in the battle against sin. I want us to notice the similarities between Paul’s physical struggles and the Christian’s spiritual struggles, to try to better understand sin and how to overcome it. 2 Corinthians 1:8 says, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.” Can you identify with the Apostle Paul? In this verse, Paul is not specifically referring to sin but to physical hardships and dangers. But I think that these words are nonetheless helpful, especially when he says, “For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.” This struggle is comparable to the emotions that one may experience when battling sin—a feeling that many people, specifically those who call themselves Christian, can relate to. Battling sin is a Christian's struggle. This supports what we said Romans 7:14-25 is describing. Paul is describing his personal struggle, not as a non-believer, but as a mature believer. This more than suggests that at times, we all go through this struggle with sin, almost to the point of despair. Isn’t it true that everyone who is truly a Christian wants to do the right thing because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Isn’t it equally true, that Christians struggle to do the right thing because sin still exists in them? Because of this tension, many Christians live in constant defeat because they have bought into the claim that mature Christians don’t struggle with sin. James Montgomery Boice says, “For, as we mature in the Christian life, growing closer to Jesus Christ and thus wanting to be more like him and please him more, the struggle actually grows stronger rather than weaker. Those who struggle most vigorously against sin are not immature Christians but mature ones. The hardest battles are waged by God’s saints.” D. L. Moody once said, “when I was converted, I made this mistake: I thought the battle was already mine, the victory already won, the crown already in my grasp. I thought the old things had passed away, that all things had become new, and that my old corrupt nature, the old life, was gone. But I found out, after serving Christ for a few months, that conversion was only like enlisting in the army--that there was a battle on hand.” In moments of spiritual warfare, Christians might feel on the edge of despair, to use Paul's words in 2 Corinthians. It is important to remember, though, that even though the struggle is real and hard, the end result will be wonderful, not despair—because of Jesus. In Romans 7, when Paul is at his lowest point, he asks, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” He then answers with a profound sense of thankfulness: “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v. 25). Despite feeling utterly helpless in himself, Paul maintains a positive outlook as a Christian, confident in the knowledge that God is for him. The good news is that this same confidence can be ours, not because we are so awesome but because Jesus is. This theme is mirrored in 2 Corinthians, where, like I said, Paul discusses not the struggle with sin but rather the challenges of physical danger and threats. Following his expression of deep despair, he says, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (2 Cor. 1:9-10). For those wrestling with sin, as you undoubtedly are if you seriously follow King Jesus, that is what I want you to remember from this last worship guide on Romans 7. The purpose of your struggle is to teach you to rely on God, who raises the dead, rather than on yourself. And I want you to know that he has already delivered you from “deadly peril,” and that he will do so again.