The Flesh
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning it's good to be with you this morning my name is Raz U if you've been with us the last few weeks you'll know we're working our way through a series called the three enemies this is an old theological Paradigm used to illust whoa don't do that this is an old theological Paradigm used to uh illustrate the various ways that we as Christians have to combat certain elements that are at war against us and so we have these three enemies we have the world which represents external forces everything which is outside of us and uh kind of influences us we have the flesh that which is the internal sort of carnal desires that we.
Have and we have the devil who represents spiritual forces so we have a war and we have these three different battlefields that the war is being fought on simultaneously today we're going to be focused on the internal war that is the enemy of the flesh but before we get too far into that I kind of want to sidestep a minute and give a pretty good-sized illustration to help us think through a lot of the stuff we're going to be talking about.
Today but before we get to that I want to define a couple of terms be before we get into all so this kind of an intro to an intro to an intro to the point today yall just going to have to bear with me um there's a couple of words that we need to uh Define before we can move on on and one of those the first one is sanctification in Christianity uh the theological word sanctification refers to the process by which a Christian becomes holy uh literally the word sanctify means to make holy and there's plenty of references to this in the Old Testament you you would have heard uh times where the they're.
Commanded to sanctify the altar or sanctify the temple those kinds of things before they get into ritualistic practices and that is to make something holy so that it is presentable to God when you apply that word to Christians though it refers to a process a process by which Christians throughout the course of their entire life become more and more like Jesus in the first week uh when Chad was introducing the I guess the whole series uh he talked about the idea that you are being conformed into something you're being conformed into something what is it.
Well sanctification refers to the process where Christians are being conformed into the image of Christ there's another big important word and that word is justification justification is a legal word and it refers to an act of God to declare a person as righteous in contrast this is not a process this is a transaction it's a moment in time it happens immediately upon the time when a person places faith in Jesus legally we believe that Jesus Takes our guilt and our punishment.
For us that we are washed clean and that we are accredited with righteousness that's justification and it's separate and distinct from sanctification we believe as a Church that we are justified through faith alone in Christ alone and not by works legally our guilt is taken by Jesus at the moment we place faith in him boom saved forever sanctification however refers to a process a lifelong process it takes time the fight against the flesh that's the the second enemy that we're talking about is one where Christians wage war against their own desires and it's integrated with that idea of sanctification becoming more and more like Christ over time.
Now historically there are three umbrella category views of sanctification that's three different ways that uh people have read the Bible and thought I I think I fig can figure out how this is going to work um and inside of each of those categories there are subcategories we're not going to worry about subcategories today we're going to stay high level I'm G to borrow an illustration that I learned from a former CIU president named Robson mcquilkin um he died a few years ago I've read a bunch of his books I don't.
Remember ever reading this illustration in his books uh but he delivered a a sermon this one time and the illustration is stuck with me ever since um so this is borrowed it's from him but I don't know where for you to find it if you have want to go look for it here here's the idea suppose you're on a skiing trip you pack up your snow skis and you get to the mountain and you look up the mountain and you know some way somehow.
If I'm going to enjoy my skiing I have to get to the top of the mountain now in the early days you didn't have much choice you were going to strap those skis to your back just like this and you're going to have to hike your way all the way up that mountain this is the first view of sanctification this view is rought with effort It Is by Blood Sweat and Tears that you're going to suffer each and every one of those steps struggling the entire way that you try to climb that mountain this is the Christian Life as it is most commonly misunderstood by most people four steps up slide down five steps up.
Face plan fall back down it's all up to me I'm on my own I've got to climb this mountain it's all my effort now to my knowledge there is no Evangelical Church that officially takes this position but it is a common misunderstanding amongst Christians and non-Christians alike about what it looks like to be a Christian do better try harder more effort everything is up to you don't fail in the Christian Life though as you know there is no reaching the top by effort no matter how hard you try you are not going to be perfect.
But in 1935 thanks to some American Ingenuity of course everything changed go to any ski resort in the world and this is no longer the option go anywhere in the world and you're going to arrive and you're going to see a giant steel pole a massive police system a steel cable and this magic chair in the sky that does all of the work work for you this is the second view of sanctification I don't have to do anything it's all up to.
God in this view I have no autonomy I have none of the control I could actually try if I wanted to but it wouldn't do anything I can't steer this thing I can't make it go faster I can't make it go slower just straight to the top that's how it works God does it all for me now just for the record this is also an incorrect uh view of sanctification but at this point we have two views we have one view where it's all up to me and we have one view where it's all up to.
God effectively these are two ditches on either side of the road that represent the big mistakes we can make in understanding sanctification I want to introduce you to a lady who tried that first option she tried to do it all on her own realized she couldn't and so she switched strategies she decided she was going to let God do it instead her name is Carrie Underwood she sings a song it's called Jesus Take the Wheel the chorus goes like this Jesus Take the Wheel take it from my hands cuz I can't do this on my own I'm Letting Go she tried doing it all on her own she realized that wasn't working.
And so she switched she said I've had enough of that give me the chairlift I don't want to do this anyway now we shouldn't be too surprised that if there's two ditches on either side of the road you could crash into one and then crash all the way into the other if you refuse to put your hands on the steering wheel we'll call these the carry mistakes well luckily there is a third view of sanctification a more accurate view uh installed in the US.
For the first time uh in 1958 just before the 60s Winter Olympics is a new kind of lift called the pommer lift now if you've never been skiing a pommer lift looks like a frisbee on a stick and uh it it's a little bit harder to use in a chairlift you you arrive and uh you get handed this Rod you've got to grab onto it and kind of stick it between your legs and it's going to tow you all the way up the mountain.
But you've got a little bit of work to do with a pomel lift you're going to have to hang on you're going to have to dodge obstacles you can see that it just kind of goes up this up the side of the mountain and there's nothing stopping skiers from coming in between there's nothing stopping you from just dropping off you can hit potholes I've been on ones where you've got to navigate over Bridges and stuff in this in this scenario you have a great deal of individual responsibility.
If you want to make it all the way to the top of the mountain the lift the machine is the part that is providing power you don't provide Power but if you were to let go you would not find yourself at the top of the mountain you would find yourself back down at the bottom but if you're committed to Hanging On Tight you'll be dragged all the way up the mountain closer and closer in the analogy sense to the likeness of.
Jesus over time now it's not a Perfect Analogy they never are but it is kind of like that and the point here is that the first two views are incorrect when we talk about Christian Living being conformed into Christ likeness it's not all about you it's not all about your effort and it's not all up to God either but instead there is this third option where you are an active participant but it's God's power that provides the mechanism for you to make the journey possible at all this is the correct way to think about sanctification this is how you should think about the lifelong journey the lifelong process of what it looks like.
For you starting where you are now to be conformed more and more into christlikeness for the rest of your life so as we turn today to the second enemy The Flesh we're going to keep this in mind and the reason for doing so is that when it comes to making application points later on we run the risk of functionally viewing the Christian Life functionally making the mistake of believing that first option that it's all up to me that I have to do better that it's on me I've got to go away and do better try harder and I can't make any mistakes and that would be a misunderstanding.
But we do have an enemy we are fighting a war and effort is required but the trick we have up our sleeves is that we don't have to win on our own the power doesn't come from us much like the PFT the power comes from the spirit and we are just an active participant so with that in mind let's talk more about this second enemy The Flesh uh couple weeks ago Isaac introduced a key phrase it comes from John Mark comr and it says the deceitful ideas play to disorted design desires that are normalized in a sinful society that kind of encapsulates all three those deceitful ideas we talked about them last week that is.
Satan and his lies they play to disordered desires that's what's inside of us the Flesh and that is normalized in a sinful Society we'll talk more about that next week that's primarily coming from the world so last week Chad delved into the idea that the devil is involved in all of this we're fighting a spiritual war and his primary role in that is as the deceiver the one who SWS lies but those lies appeal to us because we have disordered desires.
When he lies to us and he says this is the thing that will make you happy you deserve it everyone else has it the only reason it appeals to something is that there's already something inside of us something internal we're going to look at two places where the Apostle Paul talks about this today both of them in letters that he wrote to churches and we're going to start in Galatians 5 if you go to Bible that'll be the place to stick to.
Today I'm going to go to Romans 8 later but for for your purposes just stick to Galatians 5 now Paul uh has a very distinct theology when it comes to those who are saved and those who are not saved frequently in his writings he he splits everyone into two camps and he has a number of different ways of labeling those two camps so we're going to start a little kind of not even a scoreboard it's just a checklist of each of those sometimes he'll refer to the old self versus the new self sometimes he'll refers refers to those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ sometimes it's those who are under the.
Law and sometimes it's those who are under grace but there's a line in the middle and that line is either side of when someone places faith in Jesus uh in Galatians 5 it talks about the conduct of the people who fall into each of those categories uh it's distinct from each other because the conduct of the Believers is not like the conduct of the non-believers now I'm hoping that as we read this some of it at least will be kind of familiar we had this OB section of this as a memory verse I don't know two two months ago or.
So but we're going to start reading from verse 16 and as we do I want you to pay attention to the spirit and the Flesh and how he kind of puts them in opposition to each other they're highlighted on the screen in yellow and green I was going to use a different color but it's kind of hard to see so just bear with that um but attention to those two words he says but I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law now the works of the flesh are evident that is the observable Behavior associated with the second enemy The Flesh that Associated behavior is evident we can see them sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity Strife jealousy fits of anger rivalries dissensions divisions Envy drunkenness orgies and things like these I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit.
The Kingdom of God and now the next section we have a little song for in kid city to make it easier to remember it says but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control hey it's pretty nifty against such things there is no law and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires if we live by the spirit let us also keep in step with the spirit.
Let us not become conceited provoking one another envying one another you know as I was originally writing this um just in like sermon construction mode you have to provide some brain breaks for people you have to make jokes every now and then and I I really wanted to make a joke here at this point in time but it kind of hurt a little bit um I wanted to make a joke about you know in kids City we have this song fruit of the spirit love joy peace patience kindness good and faithful hey and the whole idea is that we get to teach kids Scripture and in this case the fruits of the spirit and my.
Whole joke was going to be about we had another song and it was called The Works of the Flesh and we would teach the kids The Works of the flesh The Works of the flesh are sexual immorality impurity and sensuality idolatry and sorcery enmity and strife hey yall know it jealousy fit of anger rivalries dissensions and divisions and envy and drunkenness and orgies it wasn't going to be a good joke and I'm not going to make it but the reality set in and it kind of made me sad.
Because the whole point of the joke was to say we were're going to teach that song but it wasn't going to be popular and then I realized something about popular music and it's that every popular song these days is about one of those things pluck one out of the list write a song about it and you're going to be on the Billboard 100 and it just kind of made me think how pervasive this stuff is and how even though we wouldn't in theory joke about kids knowing those songs they already do.
Because we're already there so anyway what is Paul saying here we have an internal sin nature in us we believe lies and they manifest in ways that seek gratification to the self Paul calls us to participate in fighting against that so let's bring back up our table that we had we're going to add a couple things we see that those who are in Adam in the old self and under the law are characterized as living by the Flesh and they have the works of the Flesh and that big old list.
And then on this side we have those who are the new self in Christ under grace in the spirit and they have the fruit of the spirit and they're characterized their conduct is characterized by these things now in case you were inclined to defend Carrie Underwood's honor earlier I think it might do well to check in on her how is she doing she released Jesus Take the Wheel in 2005 uh 10 months later she released another hit single and I wonder was letting go of the wheel such a good idea in her next song she sings I dug my key into the ins side of his pretty little souped up four-wheel drive I carve my.
Name into his leather seat she has a long name by the way she took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights slashed a hole in all four tires but it's his fault maybe next time he'll think before he cheats girl I don't know if letting go of the wheel did much good for you Paul tells us that the works of the flesh are evident there's a scoreboard for these things how's your enmity how's your Strife how's your jealousy fits of anger much have we been practicing much peace patience kindness gentleness self-control as it turns out letting go of the wheel bad strategy.
For sanctification so if the flesh if the flesh is this internal sin nature we have the propensity within ourself to seek after self-gratifying things and we know the signs of the flesh the various list of things that show evidence of f fleshly living then what kinds of things can we do to combat them I'm going to put Romans 8 on the screen starting in verse one there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus that's justification we talked about this earlier.
If you're in Jesus legally the transaction has happened boom you no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus you have been credited with his righteousness verse Two for the law of the spirit of life has has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death you see this ju the position again the old and the new the law of sin and death and the law of life and the spirit of life for God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likness of sinful flesh.
For sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit this is the important part for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit for to set the mind on the flesh is death but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God it does not submit to God's law indeed it cannot for those who are in the flesh cannot please God and he keeps going on so let's bring up our scorecard table thing again we can add a few things on the left those who are in the flesh have set their minds on the Flesh and that leads to death and is hostile to God and on the right we have those who are in Christ they set their minds are set on things of the spirit and that leads to life and peace as they are indwelled by the spirit.
Notice that it is your mind that is set on either the things of the flesh or the things of the spirit it is the things that our minds are set on that drive us to do one thing over the other that's why we made such a big Point that's why Chad made such a big point last week of why we have to know what we believe because that helps you combat the lies that the enemy feeds so much of this is a mind game Satan's lies are Mind Games the fight with the flesh is a mind game worldly influences and temptations are Mind Games.
If you consistently flood your mind with sexual immorality that will lend itself towards works of the flesh if you consistently flood your mind with idolatry envy gousy your actions will become self-gratifying fighting against the flesh begins with controlling your mind what kinds of things do you let in what are you consuming on the internet what kind of books are you reading what kind of shows are you watching on TV what kind of music influences you who are you surrounding yourself with and what is the content of those conversations.
If you can control what your mind is set on based on the inputs that you're feeding it that will in turn control the kinds of outputs you get now in contrast if you consistently flood your mind with love goodness patience kindness the kinds of things that benefit others that will also affect your actions these are also influenced by the kinds of things that you allow into your mind in the first place what you consume on the internet in songs on TV and from others more we talk about this the more we stray into what we're going to be talking about next week which is the world and the external influences.
But my point here is that you have control over what you allow into your own mind and in doing so you have some control on the way and the format in which you are being conformed into Christ likeness now as I said at the very beginning there's a false application that can come in somewhere around this point there's an application that says of all of this that if I want to be a good Christian I have to go away and I have to do all the things I have to be loving I have to be joyful peaceful patient kind good faithful gentle and self-controlled I have to do all of these things and not do.
All of these things and that if I fall short if I give into something if I get drunk if I have a fit of rage if if I'm envious if I'm impure if I'm not doing all the good things and I suddenly do something bad then I'm a bad Christian and God's not going to have me that would be a false application that believes something like that first view of sanctification that it's all up to me that I'm on my own I provide all the power and I have to work really hard.
For this thing instead how we should be thinking about this is is much more like the third view of sanctification um a little bit further down in Romans 8 and verse 13 says the following for if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the Deeds of the body you will live let me read that with e with emphasis but if by the spirit you put to death the Deeds of the body you will live the spirit is that Palmer lift and you putting to death the Deeds of the body is hanging on to that pel lift and staying Vigilant and not letting go like.
The pomt rider I must contribute something to this uphill climb lest I lose grip of the power that actually gets me there and I end up falling to the bottom so then what does it look like to be an an active participant and what does it look like to combat the enemy of the flesh there are two practices that are as old as they come in the Christian Life uh the first one of those two is one of the fruits of the spirit it's self-control manifests itself in a bunch of different ways I think that more of this stuff than we realize more of this stuff than we give credit to is inside of our.
Control it takes focus it takes controlling our mind just like we talked about but being an active participant is filling our mind with these things and not filling our mind with these things it's no surprise then in this mental game that in the sermon of the mount Jesus says if your eye causes you to lust rip it out if your hand causes you to sin cut it off uh Paul says it differently he says crucify the Flesh and put to death what is Earthly in you doesn't matter how you take it they're all pretty violent they don't sound fun it's not supposed to be pleasant.
Because there's things in us that we love and don't want to let go of there's things in US these pervasive disordered desires that are very hard to let go of it's not likely to be easy but we are called to find the in inputs in our life that drag us back into these works of the Flesh and eradicate them uh maybe for you that is eliminating social media maybe it's moving the computer out of the office and into the living room maybe it's ending a Netflix subscription maybe it's limiting your involvement with certain friendship crowds some of us should delete Facebook Instagram snap Snapchat or Worse Tinder and Bumble.
If you don't know don't look it up some of us should not own a smartphone some of you should stop talking to that guy or that girl some of you should probably stop drinking and you probably want to argue with me in the same way that I want to argue with me because a lot of those things are not on the list their neutral territory there is nothing wrong with Facebook sure there is nothing wrong with a beer there's nothing wrong with a glass of wine at dinner there is nothing wrong with Netflix no.
But are they consuming your mind or is the part of it that consumes your mind the wrong part do you have control over this them or do they control you part of following Jesus is being con and being conformed into his likeness involves crucifying the fleshly desires that we have that is the not fun part of this but we are told it leads to life there's a second practice in the Christian Life that is as old as time and that is confession and repentance it sounds like two things they're very closely linked on I'm just going to treat them as one we read earlier in Galatians 5 that was the whole part about the works.
Of the Flesh and the fruit of the spirit here's a whole bunch of things that are of the flesh here's a whole bunch of things that are on the Spirit uh and the very next sentence in our modern Bibles it split up into chapter six but when he wrote this letter there was no chapters he was just continuing his single thought uh he continues in the very next sentence he says Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression then you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness keep watch on yourself lest you too be tempted bear one another's burdens.
And so fulfill the law of Christ we talk about bearing each other's burdens at mil City a lot so often when we do that we talk about tangible things nothing wrong with that someone's having car trouble someone needs babysitting someone needs financial assistance someone is sick those count those are bearing each other's burdens but look at this context he's just said don't do the works of the flesh do the works of the spirit if you see someone caught in transgression The Works of the flesh.
Then you who are spiritual go and restore them bear one another's burdens part of being an active participant in our sanctification part of clinging onto that pomt as we're being dragged up a mountain is having an attitude and a self-awareness and a self-control and an attitude that confesses and repents when we fall to these works of the flesh that is how we combat them that's how they lose their power it's how we can be conquering them by not hiding them anymore it's also the responsibility not just the thing that they could choose to do it is the responsibility of those we surround ourselves with to call us out of these patterns.
When they see it that's where Paul says you who are spiritual restore your brothers in a spirit of gentleness if you see your buddy he's on a pomt a metaphorical pomt and there is an obstacle in front of him and he's not paying attention you say hey wake up there's an obstacle in front of you I see you are about to hit it two hands on the palm lift Dodge that thing do not fall back into that we believe it so much we wrote it into the mil City membership Commitment.
If you've ever been to a m city class we have a one-page document that says here's all the things we believe and as a Church here's the way we apply them and point 10 reads the following confession and repentance will noticeably mark my life it's the self-awareness part I fully expect to be confronted and corrected as God allows by other members of the family and my community group to see sin in my life we need that self-discipline the self-control but we are going to stumble and we need those around us those who we've surrounded ourselves with to call us to repentance and bring us back to the Gospel the war against the flesh is not.
An easy one Satan is on the other side and he is going to tempt you over and over again with lies provoking you to giving into your own fleshly desires and they're different for each of us but by the power of the spirit we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus away from the works of the Flesh and towards the fruits of the spirit so there's elements in there of self-control but also through the restoration of our brothers and sisters and the power of confession and repentance we gain ground on that internal war against our own flesh I am not telling you do better try harder I am also not telling you do nothing.
As if God is going to do it all for you and that you have no responsibility to fight sin I am telling you that effort to fight sin is not in vain so as a Church we are going to wage that war against our own sinful flesh by pursuing the age-old practices of self-control and confession and repentance and in doing so we are conformed day by day year by year more and more into christlikeness we push away the old self and we put on the new self let's pray.
God we pray that you would continue day by day to strengthen us to empower Us by your spirit so that we may walk in the fruits of the spirit in self-control and in confession and repentance continue to build us up more and more to be like Christ each day it's in his name we pray amen uh Matt's going to make his way back up and we're going to have an opportunity this morning to take commun communion communion is a practice of the Church reserved.
For Christians for believers if you're not a Christian or you're not a Believer you're not a Believer yet I would encourage you to just stay where you are and consider what your next step towards Jesus might be if you are a Believer for the Christians in the room we're going to tape the bread we're going to dip it in the juice we're going to confess sin and repent we're going to pray that God would continue to empower Us in the fight against the flesh the stations in the front the stations in the back.
If you're like me and you're gluten-free we're headed to that corner um but everyone else go ahead and take communion.