SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Baptist Bible Church.
SPEAKER_01: It is great to have you here with us this morning to worship.
SPEAKER_01: Are you excited to worship the Lord this morning?
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray and then we'll get started.
SPEAKER_01: Father, thanks for today.
SPEAKER_01: Thankful for this opportunity we have to be here today to gather together with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and to worship you.
SPEAKER_01: And we're excited to be here.
SPEAKER_01: We're excited to join together in song as we lift up our voices to worship you.
SPEAKER_01: We're excited to open up your word and hear what you have for us today.
SPEAKER_01: So give us open hearts, open minds to receive what you have for us.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray that as we do so that you would draw us closer to yourself, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We love you.
SPEAKER_01: We want to know you more.
SPEAKER_01: We want to grow closer to you.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray that you would help us to do that today.
SPEAKER_01: It's in Jesus' name I pray.
SPEAKER_01: And everybody said, Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Psalm 33, verses 6 through 9.
SPEAKER_02: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their hosts, he gathers the waters of the sea as a heap, and he puts the deeps in storehouses.
SPEAKER_02: Let all the earth fear the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
SPEAKER_02: For he spoke, and it came to be.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, by the way, Brenda, close your ears.
SPEAKER_01: Just plug your ears.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: We are so thankful for our Continental Baptist missionary builders.
SPEAKER_01: These would be the Woosters, the Smiths, and the Kruegers are the three families that were such a blessing to our church family.
SPEAKER_01: We're so thankful for not just the work they did building this awesome building for us and with us, but certainly the bonds go far deeper than concrete and plaster.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that right?
SPEAKER_01: And uh we want to take take this opportunity as a church family to uh bless those families with a little bit of financial help because they're just about finished up in Montana and they're uh preparing, they're making preparations to drive back home.
SPEAKER_01: And if you haven't noticed, gas ain't cheap.
SPEAKER_01: And there's multiple trips that need to be taken.
SPEAKER_01: And so we want to uh we just want to, as a church family, take up an offering to designate some funds to uh help these families with some travel expenses on the way home.
SPEAKER_01: So this time we're gonna have the guys uh go ahead and pass the plates and collect an offering.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not prepared uh but you still want to give, make sure your check gets in the offering box before the end of the morning.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but we'll go ahead and pass the plates now to go ahead and take up those funds.
SPEAKER_01: So go ahead, guys.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for that.
SPEAKER_00: I have a few notes that I'd like to give you, just a few updates.
SPEAKER_00: First off, I want to say on my behalf, thank you for all your prayers.
SPEAKER_00: This family has really supported me through all of my medical journey this last few months.
SPEAKER_00: I did have an MRI recently, and uh this week I got results back saying there's nothing up there.
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know how to take that, but no, actually.
SPEAKER_00: Um there's no result, no reason for my uh seizure.
SPEAKER_00: So um guys at work would think that's pretty funny that there's nothing up there.
SPEAKER_00: Anyway.
SPEAKER_00: Um the other thing I would like to bring up is I did talk to Emily David yesterday and the family.
SPEAKER_00: They're very thankful for all your prayers and your support, all the text messages and everything that's come their way.
SPEAKER_00: Um the the surgery was quite long.
SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of endometriosis once they got in there.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, the surgery took about four hours.
SPEAKER_00: So uh they did their best to get all that they could.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and actually they got the very best possible outcome they they could.
SPEAKER_00: So it's very good.
SPEAKER_00: Um, she's managing her pain right now, is the biggest thing.
SPEAKER_00: So um, but she is feeling somewhat better.
SPEAKER_00: I think Karen said she can talk to her a little bit, so she's laughing, she's starting to eat a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: So things are on the road to recovery.
SPEAKER_00: So I think they can continue to receive or covet your prayers.
SPEAKER_00: Ron will be driving home tomorrow, so if you can remember to pray for him for travel, Lisa's gonna stay there as long as Emily needs her, and then she will fly back home once that's done.
SPEAKER_00: So with that said, I don't think there's anything else.
SPEAKER_00: I know that there is an insert in our bulletin, and it does say Sunday school is at 9.15, but let's just try to remember that we have the month of June where we're not going to be meeting until after July 4th weekend.
SPEAKER_00: So there will be no Sunday school.
SPEAKER_00: So if you do show up, it's on you.
SPEAKER_00: So open mic, I guess you want to call that.
SPEAKER_00: So join me as we go to the Lord in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Almighty God, you are so good to us, and I am so thankful for this body of believers that you have brought into my life.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray, Lord, that you will continue to work in in this family, that you will work with us, that you would teach us, help us to grow closer to one another, but also most importantly, grow closer to you as we learn, as we hear your word, and as we study your word, and as we worship you together as one body.
SPEAKER_00: In this facility, but as we worship you corporately throughout the world, Father, you deserve all of our worship and you deserve all the glory.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for all that you have done for us.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being with Emily as she had her surgery this week.
SPEAKER_00: And thank you for the good outcome.
SPEAKER_00: I pray, Lord, that you would comfort her and encourage her as she goes through this road of recovery, as there's always pain involved when uh somebody goes in and starts to clean things out.
SPEAKER_00: Muscles have been cut and inflammation is about.
SPEAKER_00: And I just pray, Lord, that you would encourage her and you would comfort her and manage her pain.
SPEAKER_00: Help her back onto the road of recovery.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, today, as we hear Pastor Jonathan's words, I pray, Lord, that you would speak to our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to focus on what you have for us, focus on your words, and um help us to apply that to our lives as we strive to serve you every day and be a good testimony to the rest of this world for your sake.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we all pray.
SPEAKER_02: So last week we introduced this new song, Oh Church Arise.
SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna ask you if you would arise, please, as we sing the song.
SPEAKER_03: Church arise and put your armor eye, here the call of Christ are gaped, for now we can say that they are stroke in the straight but you got this for big time, but it's a bit called to me, that's the colour.
SPEAKER_01: Allow me to remind you just one more time that we have just started a new series on spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_01: And because of the nature of this topic and just all of the confusion that is just so prevalent within the culture at large as well as within the church, could I encourage you, if you've missed either of the last two sermons, to make sure you take some time this week, go back and listen to the sermons.
SPEAKER_01: You can find them on podcast or on YouTube if you'd like to watch instead.
SPEAKER_01: And I think that would be supremely helpful to you.
SPEAKER_01: It kind of frames the nature of the topic and how we're going to handle it, how we're going to address it and talk about it over the coming weeks.
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's helpful, helpful content within those first couple of sermons that would be helpful to you as we continue on in the series.
SPEAKER_01: Don't forget this morning the remark we noticed last week from 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11, where Paul states that the reason Satan was not able to gain an advantage over Paul and over Paul's ministry partners was because Paul said that he was not ignorant of his devices.
SPEAKER_01: Meaning, Paul, Paul, his point being that Paul was aware of his enemy.
SPEAKER_01: He was aware of what his enemy was trying to do, and he was aware of how the enemy was seeking to accomplish that objective.
SPEAKER_01: And it's because Paul knew that he was equipped and enabled to with to resist and to withstand the attacks of the enemy.
SPEAKER_01: And as Christians today, that is just so relevant.
SPEAKER_01: It's relevant.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know your enemy?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what your enemy is trying to do?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know how your enemy is trying to do it?
SPEAKER_01: If you don't, you will lose.
SPEAKER_01: In World War II, to give another illustration of this point, codebreakers performed a vital function.
SPEAKER_01: Their task was to intercept and interpret enemy communications.
SPEAKER_01: It was their ability to do so that provided major military and strategy advantages.
SPEAKER_01: If you knew what your enemy was going to do before they did it, that's a major advantage to you militarily.
SPEAKER_01: One of the most cited examples of this in World War II was the Battle of Midway.
SPEAKER_01: And American forces won the Battle of Midway in large part because codebreakers had learned in advance the military strategy and movements of the Japanese fleets led by Admiral Yamamoto.
SPEAKER_01: And it's because they knew the movements of the fleet that they were able to set the ambush that led to that great military victory in the Pacific Theater.
SPEAKER_01: This just goes to prove the point.
SPEAKER_01: If you know what your enemy is doing, you know what their objective is, you know their how you know how they're trying to accomplish it, that puts you at the advantage to have the victory.
SPEAKER_01: So last week we identified the first enemy of the Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Who can tell me?
SPEAKER_01: Enemy number one, first enemy of the Christian.
SPEAKER_01: What was it?
unknown: The world.
SPEAKER_01: The world.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody was listening.
SPEAKER_01: Gold star to Ben.
SPEAKER_01: The world.
SPEAKER_01: First enemy of the Christian.
SPEAKER_01: This morning we notice there is another enemy that we have identified, another enemy that we need to learn more about.
SPEAKER_01: And you can see it there on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: That is the enemy of the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: So let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: And then we'll dig in.
SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father, thank you for today.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you now for this opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: We have to open up your word.
SPEAKER_01: Help me, God, to preach this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Help me to preach with clarity.
SPEAKER_01: Help me to explain your word correctly.
SPEAKER_01: Father, help me to not get in way, get in the way of the text or get in the way of your word this morning, but just to be a conduit, a vessel through which your word works and is received by those here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that your word would work effectively and powerfully.
SPEAKER_01: We're so thankful for the promise of Scripture that your word never returns void.
SPEAKER_01: And so we ask, Lord, that you would be faithful to that promise this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Help us.
SPEAKER_01: Help us to learn who our enemies are.
SPEAKER_01: Help us to learn how to be effective in fighting against those enemies so that we can have victory, so that we can claim and embrace and have victory over our enemies.
SPEAKER_01: We ask these things in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Enemy number two this morning, the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh.
SPEAKER_01: What is the flesh?
SPEAKER_01: Well, before we get to there, there's a quick reminder on our definition of spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_01: Don't forget that when we talk about spiritual warfare, this is what we mean.
SPEAKER_01: The believer's continual struggle against the devil, the flesh, and the world.
SPEAKER_01: One by standing firm in Christ through faith, obedience, truth, prayer, and the ordinary means of sanctification empowered by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: This is our definition of spiritual warfare in that first sermon we did.
SPEAKER_01: We laid out the framework of why we define spiritual warfare this way, and this is how we're going to be operating going forward.
SPEAKER_01: So then, what is the flesh?
SPEAKER_01: Well, the most common word in the New Testament for flesh is sarx, in the Greek, sarx.
SPEAKER_01: And depending on the context, it can have different meanings.
SPEAKER_01: There are some contexts where the flesh refers simply to the physical human body.
SPEAKER_01: We think of flesh and bone in this context.
SPEAKER_01: And it's important that we identify right away that when we talk about the flesh being the enemy, this is not what we mean.
SPEAKER_01: We are not referring to your physical human body.
SPEAKER_01: This is not the sense in which the Bible describes the flesh as an enemy.
SPEAKER_01: There is a strain within Christianity that was developed within early Christianity known as asceticism.
SPEAKER_01: And it is this strain of Christianity that believes that everything that is physical or material is in fact inherently evil.
SPEAKER_01: They're known as the ascetics.
SPEAKER_01: And they would say that the physical, material things of the world are sinful.
SPEAKER_01: They're polluted by sin.
SPEAKER_01: And so their way of life then is shaped by that philosophy where they would say any earthly pleasure, any physical comfort is to be shunned by the Christian.
SPEAKER_01: You need to get away from anything that provides any kind of comfort or pleasure to the physical flesh.
SPEAKER_01: This is the philosophy.
SPEAKER_01: One of the most famous ascetics was a guy by the name of Simeon Stilides.
SPEAKER_01: Simeon Stilides, you can see the paintest the painter's rendering of Simeon.
SPEAKER_01: There he is right there.
SPEAKER_01: And do you notice where he is?
SPEAKER_01: He's on a pedestal.
SPEAKER_01: And this guy is actually very interesting.
SPEAKER_01: He lived in the 400s A.D.
SPEAKER_01: and he lived on a small platform that extended into the sky for 37 years.
SPEAKER_01: He lived on that thing.
SPEAKER_01: And he was an ascetic.
SPEAKER_01: And so the reason why he lived on that platform for 37 years was because he believed that the physical material things of the world were evil.
SPEAKER_01: And he had to get away from it and separate himself from the earth.
SPEAKER_01: And so he took that very literally.
SPEAKER_01: However, we must recognize that when God created man, he created you as an embodied being, meaning he made you as a as a unification of both immaterial, soul, spirit, and material, body, flesh.
SPEAKER_01: That's how he created you.
SPEAKER_01: That was his design.
SPEAKER_01: And if anybody remembers from Sunday school, at the end of the creation week, after man was created as an embodied being, what was the statement God declared?
SPEAKER_01: It was good.
SPEAKER_01: Which means that God's creation includes the physical and material.
SPEAKER_01: We can't claim that the physical material is evil or wrong when God is the one who created it in the first place.
SPEAKER_01: So this is not the correct, this is not the correct view.
SPEAKER_01: When we talk about the flesh, don't think physical material.
SPEAKER_01: The physical material things of the world are not your enemy.
SPEAKER_01: They're not your enemy.
SPEAKER_01: So then how is the flesh your enemy?
SPEAKER_01: The flesh is your enemy because when the authors use the term to describe it as your enemy, they use it to refer to fallen humanity's internal tendency or inclination to sin.
SPEAKER_01: This is our definition of the flesh as the enemy of the Christian.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to illustrate this for you.
SPEAKER_01: And so we'll see how this works.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody know what this is?
SPEAKER_01: This is a magnet.
SPEAKER_01: Now look how tiny this is.
SPEAKER_01: This is a tiny little magnet.
SPEAKER_01: It is very small.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: That you would think that this probably does not have a whole lot of power, does it?
SPEAKER_01: It's a tiny little magnet.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, look, this is small, smaller than my hand, right?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I'm gonna have Hudson come on up, and Hudson is gonna help me to demonstrate the power of the magnet.
SPEAKER_01: I've separated it so you can see I'm not gluing this together.
SPEAKER_01: This is not glued.
SPEAKER_01: It's pure magnetic force.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, now.
SPEAKER_01: Hold on.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you have to grunt to really get the right force that you need.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, Hudson, come on up here, buddy.
SPEAKER_01: Come on up.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, now.
SPEAKER_01: ChatGPT told me don't use this with a human, but AI doesn't know everything, so.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, Hudson.
SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
SPEAKER_01: These tiny magnets, tiny magnets, how can they be so strong?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, Hud, are you ready?
SPEAKER_01: Do it.
SPEAKER_01: Lift up your feet.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you can get down.
SPEAKER_01: Good job.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody, give a hand to Hudson.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, what is that illustrating?
SPEAKER_01: What am I trying to show you?
SPEAKER_01: What I'm trying to show you is that that is your flesh.
SPEAKER_01: That's your flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Your flesh acts as an inner magnetic force that is pulling you toward sin.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not a small inclination, it's not a small little temptation.
SPEAKER_01: It's strong.
SPEAKER_01: It has a powerful magnetic force that is that is like sin, is the opposite end of the magnets, and it is pulling you toward sin.
SPEAKER_01: When biblical authors refer to the flesh, they're referring to this natural inclination that resides in every human being.
SPEAKER_01: Every person has this.
SPEAKER_01: It explains why sin tempts you.
SPEAKER_01: Why are you attracted to sin?
SPEAKER_01: We're Christians.
SPEAKER_01: We know what sin is.
SPEAKER_01: We know what it does.
SPEAKER_01: We know what it leads to.
SPEAKER_01: So why do we still sin?
SPEAKER_01: And don't say this morning you don't.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because the flesh is powerful.
SPEAKER_01: It's a powerful enemy that is pulling you toward sin.
SPEAKER_01: This is the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: So where did it come from?
SPEAKER_01: Where did the flesh come from?
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 51, verse 5, David writes, He was born into sin.
SPEAKER_01: Born into sin.
SPEAKER_01: Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1 says that we are all born dead in our sin, which indicates, which seems to indicate that the flesh is something you're born with.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a nature you take on as you go through life.
SPEAKER_01: You are born with the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: And we recognize that if you turn to Romans chapter 5, we need to draw a distinction.
SPEAKER_01: We are born in the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: We are born with the flesh, but God didn't create mankind with the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: God didn't create Adam with the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: If you go to Romans chapter 5, look with me in verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: Paul writes, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin.
SPEAKER_01: And so death spread to all men because all sinned.
SPEAKER_01: So who is the one man that Paul is referring to here?
SPEAKER_01: That is the one man Adam.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul is saying that it was through Adam's disobedience, through his failure in the garden, that sin then entered into the world and entered into humanity.
SPEAKER_01: And notice that what goes along with sin, what's tied together with sin here in Romans 5, 12.
SPEAKER_01: It's death.
SPEAKER_01: So sin and death entered into the human race through Adam's disobedience.
SPEAKER_01: And notice, if you notice here, that we are included, we are included in the death and in the sin.
SPEAKER_01: If you skip ahead to verse 19, he says, For as by the one man's disobedience, that's again Adam, his disobedience, referring to the fall in the garden, as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners.
SPEAKER_01: Which tells us this morning that we are all born in Adam.
SPEAKER_01: We are all born in Adam.
SPEAKER_01: And because we are born in Adam, we therefore are born into Adam's sin.
SPEAKER_01: It is best to understand, as we talk about the flesh, it is best to understand the flesh originating in Adam's failure.
SPEAKER_01: In Adam's failed test of obedience, the flesh with sin and death entered into humanity.
SPEAKER_01: And notice how that's passed down.
SPEAKER_01: So where did you get your flesh?
SPEAKER_01: You can blame your parents.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks a lot, mom and dad.
SPEAKER_01: But where do they get it?
SPEAKER_01: From their parents.
SPEAKER_01: And where did they get that?
SPEAKER_01: Where do they get the flesh?
SPEAKER_01: Their parents going all the way back to our first parents.
SPEAKER_01: This is where the flesh comes from.
SPEAKER_01: This is why the biblical authors talk about being born in sin.
SPEAKER_01: You don't become a sinner.
SPEAKER_01: You are born a sinner.
SPEAKER_01: It's who you are.
SPEAKER_01: And you are born with a natural inclination, a natural tendency that is pulling you towards sin.
SPEAKER_01: We call it the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody that has kids or has interacted with kids shouldn't be surprised by this, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need the Bible to tell you this, do you?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, kids, before they can speak, before they can speak, you can see the flesh at work.
SPEAKER_01: Can't you?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it is it's apparent, it's apparent that we are born with a natural pull toward sin.
SPEAKER_01: So this is where the flesh comes from.
SPEAKER_01: The next thing we need to take some time this morning to do is to examine a few biblical concepts related to the flesh so that we we don't get confused.
SPEAKER_01: So one of the bib one of the concepts related to the flesh is something called the sin nature.
SPEAKER_01: The sin nature.
SPEAKER_01: Theologians use this term to communicate that your human nature has been corrupted by the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Your human nature has been corrupted by the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: This is synonymous.
SPEAKER_01: Sin nature and the flesh are synonymous concepts.
SPEAKER_01: So when we talk about sin nature, we're talking about your fallen human nature.
SPEAKER_01: It is inherent, it is a part of you now.
SPEAKER_01: This flesh, this nature.
SPEAKER_01: And it's interesting because we also need to recognize that the sin nature, what it means is that the entirety of your nature has been polluted by sin, has been tainted by sin.
SPEAKER_01: There's no part or piece of you that is exempt from this.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's common, I think, as Christians, to think I just have a small sin problem.
SPEAKER_01: I have a very isolated sin problem.
SPEAKER_01: I have just one tiny minor little struggle, and I've got the rest of it all figured out, and the rest of me is all pure and perfect and righteous and it's good.
SPEAKER_01: I just have a tiny little problem.
SPEAKER_01: But when we talk about the flesh, when we talk about the sin nature, what is being conveyed or communicated is that the entirety of your being Is broken by sin.
SPEAKER_01: Everything's included.
SPEAKER_01: It's a little bit like if you get poison ivy.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe for you, poison ivy can be contained.
SPEAKER_01: For me, it cannot.
SPEAKER_01: When I get poison ivy, it spreads.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how it does it, but it spreads.
SPEAKER_01: I have poison ivy right now.
SPEAKER_01: It is all over me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm very itchy right now.
SPEAKER_01: Poison ivy, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: It just doesn't contain itself.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I showed Liz, and Liz said, How did you get poison ivy there?
SPEAKER_01: I said, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: It travels through bloodstream, maybe.
SPEAKER_01: It's everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: This is the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Look, if you look at just a couple pages back in your Bibles to Romans chapter 3, look what Paul says in Romans chapter 3.
SPEAKER_01: Look in verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: As it is written, he's going to quote all these passages from the Old Testament to talk about the sin nature.
SPEAKER_01: Look what he says.
SPEAKER_01: As it is written, none is righteous.
SPEAKER_01: No, not one.
SPEAKER_01: No one understands.
SPEAKER_01: No one seeks for God.
SPEAKER_01: All have turned aside.
SPEAKER_01: Together they have become worthless.
SPEAKER_01: No one does good.
SPEAKER_01: Not even one.
SPEAKER_01: Their throat is an open grave.
SPEAKER_01: They use their tongues to deceive.
SPEAKER_01: The venom of asps is under their lips.
SPEAKER_01: Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
SPEAKER_01: Their feet are swift to shed blood.
SPEAKER_01: In their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.
SPEAKER_01: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Do you notice how the entire human body is mentioned in these verses?
SPEAKER_01: Did you see that?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: The throat, the lips, the mouth, the feet, the eyes.
SPEAKER_01: This goes to show that your entire humanity has been broken by sin.
SPEAKER_01: When we talk about the entirety of your humanity, we're talking about your intellect, your mind, how you think it's broken by sin.
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about your affections, how your heart is shaped, what you love, what you cherish, tainted by sin.
SPEAKER_01: And of course, we're talking about the will.
SPEAKER_01: The will, the decisions you make, your self-determination, what you decide to do.
SPEAKER_01: All of that is enveloped in this concept of human nature, and all of it is corrupted by sin.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing escapes the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: So the sin nature is a synonymous concept.
SPEAKER_01: The heart.
SPEAKER_01: The heart is another term.
SPEAKER_01: In Matthew chapter 15, Jesus makes an interesting statement.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 15, verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: You can turn there or I can just read this one for you.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 15, verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: He says, But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.
SPEAKER_01: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
SPEAKER_01: These are what defile a person.
SPEAKER_01: What's Paul saying here?
SPEAKER_01: He's saying that your heart is contaminated by sin.
SPEAKER_01: And it's important to remember that in Bible times, when they used this term the heart, they didn't just mean emotion or feelings like we think of today.
SPEAKER_01: They perceived the heart to be the command center of the human being.
SPEAKER_01: Your heart was your command center.
SPEAKER_01: It's where I reason, it's where I make decisions, it's where my affections are shaped.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus' point is that evil is flowing out of your command center.
SPEAKER_01: It flows out of your heart.
SPEAKER_01: So the point here, we notice it's not quite synonymous with the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: It's better to say that your internal command center has been corrupted by the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Your heart has been corrupted by the flesh, which may which makes it no longer trustworthy.
SPEAKER_01: We'll notice that in just a couple minutes.
SPEAKER_01: This is why John Calvin referred to the heart as a perpetual idol-making factory.
SPEAKER_01: So what idols are you worshiping this morning?
SPEAKER_01: What idols is your heart at work producing?
SPEAKER_01: That factory never stops.
SPEAKER_01: They work 24-7.
SPEAKER_01: And it's always producing something else to draw you away from God.
SPEAKER_01: And if you ever make the mistake to think that your heart has been cured, you have fallen directly into the trap of the enemy.
SPEAKER_01: Your heart is always at work seeking to draw you away from God.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: It's been corrupted by the enemy.
SPEAKER_01: It's been corrupted by the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: So this is a somewhat synonymous term.
SPEAKER_01: It's a little bit different.
SPEAKER_01: How about our next term, old man?
SPEAKER_01: The old man.
SPEAKER_01: Now we're not trying to be offensive with that term.
SPEAKER_01: All you older guys.
SPEAKER_01: That is literally what the text says.
SPEAKER_01: The old man.
SPEAKER_01: Some of your translations say old self to try to make it more gender palatable.
SPEAKER_01: And that is the idea.
SPEAKER_01: All people are included in the concept.
SPEAKER_01: The old man, that's in Romans chapter 6.
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 6.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 6, verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: You can turn there.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, we know that our old self or the old man was crucified with him.
SPEAKER_01: We know that our old self or the old man was crucified with him.
SPEAKER_01: Now some have mistakenly taught that the old man is synonymous with the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: And the point that is then made is that because you are unified with Christ, this is what Paul's talking about here.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to come back to this when we talk about battling the flesh in a few weeks, but Paul here is talking about being united with Christ, and therefore you have died with Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And if the old man is a reference to the flesh, if it's a synonymous term, then the conclusion to be drawn is to say that you don't have the flesh once you're saved.
SPEAKER_01: That the flesh has been removed from you.
SPEAKER_01: You no longer have an internal pull towards sin.
SPEAKER_01: But I think that would be a mistaken way to understand what Paul is talking about here.
SPEAKER_01: Because while the old man is a related concept, it is not quite the same as the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: When Paul refers to this old man, this old self, he's referring to your old way of living when you were once dominated by sin.
SPEAKER_01: It's the old way of life before you knew Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul's point is that that old way of life, it's done.
SPEAKER_01: It's done.
SPEAKER_01: It's why we read, Paul says, you're a new creation.
SPEAKER_01: His point is that you are meant to put off that old way of life and be transformed.
SPEAKER_01: But the reason why that's possible, the reason why that's possible is because of what Paul says next in the text.
SPEAKER_01: He says the result of the old way of life being crucified with Jesus in verse 6 is in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing.
SPEAKER_01: So we see here Paul utilizing a different term: body of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Body of sin is synonymous with the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: This is the body corrupted by the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: And his point is that because you have died with Jesus, the power of the flesh has been broken.
SPEAKER_01: The power of the flesh has been reduced and brought to nothing.
SPEAKER_01: So what Paul's point here, what his point is, is that while the flesh remains a powerful enemy, it is a broken enemy.
SPEAKER_01: And it's been broken by the cross, which now enables you, it enables you, you are now enabled this morning to resist the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: You're enabled to do it.
SPEAKER_01: The point is, before you were saved, before you came to know Jesus, you had no ability to resist the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh dominated you, which is why Paul refers to it as the old self, the old way of life.
SPEAKER_01: Because before you knew Jesus, you had no ability to resist what the flesh was doing.
SPEAKER_01: You had to say yes.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever the flesh said, you were a slave.
SPEAKER_01: You had to submit.
SPEAKER_01: But now that you are saved, now that you know Jesus and have come to be crucified with Jesus, the power of the flesh has been broken.
SPEAKER_01: Can anybody say amen to that this morning?
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: These are some of the concepts that are helpful to distinguish.
SPEAKER_01: That brings us to the objective of the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: The objective of the flesh, it's very simple.
SPEAKER_01: If you go ahead a few verses in Romans chapter 6 and look with me in verse 7, we notice what the flesh wants to do.
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 6, verse 12, let not sin, therefore, reign or rule in your mortal body to make you obey its passions.
SPEAKER_01: Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace.
SPEAKER_01: What is the objective of the flesh?
SPEAKER_01: The flesh wants to enslave you to sin.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh's objective is to make you a slave of sin.
SPEAKER_01: We see here the warning.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, Don't let sin rule you.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let sin rule you.
SPEAKER_01: Don't offer up the parts of your body, this is what he means by members, don't offer up the parts of your body to sin, to be used by sin for unrighteousness.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let the flesh make you a slave of sin.
SPEAKER_01: This is what the flesh wants.
SPEAKER_01: It wants to use your body as the vehicle for sin, the vehicle by which sin transpires.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh wants to use your body for that purpose.
SPEAKER_01: How does it do it?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we'll wrap up with this.
SPEAKER_01: What are the strategies of the flesh?
SPEAKER_01: How does the flesh seek to enslave you to sin?
SPEAKER_01: It does this in a numerous, in numerous ways, a variety of ways.
SPEAKER_01: If you go to James chapter 1, look with me in verse 14.
SPEAKER_01: James chapter 1, verse 14.
SPEAKER_01: James chapter 1, verse 14, we read, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
SPEAKER_01: Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
SPEAKER_01: How does the flesh operate to enslave you to sin?
SPEAKER_01: The flesh corrupts your desires, which makes sin enticing.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh corrupts your desires, which then makes sin appear enticing.
SPEAKER_01: We know this because James uses fishing terminology.
SPEAKER_01: These are fishing terms.
SPEAKER_01: If you go back and look at how these words were used, I can remember, I wonder if mom and dad remember this.
SPEAKER_01: Grandpa Rich.
SPEAKER_01: Over the summer, Grandpa Rich would come visit.
SPEAKER_01: And there was a time when we lived in a house by a river.
SPEAKER_01: And so we got to go fishing on that river.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember one day, mom and dad must have been gone at work or something, and I told Grandpa, Grandpa, I want to go fishing.
SPEAKER_01: And Grandpa said, sure.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Grandpa, I need some bait.
SPEAKER_01: And Grandpa said, Oh, no problem.
SPEAKER_01: Go pull a block of cheese out of the fridge and cut up that cheese and put it on the hook and use that as bait.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm a kid, I don't know any different.
SPEAKER_01: Like I thought worms, but maybe cheese works better.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe fish like cheese more than worms.
SPEAKER_01: So I got the cheese out and got some blocks and you know, chunks of cheese and put it on the hook, and I went out to the river.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know how many fish I caught that day?
unknown: Zero.
SPEAKER_01: Zero.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, come on, grandpa.
SPEAKER_01: Cheese, come on.
SPEAKER_01: Uh maybe you've found cheese.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've used, maybe there is a secret strategy.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I wasn't doing it right that day.
SPEAKER_01: But but cheese, I feel as though I learned that cheese was not enticing to the fish.
SPEAKER_01: It isn't enticing.
SPEAKER_01: We notice here, what does the flesh do?
SPEAKER_01: It makes sin appealing.
SPEAKER_01: It corrupts your heart, it corrupts your desires so that you will want sin.
SPEAKER_01: It will look good.
SPEAKER_01: It will look good on the surface.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a fish, it will look like a big juicy worm.
SPEAKER_01: But what's concealed beneath the baits, what's concealed underneath the baits, James tells us in verse 15.
SPEAKER_01: Death.
SPEAKER_01: So sin, so the flesh conceals.
SPEAKER_01: It's a concealer.
SPEAKER_01: On the one hand, it makes sin enticing, it makes it look good.
SPEAKER_01: It's why we're drawn to sin.
SPEAKER_01: But it also lures us into what is a trap.
SPEAKER_01: It lures us into a trap.
SPEAKER_01: This we notice in Jeremiah 17, 9.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to turn there.
SPEAKER_01: Many of you probably know it once I start saying it.
SPEAKER_01: The heart is deceitful above all things.
SPEAKER_01: It is deceitful.
SPEAKER_01: Your heart, your command center, corrupted by the flesh, is lying to you.
SPEAKER_01: It's lying to you.
SPEAKER_01: So not only does the flesh make sin enticing, the flesh also conceals the true nature of sin.
SPEAKER_01: It's deceptive.
SPEAKER_01: It hides from you the reality of where sin will take you, of what sin will do to you.
SPEAKER_01: It will hold out the bait and say, this is going to be good for you.
SPEAKER_01: This is going to, this is going to result in good things for you.
SPEAKER_01: This will make you happy.
SPEAKER_01: This will satisfy you.
SPEAKER_01: You just need to disregard God's law.
SPEAKER_01: Disregard his commands.
SPEAKER_01: Understand that he's not actually that good.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't really want what's good for you.
SPEAKER_01: And you and the flesh speaks these lies to you internally.
SPEAKER_01: Pulls you in.
SPEAKER_01: It wants to make you a slave to sin.
SPEAKER_01: Galatians 5.13, another one.
SPEAKER_01: Let me read this one for you.
SPEAKER_01: Galatians 5.13.
SPEAKER_01: For you were called to freedom, brothers.
SPEAKER_01: Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: But through love serve one another.
SPEAKER_01: This one's scary.
SPEAKER_01: This one, as a Christian this morning, this one should scare you.
SPEAKER_01: Because what's Paul's warning here?
SPEAKER_01: What God has given to you as a good thing, grace, grace, freedom from the law.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to earn your way to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: It's a gift, it's God's grace.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh will seek to use that against you.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh will seek to use your freedom in Jesus to enslave you to sin.
SPEAKER_01: That's Paul's warning here.
SPEAKER_01: He says, look, you've been set free.
SPEAKER_01: You're free.
SPEAKER_01: But don't let the flesh trick you into abusing God's grace as therefore a license to then sin.
SPEAKER_01: That's a danger for you as a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: That's a danger for us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh will abuse grace.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh will seek to use God's grace as an opportunity to justify and rationalize sin.
SPEAKER_01: I said the prayer.
SPEAKER_01: I believe Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I believe in him.
SPEAKER_01: I asked him to save me.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter what I do with my life.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter how I live, how I treat people.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter what moral ethic I embrace.
SPEAKER_01: I said the prayer.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: I got my free ticket.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of Christians think that way.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people think that way.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, if I sin, I'll just say a quick prayer later.
SPEAKER_01: Ask God to forgive me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm saved.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: That's the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: And what's it doing?
SPEAKER_01: Abusing God's grace to enslave you to sin.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it does.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, last one is back in James.
SPEAKER_01: James chapter 1, verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.
SPEAKER_01: For when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh will offer up sin as the remedy for suffering.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh offers up sin as the remedy for suffering.
SPEAKER_01: It's interesting in verse 12 that the word for trial is the same word as temptation.
SPEAKER_01: And in this context, James is using it to refer to suffering.
SPEAKER_01: Suffering, pain, hardship, difficult circumstances, challenges of life.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_01: When I get sick, I can turn into a little bit of a baby sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: Liz, don't nod your head too aggressively.
SPEAKER_01: I try to power through it.
SPEAKER_01: That's my strategy.
SPEAKER_01: I always think I'm just going to power through it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to change anything.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just going to keep on going.
SPEAKER_01: And then I think that's usually my downfall because I feel it come on and I'm like, I'm just going to power through, and then I go one or two days and then crash.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know about you, but in those moments of sickness, when I'm feeling miserable, when I'm feeling at pain, when my body is revolting against me, I am desperate for a cure.
SPEAKER_01: I am desperate for something that will relieve me from the pain.
SPEAKER_01: Some tonic, some medicinal herb, anything, anything.
SPEAKER_01: Is that you?
SPEAKER_01: You hate don't you hate being sick?
SPEAKER_01: I hate being sick.
SPEAKER_01: I want to escape.
SPEAKER_01: And notice what James' point here is that when you face trials in life, when you face suffering, when you face hardship, the flesh will seek to strike.
SPEAKER_01: It'll seek to strike in those moments by offering up sin as the remedy, as the solution to your suffering.
SPEAKER_01: It will say, You're suffering right now?
SPEAKER_01: Here's the cure.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, let me just we'll we'll end.
SPEAKER_01: I just I just want to give you examples to help you imagine this.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so for example, you've had a hard or challenging week.
SPEAKER_01: You've had a hard week.
SPEAKER_01: Things were difficult for you this week.
SPEAKER_01: So that means this weekend I can lose self-control.
SPEAKER_01: Self-control is the fruit of the Spirit, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: I can remove the restraints of self-control.
SPEAKER_01: And so I can just sit down and I can binge TV for 12 hours.
SPEAKER_01: I can sit down and I can just scroll endlessly on my phone.
SPEAKER_01: I can eat whatever I want because I've had a hard week.
SPEAKER_01: So I deserve some relief.
SPEAKER_01: It's the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: How about in response to the disappointments of life?
SPEAKER_01: The people that have disappointed you in life.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh says just embed that bitterness into your heart.
SPEAKER_01: Just embed it in your heart.
SPEAKER_01: You'll feel better if you hold on to that.
SPEAKER_01: You'll feel better if because they deserve that.
SPEAKER_01: So embed that bitterness.
SPEAKER_01: It's because you've been disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: How about loneliness?
SPEAKER_01: I'm lonely.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're lonely.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're single, you're lonely.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're married.
SPEAKER_01: You're lonely.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh says, here's some illicit sexual gratification.
SPEAKER_01: That'll make you feel better.
SPEAKER_01: Or the flesh says, here's a relationship.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a relationship with someone that actually will care about you.
SPEAKER_01: Someone that'll actually listen to you and love you.
SPEAKER_01: Why don't you pursue that one a little bit further?
SPEAKER_01: What's the flesh doing?
SPEAKER_01: You're suffering.
SPEAKER_01: You're going through a trial.
SPEAKER_01: And the flesh says, I just sin.
SPEAKER_01: Just sin.
SPEAKER_01: James says, Blessed is the man who remains steadfast.
SPEAKER_01: Steadfast.
SPEAKER_01: Perseveres in faith.
SPEAKER_01: And that man will receive the crown of life.
SPEAKER_01: The flesh is a powerful foe.
SPEAKER_01: I hope you come away this morning with that concept in mind.
SPEAKER_01: But we are not ignorant or aware of its schemes.
SPEAKER_01: You know the flesh wants sin to rule you.
SPEAKER_01: You must learn to recognize when and where the flesh is at work in you and resist.
SPEAKER_01: Remain steadfast.
SPEAKER_01: Stand the test.
SPEAKER_01: And as I've already mentioned before, in the coming weeks, we'll be looking more carefully at how we do that, how we can resist the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: We had to lay out what the flesh is trying to do first, and then we'll get into the practical ramifications of how to resist.
SPEAKER_01: All right, we're done.
SPEAKER_01: Father, thanks for today.
SPEAKER_01: Thankful for this opportunity we had to be here this morning to spend some time digging into your word, worshiping together.
SPEAKER_01: We're thankful for the word.
SPEAKER_01: We're thankful for the truths it contains.
SPEAKER_01: Help us as we go out this week to identify where the flesh is at work, how it's seeking to enslave us to sin.
SPEAKER_01: And Father, help us to resist.
SPEAKER_01: Help us to walk by faith, trust your promises, know that your commands are better.
SPEAKER_01: You are better than anything that the flesh offers us.
SPEAKER_01: It's in Jesus' name I pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: It's late.
SPEAKER_01: I went long.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, Phil, is it okay if we wrap up from here?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: We'll wrap it up there.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody rise.
SPEAKER_01: What's so funny?
SPEAKER_01: You didn't want to rise?
SPEAKER_01: I'm just teasing.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, hey, great to see you all.
SPEAKER_01: Don't forget, we're back here next week in no Sunday school, but there is church.
SPEAKER_01: 10 30.
SPEAKER_01: So be here and we'll dig into that final enemy of the Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Lord bless you as you go.