The Flesh

Introduction

Last week we began this series the world the flesh and the devil. In last weeks lesson we discussed the topic of the world. In our discussion we talked about the world in regards to the culture of sin that wants to further promote sin and how we have to live in it. This week we are moving to talk about the flesh. These three things are our greatest enemy because they have us trapped on every side. We are constantly battling our flesh and the world and the devil are constantly trying to give it what it wants.

Tonight we will look at the the problem with the flesh and see how it is a factory of sin. We will then move to what we are to do, make war against the flesh.

Our chief problem is sin, we are totally fallen and before our salvation are even described as enemies of God. When talking about the flesh we are talking about our sinful desires that we always have. Lets look at a passage that we looked at last week and see what it has to say about the flesh.

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Before being granted salvation we lived in the passions of our flesh. We were children of wrath. These are strong words but they show the seriousness of what we are talking about. Once saved we are no longer to be willingly living in the flesh but constantly at war with it. Many of you here today have never been saved. You have never realized the seriousness of your sin and your need for a savior. Johnathan Edwards described sin as being cosmic treason against God. God made a way for us all to be forgiven he just requires that you put your faith in him and turn away from your sinful fleshly ways and turn to him.

Lets turn now to look at the problem of the flesh then we will turn to making war against it.

The Problem of the Flesh

Galatians 5:16–21 ESV

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: 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.

The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit. This in short is the problem of the flesh. The flesh keeps from pursuing your spiritual desires of growing in your faith. The flesh is an enemy of God and wants to keep you from him. It is constantly drawing you away from him.

One example of this is vandalism. In the sin of vandalism there is no reward to either party except for the satisfaction of causing destruction to someones property, most likely someone that has never done anything to you. I also heard a pastor say that when he was a kid he would steal pears from a store, the only thing was that he did not like pears. He got no gain from committing the act except the seeming gratification of stealing the fruit.

This is what we see the flesh as, something that goes against God for reasons that seem to make no sense. This is the thing that we are to make war against. The latter part of the passage gives us a mental image of the obvious works of the flesh. starting in Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: 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.” This list is not comprehensive but we begin to see just how intrusive the flesh is on our lives. Living in the flesh is what the world does and God calls Christians to live higher. This moves from last week where we saw just how fallen and sinful the world is to seeing just how fallen and sinful we are. Each and every one of us is a fallen sinful human, the thing that separates some of us is the forgiveness that Christ offers. I have accepted this forgiveness and even though I still battle the flesh I know I am forgiven for all of the wrong that I do. It is not a lack of sin that separates Christians from everyone else, it is not even a lack of the flesh. Christians and non Christians alike have sin and deal with the flesh, Christians have just put their faith in Jesus and have been forgiven of all their wrongdoing.

So now that we see the seriousness of the flesh and how it is contrary to the Spirit lets begin to look at making war against the flesh.

The War Against the Flesh

Romans 13:13–14 ESV

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Put on Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. Always walking as in the daytime which just means walking as though everything that you do is public knowledge. Think about that, live your life like everyone knows what you are doing.

Put on Jesus Christ

So what does it mean to put on Jesus Christ? This can draw imagery from being in a locker room preparing for the game; you may be stretching, lacing up your shoes, or putting on pads. In the same way when you are putting on Jesus Christ you are worshiping, praying, reading the scripture, and following in obedience.

worship

When thinking about making war against the flesh the first thing I want to call attention to is worship. When you are truly worshiping you have your mind set fully on Christ. You are focused on him and all of his goodness, in that there is no time or mental room for the desires of the flesh. In worship too you do not need to be at church with a lot of people but even in your own home by yourself you can worship. Worship calls our minds away from our fleshly desires and to God.

prayer

We just recently had a night of prayer because I wanted to emphasize the importance of prayer in the life of the believer. Prayer is a way that we can take our struggles and give them to God. It is a way of communicating to him and it is as easy as talking to a friend. Through prayer you can confess where you fall short and ask for Gods help so that you do not fall into the same sin again.

Reading the scriptures

If prayer is how we talk to God then reading the Bible is how he talks to us. It has been said that if you want to hear from God read your Bible and if you want to hear from him audibly read it our loud. The Bible is the most beneficial tool you will ever have in your entire life, it gives us the way for salvation, the guideline for how to live, and a way to escape the passions of the flesh.

following obedience

following God in obedience helps us to be doing what he desires and not what our flesh does. It is a way to occupy yourself with Godly activity and be free from the flesh. Doing what God desires is always a way to escape the grip of sin.

Through these few things you can begin to make war against the flesh so that you can conform your life to Christ and not to the world.

Make no provision for the flesh

making no provision for the flesh is putting your life in situations where it is hard or even impossible to do what the flesh wants. For example if you find yourself struggling with a particular sin on Wednesday evenings come here and listen to the word of God instead of staying in a place where you can easily fall into the sin.

Thinking of this calls my mind to a man named Johnathan Edwards. Chances are you have read the sermon in school named “sinners in the hands of an angry God” This sermon was a deeply provoking sermon in American culture. Edwards did many things in his life and I regularly enjoy reading his works as he is faithful to the word of God. One thing that he did was his 70 resolutions. What these were, were barriers that he put in his life that continually pushed him to grow in holiness. One of the resolutions was to read all of the resolutions weekly so that they would always be on his mind. He wrote many of these when he was just a little older than you and worked to uphold them for the rest of his life. some examples of these are resolution 1: whatever I do and think be most to the glory of God, resolution 16: never speak evil of anyone, resolution 28: study the scriptures steadily, constantly, and frequently. These are just a few examples that I have pulled but through his resolutions he was diligent about making no provisions for the flesh and if he ever did there was repentance and maybe a resolution for that area of his life.

This way of thinking has left our culture, but I believe that it is of great benefit. I am not saying that you need a personal long list of things like this, but areas of particular struggle may be helpful to put up barriers for yourself. Remember that the rules that you setup are not biblical laws and it is not a sin if others do not follow with them, it is a sin though if they continue and go on to the sin that you are working to avoid. Many of these can be very biblical though. I personally have started a list of resolutions for my own life and one of them is that I will be in the Bible every day, reading the Bible more days than I eat. Through making true commitments we can make no provisions for the flesh but only for holiness.

Conclusion

In the end we will always have the problem of the flesh. Christ calls those who know him to make war against it in the pursuit of holiness. We can do this through what we will call the spiritual disciplines; worship, reading your Bible, prayer, obedience, etc.

For those of you who do not know Jesus as your savior and have not been forgiven of your sins there is still hope. Jesus says that he is the way to salvation, he can rescue you from the grips of the flesh and help you as you begin to make war against it. All that he commands is that you put your faith in him and repent of your sins. Its a simple yet life altering decision.

Today if you have not accepted the forgiveness that is offered through Jesus don’t wait any longer. Put your faith in Jesus today and I would love to talk to you about that. If you have put your faith in Jesus then begin to cast off the ways of the flesh and make war against them so that you can grow in holiness.