MORTIFYING YOUR FLESH

Prep: Slide - 2

P.R.A.Y.

Praise

Repent

Ask

Yield

Last Weeks Recap and Verse

Dependent by Design: Slide - 3

Creation inherently demands dependency.

Space shuttles, houses, automobiles, and superhighways do not make themselves. Because none is self-created, none is self-sustaining. They depend on their creators to refuel them, service them, and make repairs. Subordination and dependence are inherent for everything that is made by someone else: a river “cannot rise higher than its source.” Jim Berg

Any attempt to make us creatures who can live independently from God is doomed to failure.

We can no more joyfully and peacefully live independently from God than we can fly by flapping our hands. Jim Berg

God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that he may love and perfect them. C. S. Lewis; John Piper

Any change that will ultimately help us must move us away from autonomy and toward dependence on our Creator.

Creation Inherently demands dependency

Colossians 1:16–17 “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

The destructive nature of our natural bent toward self-sufficiency

Daniel 4:29–37

Humility - The Hallmark of the Dependent Creature: Slide - 4

Humility is simply [man’s] acknowledging the truth of his position as creature [man] and yielding to God His place - Andrew Murray

No one who has been humbled before God is self-justifying, self-protective, or self-confident

2 Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,”

2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

Live the Christian Life the same Way You Got It: Slide - 5

Humility is not only the start of the Christian life; it is the start of everything godly in the Christian life.

Matthew 5:3 ““Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Colossians 2:6 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,”

The only change that will ultimately be for our good and for God’s glory begins with humility

1 Peter 5:5 “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.””

What are some characteristics of the contemporary “successful person”?

Being clothed with humility

1 Peter 5:5 “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Why do we have an aversion to the idea of humility? It testifies to the poverty of our understanding of God’s ways

Why don’t we feel like we can humble ourselves and submit to God?

I felt that if I surrendered all to God, he would make me be poor the rest of my life. I would not be able to drive a nice car or live in a decent house, and I would have to wear outdated clothes.

I was afraid that if I made the choice to give my life to God, he would make me confront my friends about their sinful lifestyles. I didn’t want to lose the approval of my friends.

I thought that if I let God run my life, he would make me marry some Christian fanatic whose zeal would always embarrass me or that he would not let me get married at all.

Having to give up my sensual music and movies kept me from surrendering to Christ. I felt that he was determined to make my life miserable and that I wouldn’t have any fun.

I couldn’t imagine what I would do if God were running my life. I thought it meant that I would do nothing but sit around reading the Bible all the time. I guess I feared most that he would call me into the ministry or to the mission field somewhere.

The idea that God needs our permission to make our lives miserable is the opposite of the truth

We need not fear that in seeking God only we may narrow our lives or restrict the motions of our expanding hearts. The opposite is true. We can well afford to make God our All, to concentrate, to sacrifice the many for the One.3

A. W. Tozer

How Does God Humble Us?: Slide 6

The Problems We Can’t Handle Expose Our Helplessness.

2 Kings 5 Naaman has leprosy and Elisha can cure him. Elisha didn’t speak to him and sent him to the Jordan to dip in it 7 times. Not what Naaman was expecting

The Commands We Won’t Obey Expose Our Self-Centeredness

2 Kings 14:25 “He restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.”

The Outcomes We Can’t Control Expose Our Sinfulness

2 Sam 11-12 David and Bathsheba

The God We Can’t Comprehend Exposes Our Finiteness

Job 1:21 “And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.””

What Is Your Next Step?

Isaiah 55:6–7 “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

Colossians 3:9 “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,”

1 Peter 5:5 “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.””

Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

“What is going on between you and God?”

Conclusion: Slide - 7

Dependent by Design

Rebels against God’s Design

Humility: The Hallmark of the Dependent Creature

Live the Christian Life the Same Way You Got It

How Does God Humble Us?

What Is Your Next Step?

Bible Memory - Lesson 4 Slide - 8

Colossians 1:16–17 “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

Introduction:

Mortification of the Flesh: Slide - 9

What does mortify mean?

Mortify

What is the flesh?

The flesh—and its resulting deeds—must be mortified

Romans 8:13 “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.”

Colossians 3:1–5 “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Hebrews 11:12 “Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.”

The writer of Hebrews comments that Abraham’s body was “as good as dead”—it was mortified. It was weakened to the extent that it had no more power. Its potency was killed by age. That is the flavor of this word mortify. Jim Berg

Self and its “ungodliness and worldly passions” must be denied

Titus 2:12 “teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,”

Luke 9:23 “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

The deeds of the old self must be put off

Ephesians 4:22 “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,”

Colossians 3:9 “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,”

The indwelling sin nature must not be served

Romans 6:6 “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

Romans 6:12–13 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

Romans 6:16–19 “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.”

Stoicism

What is stoicism?

an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium. The school taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge; the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.

Self-control (sophrosune) is the knowledge of what things are worth choosing and what are worth avoiding and what is neither. Contained within this virtue are things like orderliness, propriety, modesty, and self- mastery.

We Have to Know Some Things: Slide - 10

We no longer have to obey the pull to go our own way!

Romans 6:22 “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

We are immersed or included in all the activities of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

Romans 6:3 “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”

The control of indwelling sin has been destroyed.

Romans 6:6 “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

We serve a new Master

Romans 7:25 “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

We Have to Consider Some Things: Slide - 11

Consider yourself dead to sin

Romans 6:11 “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Act like it!

You may feel otherwise but you are free of sin

Feeling something doesn’t make it true

Jeremiah 17:9 ““The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”

Proverbs 28:26 “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered.”

Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”

Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.”

Ecclesiastes 9:3 “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

We Have to Yield Some Things: Slide - 12

Don’t obey the flesh

Romans 6:16–17 “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.”

Don’t feed the flesh

1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,”

Galatians 6:7–8 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

We have to exercise self-denial by saying no to the promptings of the flesh, but we also have to say no to any pull to feed the flesh and make it stronger. Every time we feed it in one area of life, we make it harder to say no to it in any area. Its pull and control are stronger. Jim Berg

Put it off

If you have quenched the Holy Spirit, we must find out what is the cause and we must put it off

Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

The Seat Belt of Self-Denial: Slide - 13

Denying Self

Luke 9:23 “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Why is it that doctors call what they do a practice?

Practice: the actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to it

Practice doesn't just mean to work on something until you're better. It's also a verb meaning you actively do it

Deny self should be our practice

We are not alone in this practice

Discussion: Slide - 14

Is your entertainment flesh-free?

the content of the movies and shows you watch

the style and content of the music you listen to

the atmosphere of your favorite places to spend leisure time

the values you absorb while watching or participating in your favorite sports or browsing social media

the amount of time you spend in these kinds of pursuits

Is your pursuit of possessions flesh-free?

the appeal to your pride in being socially correct with the group you wish to impress

the stumbling block you are to others who are trying to impress you in the same way

the sexual appeal in the way you dress or present yourself

the values you absorb when studying the latest fashion, lifestyle, sports, and consumer trends to make sure you are current

Are your friendships flesh-free?

the content of your conversation—sexual, crude, materialistic, or obsessive

the physical contact with others—arousing desires in them and in you that cannot righteously be gratified

the iron-sharpening-iron influence on each other for godliness (living as though God is all that matters) or for worldliness (“living as though this world—our world—is all that matters”)

the attitudes that are fostered by your friends—submission to authority versus rebellion, order versus chaos and disorder, or other attitudes that are not Christlike.

Conclusion: Slide - 15

Explain the 3 steps of mortification. Know, Reckon and yield

Recognize the importance of refusing to obey or to feed the flesh

Understand why God-dependent self-denial is crucial to flesh-free living

Mortification of the Flesh

We Have to Know Some Things

We Have to Consider Some Things

We Have to Yield Some Things

The Seat Belt of Self-Denial

Application Take Time to Reflect: Slide -

Bible Memory - Lesson 5: Slide - 16

Romans 8:13 “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.”