Five Standards for Saintly Living - Application for the Affection of Our Ambition

The Seeking of the Saint — (Vs. 1-4)

(Vs. 1a) - We were all dead!

Colossians 2:13 — And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Ephesians 2:1–7

1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

(Vs. 1b-2) - Because we have been made alive, we must set our sights on the sanctuary of the Savior!

(SEEK)

Transliteration: zeteo

Pronunciation: dzay-teh'-o

Part of Speech: verb

Outline of Biblical Usage: to seek a thing in order to find by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into, to seek after, seek for, aim at, strive after, to crave

Matthew 6:33 — But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

(SET YOUR AFFECTION)

Transliteration: phroneo

Pronunciation: fron-eh'-o

Part of Speech: verb

Outline of Biblical Usage: to have understanding, to direct one's mind to a thing

1 John 2:15–17

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

2 Corinthians 4:18

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

If you focus on the things of the world, you will perish with the world but if you focus your affections (your mindset) on the world to come, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, eternal life shall be yours!

Romans 8:5–9

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Why should we not focus on the things of the world?

Because we are dead to the world and our lives are now hid with Christ!

(Vs. 3-4) - We are hid with Christ & shall appear with Him when He returns.

(Hid)

Transliteration: kryptō

Phonetic Pronunciation: kroop'-to

Outline of Biblical Usage: To conceal, to hide, to make invisible

When we trust in Christ, our lives are hid, made invisible in Him!

It means when a righteous, holy God looks at us He doesn’t see our flaws, our failures, our sins but rather He sees the holiness and righteousness of His Son!

Praise God that our lives are hid with Christ, amen!

When I was studying this word though, what I found most interesting is that it can also mean to keep safe or to protect!

When our lives are hid with Christ, they are kept safe in Christ, they are protected in Christ amen!

And when He shall appear, we shall also appear with Him in glory!

As born again believers, we ought to always be looking and longing for our life to come with the Lord!

Now, that we’ve looked at The Seeking of the Saint, next, we’re going to look at The Subduing of the Saint.

The Subduing of the Saint — (Vs. 5-7)

(Mortify)

Transliteration: nekroo

Pronunciation: nek-ro'-o

Part of Speech: verb

Outline of Biblical Usage: to make dead, to put to death, slay, to deprive of power, destroy the strength of, to deaden, to subdue

Romans 6:13 — Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

(Uncleanness)

Strong's Definitions: physically or morally unclean. It speaks to the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living

(Inordinate Affection)

Outline of Biblical Usage: in the NT this word is used in a bad sense speaking of depraved, vile, sexual passions.

It carries the idea of being unrestrained in feelings or behavior; being disorderly.

(Evil Concupiscence)

Outline of Biblical Usage: craving, longing, lust, a deep desire for what is forbidden.

(Covetousness)

Outline of Biblical Usage: greedy desire to have more but (by implication) it means to get whatever it is you want by fraudulency or extortion.

It’s taking a person’s greedy desire to a whole new level where the person is willing to whatever possible to get what they want whether it’s bad or not.

Vs. 6

Deuteronomy 8:5 — Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.

Not only do we see The Seeking of the Saint and The Subduing of the Saint but then we also see The Setting Aside of the Saint.

The Setting Aside of the Saint — (Vs. 8-9)

(Put Off)

Outline of Biblical Usage: to put aside or away

(Malice)

Outline of Biblical Usage: hateful feeling, attitude of hostility

(Blasphemy)

Outline of Biblical Usage: evil speaking, railing, slander, a speech that injurious to another’s good name.

(Filthy Communication)

Outline of Biblical Usage: dirty talk, obscene language, foul speaking.

We are to put off the old man along with his sinful deeds, and then we are to put on the new man which leads us to The Suiting Up of the Saint!

The Suiting Up of the Saint — (Vs. 10-14)

(Put On)

Outline of Biblical Usage: the Greek form of this word literally means to put clothing on someone.

Romans 12:2 — And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We are to put off ourselves, our old ways, our old man and put on the Lord Jesus Christ!

We are to clothe ourselves spiritually speaking with Christ!

What does that look like?

Look with me at Verse 12-14.

Mercies — We should be compassionate and have care and concern for those around us!

Meekness — gentleness

Longsuffering — patience…explained in Verse 13.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud

5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

8a Love never fails!

Above all things we are to put on, we are to suit up with love!

John 15:13 — Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

And that’s exactly what He did! The Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for not only His friends but also for those who would ridicule Him, and mock Him, and spit upon Him and even for those who beat Him and crucified Him!

That my friend is true love!

Knowing that at any moment He could have called upon more than twelve legions of angels to deliver Him yet he submitted Himself to the death of the cross to save a bunch of sinners like you and I!

Romans 5:8 — But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16 — For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We are to put off, we are to set aside, the old man and we are to put on, we are to suit up, with the new man who ought to be an image of the Lord Jesus Christ!

And when we have put off the old man along with his deeds and put on the new man who is created in the image of Christ we see The Settling & Satisfaction of the Saint!

The Settling & Satisfaction of the Saint — (Vs. 15-17)

We are to Seek the Kingdom of God.

We are to Subdue the evil workings of the flesh.

We are to set aside the old man with his deeds.

We are to suit up with the new man who is after the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to be settled in His word, satisfied in His provisions and thankful for His blessings.

Five Standards for Saintly Living.

The question we need to be asking ourselves this morning though as we come to a close is this, how many traits of that old man or woman are we still allowing to control or take over our lives?

How many of us can honestly say that our lives are a spitting image of the Lord Jesus Christ?

I know I can’t. Can you?

If not, then you know what that means?

It means we come boldly to the throne of grace and we ask God to help us.

We ask Him to conform us to the image of His dear Son.

We ask Him to tear down the strongholds of our old man that still overcome us in our moments of weakness.

We ask Him to strengthen us in the power of His might through the working of the Holy Spirit.

We ask Him to help us not make provision for the flesh.

We ask Him for leadership and guidance in every area of our lives.

When was the last time you had that conversation?

If it’s been a while, why don’t you come this morning and ask God for help?