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I'd like to begin by giving a quote to you by R .C. Sproul. R .C.
Sproul is one of my favorite teachers, still is, even though he's with the
Lord now. Praise God that the technology of his recordings is left with us and we have his teachings.
And it's still such a blessing to us as we've also been going through the study of systematic theology and foundations every other
Wednesday night. It's been such a blessing, hasn't it? Praise God. R .C.
Sproul said this concerning the warfare in which we are engaged in.
He said this, quote, The struggle continues from the day of rebirth until the day in heaven.
When we reach the fullness of maturity in Christ, I get annoyed when I hear well -intentioned preachers in an attempt to convince people of the riches of the
Christian faith say, Come to Jesus and all your problems will be over. It's not true, is it?
He said it's just not true. It's just not true. My life didn't begin to be complicated until I became a
Christian, because only then did I have to go to war every day between that which is of the flesh and that which is of the spirit.
End quote. That's well said. Along with that, Pastor John MacArthur, one of my favorite pastors, said this,
Be little concerned about your personal injuries. He's talking about the internal injuries. And be much concerned about your personal holiness.
Remember that in your trials, God is at work making you strong and holy.
We're looking at sanctification. One more quote, C .H.
Spurgeon. Sanctification is the great open separator of Christians from the world.
End quote. And that's what we're looking at. Separation from the world.
We're in warfare, and the warfare is the world, the flesh, and the devil, isn't it?
But mainly our text is speaking about this warfare against our fleshly desires.
And the text has a lot to say about that, and also a lot of other scriptures has a lot to say about that as well.
So, in saying that, this will be part two, war against the soul. War against the soul.
We're going to look at nothing but application within the rest of this hour. So please open your
Bible with me to the first epistle of Peter. First epistle of Peter. This has been a wonderful study, and we don't have much further to go.
We'll be pretty much going through the rest of the second Peter. And I'm going to, as God wills, we're going to look next to submission to government, and then submission to our masters.
Basically, the masters is speaking of bosses, and we'll look at submission there.
And then chapter three goes right into submission to husbands. A word to husbands, and a call to the blessing, and Christ is suffering in ours, and it continues with that path, which is very...
Peter has a lot to say to us about personal holiness, doesn't he? And this is what I love about the apostle
Peter. And he knew much about this. He knew it through failures. But the
Lord prayed for him, and we're going to look at that later on, that his faith would not fail. And this is what
I'm praying, that the Lord would hold us up, and that our faith would not fail up until the end, until we hear our
Lord say, well done, good and faithful servant. That's our goal, to reach that goal, and to strive toward that, and to do what is pleasing unto the
Lord through Jesus Christ. Well, 1 Peter 2, we're looking at, in our study, at two verses of Scripture.
It's jam -packed. Verse 11 and 12. Today, it'll be pretty much verse 11.
Lord willing, next week, we're going to look at verse 12, and we're going to focus in on one glorious subject, and that will be the glory of God.
We're going to look at the glory of God next week, and I think that can easily take a whole service, all right?
We could do a whole series on that, my goodness. But we're just going to look at one Scripture next week there, and today will be verse 11 specifically.
But let me read two verses of Scripture with us together.
Verse 11, verse 12 of 1 Peter 2. Hear the word of the living
God. Beloved, I urge you, I beseech you, as aliens and strangers, to abstain from fleshly lust, which wage war against the soul.
Which wage war against the soul. Verse 12, keep your behavior excellent among the
Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may, because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify
God in the day of visitation. May God richly bless the reading of His word to our hearts this morning.
Let's pray and ask the Lord to help us as we seek
His face and worship within this hour. Our God and our
Father, which is in heaven, Lord, we thank You that You're holy, and we're not,
Lord. We're only made holy through Christ. Within ourselves, we're not holy.
But Father, we thank You that You've provided the remedy that we can be made holy through the precious blood of Christ.
We can be purified, we can be cleansed. Father, our prayer may it be as the psalmist in 119.
Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from Your law. I'm a stranger on the earth.
Do not hide Your commandments from me. Lord, we confess that we are weak and You are strong.
We are inadequate and Your word is all sufficient. So Father, I pray within this hour,
Lord, and within our whole life, we pray, Lord, that You would sanctify us in the truth.
As Jesus said, Your word is truth. So that is the sanctifying element, is
Your word, to set us apart, to cleanse us from unrighteousness.
Lord, and You do this not just because of our own sake, but because of Your glorious purposes, mainly to glorify
You. So Father, I pray that You save us from apathy, save us,
Lord, from our worst enemy, ourselves. And may we all have a deeper passion for Your word, a deeper desire, a more intense desire to love
Your word and to love You. Forgive us, O God, forgive us for neglecting it.
Father, restore to us and to our souls to ever love You more and more, and so that we may be obedient to Your word and to Your commandments.
Help us to be doers of the word and not just hearers. And we would ask this in Jesus' name, amen and amen.
It was
Benjamin Franklin that in his famous Poor Richard's Almanac, if you ever heard it as it was called years ago,
Ben Franklin was a witty man. I don't believe he was ever a Christian. I do know this, I've read evangelist
George Whitefield even minister to him and witness to him. He was very witty and he was very wise.
As far as I know of, he never became a Christian. But this is what he said.
He had some good things to say and I'm drawing from this, from Poor Richard's Almanac.
He said, quote, A little neglect may breed mischief. A little neglect may breed mischief.
And illustrated his point by saying, he goes on, quote,
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost, and for want of a horse, the rider was lost. For want of the rider, the battle was lost, and for want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.
End quote. There's a lot of truth to that in Franklin's witty aphorism, a pithy observation there that contains a general truth.
And I believe we can look at that, that illustrates the dangers of a little neglect can also be used to demonstrate that often the great battles are won or lost, not necessarily because of planning by the generals in a situation room, but by the effectiveness of the solitary man guarding his position and fulfilling his role faithfully on a lonely hill.
Franklin didn't know it, and I don't think he did, but that little neglect also comes from the
Song of Solomon, which speaks of, it's the little fox that spoils the vine. And not to despise the day of little things.
I hear Sister Lillian say that quite often. Isn't that true? It's those little things that add up to the big things, and the little things are very important.
And so it is with the warfare we have with the flesh. Satan would have us to think that this is a little thing, but it's really a big thing.
The text in verse 11 and 12, which we are looking at, Peter called his readers to a righteous and holy life in a hostile world.
Peter begins his exhortation to the persecuted Christians in Asia Minor in his day, and he begins by saying,
Beloved, which means loved of God. A beautiful, tender way to address the
Christians of his day that were being persecuted. Beloved, you're loved of God. I urge you,
I beseech you. There's urgency there. I urge you to, as aliens and strangers, meaning you have no birthright here in other words, you have no birthright here on this earth, but you're only staying here temporarily as you travel through an appointed time to your eternal home in heaven.
That's what he says. Reminds me of Hebrews 11 .13. Speaks of that wonderful chapter there of those great saints of faith.
Many of them suffered. Some were delivered, some were not. But they all had faith in God.
And Hebrews 11 .13 says this, And all these died in faith, without receiving the promises but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
That's what the Word of God says. That's what we are. So we're aliens, we're strangers, we're pilgrims.
Born again from above. Born again of another kingdom. Of course the world's not going to understand us.
Of course we're going to be different from the world because we're not of this world. We're passing through.
We've been born again of the kingdom of light. The kingdom of God. We're supposed to live differently.
We're to live godly. We're to live holy. That's what the command is and that's our calling.
And if it's not so, we need to check ourselves to see whether we're born again or not. Because really, as a child of the living
God, those that are born again are different from this world.
We're supposed to be different in this world of woe. Actually in verse 9, if you look at what
Peter was saying, we already covered this, but he says this in verse 9, chapter 2.
He says, but you are a chosen race, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession.
So that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
He's called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Therefore we are the light of the world. We are the salt of the earth. Peter gives an exhortation.
So what's the exhortation? It's almost like a loving admonition in a sense.
He says, abstain from fleshly lust. Abstain from it.
Fleshly desires which wage war against the soul. The soul.
Adam Clark's commentary says this, quote, abstain from fleshly lust as you are strangers and pilgrims and profess to seek a heavenly country.
Do not entangle your affections with earthly things. I like that.
Do not entangle your affections with earthly things. Didn't Paul the apostle say, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, where Christ sits at the right hand of the
Father. In Colossians 2. Colossians 3, I'm sorry. But do not entangle your affections with earthly things while others spend all their time and employ all their skill in acquiring earthly property and totally neglect the salvation of their souls.
They are not strangers. They are here at home in this world.
They are not pilgrims. They are seeking earthly possessions.
Heaven is your home. Seek that. God is your portion.
Seek Him. And he goes on to say, all kinds of earthly desires, whether those of the flesh or of the eye or those included in the pride of life are here comprised in the words, fleshly lust, fleshly desires.
And he says this, which wage war against the soul.
That's what we want to look at. Adam Clark goes on to say one more thing, which are marshaled, listen to what he says, marshaled and drawn up in battle array to fight against the soul.
Either to slay it or to bring it into captivity. It's serious battle, isn't it?
It's a serious warfare. And he goes on to say this, this is the object and the operation of every earthly and sensual desire.
How little do those who indulge them think of the ruin which they produce.
End quote. I think that was well worth writing down. And as I was reading that, I said, that is excellent.
To sober us up of the reality of this warfare against the soul. And it continues to wage.
It will wage against us until the day we go home to be with the
Lord. There is not a perfect sanctification that takes place in this life.
There's not an entire sanctification that the sin is eradicated. We will struggle with this until the day we go home to be with the
Lord. So it's waging war against the soul. Now, I want us to look at application here.
How can we as born again Christians, children of the living God, believers in the faith, gain the victory then?
Now, even though we will never ever get perfect, complete victory over it, there is still a victory that we can be overcomers.
We must understand this because this is what the word of God tells us.
It tells us how in the word, the word of God, and don't you love this about the word of God, it gives us, the two believers in Jesus Christ, instructions in righteousness.
God instructs us in righteousness that the man of God, just not preachers, not only pastors and elders which in that context he is speaking of, but I believe he's speaking to our
Christians here, that we can all be thoroughly equipped for every good work. God equips us.
Another word for that equipped is he prepares us. He has not left us to ourselves.
He has given us the Holy Spirit, first of all, his own presence to help in these matters, but also he's given us his word to instruct us in righteousness in how that we are to live.
Now, as you well know, sanctification, and I believe this, is not just monergistic, it's synergistic.
It's also our part in that. Salvation is all monergistic. It's God, right?
We know that. Salvation is God alone. We have nothing to do with our salvation.
God is the one that came, that comes to rescue us by his mercy and grace, and because of his love and his great compassion, and he did it all.
That's the gospel. He did it all. But in sanctification, we are to obey, we are to strive, we are to discipline ourselves within this warfare in which we are to fight the good fight of faith.
But God does not leave us empty handed. He equips us, he gives us the tools to work with.
And the believer, we have all that, we just need to realize how to use it and how to apply it by the help of the
Holy Spirit and through the word of God. So that's what I'd like for us to do within this hour of worship is look to these simple applications in the word of God to help us to win this warfare.
And what God has to say. You know, you hear me often say about chapter and verse, what does the scripture say?
I did not come up with that on my own. Actually, the apostle Paul is the originator of that.
If you look in Romans, I think it's chapter 3 somewhere, he says this quite often.
He says, what does the scripture say? Paul the apostle says that. What does the scripture say?
So that's what we want to do. What does the scripture say? What does the scripture say about us being more than conquerors through Jesus Christ?
What does the scripture say that how we can be overcomers to win the victory in this battle that wages war against the soul?
Well, these are applications, so please turn when we begin right here in 2
Corinthians chapter 10. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 10. This is just to begin with, and we're going to go through quite a few scriptures, and I'm going to do my best to finish this off today by God's help.
2 Corinthians chapter 10. You know, if you look at 1
Corinthians, it deals with a very carnal, fleshly church, and the apostle
Paul comes to set it in order all the way through 1 Corinthians. And there's much he says about that carnal, fleshly church.
But here in 2 Corinthians, he deals a lot with the ministry and his apostleship. But here he speaks of the spiritual war that wages.
Notice what he says in verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
Now what he's talking about there, walking in the flesh, he's not talking about in a sinful way.
He's talking about physically in that context here. He says, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
Verse 4, for the weapons, now he talks about the weapons. Listen to this. The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh.
They're not fleshly. But divinely powerful, or as the King James Version says, mighty before God.
Mighty before God, I like that. But divinely powerful for the destruction of the fortresses.
In verse 5, we are destroying speculations. This is real spiritual warfare, folks.
We are destroying speculations. And every lofty thing that's raised up against the knowledge of God.
And we are taking every thought, not some thoughts, every thought, captive to the obedience of Christ.
Verse 6, and we are ready to punish all disobedience whenever your obedience is complete.
That's the word of God. So we are in warfare. And he says our weapons that we have, the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh.
They're actually of the Spirit. And the Apostle Paul says a lot about this.
Interesting to note that the Apostle Paul did not fight the spiritual battle for the souls of men when he came to preach the gospel of his own skill.
He never used his own wit. He never used clever witty jokes.
We never see that in the Word of God. He was a serious man of God. He never used clever methods.
He did not use worldly wisdom to manipulate people. He totally completely depended on the
Spirit of God. When Paul came, he did not come with the superiority of speech, the excellency of speech, or of wisdom, proclaiming the testimony of God.
And actually he says this in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 1 -5. He says,
I determined to know nothing among you that saved Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He goes on to say and says this in 1
Corinthians 2, verses 1 -5. I was with you in weakness and in fear, and in much trembling.
And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power. For what reason? So that your faith, your faith, would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
Oh, praise God. So the only weapons that are effective in this warfare are
God's weapons. And as children of the living God, God gives us the weapons to fight with, to fight the good fight with, and we must fight with them, and to be victorious and overcomers through Jesus Christ.
Scripture says we can be. Even though we are very weak, God is very powerful and very strong.
Paul the Apostle confessed his weakness. He confessed his inadequacy. And this is the
Apostle Paul, folks. This is probably the greatest missionary and the greatest theologian that ever lived.
And yet, he depended upon the Spirit of the living God to help him every time he brought the testimony of God to the churches.
So what are these weapons? What are the weapons? Well, you know where I'm going.
Go with me to Ephesians chapter 6. Paul goes up, he picks this up in Ephesians 6.
Ephesians chapter 6 is a great commentary on the weapons of our warfare.
Now this is very familiar with us that's been reading the Word of God, but we do not need to let apathy set in our hearts.
We should hear this as it's the first time we've read this. He speaks about the whole armor of God, or the full armor of God, the full armor.
Not part of it, but all of it. There's a lot contained here.
Listen to what the Word of God says. In verse 10, beginning with verse 10, we're going to go through verse 18.
Finally, be strong in the Lord, in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
Notice what he says, it's God's strength, it's God's might, it's in His strength, it's
His might, not ours. Verse 11, put on, there it is, put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
See, within our own selves we cannot do this. Satan is too strong for us, too cunning for us, but God knows.
And as children of the living God, the Word of God tells us right here that we are to put on the full armor of God, that we will be able to stand firm against His schemes.
Verse 12, and then he says this, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Verse 13, therefore take up, I love these words, put on, take up, the full armor of God.
This is sanctification, this is warfare, take up the full armor of God, twice he says it,
God's full armor, so that you will be able to resist, resist in the evil day.
Scripture tells us we are to resist the devil, to flee from him. Then he says this, and having done everything to stand firm.
How many times he says stand firm? Stand firm. Stand firm in verse 11.
Stand firm in verse 13. Then he says it in verse 14 again. He wants us to stand firm.
Stand firm therefore. Then he says, and he quotes Old Testament Scripture here, having girded your loins with the truth.
Your loins. We know about the loins in that day. Peter talked about pull up the loins, gird up the loins, the loins of your mind, but your loins with truth, truth.
Our mind must be filled with truth. And having put on, there it is again, put on the breastplate of righteousness.
We know it's not our righteousness, right? It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Verse 15, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
God's peace. Verse 16, in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith.
Oh wow. That shield. You know, and someone pointed out that all these weapons that he gives to us are offensive.
Just not defense. It's offensive. With which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Verse 17, and take the helmet of salvation. That helmet protects the head, the important part of the soldier, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
Lest we forget, verse 18 really gives it the icing on the cake.
And then with all prayer, listen to that, not some prayer, but with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit.
Not sometimes, but at all times. Pray without ceasing, right? And with this in view, be on the alert.
We've got to be sober, right? We've got to be alert. We've got to be watching and praying. Be on the alert with all perseverance to continue to go forward and petition for all the saints.
I'll stop right there. There's a lot said, and it's a lot packed in right there, but put on, put it on.
We must put this on. I remember years ago, before my conversion, and this had an impact on me, of seeds that God was planting in my heart,
I ran across a dear lady. She had a husband she had to take care of that had a stroke years back.
I was 16 years old at the time, and I was with my grandfather, and he went to visit the guy.
I remember the man that had the stroke. I remember he was a real big guy, but he was paralyzed.
He couldn't hardly talk. He was permanently paralyzed, but his wife basically had to take care of him and his needs.
She was a godly Christian woman, and I never will forget that every time we went over there to see her, she always mentioned something from the
Word of God. In Ephesians chapter 6, putting on the whole armor of God, I remember specifically telling me, she says, you know, as a
Christian, I wasn't a Christian at the time. God was working on me, but she was planting those seeds, and I really believed that she knew this, and she would start talking about, you know, as a
Christian, you are a soldier of Jesus Christ to endure hardship, and she said, you know how I endured these hardships?
She didn't go on and on about her battles, her personal battles, because I'm sure she had a lot of burdens.
She was taking care of her husband that was paralyzed. They're both gone now and be with the
Lord, but I never will forget the influence that she had on me, and she'd talk about this verse, and she says, you know,
David, every morning I would get up, I get up, and I prepare myself in prayer, and I think about what
Paul the Apostle says, and I remember her saying this, how to put on the whole armor of God, and she says,
I think about putting that on in my mind, and guarding my heart, and guarding my mind, and saturating myself, and meditating on the
Word of God, and she says, I would think about a soldier dressing himself for battle every day.
The first thing I get up, I prepare myself for battle, and I follow my knees before God, and I didn't get it at the time how important it was to hear her say these things, but now when
I read the Word of God, this is everything in the spiritual warfare, isn't it? And she was talking about how to dress for the day, how to prepare herself for the battles, and the influences of the world, and the flesh, and the devil, and how that she can meet the enemy, and how to have the whole armor of God, and have the full armor of God on.
I never have forgotten that. You never know what kind of influence you and I can have upon someone that doesn't know the
Lord, and just tell them of the Scriptures in a practical, simple way.
God works in those ways. Isn't that wonderful? When he speaks about the whole armor of God. I'd like to go somewhere else too.
Go with me to the book of Galatians. There's a lot I could say about everything that's said there, but I believe what is said and what has been read applies a great deal to the warfare in which we're engaged.
There's another one here I believe is very important, is
Galatians. Galatians chapter 5. Now there's a lot of conviction in this one.
That one is actually encouraging to a great degree of how to encourage us in the faith, and how to prepare ourselves against the battle.
But here in Galatians is application too, in Galatians chapter 5, of how to walk in the
Spirit. How to be led of the Spirit. And Paul the
Apostle addresses a lot here, and we're going to go to Romans 8. Eventually, that's where I'm heading to, but first let's listen to Galatians.
This is actually what they say, Romans in shorthand. Look at verse 16.
The Apostle Paul once again says, he knew a lot about warfare, didn't he? He knew it.
If you read through the book of Acts, you constantly see it. But I say, walk by the
Spirit. Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Stop right there. Think of it. If we are actually walking by the Spirit, walk by the
Spirit, we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh, right? Believers, we have the presence of the indwelling
Holy Spirit, beloved. Verse 17. Then he kind of goes in detail here.
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
Old King James says, for they're contrary to one another, or they're in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please, as in the
Spirit. Now, verse 18. But you, if you are led by the
Spirit, you're not under the law. This is not trying to be a
Christian, is it? This is the Spirit of the living God dwelling within us, that we may be overcomers.
In verse 19. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident. Now listen. This is very important because this is convicting.
And he speaks, he gives us a list here of what the deeds of the flesh are. What are they?
Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and the things like these.
Of which I forewarn you, just I have forewarned you, that those who practice, that's key, who practice such things, will not inherit the kingdom of God.
That's a good verse to really witness, that be evangelistic with, isn't it?
If you want to sit down with somebody that's calling themselves Christians and they are practicing these things, drunkenness, you see this all the time.
Immorality, the first one that's listed. Impurity, sensuality, it goes on.
There's a list. Well, if they practice these things, they will not inherit the kingdom of God. You know, I didn't say that. That's God's Word.
That's convicting. The positive side of it is in verse 22. But the fruit of the
Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, and someone pointed this out once to me, it's not fruits of the
Spirit, it's one fruit. It's like a cluster. It's the same fruit, but it's all together.
It's one fruit. Because they are connected to one another. And then he listed, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control, that's temperance.
Against such there is no law. There it is again. There is no law. And this is really, this is a key verse.
Now those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
And in verse 25, if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the
Spirit. I think there's a lot there. A sojourner in the land or a pilgrim does not give himself up to the indulgence of sensual desires and appetites or the soft pleasures of the soul.
This is warfare, and this is what we are to do. We have crucified the flesh.
Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. In Galatians, I believe it's
Galatians 2 .20, right? One of my favorite verses. I am crucified.
I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me. And the life that I live in the flesh,
I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
I've been crucified. I've been crucified. It goes back to what
Jesus said. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me. That's the Christian.
That's the Christian life. You know, people don't like to hear that, do they? They want a free ticket to heaven. They want fire insurance from hell.
But they want to live any way they want to. Licentiousness. License to sin.
Using the grace of God to justify their sinful living.
But that's not what the Word of God says, is it? You know, all these things that we just listed, the deeds of the flesh, these would hinder the progress of the
Christian toward God and His heavenly home. And actually, if one is practicing it, as Paul says, if they are continually practicing this, they will not inherit the kingdom of God.
That's very clear, isn't it? Well, to get all this in, again,
I don't want to stop and preach on that and comment. I think I've commented enough. Go with me last to the book of Romans.
And this is what I really want to draw a lot from. All this fits together.
1 Corinthians 10, Ephesians 6, Galatians 5.
Now we've got Romans. And if you're like I am,
Romans is one of my dear favorites. Romans chapter 8. But before I read chapter, go into chapter 8,
I want us to pick up what the Apostle Paul said in chapter 7.
This is important to understand chapter 8. The end part of chapter 7.
Because he is speaking about the warfare against the soul.
Notice, let's pick back up. Let's look at verse 21 in chapter 7. For I find in the principle that evil is present in me.
He didn't say just with me or outside of me. It's in me. Again, this is not him speaking about his
BC days before Christ. It's his present condition now.
It's who he is. He loves God, but he still has this body of sin that he's fighting his unredeemed flesh.
Now listen to what he says. The one who wants to do good. And I joyfully, in verse 22. For I joyfully concur with the law of God and the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body.
And here's the key verse. Waging war against the law of my mind.
Waging war. That's what we're talking about. And making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
And we looked at this, but I think this is very important for us to understand.
He says, wretched man that I am. This is the apostle Paul. This is the apostle.
This is Saint Paul. This is the godliest, one of the godliest men that ever lived. Wretched man that I am.
Wretched. And I love this, don't you? Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Who? Who? Who? Who will set me free from the body? Paul laments.
You know what he's doing? He's lamenting and abhorring his sin. Do you lament and abhor the sin within you?
Are you doing the same thing? Do you hate that sin within you?
That sin that David cried out in Psalm 51 .3 For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
David said that. While he was repenting and lamenting his sin.
But Paul's lamenting his sin. So the question he is asking in verse 24, the answer is given in verse 25.
And don't you love his answer? Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's an explanation point. He's praising
God. He gives doxology. He's thanking God that there is one who will redeem him and deliver him from this one day.
So then on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God.
But on the other my flesh the law of sin. Then we go to Romans chapter 8.
You know he's absolutely certain that one day without a doubt Jesus Christ will eventually rescue him from this.
And then he gives that answer. Then in chapter 8, verse 1, don't you love this?
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
If you're in Christ Jesus today there's no condemnation. Now, and I think verse 2 is one of the greatest verses that you can find in the word of God.
He tells the reason why there's no condemnation in Christ Jesus. For those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
I tell you beloved that is one of the greatest verses that we can take a hold of. If we can take a hold of this there will be such deliverance and such liberty.
No condemnation. Why? Because for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
For what the law could not do weak as it is was through the flesh. God did.
Don't you love this? God did it. Sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin he condemned sin in the flesh.
You know beloved if you really look into that that's justification by faith alone. And then he goes into sanctification.
Verse 4 So that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh but those who are according to the spirit the things of the spirit.
You know you can take that back to John 3 exactly what Jesus said. They that have been born of the spirit is of the spirit.
They that is of the flesh born of the flesh is of the flesh. You cannot divide it up.
One's of the flesh one's of the spirit. Paul's giving commentary on it. Verse 6
For the mind set on the flesh is death. He tells us the consequences here.
The mind. The mind. The mind has a lot to do with this. That's why our mind must be renewed day by day in the word of God.
We must renew it. For the mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. Now he tells us why.
Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. God hates it.
God abhors it. For it does not subject itself to the law of God.
It's against His holiness. God is offended with it. That's what we should be concerned about.
We should not be so concerned if we offend men. We should be concerned if we're offending God. God's offended with this.
For it is not even able to do so. Then verse 8 And those who are in the flesh cannot please
God. What a statement. Now he goes into however, there's a transition there.
However, you are not in the flesh. You've been born in the spirit of God. You're not in the flesh. But in the spirit.
And if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you I think that's the key right there. The spirit of God dwelling
He makes residence. He takes up residence within us. Because our body is the temple of the
Holy Spirit and He takes up habitation, the spirit of the living God as dwelling in a tabernacle as our home, right?
Takes up residence. Christ in you, the hope of glory. But if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ he does not belong to Him.
It's that simple. You have the spirit or you don't have the spirit. You're born of God, you're not born of God. You're walking in the spirit or you're not walking in the spirit.
You're in the flesh or you're in the spirit. One of the two. If Christ is in you though the body is dead because of sin yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
But if the spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you Again, he says, dwells in you.
Notice how many times he says it. In verse 9, dwells in you. Verse 11, dwells in you.
He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit who dwells in you.
Again, he mentions dwelling in you, dwelling in you, dwelling in you. And then he talks about sonship through the spirit in verse 12.
So then brethren, we're under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.
For if you're living according to the flesh, you must die. Wow. But if by the spirit you're putting to death this is mortification, this is sanctification folks.
Putting to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are being led by the spirit of God these are the sons of God.
This is incredible. But this is how we are to overcome sin, beloved.
We put on the whole armor of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Here he's speaking about how we have a hatred towards sin, a love toward righteousness.
Love and holiness, abhorring what God abhors. Hating the sin within us.
Loving holiness, God's beauty. Actually, J .C. Rowell says holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God.
According as we find His mind described in Scripture it is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment hating what
He hates, loving what He loves and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.
Well said. And John Owen, to add to that, says true faith can no more be without holiness than true fire without heat.
Boy, that man knew God, didn't he? May God help us to be dwelling on these things.
How not to walk in the flesh and how to walk in the Spirit and live in the
Spirit. To mortify the deeds of the flesh, the deeds of the body. And Paul's instructing here the readers that struggle with sin how to destroy these false views.
John MacArthur says this and I'm reading from my study Bible here. These false views of how believers are made holy and you have a lot of these.
I've heard these taught. He says some of the false views of sanctification is this.
Number one, that we in a crisis moment are immediately made perfect. That's false.
Second, that we must let God take over while we remain idle.
That's false. So we don't let God. And third, that some turning point decision will propel us to a higher level of holiness and a deeper life.
Something that we have to do here. A decision, something to come to propel us to a higher point of holiness.
And he goes to say this and I'm quoting this because I think it's so good and I think we need to hear this. Rather, the apostle says the
Spirit provides us with the energy and the power to continually and gradually be killing our sins.
A process never completed in this life. And he says this, the means the Spirit uses to accomplish this process is our faithful obedience to the simple commands of Scripture.
And I'll end right there what he has to say. That's what people do not want to hear but that's the answer.
Obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ. To obey His command. And to love holiness, to love righteousness and to hate sin.
We don't do this enough, do we? Well, we don't need to be overconfident because that's when we fall.
Take ye least you think, you stand, you will fall. We need to realize that we are weak and we cannot do it within our own power.
So to paraphrase Ben Franklin or what he said about the loss of the horse we should put it this way.
I reworded this. For the want of the spiritual discipline of a character was lost. For want of a character a testimony was lost.
For want of a testimony a message was lost. And for want of a message a ministry was lost.
For want of a ministry a spiritual warfare was lost. We can avoid this by God's grace and help if we obey the
Word of God. And it's only by the indwelling Spirit of God through faith, right?
It's not by feeling it. It's not by something, some point like MacArthur says, let
God take over and so be. Well, what does the
Scripture say? I was reminded of Zechariah 4, 6. Then He answered and spoke unto me saying this is the
Word of the Lord. That's what we need to hear, right? This is the Word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying not by might nor by power but by my
Spirit saith the Lord. So it's by the Spirit of God that we can be overcomers and only by the
Spirit of God we can overcome. You know when the Apostle Peter is describing the warfare in chapter 2
I really believe that he understood this and we know this, right?
Because if you turn with me very quickly to Luke 22, Luke chapter 22, we see that Peter was being very overconfident and Jesus pretty much tells him and predicts his denial.
But as he predicts his denial he gives him an exhortation. Notice in chapter 22 verse 31 and 32
Jesus says Simon, Simon behold Satan has demanded obtained by asking permission to sift you like wheat.
Verse 32, but I have prayed for you. This is why Peter's faith came back and his faith has not failed because Jesus prayed for him.
We need to remember that Jesus is praying for us right? He's making intercession for us. He will lose none of his folks.
He will lose none of his sheep. I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and you when once you have been converted or turned again strengthen your brothers.
I love that because there's a ministry that he had even after his failure after his denial that he was restored back and he strengthened his brothers.
Jesus told him that. You remember this. You know that Simon, Simon? We know about this don't we?
It's repetition of his fleshly name as Jesus was given a rebuke when he said to Martha, Martha, Martha.
You can almost hear Jesus' tone in a gentle but firm way rebuking him
Simon, Simon. Simon, Simon Behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.
In other words, this is too big for you Simon. He's demanded permission.
Wow, isn't it great to see the sovereignty of God? That Satan cannot do anything outside of God's decision?
That God, that Jesus said it right there he's demanded permission to sift you like wheat. But I prayed for you.
How would you like the Lord to tell you that? Well, he has. He has prayed for us that your faith, my faith will not fail.
Hallelujah. And then he says in verse 33, and he said to him, Lord with you
I'm ready to go both to prison and death. Yes, yeah sure. He's speaking something he don't know.
And you know what happened. Jesus told him and he said, I say to you Peter, now he says
Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied me three times that you even know me.
See how arrogant he got? Wow, that's a message in itself, isn't it?
One more. Go with me very quickly to Matthew chapter 26. And I want to close with this because there's much more that could be said but you know the situation here.
Here's Jesus. He takes Peter, James and John in Matthew 26 to Gethsemane. This is a great text.
Wonderful text. Chapter 26, look at 40 and 41. He came to the disciples.
Jesus came to the disciples and found them sleeping. This is the greatest time in history that Jesus, here he is.
You know what happens. He's pleading with the Father about the will of God.
Three times. And here's the struggle that Jesus is taking on himself.
And he comes back and Peter, James and John, this is the inner circle. These are the big three folks.
He found them sleeping in the garden of Gethsemane. And he said to Peter, So you men could not keep watch with me for one hour.
They could not even watch for one hour. Keeping watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. There it is folks. We need to get this. We need to really dwell on this.
This is a silo right here. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Beloved, the greatest need for spiritual vigilance by Christians is a constant battle, isn't it?
It's constant. It never lets up. It's without intermission as Calvin says. Because that's why we need to be praying.
We need to be repenting constantly. And we need to take this to heart. It's a constant battle but it cannot be achieved in the power of the flesh.
Time and time again we see this. And every time we lean and we get confidence in the flesh, the arm of flesh, we're going to fall.
We're going to fail. But if we're in the spirit and we're leaning and resting in God and we're trusting in God and we're going before God and casting our care before Him as David did and throwing our burden on the
Lord and trusting in God, God's going to take care of it. Because it's
His name that's stamped on it. It's about His covenant. It's about Him. Oh beloved,
I tell you we can't get enough of this. The key phrase here is keep watching. Watch and pray. Indicates that all believers must have vigilance.
We must have vigilance in praying. We must be vigilant in staying in the Word of God.
Jesus wants all of us to anticipate temptation as we anticipate temptation and seek
God's help to resist it. And to resist the adversary of our souls just as He did during His vigilant prayer in the
Garden of Gethsemane. And our own best efforts to overcome
Satan and the flesh will certainly fail. And the only way to deal with the devil is to flee and to resist him immediately and fly to the presence of God.
Isn't that what you do when it's overwhelming to you? You may be facing something in your life that it's too big for you.
It's overwhelming. What can you do but throw yourself before the God of the universe that's on the throne?
And that He knows and He's in control and He has all power and He has all might and all wisdom and ever -present and will not fail us, folks.
And it may not be what we expect but it'll be exactly what
God has appointed. And that's all that matters. That His will be done.
We need to prayerfully leave matters and cares with Him. Amen? Even when we know and seek to practice what
Jesus told the disciples here in the garden, it is often very difficult for us to do what is right.
Have you found that to be true? I know it here and I say, Lord, the battle is so real but this is so difficult.
That's why we need to call on God's help to come aid us and the Holy Spirit to hold us up and give us the grace and the wisdom to help us in these things.
I want you to think about this. In the garden, Jesus saw His three closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, His dearest friends, in a great need as they fell asleep.
And He didn't scold them. He just asked them a question. You could not watch with me for one hour?
How convicting that had to be to them. Especially as they looked back and here
Jesus was facing the wrath of God coming upon Him as the
Lamb of God and the temptations for Him to bypass the cross.
And in the very midst of Jesus' own spiritual struggle, He acknowledged to His disciples, the
Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Even in that, with His own personal struggle that had to be overwhelming,
He still ministers to them. It makes me want to weep to think of Jesus even in this point when
He had overwhelmingly had upon His soul and He started to pray and great drops of blood was coming out of Him, He still ministers to His own disciples.
Such love. No wonder the Scripture says He loved them to the end. Well, as the old hymn says,
I am weak, thou art strong. Jesus, keep me from all wrong. I'll be satisfied as long as I walk a closer walk with Thee.
In this world of toils and snares, if I falter, Lord, who cares?
And who with me my burden shares? None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.
My favorite poem is by Amy Carmichael. And the name of it is, you can look it up, and it's a great poem and it has such great truth.
Make me Thy fuel, flame of God, from prayer that ask that I may be sheltered from the winds that beat on Thee, from fearing when
I should expire, from faltering, from faltering when
I should climb higher. Listen to these words. From silken self,
O Captain Free, Thy soldier who would follow Thee, from subtle love of softening things, from easy choices and weakenings.
And then in parentheses, she says, not thus are spirits fortified, not this way went the crucified.
And this last stanza, verse, really, they need to make a song out of this, it's so good.
And then she says this, from all that dims Thy calvary, O Lamb of God, deliver me, from all that dims
Thy calvary, O Lamb of God, deliver me, and give me the love that leads the way, give me the faith that nothing can dismay, the hope no disappointments tire, the passion that will burn like fire.
Let me not sink to be a clod, make me Thy fuel, flame of God.
Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word. O God, lay hold of us,
Lord. Lay hold of each and every one of us that is hearing this
Word. Father, that as you and I have spoken
Your Word with this stammering tongue, O God, that You would take Your Word to our hearts this morning.
And that, O God, that we would love You even more, more and more, and to help us not to think too lightly of sin, because when we do think too lightly of sin, we think too lightly of the
Savior, as Spurgeon said. Help us, O God, in these ways that we may steadfastly look to Jesus in all of our thoughts and strengthen holy affections as the
Puritans prayed. Keep us under fleshly desires, and let us infrequently consider
Him steadfastly and put on the full armor of God.
Help us, O Lord, in these things, because we live in a day when so many people are backsliding and going apostate.
And Lord, may we never think in our own ways, in our own self, that we are too confident and we can do this battle, we can win this battle on our own.
We know it's not by our own might, not by our own strength, not by our flesh, but it's by the
Spirit of God. Help us in these things, we pray, O Lord, for Your glory. And we ask this in Jesus' name.