Know Your Enemy: The Flesh Examined | 2 Corinthians 5:16-18

So, as Elder David already announced, this has been an extended sermon series on our three big mortal enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

And we're on the last enemy, the flesh. And so, but I did want to make a correction to my correction that I made last week.

I actually did not mispronounce the heretic Apollinaris' name.

So it can be pronounced in different ways. I didn't realize that. So he was also known as Apollinarios because that was the original

Greek of his name, version of his name, Apollinarios. And he was also known as Apollinaris the

Younger and Apollinaris of Laodicea. So it's good to be aware of that, to mark them and avoid them, like the

Bible says. So just wanted to clear that up. And so today,

I want us to continue to harmonize our understanding of the flesh with its interrelated doctrines that I've been preaching about before and to examine it carefully, to dig a little deeper, go into like a deeper layer of this doctrine.

And I'm actually going to preach on various passages again, like last week, before we get to Romans 6.

So I'm not going to quite probably get to Romans 6 just yet. And so like I mentioned, this is still on knowing your enemy, the flesh examined.

And by way of just a brief recap, now we know that the

Bible teaches that man has only two basic parts, right, two basic parts, body and spirit, right?

Man is therefore dichotomous as opposed to trichotomous or whatever else.

Man is two parts, two basic parts. And we learn from Augustine of Hippo, early church leader, and from Gordon Clark, that the image of God in man, the imago

Dei, is primarily the rational knowledge of the truth, right?

Rational knowledge of the truth. I forgot to clarify something about Augustine, however, because he also claimed that the likeness of God is the love of virtue and distinguished it from the image of God.

So he said those were two different things. But biblically speaking, this is not the case.

And it actually goes back to the same lessons that we've been learning about, that I've been preaching about, in the way that Scripture uses literary devices and different words to refer to the same thing, often for emphasis or like in a parallel structure, parallelism.

Like Isaiah 26, verse 9, right? Where at night, my soul longs for you.

Indeed, my spirit within me seeks you earnestly. So two phrases saying the same thing with different words, right?

And likewise, then, both image and likeness are generally synonymous in Scripture.

Genesis 127 says, and God created man in his own image.

In the image of God, he created him. And then later on in Genesis 5, 1, it says that in the day when

God created man, he made him in the likeness of God, right?

So those are synonymous terms. They mean the same thing. They're pointing to the same thing, image and likeness.

So important to make those distinctions because unfortunately, Augustine's separation of likeness and image led later on to problems in the

Roman Catholic Church by making the likeness of God, the righteousness of the original righteousness of man.

And that caused some problems. So I want to make sure we have a good understanding of that. And since the image and likeness of God in man is primarily his mind or spirit or reason, though not exclusively, man himself is therefore primarily his spirit, his spirit, not his body.

Although the Bible does describe disembodied spirits or souls that are without bodies as naked and unclothed in 2

Corinthians 5. So it's not the final result of what we will be.

Ultimately, we will have eternal bodies and we will have resurrected, glorified bodies if we are counted righteous in Christ or we will have eternal bodies of everlasting shame if we are not in Christ and don't believe him and his gospel.

So bear these things in mind as we continue dealing with and examining the flesh further.

And we also learn that the flesh has different meanings in scripture and that there are different views of what the flesh is.

And recall that the third definition of that that Gearhartus Voss gives us is that it's used to mean the sinful nature of fallen men, which remains even in the

Christian after he is safe, as in the verse in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

We should guard against the extremely common error that the word flesh means a part of our human nature, but it does not refer to a lower nature.

It refers to our whole nature as corrupted by sin. Voss also argues that the most common error in dealing with these passages is to regard the flesh as meaning simply the human body.

Primarily, he says sin is not a matter of the body, but of the soul or spirit.

So in other words, Voss claims that the fleshly seed of corruption is primarily in the spirit.

Rather than in the body, which differs from what John Owen had explained that I had read last week,

I'm going to review it again. We're going to so we're going to continue to examine this more carefully as well.

Now, Romans chapter 8, verse 12 to 13, which Elder David read earlier, says.

So then, brothers, we are under obligation not to the flesh, to the sarks, to live according to the flesh.

For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. You will die. But if by the spirit you are putting to death or mortifying the practices of the body, the

Soma, you will live. So let's recall how John Owen masterfully explains this passage, what it means in his book, the mortification of sin.

And helps us to understand the flesh better as well. OK, so Owen says the body in the close of the verse is the same with the flesh in the beginning.

If you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if you mortify, put to death the deeds of the body, the body, that is the flesh.

That is the flesh. In other words, it's a peril. It's a parallelism. Different terms used for the same thing to refer to the same thing.

It is that which the apostle has all along meant by the flesh, which is evident from his focus on the contrast between the spirit and the flesh.

OK, before and after the body, then is taken here.

This is this is the important part for that corruption and depravity of our natures, where of the body, the physical body in a great part is the seat and instrument, the very members of the body being made servants to unrighteousness by such corruption.

That's from Romans six, 19. So it is indwelling sin, the corrupted flesh or lust that is intended.

OK, and he continues. The body here is the same as the old man, the old man and the body of sin referred to in Romans six, six, or it may refer.

It may also express the whole person considered as corrupted and the seat of lust and distempered affections.

OK, distempered means lacking temperance or self -control without self -control.

Now. Owen explains, then, that the physical body and its members are physical members are the seat and instrument of that corruption and depravity of our nature.

Of what makes the sin of the flesh, the flesh itself, our physical bodies are the primary seat of corruption for the flesh, though not exclusively primarily, but not exclusively.

So this is going against what Voss had said earlier, because he says that it's primarily in the mind as opposed to the flesh, to our our

I mean, our bodies. But there is still some truth to what Voss argues in that our mind or spirit still sins as well.

Right. We still sin with our minds. Ultimately. Even after we are born again and converted.

So why is that? Why is it that if our if our physical bodies are the primary source of why we sin now, why is it that we still sin with our minds or spirits?

And this this actually brings us to another question. The other question that we need to answer is what is it that connects our bodies to our minds?

OK, what connects our bodies to our minds? What is the missing link to that?

And this is what I've been studying to make proper sense of and why I had to save the flesh for last in this series, because I was trying to make sure that I understood this properly.

But answering this question will enable us to continue tying all of these doctrines together to systematize them, to interlock them with our understanding of the flesh itself.

Right. So what's the answer then? How then are our bodies connected to our minds?

And if you think about it, it's actually very simple. It's our senses.

Right. Our senses are what connects our bodies to our minds.

And also make up our flesh. Our senses are also a part of our flesh.

And they are connected to our minds. So it's all connected. There's none of this is disjointed or disconnected.

It's all connected. Our bodies and our minds are connected primarily through our senses.

It's how they interact. And so recall how in John Bunyan's other classic allegory,

Holy War, the town of Mansoul has sense gates.

Right. It had sense gates that can be attacked by our enemy, by our mortal enemies.

Right. There were five sense gates in the town of Mansoul. There was eye gate, ear gate, mouth gate, feel gate, and nose gate.

Right. All five senses represented in the town of Mansoul. And those were the gates by which sin entered

Mansoul, by which the devil entered Mansoul, Diabolus. Right.

By which the world tempts us. By which our flesh tempts us.

Our bodies tempt us through our senses. Amen. So because one of the primary ways that both that the world, the devil, and the flesh attack us and tempt us is through our senses.

Right. It's through our senses. This is why many theologians of the past, like we just saw in Bunyan's novel, warn us that sinful temptation is often sensual.

It is often sensual. It assaults our senses.

Just like in John Bunyan's other classic, The Pilgrim's Progress, Vanity Fair.

Right. Vanity Fair. All of this indulgence in the senses and all of these sensual pleasures that you could find at Vanity Fair that would ultimately lead to your demise, your death.

But it's everywhere. Our society is full of sensual lust and temptation in the music, in the movies, social media, video games, everywhere.

It's everywhere. Books even. And like Augustine as well, whom

I've quoted in previous sermons, he teaches us that there is in each man a serpent, an eve, and an atom.

Right. Our senses, okay, our senses, our five senses and natural propensities are the serpent.

The excitable desire is the eve and the reason is the atom.

Our nature tempts us perpetually, constantly, non -stop.

Criminal desire is then often excited. It's tempted.

But sin is not completed till reason consents. So Augustine here metaphorically describes the journey.

It's the journey that sin travels through our bodies and our minds. Right. From our senses to and our nature to our mental desires, our lusts, to our reason then consenting or yielding to the sin or the temptation.

Our fleshly sensual desires regularly tempt us to commit sinful thoughts, words, and actions.

We still do all three of those things, even though we are spiritually born again.

Very important to understand. This is also why God warns us, okay, we need to understand this.

Because if you don't understand what the flesh is, how it interacts with our bodies, our minds, then we won't apply the proper remedy for that problem, that enemy.

Right. We need to understand, like Calvin says in his institutes, two things we must know that are the foundation of all knowledge, to know

God and know thyself, right? Who you are, what are we made of, and what are our personal weaknesses, right?

That the devil, the world, and the flesh use to attack us and get the better of us and cause us to sin.

So this is why God warns us to guard our minds and our senses.

As the psalmist declares in Psalm 101 and 3, right?

I will set no vile thing before my eyes, right?

My eyes. Watch. It's like the little children's song, right? Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see, right?

Amen. So that's right.

So, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds, right?

Hearts and minds, which is a parallelism. Again, it's the same thing, different words referring to the same thing for emphasis, in Christ Jesus.

That's Philippians 4 .7, okay? So, now, also remember that sensuality and that which is sensual does not only refer to sexual lust or temptation.

It's not just sexual. And I've read, I quoted Webster's 1828 dictionary, very good dictionary, on the definition of sensual before.

One of those definitions is that it consists in the sense or depending on it as sensual appetites like hunger or lust, etc.

Another meaning is that it affects the senses or derives from the senses, okay?

Sensual, as in sensual pleasure or gratification. Therefore, which brings us to the other primary meaning, in theology, it means carnal.

Sensual means carnal. It means evil. And specifically pertaining to the flesh or the body in opposition to the spirit.

Not spiritual or holy. It is evil. It is evil.

So, there we see, even in this dictionary, that sensual and senses is tied to both connecting our minds and our bodies.

It ties them both together. That is how we are connected. And also devote.

So, another meaning is that it's devoted to the gratification of it. So, the gratification or the indulgence of the senses or the appetites, right?

So, our understanding of the flesh, therefore, is that it consists primarily of our physical bodies, our physical bodies.

But also includes our senses, right? Our five senses and our sensual appetites or lusts.

That is also part of the flesh. Those temptations as well.

And which also take place in our mind, right?

We sense through our minds as well. Because our senses connect our bodies to our minds, right?

So, our eyes, when we see things, when we feel things, that triggers thoughts.

We think about things when we sense things. So, sometimes good, sometimes bad, right?

It could be sinful or not. But now, for those of you who may not be quite convinced of this yet, here is some food for thought that we'll get into more later.

After a believer dies, does he or she continue to sin?

So, after a believer, okay? Not an unbeliever, a believer. After they die and their spirit departs their bodies, do they continue to sin?

Why or why not, right? Very important question to answer, okay?

And we'll develop that as we move on here. Now, we therefore also need to understand the changes that God makes in us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the

Holy Spirit dwelling in us, according to Titus 3 .5. And what impact or effect these changes have on the flesh, right?

On our flesh, some of which are ongoing. It's an ongoing constant work in us that God does.

And according to question 78 of the Westminster Larger Catechism, which

I read last week as well, the imperfection of sanctification in believers, okay?

So, our deficiencies, our sins arises from the remnants of sin abiding in every part of them.

And the perpetual lustings of the flesh against the spirit, whereby they are foiled with temptations.

They are attacked with temptations. And fall into many sins. Are hindered in all their spiritual services, which we should do.

And their best works are imperfect and defiled in the sight of God. So, this is basically explaining that because we are still in the flesh, we are still fallen in our mortal bodies.

We still do things with sinfully. It's not quite possible yet for us to be perfect.

Until we get our glorified bodies at the resurrection, right?

This goes back to the question we asked earlier. Whether you continue to sin after you die.

And you depart your physical earthly body that we have here. Now, while Gerhardus Voss, John Owen, and the

Reformed Confessions and Catechisms acknowledge that the flesh does include and affect every single part of man.

Including the physical body. Both before and after being regenerated by God's spirit.

And after being changed by God. And so that the flesh continues to affect every part of believers.

Even after their conversion, there are still yet others who claim that the flesh has nothing to do with the physical body at all.

Okay? And this is just flat out like false. But Joshua Harris, which some of you may be aware of, for example, claims that the flesh is not and does not include the physical body.

In any sense. In one of his books called, Dug Down Deep. And not only that, but this book was endorsed by many prominent professing

Christians and church leaders. Such as Joni Erickson Tada. John Piper.

And we all know he's a rank heretic. So apart from this, he's a false teacher. J .I.

Packer, right? Who openly embraces Roman Catholics as brothers and sisters in Christ.

And then Mark Dever from Nine Marks. And Lecrae, the

Christian, quote unquote, musician or hip hop artist.

That doesn't exist. And also, yeah.

So it was endorsed by a lot of prominent, you know, Christians, evangelicals that apparently this takes a just an incredibly imbalanced view of what the flesh is.

And Harris is also the one who wrote the book. Another book called

I Kissed Dating Goodbye. That's what he got very famous for. And who also recently became an apostate.

And openly walked away from the faith and from his marriage. So this is the guy that did that.

And I had long suspected that Harris was not sound and likely not even safe to begin with.

Because of the numerous dangerous false teachings that he promoted in the book,

Dug Down Deep. And to claim, so to claim that the flesh does not include the physical body is to deny the biblical doctrine of radical depravity.

A basic teaching that teaches that every single part of man in his natural, unconverted, unbelieving state is sinful, right?

It's fallen. It's corrupted. And defiled by the fall, by Adam's first sin.

Every part of us is corrupted by sin. No part of us is exempt from that.

But these guys say that the body was created good by God. And therefore, it's good.

And it's like, no, no. How do you say these things?

Did you not read Romans? Romans 6, Romans 7, Romans 8? This mortal body of death?

Does that sound like a good thing to you? A body of death. That's not good, right?

These are just basic fundamental errors. And yet you see prominent, prominent church leaders endorsing these kinds of books, teaching this garbage.

So we just read earlier from Owen, the body of sin.

The physical body of sin, right? In Romans 6. So now to continue on this, turn with me now to Romans chapter 6.

In Romans chapter 6, we're not going to dig into it.

We're just going to pick a few verses here to kind of draw out some of these points that that I've been making.

So Romans 6, verse 12. In Romans 6, verse 12.

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body.

Okay, mortal body, a body that is going to die, that is dying, so that you obey its lusts.

Okay, your mortal bodies that have lusts. Does that sound like a good thing to you?

Obviously not, right? And do not go on presenting your members, physical members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead.

And your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Amen. So that's very clear.

Scripture is very clear about these things. But there's so much confusion surrounding this particular enemy, the flesh.

There's confusion surrounding how to understand it, what parts it's related to in us, even how to deal with it properly.

There's a lot of confusion. So it's very important that we take our time to unpack this, to make proper sense of this and deal with it biblically, right?

Amen. So now this leads us to another question, another important question.

What about regeneration? Okay, does regeneration somehow affect the flesh of believers?

And what exactly is the source and seed of corruption in man?

And what is the extent of it, its influence, its dominion, and its power?

Thank you, Sean. And its power of the flesh.

Especially in believers who have been regenerated. How do we make sense of that?

Because we already know that unbelievers who do not believe the gospel, who are not saved, are, they are completely under the influence, under the dominion, the influence and power of sin and the world and the flesh and the devil.

They are completely enslaved to their flesh. That's a different situation.

And they are unable to do any good at all whatsoever. Romans 3,

Isaiah, all over the place. There is no one who does good. Not even one.

Amen. So unless, of course, the grace of God saves them and regenerates them.

Right? Brings them back to life. Makes them born again. So now what is regeneration?

Right? We need to make sure we understand what it is. And so regeneration is when God places his divine

Holy Spirit in us and consequently grants us repentance.

Which is a change of mind. Along with a new peripateo, right?

Remember that word from 1 John? Peripateo, a new walk, a new lifestyle of holy habits and desires.

To believe God, that believe, that have us to believe

God and follow him. We now strive to believe God and follow him.

Right? And to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior. So that is regeneration.

God implants those things in us by virtue of giving us his

Spirit and renewing our minds and our desires.

And conforming us to his Son. Like the word says. Now, so yeah,

God's Spirit convinces us of our sin. Convicts us of our sin and misery.

Enlightens our minds. Show us, shows us the truth of the gospel, of the knowledge of Christ and of our sin and of our inability to save ourselves.

Right? And he renews our wills. To make good decisions.

To make good works. And he persuades us and enables us to embrace

Jesus Christ by faith alone. Freely offered to us in the gospel, the power of God unto salvation.

Amen? So that's from the Baptist Catechism. Our Baptist Catechism in question 34.

Now, turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. This is a very key text.

A very important text to really make sure we understand the nature of regeneration.

So 2 Corinthians chapter 5, starting in verse 16. So I'm going to read from the

Amplified here. Verse 16. So from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh or as unbelievers according to worldly standards and values.

Though we have known Christ according to the flesh, now we no longer know him in this way.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that is, engrafted in, joined to him by faith in him as savior, he is a new creature or a new creation.

Rather, he is reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit. The old things, the previous moral and spiritual condition have passed away.

Behold, new things have come because spiritual awakening brings a new life, a new lifestyle.

New desires, new habits, new behaviors. But all these things are from God.

Amen. So this passage, along with many others, clearly teaches us that there are major, obvious, noticeable differences between unbelievers and believers.

Behold, he says, all things are new. Behold, look, see that things are new.

A difference between the old man and the new man.

Before we were sinners, unrighteous sinners, and after we became righteous saints.

There is a change, a noticeable change for those of us who were saved later on in life.

Now, we therefore need to be careful to not overemphasize the power and extent of the flesh in the life of believers, especially in our

Calvinist reform tradition, right? Because there are biblical counterpoint bookend doctrines that balance out our understanding and warn us when we overstress one end over and against another end or another doctrine.

So when you start stressing too much on one doctrine, another doctrine is going to start being compromised.

That's how we know when something is not in balance. We have to test our doctrines by bringing them together and systematizing them in light of what scripture teaches so that we can see if we're not becoming imbalanced.

So because there is also a tendency in our tradition and in also the

Lutheran tradition for many to overemphasize human depravity, human wickedness in believers.

Those of us who have been born again by the Spirit of God and who have God living in us, dwelling in us, even after we've been born again.

So the English reformer John Bradford, John Bradford for example, and he was burned at the stake by the

Roman Catholic queen known as Bloody Mary, okay? He wrote in one of his letters, the sinful

Bradford, the sinful Bradford, a very painted hypocrite, the most miserable, hard -hearted, and unthankful sinner.

That was, I mean, man, not a whole lot of self -esteem there, right? I mean, just wretched man that I am.

Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of hope in the redeeming power of God. It looks, it just doesn't, it doesn't sound right.

And then we turn to Jonathan Edwards, the famous well -known evangelist and author of Sinners in the

Hands of an Angry God, the theologian in the Great Awakening, in the American Great Awakening, or no,

I think the second one. But he wrote, when I look into my heart and take a view of its wickedness, it looks like an abyss infinitely deeper than hell.

And he's describing himself as a believer. And it appears to me that were it not for free grace, exalted and raised up to the infinite heights of all the fullness and glory of the great

Jehovah, I should appear sunk down in my sins below hell itself, far below the sight of everything.

But the eye, but the eye of sovereign grace that alone can pierce down to such a depth.

And it is affecting to think how ignorant I was when a young Christian at the bottomless depths of wickedness, pride, hypocrisy, and deceit left in my heart.

I mean, wow. What's the difference then?

What's the difference between somebody like that and just a sinner, an unbeliever?

Even Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers,

Charles Spurgeon. Oh boy, what did he say? He said, there is tender enough in the saint who is nearest to heaven, even the best of saints, to kindle another hell if God should but permit a spark, a single spark to fall upon it.

In the very best of men, there is an infernal and well nigh infinite depth of depravity, of evil, of wickedness.

Some Christians never seem to find this out. I almost wish that they may not do so, for it is a painful discovery for anyone to make.

But it has the beneficial effect of making us cease from trusting in ourselves and causing us to glory only in the

Lord. So my goodness, if you can't say amen, you really need to say ouch there, right?

I mean, what a depressing outlook of who we supposedly are.

What's the difference? I mean, we just read how Paul said, all things are new.

The old man is dead. Well, these things are new. You're supposed to be a new creation. What happened to that?

I think somebody lost their balance. Amen. We got to be careful with this stuff.

These men are practically describing wretched heathen sinners, unbelievers, infidels, who have no regard for God.

There's no difference in the language, the vocabulary, in what's being described.

So are we believers, as believers, who are new creations in Christ, supposedly, really as bad as these men say that we are?

I mean, I hope by now the question answers itself, right, by what we've already seen.

But there are two extreme views of regeneration, okay?

The first view is called instant sanctification or entire sanctification.

Or it's also known as perfectionism. And the guy who made this very popular was none other than John Wesley, a very well -known evangelist around the same time as Whitefield and Edwards.

So this is bad stuff, okay? Not sound.

This is bad, unsound, unorthodox teaching. It is the belief that Christians are instantly perfected at conversion and thus no longer truly sin.

So according to some, to some of these men who take this view, you don't really need to grow in holiness and grace every day of the rest of your life.

And the problem here, of course, is a very low view of sin. It's a very low view of sin because believers do still sin.

In fact, we read not too long ago in 1 John, he who says he has no sin is a what?

A liar. And the truth is not in him. In other words, you're not saved.

If you say you have no sin, if you say that you're perfect, then you're not saved.

You're not saved. You don't get it. You don't get the fact that you are a sinner.

We're a sinner that is now saved by grace, but only by God's grace. And even though you still sin, we still sin, right?

How many of you don't sin in any given day? Has there ever been a day, if you're honest with yourself, that you have not sinned?

Ever. Thought, word, deed, anything. I mean, we got to be honest with ourselves, right?

The Bible says we all stumble in many ways, even the best of us. We all stumble in many ways.

We all still sin. Now, so there is another extreme here.

So, well, yeah, obviously believers still sin. And when sin is not repented of and mortified or put to death, like we've been reading, it gets worse and eventually leads to death, even physical death, right?

And even shows that the person may not be saved to begin with, may not have been a true believer at all in the first place.

So this is an overly optimistic view of sanctification. It's too optimistic.

It's not reality, right? Because we all fall short every day. The second extreme now is the belief that Christians are forgiven, but don't really change much after their conversion.

They remain sinners in constant rebellion against God. And this view, of course, this is the view that we just read from all these prominent men, right?

These well -known pastors and teachers of the church. And these men are generally very sound.

They have a lot of good things to teach us. But here we just start like, oh man, you got to be careful because you can lose your balance.

And so there's no real change. And they use this vocabulary, this language that no longer should apply and does not apply to believers.

So what's the problem with this view? You know, one of the major obvious problems is that it completely undermines the power of God, right?

In our own lives, that's like, okay, so is God not powerful enough to change you?

Can God not change you and give you a new heart and new desires and cause you to obey

His statutes and His law, like Ezekiel says, right? Can God not do that?

Is He incapable of changing us? Because we are incapable of it, right? That's why we need

God to do it. But can God not do it, right?

But what these men describe, they are in effect denying that God can do it.

Because, hey, we're still wicked, vile sinners. So this isn't right.

And it also implies that believers never really mature or grow in holiness, even as they get older and learn more about God.

Even these saints like Rutherford and Spurgeon, I mean, these were pastors and theologians who dedicated their lives to God, calling themselves wicked, wretched sinners.

Well, something's wrong with that, right? And it ignores the

Bible's clear teaching about believers becoming a new creation, right?

And continuously growing in sanctification and holiness until we die.

This is the opposite extreme, which is an overly pessimistic view of sanctification, right?

It's a practical denial of God's power working in us. So needless to say, the men that I quoted above lean far towards this second view, extreme view, along with others like Dave Harvey, who wrote a popular book on marriage called

When Sinners Say, I Do. And he says, we are all the worst of sinners.

So anything we do that isn't sin is simply the grace of God at work.

As the worst of sinners, present tense, okay? He's saying this present tense as a believer.

I should be primarily suspicious and regularly suspicious of myself. Get this, my heart has a permanent tendency, a permanent one to oppose

God and his ways. You see, your wicked heart and mine are amazingly similar.

They both crave vindication, justification, self -righteousness.

They want to insist that something else made us sin, something outside of us, beyond our control, like our circumstances, right?

And this kind of reminds me of the hymn that we sang earlier in Come Thou Fount.

It's not as explicit, but in Come Thou Fount, it says, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.

Prone to leave the God I love, okay? I said, well, why are you doing that?

You know, if that's happening, something is wrong with us. We need to put our flesh under control, right?

Because as believers, we should no longer be under the dominion and power of sin, and the flesh, and the world, and the devil, amen?

Are we not more than conquerors through him who loved us, and changed us, and regenerated us, and made us born again, right?

So, man, I know this is really good stuff, but I want to go ahead and stop.

I'll stop here. We can pick up next week more on these important matters.

But hopefully, this is starting to come together more. I know, like I've said, it's taking some time to really wrestle with what the flesh is, because we have to understand what man is, right?

We have to understand man's parts, his spirit, his body, the flesh, the senses. How do all of these connect and relate to each other, right?

And I think, and I hope now, we're seeing more of that more clearly, that the flesh, and we will continue to see that more clearly, that the flesh is primarily our physical bodies.

But our bodies are also tied to our senses. Our senses are also tied to our flesh.

They are also a part of our flesh. And our senses are also connected to our spirit, our minds.

All of these things are connected. So we are not immune to sin in any way, shape, or form, because of our flesh is still unredeemed.

Our physical bodies are still unredeemed. So we still have to wrestle, and put to death, and mortify, right?

Amen? So, with that said, let's go ahead and close out with a word of prayer.

Our dear, precious Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for your blessings today.

We ask that you would bless the preaching of your word, that you would help us, Father God, me, to preach faithfully, according to the truth of your word, and to teach your word accurately,

Lord, according to the sound doctrine that your word teaches us,

Lord. Help us to make good and proper sense of the flesh, and how to properly deal with it,

Lord, in our lives, and to wrestle against it, and to fight against it, and to put it to death, to mortify it, to kill it, as you have said and instructed us in your word.

Father, we ask that you bless those who couldn't be here, with us, and that you would comfort them, those who are struggling with sickness, and other difficulties, and trials, and hardships,

Lord. We lift them up to you before your throne of grace boldly.

We ask, Father, that you help us to be self -aware, Lord, to be self -aware of our weaknesses, and to not ever give up on your power,

Lord. We know that we are completely inadequate to do anything in and of our own selves, but by your spirit, by your power, and by your means, you have given everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him, of Christ, your son.

You've given us everything, and so we ask that, Lord, you help us to renew our minds so that we can embrace these things, and recognize who we are in Christ Jesus.

From the moment that we were saved, you have continued to dwell in us, and live in us, and conform us to the image of your son.

Help us, Lord, to not undermine those things, and to not insult you or mock you by denying the power that you have made a new creation in us,

Lord. Help us to know and to see reality for what it is, to understand our new reality in Christ Jesus, Father God.

Thank you, Almighty Father, our omnipotent Savior, and we ask these things in Christ's almighty, all -powerful name.

Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermons of Thorn Crown Covenant Baptist Church, where the

Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is applied to all of faith and life. We strive to be biblical, reformed, historic, confessional, loving, discerning

Christians who evangelize, stand firm in, and earnestly contend for the Christian faith.

If you're looking for a church in the El Paso, Texas area, or for more information about our church, sermons, and ministries, such as Semper Reformanda Radio and Thorn Crown Network Podcasts, please contact us at thorncrownministries .com.