It reminds me of the church that was going to
have a missionary speak on Wednesday night. Her
name was Bertha Belch. And in the bulletin it
said, Come Wednesday night and hear Bertha Belch.
Would you open your Bible, please, to the New
Testament? We better get down to something serious
here, hadn't we? I'd like you to turn to Galatians
chapter 5, and you may also want to put your
finger in Ephesians chapter 2 as you're passing
by. The child of God lives in a tension between
two truths. Two truths. One truth is that we
who are the children of God are no longer in
the flesh, but we are alive in the Spirit. The
child of God is no longer in the flesh, truth
number one. The second truth is that the flesh
is still in the child of God. and the flesh.
I want to encourage you to pick up a tape of
last week if you did not hear that, because today's
message will build upon what we said then. The
flesh we have defined as that pattern of actions
and attitudes programmed in everyone by the old
nature or the old man. That is, that which we
were. by natural birth from Adam. So it is a
pattern of actions and attitudes which really
is programmed in every person by what he was
in Adam or maybe still is in Adam if he's unsaved.
The flesh and the old man or the old nature do
not appear to be synonymous in the Word of God.
There are some study Bibles that would indicate
that to be so, that is, that they are synonymous,
and there are many Bible teachers who are committed
to that position, but it seems to me that they
are not exactly synonymous. For example, in Ephesians
2 and verse 3, there appears to be a distinction
drawn by the Apostle Paul. He says, among them,
that is, the sons of disobedience, the unsaved,
we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our
flesh. So he says at one time we lived in the
lusts of our flesh. That was our position before
God. And as a result of that, he says, we were
indulging the desires of the flesh and of the
mind. But he goes on to say, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as the rest. And so it
seems that in this verse the Apostle Paul draws
some kind of distinction between the old nature,
what we were in Adam, the old man, and what we
call the flesh. Dr. Victor Matthews, who is a
professor of theology at Grand Rapids Baptist
Seminary in Michigan, says that this verse describes
the non -Christian and relates the flesh and
nature. It would seem, says he, that the flesh
stands between the sinful nature of the non -Christian
and his actions as a lustful blueprint for the
expression of depraved desires. So he says that
the flesh stands between what he is by nature
and his actions as a blueprint. for the expression
of his depraved desires. A Christian has a new
nature. He is a new man in Jesus Christ. His
new nature is inherently holy. It cannot be less
than that. However, the flesh still pervades
the entire being of the Christian, acting as
the agent of expression. For the power of sin,
which is resident in his body. If one who is
a Christian says that he has no sin, he is deceived
and he calls God a liar, according to the Apostle
John. For sin is still resident within us. As
the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 7, which
we studied last week. Twice he said, sin dwells
in me. And another time he said, sin dwells in
the members of my body. Now the believer has
the potential to live without succumbing to that
flesh which is in him, that old pattern of actions
and attitudes. The believer has the ability through
the Holy Spirit to live above what the flesh
desires to do in his life. That brings us to
our verse in Galatians chapter 5. In verse 16
it says, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you
will not carry out the desire of the flesh. You
see, the Christian has the capacity through the
Holy Spirit not to carry out the desire of the
flesh. This verse, verse 16, can also be read
in reverse, however. If we do not walk by the
Spirit, we will carry out the desire of the flesh.
Why is that? Because the two are within us struggling.
Verse 17, for the flesh sets its desire against
the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.
For these are in opposition to one another so
that you may not do the things. that you please.
So if we walk by the Spirit, we will not fulfill
the desire of the flesh. If we do not walk by
the Spirit, we will fulfill the desire of the
flesh. It is possible for a Christian, indeed,
to live a life dominated by the flesh instead
of by the Holy Spirit. When he does that, he
becomes what is called a carnal person. or a
fleshly person. Now please understand that I
am not referring to the Christian who occasionally
succumbs to the flesh, but then deals with it
and yields himself afresh to God. That is the
experience of the most holy of God's children.
The flesh is within us, and it will occasionally
have the victory in our lives. We will allow
it to. Not that that is the will of God, but
that is the way of man. But when I speak about
a fleshly or carnal Christian, I am speaking
about one whose pattern of life is after the
flesh. It's not an instance. It's not an occasion.
But with him, it is a pattern of living. He is
fleshly. He is carnal. That is an unnatural way
for the Christian to live, but altogether too
common, too common amongst us, amongst us all.
Let's talk about what this means today, that
a Christian can lead a fleshly life. That is,
that a Christian can walk according to the flesh,
though he be alive in the Spirit. It is a contradiction,
but it is an experience that all of us have had
or perhaps are having today. Let's talk first
about the meaning of carnality. To discern that,
would you turn back with me to 1 Corinthians
3. In the context, there are three types of people
who are mentioned. I'd like you to look at them
with me. The first one is mentioned actually
a few verses before chapter 3, back in verse
14, chapter 2. The apostle says, but a natural
man does not accept the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness to him, and
he cannot understand them because they are spiritually
appraised. The apostle mentions here one type
of person. He calls this person the natural man.
The word is psychikos, man, in the original,
which is the word that refers to the soul. Here's
a man who lives his life centered upon, focused
upon his soul. That is, referring to his intellect,
his emotions, his will. A man who is devoid of
spirit and of spiritual understanding. This man
is without the Holy Spirit. He is an unregenerate
man. He is unsaved. There is no spiritual life
or dimension to him. According to this verse,
he does not accept the things of the Spirit of
God. That is, as a pattern, as a habit of life,
because it represents him. He does not accept,
he does not welcome, he does not appropriate
in his heart the thoughts of God, what God has
revealed to us in this word. He cannot accept
the things of the Spirit of God. He goes on to
say these things are foolishness to him. When
he hears them, he evaluates them not as something
that is valuable, but he says that this is garbage.
He says this is foolishness, this is nonsense,
that anyone would believe this sort of thing.
The apostle says he cannot understand these things
because they are spiritually appraised or discerned.
In other words, this natural man is without any
capacity to understand spiritual truth. His spirit
is dead. There's a second kind of person that
is mentioned, actually again in chapter 2, but
in verse 15. He says, but he who is spiritual
appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised
by no man. And so here we have the spiritual
man, the second type of person, the pneumatikos
man, the man who is awakened spiritually and
who is alive spiritually, a man who is in the
Holy Spirit. This is, of course, the Christian,
the regenerate person, the person whose mind
is set on the things of the Spirit. And because
it is, It says here that he appraises all things.
That is, he discerns all things. He is able to
judge, to examine and discern issues. He is able
to tell what is right. He is able to discern
what is of God because he has a moral standard,
a spiritual standard built within him by which
to measure these things. He appraises all things,
and yet it says that he himself is appraised
by no man or discerned by no one. That is in
the world. The world looks at the spiritual man
and says, I don't understand this fellow. What
makes him tick? But there's a third type of person
that is mentioned in chapter 3, verse 1. And
I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual
men. but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ.
He speaks now to fleshly men, to carnal men.
That is the third type of person. The fleshly
man, the sarkanois. Who is this man? He is the
man, number one, who has the Holy Spirit. He
is a Christian. Notice the apostle says, and
I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual
men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ.
So let there be no mistake about it that this
fleshly man is a believer. He has the Holy Spirit.
He is in Christ. He is one of the brethren. But
sadly, he is one who is dominated by his flesh.
He is a believer who, though alive in the Spirit,
has set his mind on the things of the flesh,
and so his life is oriented around himself and
fulfilling the desires of his flesh, that pattern
of actions and attitudes left over in him from
the old man. A fleshly man is unnatural. A carnal
person is a contradiction to his true identity
because what he is is a believer who is living
according to the flesh. And I believe that there
is not a more miserable person on the face of
the earth, including unsaved people, because
a carnal Christian... is a contradiction, and
he knows it within him. I'd like to talk now
about the evidences of carnality. It seems to
me that right here in our text we see two evidences
of carnality. The first one is an abnormal immaturity.
He says, I could not speak to you as to spiritual
men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes. What
is he saying? He is saying that there is an abnormal
immaturity about these people. They're old enough
to be mature in the Word of God and to be stable
in their walk with God. But they are neither.
Neither stable nor mature. They are abnormally
immature. Now, there is, of course, a normal
immaturity. When a baby is born, there is an
immaturity about that little thing, as sweet
as he is. He must grow. If after two years he
has not developed beyond that infant stage, you
know, something is wrong. There's something abnormal
here. That is exactly the point that Paul is
getting to spiritually. There is a normal immaturity
in new converts, people who just come to Christ.
There is nothing wrong. There is nothing sinful
with that immaturity. Indeed, it's rather exciting
to talk to people like that, isn't it? To deal
with them because they're hungry. They want to
learn. And even though they may express themselves
in an immature way or act in an immature way,
we overlook that. It's normal. But Paul is speaking
here to people who should be mature, but there
is an abnormal immaturity about them. As a baby
grows, there are at least two ways that we know
that there is maturity taking place. First of
all, the diet changes. There's an increase in
the diet. The formula changes in time. And then
secondly, there is stability. It may first be
the head being lifted up from the mattress. And
then in time, the baby learns to sit up. And
then after a while, he begins to wobble and to
walk. You see, gradually there is a stability
about the child, no longer helpless, just laying
there. And so it is with the believer as we mature.
Number one, the diet improves. Instead of just
being in the milk of the Word, which is normal
at first, there is an increase of diet. There
is more the meat of the Word of God that begins
to come to the life. The milk does not quite
satisfy anymore. Something more needs to come
from the Word. Then there is stability. Instead
of being knocked around and rather helpless,
The believer, as he matures, is able to withstand
the attacks of the enemy, to hold himself up
strong against something false that is told to
him. There is a stability about him that increases,
but not so with these believers in Corinth. And
the apostle rebukes them. In his study Bible,
Charles Ryrie says that Christian maturity involves
three things. Number one, time. I wish it were
so that somehow we could have an experience that
would take us from immaturity to complete maturity
just like that. I wish it were true that we could
have a baptism of the Holy Spirit or a second
blessing or whatever else it is that some people
talk about that gets you from there to there
in a flash. The problem is it simply isn't so.
There is no way to escape it. Maturity takes
time. The second thing that maturity requires
is growth in the knowledge of the Word. It is
impossible for a person to mature in his faith
without spending time in this book. And then
third, coupled with that really, is experience.
The application of the Word to life. Often failures,
learning to bounce back from those, experience.
The three parts of maturity are time, growth
in the Word, and experience. That cannot be escaped.
But however you say it, the facts are that in
time, with some of the experiences that come,
there should be a growth in the Word that brings
us to a diet of meat rather than milk. and stability
rather than instability. A second evidence of
carnality is also seen in our text. It is an
aberrant lifestyle, a lifestyle that is abnormal.
The Apostle Paul says to them, For since there
is jealousy and strife among you, are you not
fleshly? And are you not walking like mere men?
So he is writing to people who are in the Spirit
of God, but who are conducting themselves after
their flesh. And as a result, they have an aberrant
lifestyle. Their lives are marked by deeds of
the flesh. Here, two of them are mentioned. Last
week, we saw a list of 15, and that list was
only suggested. But interestingly, the two that
he mentions here are found in that list. The
two here are jealousy and strife. And in the
context of the book of 1 Corinthians, you will
understand why he mentions those two. These deeds
of the flesh may be actions or they may be attitudes.
But the facts are that when a Christian is walking
according to the flesh, when he is a fleshly
person, then his behavior will consistently manifest
that old pattern. The deeds of the flesh will
come through, so much so that his conduct may
be even like those who are unsaved. And that
is exactly what Paul says in the last phrase
in verse 3. The evidences of carnality are at
least two. One of them is an abnormal immaturity.
The second is an aberrant lifestyle, a lifestyle
that is inconsistent with what the person is.
Carnality is a dangerous thing. To try to underscore
that, I'd like you to look at Ephesians chapter
4 with me first to notice some of the consequences
of carnality. Begin in verse 17 where the Apostle
Paul is going to describe for us those who are
unsaved. He says, This I say therefore and affirm
together with the Lord that you walk no longer
just as the Gentiles also walk. Notice that he
writes to people who were Jews and Gentiles and
he doesn't call them either Jews or Gentiles.
He points out the Gentiles as somebody else now.
because they're new people in Jesus Christ. He
says, no longer walk like the Gentiles in the
futility of their mind, being darkened in their
understanding, excluded from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them, because
of the hardness of their heart. Notice the hardness
of the heart leads to ignorance that is in them.
Ignorance, in other words, is a willful ignorance.
And because they are ignorant, they are excluded
from the life of God. They are darkened in their
understanding to spiritual things. Now he says
in verse 19, here's the way they live. And they,
having become callous, have given themselves
over to sensuality for the practice of every
kind of impurity with greediness. And then he
says, but you... did not learn Christ in this
way. What is he saying there? He is saying to
these Ephesian believers, do not any longer walk
like the unsaved. Then he describes how they
walk. He says, you did not learn Christ in that
manner. His point is that one of the consequences
of carnality is that we live a contradictory
lifestyle. It is inconsistent with what we are
and, notice, it produces within us guilt and
depression. I'm not saying that all depression
is related to sin in the life, so don't misread
me. But I will say this, that a Christian who
leads this kind of life and who is therefore
a contradiction within himself, inevitably faces
guilt and accompanying guilt frequently is depression.
That is a consequence of carnal living. He goes
on in the chapter to give us a second consequence
of carnality. Look at verse 27. He says, and
do not give the devil an opportunity. The word
opportunity here is a military word that means
a beachhead. He says, don't give the devil a
beachhead in your life by acting by living carnally.
In other words, when I live a contradictory life,
I allow the flesh to dominate me. What I am really
doing is opening up my life to the devil, and
I'm saying to the devil, come and establish a
beachhead here in me. Now why is he interested
in establishing a beachhead? Because he wants
to destroy you. He's your enemy. And a carnal
life is nothing but an open invitation to him
and saying, come, use me as a base of operation.
That's a consequence of carnality. And so the
apostle says, do not give the devil a launching
pad in your life, an opportunity. The third consequence
of carnality is found in verse 30. He says, and
do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. The third
consequence of carnality is that the Spirit of
God is grieved within us because of our living.
He is inside us. He indwells us. That is proof
that we are Jesus Christ. But when we live the
kind of a life that is inconsistent, with what
we really are, and we allow the flesh to dominate
us, it means that the Holy Spirit is grieved.
His perfect sensitivity is offended by what is
taking place in our lives. Tragic and horrible
consequence of carnality. Turn back a few pages
to Galatians. I want you to notice. A fourth
consequence of carnality. In verse 13 of chapter
5, the apostle says, For you were called to freedom,
brethren. Only do not turn your freedom into
an opportunity. See that word? For the flesh.
But through love serve one another. For the whole
law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But
if you bite, and devour one another. Take care
lest you be consumed by one another. A fourth
consequence of carnality is that it destroys
other people. You want to talk about the people
that live in your home with you? My friend, if
you dare to live a carnal Christian life, it
will destroy your family. It will destroy your
roommates. It will destroy your friends. A carnal
life causes the devouring and the eating up of
other people. It's destructive. I don't think
any of us wants to be a stumbling block to others
or the cause for others to sin. But that is a
consequence of carnality. Turn back to 1 Peter
chapter 2 and we see a fifth consequence of carnality.
1 Peter chapter 2, verse 11. Beloved, I urge
you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly
lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your
behavior excellent. among the Gentiles, so that
in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers,
they may on account of your good deeds as they
observe them glorify God in the day of visitation.
Now if you look at that verse and understand
what he's saying, it infers that if we do not
keep our behavior excellent among the Gentiles.
If we do not abstain from fleshly lusts which
war against the soul, then on the day of visitation
they will not glorify God, but they will slander
God. I would submit to you that a fifth consequence
of carnality is that it gives the enemies of
God cause for slander against His name. That
is a serious thing to do. When I live a lifestyle
in which the flesh dominates, in which I am walking
like a mere man, I am aberrant, I am abnormal,
I am unnatural, I am a contradiction, I sense
it in myself with guilt and depression, it impacts
other people, it grieves the Holy Spirit, and
it gives the enemies of God cause to slander
His holy name. But there is a sixth and final
consequence that I want to point out, and it's
one that's very sobering. It's found in 1 Corinthians
chapter 11. He writes again to these carnal believers,
believers who had allowed their carnality to
affect the way that they observed the Lord's
Supper. If you can imagine it, they came to the
Lord's Supper drunk. And instead of the Lord's
Supper being a time when the Lord's people fellowshiped
together and shared commonly in the elements,
there were those who were drunk and rushing ahead
before others, and it was a horrible display
of selfishness and fleshliness. And so the apostle
says to them in verse 29, For he who eats...
and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself
if he does not judge the body rightly, if he
doesn't discern the body, the nature of it, the
Christian church that is. For this reason, many
among you are weak and sick, and he says, a number
sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we
should not be judged, but when we are judged,
we are disciplined by the Lord. in order that
we may not be condemned along with the world.
My friend, the final consequence of carnality
is that it places one under God's corrective
chastening. It places the believer under the
judgment of God, not condemnation with the world,
but under the judgment of God, His corrective
chastening. Now God chastens all of us. in the
sense of training us. But when it's necessary,
he will go even further. He will correct us with
discipline. And he suggests here that that correction
involves weakness, sickness, and even premature
death in verse 30. Carnality is so common amongst
the people of God today. that we all just tend
to take it for granted. And we say, well, everybody
lives this way. What's the big deal? My friend,
I hope in this study of God's Word you see what
the big deal is. And you begin to perceive the
kinds of consequences that come upon us, all
of us, any of us, when we live a fleshly life.
I'd like you to think of an Old Testament figure
with me whose name was Lot. We're going to turn
to just two or three passages regarding Lot.
One of them is in the New Testament. It's back
in the book of 2 Peter. It's important that we
begin here so we understand what we're dealing
with. In 2 Peter 2, verse 7. Peter writes, and
if God rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the
sensual conduct of unprincipled men, for by what
he saw and heard, that righteous man, while living
among them, felt his righteous soul tormented
day after day with their lawless deeds. So we
have this New Testament commentary. What do we
learn about it? Well, the most significant thing
that we learned about Lot is that he was a righteous
man. Now that word means that he was a saved
man. He had been saved through his faith. He
was a nephew of Abraham. He had learned enough
from his uncle that he understood the promise
of God and he believed that. And thus he was
a saved person. In the Old Testament period.
Now let's go back to the Old Testament, to the
book of Genesis. And we're going to see that
we're dealing with a man who was saved, but who
was carnal. And he illustrates for us the consequences
of carnality. Lot was a righteous man, but I
want you to notice some of the evidences of carnality
first in his life. Chapter 13 of Genesis, verses
10 and 11. Here we see that his decisions were
based upon temporal things. He did not have the
long -distance view like Abraham, who looked
for a city whose builder and maker was God, not
Lot. Oh, he believed the promises of God, but
brother, he lived for the here and now. In verse
10 it says, And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw
all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well
watered everywhere. This was before the Lord
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Like the garden
of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go
to Zor. So Lot chose for himself all the valley
of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus,
they separated from each other. Abraham, the
spiritual man, came to the point that he realized
that he could no longer be in fellowship with
Lot. There was too much strife between their
herdsmen. And so he said to Lot, who was younger,
Lot, you choose. Look this way, look that way.
You pick what you want. You go that direction,
and I'll go the other direction. The Lot who
was younger should have responded to Abraham
by saying, Abraham, you're my uncle, you're older,
you choose first. Or at least he should have
chosen the less desirable out of respect for
the elder, but not Lot. He chose what was best
for him. He looked to the east and he said, I
like what I see there. That reminds me of Zor
down by Egypt. It even looks like Eden, the garden
of the Lord. He said, I'm going to take that.
So he decided to choose what was best for him.
He made his decisions on a temporal basis, a
self -serving basis. And then in verse 12 it
says, Abraham settled in the land of Canaan while
Lot settled in the cities of the valley and moved
his tents as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom
were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the
Lord. What happened? Well, Lot got down there
in the valleys, and somehow he got acquainted
with city life in Sodom. And one day he decided
that his house was too far from Sodom, so he
picked up his tent and he moved it a little closer,
put it down. And then he decided that was a little
bit too far away. It took too long to get back
in the forest, so he picked up his tent and he
moved a little closer until finally Lot moved
right into Sodom itself. He was intrigued by
the life of Sodom. Here is a saved man, a righteous
man, but somehow Sodom and all that is a part
of it attracts him, and he is drawn to that city.
evidence of carnality. Now, what are the consequences
that he faced for his carnality? Well, first
of all, he exhibited a contradictory lifestyle.
Turn over to chapter 19, verse 1, by the way.
This is the last passage we'll look at. It says,
Now the two angels, these have been sent from
God to bring judgment upon Sodom. came to Sodom
in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate
of Sodom. You know what that tells us? Not only
that he was living in Sodom, but that he was
a judge in the city. That's where the judges
did their work, at the gate of the city. He was
a leader. He was sort of like on the city council,
or maybe even a mayor of the city of Sodom. That's
Lot for you. Now here's a fellow who has moved
to Sodom, who has become a leader in that city.
And yet down inside of him, his righteous soul
is vexed by the filthy, wicked life of the people
who live in the city. You see the contradiction?
You see it? That was a consequence of his fleshliness.
In his heart, he knew what was right. He was
vexed by all that he saw around him. But there
he lived. A contradiction. I would also point
out the consequence that this kind of a lifestyle
gave the devil opportunity with him and with
his family. If you read this chapter, you'll
find out that his future sons -in -law were killed
in the judgment that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
His wife, who escaped the city with him, nonetheless
lingered in her heart in the city. And looking
back longingly to be there, it says that some
of that judgment of God, that hot... pitch and
asphalt fell upon her and she became there entombed
in it and was immediately killed and was like
a pillar because the material totally engulfed
her body. She was lost. He had two daughters
left. What about them? His two daughters committed
incest with their father in order to produce
offspring. You tell me there's no consequences
to a carnal life in a family? Here's a man who
had two sons -in -law killed. His wife was killed.
His two daughters lived immorally, committed
incest with him. Why? Why? Because of his carnality.
You say, was he chastened? Did God deal with
him? Well, all of this surely had to be so. But
do you realize that ultimately Lot, who had a
lot in the beginning, I mean, he was the Lot
who had a lot, so much so that he and Abraham
couldn't even live in the same region. He ended
up a caveman. He lost everything that he owned,
everything that he counted worthy to live for.
In terms of things in this life, he lost it all
and was a cave dweller, as far as we know, until
the day he died. He had nothing. Jason, yes.
He probably longed for the day when he would
die. Thus are the consequences of a carnal life.
You say, what's the answer to that? I don't want
that. Listen, my friend. If you find yourself
today in a position where your life is characterized
not as spiritual, but as carnal, I mean the flesh
has dominated you. And the evidence, as we've
talked about, you can see in your life. And the
consequences are beginning to come to pass in
your life. I want you to know something. There's
an answer. The answer is... found in the conviction
by the Holy Spirit of your true condition. The
first step to the answer is what you may be sensing
in your heart right now when you say, that's
where I am. Because you see, that enlightenment,
that conviction comes from the Holy Spirit. The
ability to see it as abnormal, to see yourself
as one who is living unnaturally, a child of
God, but terribly sick in carnality. That comes
from the Spirit of God. And so your response
to that needs to be genuine repentance and confession
of sin. What Jesus called a mourning for sin.
That would include whatever restoration needs
to take place, whatever restitution needs to
be made, whatever asking of forgiveness of other
people. You say, wait a minute. I can confess
it to God, but I don't think I can talk to my
wife about it. I don't think I can talk to my
kids about it and ask their forgiveness. Do you
want the forgiveness of God? My friend, unless
you are willing to repent completely, including
taking those steps that are hard, you have not
dealt adequately for your sin to be forgiven.
You say those things are hard to do, yes, but
you know what? They test our genuineness. They
test whether we really mean that we're repenting.
They also serve as reminders to us of the seriousness
of getting into a fleshly condition. The real
answer is to walk by the Spirit. That's the real
answer to carnality, and we'll take that up on
another occasion. Let's bow together in prayer.
I wonder as we look at God's Word this morning
if the Spirit of the Lord has said something
personally to you. I pray that if you're one
here who is a natural person, who is devoid of
the Spirit of God, who does not understand spiritual
things, and who cannot, my prayer for you today
is that you would repent of your sin and trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ. that when the Spirit
of God convicts you of your sinfulness, you will
flee to the Lord Jesus Christ, to the cross of
Calvary, and there cry out for His mercy and
grace. Oh, my friend, it's free, and there's
plenty for you if you will but come. Will you
come today to my fellow believer, my brother,
my sister in Christ, you who have been caught
up in a carnal, fleshly life? Will you today
repent and deal thoroughly with that sin that
has captured and dominated your life and get
yourself out of that fleshly condition to walk
with God once more? Father, speak to us, I pray.
Enable us to respond in the Holy Spirit that
we may walk with you. And thus, by walking in
the Spirit, not allow the flesh to dominate us.
In Jesus' name, amen. I'd like us to stand as
we close the service. We're going to take our
hymnals and sing one verse. Let's all stand together,
and the one verse will be from 314. We're not
going to tarry the invitation. We're not going
to lengthen it. I believe this, that if the Spirit
of God has done a work in your life, that you
will respond to Him.