WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.419 It reminds me of the church that was going to 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:10.179 have a missionary speak on Wednesday night. Her 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:14.160 name was Bertha Belch. And in the bulletin it 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.780 said, Come Wednesday night and hear Bertha Belch. 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:27.559 Would you open your Bible, please, to the New 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:30.079 Testament? We better get down to something serious 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:37.240 here, hadn't we? I'd like you to turn to Galatians 00:00:37.240 --> 00:00:40.659 chapter 5, and you may also want to put your 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:42.880 finger in Ephesians chapter 2 as you're passing 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:50.640 by. The child of God lives in a tension between 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:57.289 two truths. Two truths. One truth is that we 00:00:57.289 --> 00:01:00.649 who are the children of God are no longer in 00:01:00.649 --> 00:01:08.629 the flesh, but we are alive in the Spirit. The 00:01:08.629 --> 00:01:11.530 child of God is no longer in the flesh, truth 00:01:11.530 --> 00:01:16.829 number one. The second truth is that the flesh 00:01:16.829 --> 00:01:26.120 is still in the child of God. and the flesh. 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:28.959 I want to encourage you to pick up a tape of 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:33.459 last week if you did not hear that, because today's 00:01:33.459 --> 00:01:37.560 message will build upon what we said then. The 00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:42.700 flesh we have defined as that pattern of actions 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:49.120 and attitudes programmed in everyone by the old 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.859 nature or the old man. That is, that which we 00:01:52.859 --> 00:01:58.049 were. by natural birth from Adam. So it is a 00:01:58.049 --> 00:02:02.569 pattern of actions and attitudes which really 00:02:02.569 --> 00:02:07.569 is programmed in every person by what he was 00:02:07.569 --> 00:02:10.930 in Adam or maybe still is in Adam if he's unsaved. 00:02:12.449 --> 00:02:19.090 The flesh and the old man or the old nature do 00:02:19.090 --> 00:02:22.310 not appear to be synonymous in the Word of God. 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:25.270 There are some study Bibles that would indicate 00:02:25.270 --> 00:02:27.990 that to be so, that is, that they are synonymous, 00:02:28.050 --> 00:02:30.689 and there are many Bible teachers who are committed 00:02:30.689 --> 00:02:33.770 to that position, but it seems to me that they 00:02:33.770 --> 00:02:37.770 are not exactly synonymous. For example, in Ephesians 00:02:37.770 --> 00:02:40.509 2 and verse 3, there appears to be a distinction 00:02:40.509 --> 00:02:46.189 drawn by the Apostle Paul. He says, among them, 00:02:46.250 --> 00:02:49.830 that is, the sons of disobedience, the unsaved, 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:55.280 we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:59.219 flesh. So he says at one time we lived in the 00:02:59.219 --> 00:03:01.860 lusts of our flesh. That was our position before 00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:05.580 God. And as a result of that, he says, we were 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:10.599 indulging the desires of the flesh and of the 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:15.439 mind. But he goes on to say, and were by nature 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:20.580 children of wrath, even as the rest. And so it 00:03:20.580 --> 00:03:23.319 seems that in this verse the Apostle Paul draws 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:28.000 some kind of distinction between the old nature, 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:32.780 what we were in Adam, the old man, and what we 00:03:32.780 --> 00:03:37.620 call the flesh. Dr. Victor Matthews, who is a 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:40.020 professor of theology at Grand Rapids Baptist 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:44.060 Seminary in Michigan, says that this verse describes 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:48.060 the non -Christian and relates the flesh and 00:03:48.060 --> 00:03:53.099 nature. It would seem, says he, that the flesh 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:57.620 stands between the sinful nature of the non -Christian 00:03:57.620 --> 00:04:03.800 and his actions as a lustful blueprint for the 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:09.219 expression of depraved desires. So he says that 00:04:09.219 --> 00:04:14.860 the flesh stands between what he is by nature 00:04:14.860 --> 00:04:20.829 and his actions as a blueprint. for the expression 00:04:20.829 --> 00:04:26.470 of his depraved desires. A Christian has a new 00:04:26.470 --> 00:04:31.970 nature. He is a new man in Jesus Christ. His 00:04:31.970 --> 00:04:35.910 new nature is inherently holy. It cannot be less 00:04:35.910 --> 00:04:42.129 than that. However, the flesh still pervades 00:04:42.129 --> 00:04:46.110 the entire being of the Christian, acting as 00:04:46.110 --> 00:04:50.079 the agent of expression. For the power of sin, 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:55.300 which is resident in his body. If one who is 00:04:55.300 --> 00:04:59.819 a Christian says that he has no sin, he is deceived 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:04.319 and he calls God a liar, according to the Apostle 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:08.720 John. For sin is still resident within us. As 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.100 the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 7, which 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:17.079 we studied last week. Twice he said, sin dwells 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:21.519 in me. And another time he said, sin dwells in 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:26.540 the members of my body. Now the believer has 00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:30.920 the potential to live without succumbing to that 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:36.160 flesh which is in him, that old pattern of actions 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:40.160 and attitudes. The believer has the ability through 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:44.699 the Holy Spirit to live above what the flesh 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:49.040 desires to do in his life. That brings us to 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:57.439 our verse in Galatians chapter 5. In verse 16 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:01.420 it says, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you 00:06:01.420 --> 00:06:06.540 will not carry out the desire of the flesh. You 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:09.139 see, the Christian has the capacity through the 00:06:09.139 --> 00:06:15.079 Holy Spirit not to carry out the desire of the 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:21.329 flesh. This verse, verse 16, can also be read 00:06:21.329 --> 00:06:25.170 in reverse, however. If we do not walk by the 00:06:25.170 --> 00:06:30.389 Spirit, we will carry out the desire of the flesh. 00:06:31.769 --> 00:06:35.269 Why is that? Because the two are within us struggling. 00:06:35.430 --> 00:06:39.269 Verse 17, for the flesh sets its desire against 00:06:39.269 --> 00:06:41.589 the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:44.910 For these are in opposition to one another so 00:06:44.910 --> 00:06:47.639 that you may not do the things. that you please. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:51.360 So if we walk by the Spirit, we will not fulfill 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:54.459 the desire of the flesh. If we do not walk by 00:06:54.459 --> 00:06:58.300 the Spirit, we will fulfill the desire of the 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:02.879 flesh. It is possible for a Christian, indeed, 00:07:02.980 --> 00:07:07.860 to live a life dominated by the flesh instead 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:12.740 of by the Holy Spirit. When he does that, he 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:16.579 becomes what is called a carnal person. or a 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:21.339 fleshly person. Now please understand that I 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:24.920 am not referring to the Christian who occasionally 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:29.000 succumbs to the flesh, but then deals with it 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:32.639 and yields himself afresh to God. That is the 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.459 experience of the most holy of God's children. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:42.259 The flesh is within us, and it will occasionally 00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:46.459 have the victory in our lives. We will allow 00:07:46.459 --> 00:07:49.899 it to. Not that that is the will of God, but 00:07:49.899 --> 00:07:53.759 that is the way of man. But when I speak about 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.379 a fleshly or carnal Christian, I am speaking 00:07:56.379 --> 00:08:01.560 about one whose pattern of life is after the 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:07.759 flesh. It's not an instance. It's not an occasion. 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:13.100 But with him, it is a pattern of living. He is 00:08:13.100 --> 00:08:16.779 fleshly. He is carnal. That is an unnatural way 00:08:16.779 --> 00:08:19.060 for the Christian to live, but altogether too 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:23.860 common, too common amongst us, amongst us all. 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:27.579 Let's talk about what this means today, that 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:31.540 a Christian can lead a fleshly life. That is, 00:08:31.540 --> 00:08:33.980 that a Christian can walk according to the flesh, 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:38.000 though he be alive in the Spirit. It is a contradiction, 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:41.960 but it is an experience that all of us have had 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:45.909 or perhaps are having today. Let's talk first 00:08:45.909 --> 00:08:50.909 about the meaning of carnality. To discern that, 00:08:50.970 --> 00:08:53.029 would you turn back with me to 1 Corinthians 00:08:53.029 --> 00:09:01.129 3. In the context, there are three types of people 00:09:01.129 --> 00:09:05.730 who are mentioned. I'd like you to look at them 00:09:05.730 --> 00:09:07.649 with me. The first one is mentioned actually 00:09:07.649 --> 00:09:10.789 a few verses before chapter 3, back in verse 00:09:10.789 --> 00:09:16.440 14, chapter 2. The apostle says, but a natural 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:19.940 man does not accept the things of the Spirit 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:23.059 of God, for they are foolishness to him, and 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:25.720 he cannot understand them because they are spiritually 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:30.899 appraised. The apostle mentions here one type 00:09:30.899 --> 00:09:34.139 of person. He calls this person the natural man. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:39.039 The word is psychikos, man, in the original, 00:09:39.220 --> 00:09:44.559 which is the word that refers to the soul. Here's 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:49.679 a man who lives his life centered upon, focused 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:53.639 upon his soul. That is, referring to his intellect, 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:57.980 his emotions, his will. A man who is devoid of 00:09:57.980 --> 00:10:04.559 spirit and of spiritual understanding. This man 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:08.299 is without the Holy Spirit. He is an unregenerate 00:10:08.299 --> 00:10:12.460 man. He is unsaved. There is no spiritual life 00:10:12.460 --> 00:10:16.019 or dimension to him. According to this verse, 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:19.480 he does not accept the things of the Spirit of 00:10:19.480 --> 00:10:26.240 God. That is, as a pattern, as a habit of life, 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:30.779 because it represents him. He does not accept, 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:33.460 he does not welcome, he does not appropriate 00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:37.580 in his heart the thoughts of God, what God has 00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:42.039 revealed to us in this word. He cannot accept 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:45.259 the things of the Spirit of God. He goes on to 00:10:45.259 --> 00:10:48.820 say these things are foolishness to him. When 00:10:48.820 --> 00:10:51.220 he hears them, he evaluates them not as something 00:10:51.220 --> 00:10:53.820 that is valuable, but he says that this is garbage. 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:57.120 He says this is foolishness, this is nonsense, 00:10:57.419 --> 00:10:59.600 that anyone would believe this sort of thing. 00:11:01.059 --> 00:11:04.700 The apostle says he cannot understand these things 00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:07.759 because they are spiritually appraised or discerned. 00:11:08.269 --> 00:11:10.789 In other words, this natural man is without any 00:11:10.789 --> 00:11:14.649 capacity to understand spiritual truth. His spirit 00:11:14.649 --> 00:11:22.730 is dead. There's a second kind of person that 00:11:22.730 --> 00:11:25.470 is mentioned, actually again in chapter 2, but 00:11:25.470 --> 00:11:29.490 in verse 15. He says, but he who is spiritual 00:11:29.490 --> 00:11:34.649 appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised 00:11:34.649 --> 00:11:37.889 by no man. And so here we have the spiritual 00:11:37.889 --> 00:11:43.009 man, the second type of person, the pneumatikos 00:11:43.009 --> 00:11:47.870 man, the man who is awakened spiritually and 00:11:47.870 --> 00:11:52.769 who is alive spiritually, a man who is in the 00:11:52.769 --> 00:11:55.429 Holy Spirit. This is, of course, the Christian, 00:11:55.549 --> 00:11:58.809 the regenerate person, the person whose mind 00:11:58.809 --> 00:12:02.470 is set on the things of the Spirit. And because 00:12:02.470 --> 00:12:06.940 it is, It says here that he appraises all things. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:10.960 That is, he discerns all things. He is able to 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:17.559 judge, to examine and discern issues. He is able 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:20.879 to tell what is right. He is able to discern 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.659 what is of God because he has a moral standard, 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:29.600 a spiritual standard built within him by which 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:33.419 to measure these things. He appraises all things, 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:36.539 and yet it says that he himself is appraised 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:39.059 by no man or discerned by no one. That is in 00:12:39.059 --> 00:12:42.279 the world. The world looks at the spiritual man 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:45.940 and says, I don't understand this fellow. What 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:51.600 makes him tick? But there's a third type of person 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:55.779 that is mentioned in chapter 3, verse 1. And 00:12:55.779 --> 00:12:58.740 I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:07.340 men. but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:13.080 He speaks now to fleshly men, to carnal men. 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:16.679 That is the third type of person. The fleshly 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:23.799 man, the sarkanois. Who is this man? He is the 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:27.659 man, number one, who has the Holy Spirit. He 00:13:27.659 --> 00:13:31.559 is a Christian. Notice the apostle says, and 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:36.399 I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:41.200 men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:44.980 So let there be no mistake about it that this 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:49.559 fleshly man is a believer. He has the Holy Spirit. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:54.440 He is in Christ. He is one of the brethren. But 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:59.299 sadly, he is one who is dominated by his flesh. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:04.539 He is a believer who, though alive in the Spirit, 00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:08.519 has set his mind on the things of the flesh, 00:14:08.659 --> 00:14:13.519 and so his life is oriented around himself and 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:17.519 fulfilling the desires of his flesh, that pattern 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:21.360 of actions and attitudes left over in him from 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:32.379 the old man. A fleshly man is unnatural. A carnal 00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:36.240 person is a contradiction to his true identity 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:44.940 because what he is is a believer who is living 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:51.259 according to the flesh. And I believe that there 00:14:51.259 --> 00:14:54.879 is not a more miserable person on the face of 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:58.860 the earth, including unsaved people, because 00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:03.500 a carnal Christian... is a contradiction, and 00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:09.720 he knows it within him. I'd like to talk now 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.799 about the evidences of carnality. It seems to 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:16.299 me that right here in our text we see two evidences 00:15:16.299 --> 00:15:23.480 of carnality. The first one is an abnormal immaturity. 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:27.580 He says, I could not speak to you as to spiritual 00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:43.970 men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes. What 00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:47.549 is he saying? He is saying that there is an abnormal 00:15:47.549 --> 00:15:50.970 immaturity about these people. They're old enough 00:15:50.970 --> 00:15:54.190 to be mature in the Word of God and to be stable 00:15:54.190 --> 00:15:57.450 in their walk with God. But they are neither. 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:04.080 Neither stable nor mature. They are abnormally 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:07.399 immature. Now, there is, of course, a normal 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:11.279 immaturity. When a baby is born, there is an 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.679 immaturity about that little thing, as sweet 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:21.120 as he is. He must grow. If after two years he 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:24.179 has not developed beyond that infant stage, you 00:16:24.179 --> 00:16:26.240 know, something is wrong. There's something abnormal 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:30.070 here. That is exactly the point that Paul is 00:16:30.070 --> 00:16:34.110 getting to spiritually. There is a normal immaturity 00:16:34.110 --> 00:16:37.210 in new converts, people who just come to Christ. 00:16:37.850 --> 00:16:40.269 There is nothing wrong. There is nothing sinful 00:16:40.269 --> 00:16:43.309 with that immaturity. Indeed, it's rather exciting 00:16:43.309 --> 00:16:45.830 to talk to people like that, isn't it? To deal 00:16:45.830 --> 00:16:47.649 with them because they're hungry. They want to 00:16:47.649 --> 00:16:50.470 learn. And even though they may express themselves 00:16:50.470 --> 00:16:53.250 in an immature way or act in an immature way, 00:16:53.470 --> 00:16:57.659 we overlook that. It's normal. But Paul is speaking 00:16:57.659 --> 00:17:01.179 here to people who should be mature, but there 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:05.420 is an abnormal immaturity about them. As a baby 00:17:05.420 --> 00:17:07.920 grows, there are at least two ways that we know 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:11.839 that there is maturity taking place. First of 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:18.400 all, the diet changes. There's an increase in 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:24.900 the diet. The formula changes in time. And then 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:29.940 secondly, there is stability. It may first be 00:17:29.940 --> 00:17:34.900 the head being lifted up from the mattress. And 00:17:34.900 --> 00:17:40.640 then in time, the baby learns to sit up. And 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:42.900 then after a while, he begins to wobble and to 00:17:42.900 --> 00:17:46.960 walk. You see, gradually there is a stability 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:50.200 about the child, no longer helpless, just laying 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:54.269 there. And so it is with the believer as we mature. 00:17:54.529 --> 00:17:58.210 Number one, the diet improves. Instead of just 00:17:58.210 --> 00:18:00.329 being in the milk of the Word, which is normal 00:18:00.329 --> 00:18:04.410 at first, there is an increase of diet. There 00:18:04.410 --> 00:18:06.670 is more the meat of the Word of God that begins 00:18:06.670 --> 00:18:09.329 to come to the life. The milk does not quite 00:18:09.329 --> 00:18:13.549 satisfy anymore. Something more needs to come 00:18:13.549 --> 00:18:17.089 from the Word. Then there is stability. Instead 00:18:17.089 --> 00:18:19.329 of being knocked around and rather helpless, 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:23.900 The believer, as he matures, is able to withstand 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:28.279 the attacks of the enemy, to hold himself up 00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:32.500 strong against something false that is told to 00:18:32.500 --> 00:18:35.980 him. There is a stability about him that increases, 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:40.000 but not so with these believers in Corinth. And 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:43.359 the apostle rebukes them. In his study Bible, 00:18:43.619 --> 00:18:46.000 Charles Ryrie says that Christian maturity involves 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:51.150 three things. Number one, time. I wish it were 00:18:51.150 --> 00:18:53.630 so that somehow we could have an experience that 00:18:53.630 --> 00:18:56.950 would take us from immaturity to complete maturity 00:18:56.950 --> 00:19:02.170 just like that. I wish it were true that we could 00:19:02.170 --> 00:19:04.829 have a baptism of the Holy Spirit or a second 00:19:04.829 --> 00:19:07.549 blessing or whatever else it is that some people 00:19:07.549 --> 00:19:09.609 talk about that gets you from there to there 00:19:09.609 --> 00:19:14.789 in a flash. The problem is it simply isn't so. 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:19.359 There is no way to escape it. Maturity takes 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:24.279 time. The second thing that maturity requires 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:28.339 is growth in the knowledge of the Word. It is 00:19:28.339 --> 00:19:32.640 impossible for a person to mature in his faith 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:37.079 without spending time in this book. And then 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:40.559 third, coupled with that really, is experience. 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:48.549 The application of the Word to life. Often failures, 00:19:48.690 --> 00:19:52.130 learning to bounce back from those, experience. 00:19:53.230 --> 00:19:57.269 The three parts of maturity are time, growth 00:19:57.269 --> 00:20:00.650 in the Word, and experience. That cannot be escaped. 00:20:01.890 --> 00:20:04.529 But however you say it, the facts are that in 00:20:04.529 --> 00:20:08.769 time, with some of the experiences that come, 00:20:08.890 --> 00:20:12.569 there should be a growth in the Word that brings 00:20:12.569 --> 00:20:17.660 us to a diet of meat rather than milk. and stability 00:20:17.660 --> 00:20:22.200 rather than instability. A second evidence of 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:26.059 carnality is also seen in our text. It is an 00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:31.420 aberrant lifestyle, a lifestyle that is abnormal. 00:20:32.579 --> 00:20:35.339 The Apostle Paul says to them, For since there 00:20:35.339 --> 00:20:39.059 is jealousy and strife among you, are you not 00:20:39.059 --> 00:20:42.960 fleshly? And are you not walking like mere men? 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:46.359 So he is writing to people who are in the Spirit 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:50.460 of God, but who are conducting themselves after 00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:54.180 their flesh. And as a result, they have an aberrant 00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:58.339 lifestyle. Their lives are marked by deeds of 00:20:58.339 --> 00:21:01.240 the flesh. Here, two of them are mentioned. Last 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:05.799 week, we saw a list of 15, and that list was 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:09.140 only suggested. But interestingly, the two that 00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:12.130 he mentions here are found in that list. The 00:21:12.130 --> 00:21:15.970 two here are jealousy and strife. And in the 00:21:15.970 --> 00:21:18.849 context of the book of 1 Corinthians, you will 00:21:18.849 --> 00:21:24.869 understand why he mentions those two. These deeds 00:21:24.869 --> 00:21:27.529 of the flesh may be actions or they may be attitudes. 00:21:28.670 --> 00:21:31.450 But the facts are that when a Christian is walking 00:21:31.450 --> 00:21:34.710 according to the flesh, when he is a fleshly 00:21:34.710 --> 00:21:40.440 person, then his behavior will consistently manifest 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:45.220 that old pattern. The deeds of the flesh will 00:21:45.220 --> 00:21:49.039 come through, so much so that his conduct may 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:52.819 be even like those who are unsaved. And that 00:21:52.819 --> 00:21:55.000 is exactly what Paul says in the last phrase 00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:00.759 in verse 3. The evidences of carnality are at 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:05.019 least two. One of them is an abnormal immaturity. 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:09.940 The second is an aberrant lifestyle, a lifestyle 00:22:09.940 --> 00:22:12.400 that is inconsistent with what the person is. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:20.779 Carnality is a dangerous thing. To try to underscore 00:22:20.779 --> 00:22:23.660 that, I'd like you to look at Ephesians chapter 00:22:23.660 --> 00:22:27.140 4 with me first to notice some of the consequences 00:22:27.140 --> 00:22:37.529 of carnality. Begin in verse 17 where the Apostle 00:22:37.529 --> 00:22:40.809 Paul is going to describe for us those who are 00:22:40.809 --> 00:22:45.789 unsaved. He says, This I say therefore and affirm 00:22:45.789 --> 00:22:49.750 together with the Lord that you walk no longer 00:22:49.750 --> 00:22:54.069 just as the Gentiles also walk. Notice that he 00:22:54.069 --> 00:22:57.170 writes to people who were Jews and Gentiles and 00:22:57.170 --> 00:22:59.269 he doesn't call them either Jews or Gentiles. 00:22:59.329 --> 00:23:02.369 He points out the Gentiles as somebody else now. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:05.920 because they're new people in Jesus Christ. He 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:08.799 says, no longer walk like the Gentiles in the 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:12.220 futility of their mind, being darkened in their 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:15.799 understanding, excluded from the life of God 00:23:15.799 --> 00:23:19.980 because of the ignorance that is in them, because 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:23.480 of the hardness of their heart. Notice the hardness 00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:26.920 of the heart leads to ignorance that is in them. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:30.420 Ignorance, in other words, is a willful ignorance. 00:23:31.420 --> 00:23:33.799 And because they are ignorant, they are excluded 00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:36.920 from the life of God. They are darkened in their 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:40.420 understanding to spiritual things. Now he says 00:23:40.420 --> 00:23:43.680 in verse 19, here's the way they live. And they, 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:47.319 having become callous, have given themselves 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:52.279 over to sensuality for the practice of every 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:57.880 kind of impurity with greediness. And then he 00:23:57.880 --> 00:24:03.519 says, but you... did not learn Christ in this 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:08.480 way. What is he saying there? He is saying to 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:12.059 these Ephesian believers, do not any longer walk 00:24:12.059 --> 00:24:16.319 like the unsaved. Then he describes how they 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:21.859 walk. He says, you did not learn Christ in that 00:24:21.859 --> 00:24:26.000 manner. His point is that one of the consequences 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:30.910 of carnality is that we live a contradictory 00:24:30.910 --> 00:24:36.029 lifestyle. It is inconsistent with what we are 00:24:36.029 --> 00:24:40.769 and, notice, it produces within us guilt and 00:24:40.769 --> 00:24:46.009 depression. I'm not saying that all depression 00:24:46.009 --> 00:24:48.730 is related to sin in the life, so don't misread 00:24:48.730 --> 00:24:53.829 me. But I will say this, that a Christian who 00:24:53.829 --> 00:24:56.950 leads this kind of life and who is therefore 00:24:56.950 --> 00:25:01.730 a contradiction within himself, inevitably faces 00:25:01.730 --> 00:25:06.509 guilt and accompanying guilt frequently is depression. 00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:13.650 That is a consequence of carnal living. He goes 00:25:13.650 --> 00:25:16.569 on in the chapter to give us a second consequence 00:25:16.569 --> 00:25:20.829 of carnality. Look at verse 27. He says, and 00:25:20.829 --> 00:25:25.430 do not give the devil an opportunity. The word 00:25:25.430 --> 00:25:27.809 opportunity here is a military word that means 00:25:27.809 --> 00:25:33.599 a beachhead. He says, don't give the devil a 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:38.339 beachhead in your life by acting by living carnally. 00:25:40.180 --> 00:25:43.420 In other words, when I live a contradictory life, 00:25:43.640 --> 00:25:49.259 I allow the flesh to dominate me. What I am really 00:25:49.259 --> 00:25:51.839 doing is opening up my life to the devil, and 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:54.140 I'm saying to the devil, come and establish a 00:25:54.140 --> 00:25:59.680 beachhead here in me. Now why is he interested 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.539 in establishing a beachhead? Because he wants 00:26:02.539 --> 00:26:08.180 to destroy you. He's your enemy. And a carnal 00:26:08.180 --> 00:26:10.759 life is nothing but an open invitation to him 00:26:10.759 --> 00:26:14.240 and saying, come, use me as a base of operation. 00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:19.099 That's a consequence of carnality. And so the 00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:22.539 apostle says, do not give the devil a launching 00:26:22.539 --> 00:26:27.869 pad in your life, an opportunity. The third consequence 00:26:27.869 --> 00:26:31.789 of carnality is found in verse 30. He says, and 00:26:31.789 --> 00:26:38.430 do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. The third 00:26:38.430 --> 00:26:40.890 consequence of carnality is that the Spirit of 00:26:40.890 --> 00:26:45.670 God is grieved within us because of our living. 00:26:46.809 --> 00:26:50.109 He is inside us. He indwells us. That is proof 00:26:50.109 --> 00:26:53.789 that we are Jesus Christ. But when we live the 00:26:53.789 --> 00:26:56.559 kind of a life that is inconsistent, with what 00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:59.859 we really are, and we allow the flesh to dominate 00:26:59.859 --> 00:27:04.000 us, it means that the Holy Spirit is grieved. 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:09.660 His perfect sensitivity is offended by what is 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:14.640 taking place in our lives. Tragic and horrible 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:20.859 consequence of carnality. Turn back a few pages 00:27:20.859 --> 00:27:24.960 to Galatians. I want you to notice. A fourth 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:30.059 consequence of carnality. In verse 13 of chapter 00:27:30.059 --> 00:27:32.839 5, the apostle says, For you were called to freedom, 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:36.960 brethren. Only do not turn your freedom into 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:41.559 an opportunity. See that word? For the flesh. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:47.099 But through love serve one another. For the whole 00:27:47.099 --> 00:27:49.759 law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 00:27:49.779 --> 00:27:51.900 You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But 00:27:51.900 --> 00:27:56.450 if you bite, and devour one another. Take care 00:27:56.450 --> 00:28:00.769 lest you be consumed by one another. A fourth 00:28:00.769 --> 00:28:03.349 consequence of carnality is that it destroys 00:28:03.349 --> 00:28:10.730 other people. You want to talk about the people 00:28:10.730 --> 00:28:16.809 that live in your home with you? My friend, if 00:28:16.809 --> 00:28:20.269 you dare to live a carnal Christian life, it 00:28:20.269 --> 00:28:28.470 will destroy your family. It will destroy your 00:28:28.470 --> 00:28:36.470 roommates. It will destroy your friends. A carnal 00:28:36.470 --> 00:28:39.710 life causes the devouring and the eating up of 00:28:39.710 --> 00:28:46.170 other people. It's destructive. I don't think 00:28:46.170 --> 00:28:48.630 any of us wants to be a stumbling block to others 00:28:48.630 --> 00:28:52.029 or the cause for others to sin. But that is a 00:28:52.029 --> 00:28:56.630 consequence of carnality. Turn back to 1 Peter 00:28:56.630 --> 00:28:59.509 chapter 2 and we see a fifth consequence of carnality. 00:29:00.130 --> 00:29:11.609 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 11. Beloved, I urge 00:29:11.609 --> 00:29:16.269 you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly 00:29:16.269 --> 00:29:22.130 lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your 00:29:22.130 --> 00:29:27.259 behavior excellent. among the Gentiles, so that 00:29:27.259 --> 00:29:30.359 in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, 00:29:30.460 --> 00:29:33.920 they may on account of your good deeds as they 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:37.700 observe them glorify God in the day of visitation. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:42.259 Now if you look at that verse and understand 00:29:42.259 --> 00:29:48.700 what he's saying, it infers that if we do not 00:29:48.700 --> 00:29:52.319 keep our behavior excellent among the Gentiles. 00:29:53.930 --> 00:29:57.369 If we do not abstain from fleshly lusts which 00:29:57.369 --> 00:30:01.589 war against the soul, then on the day of visitation 00:30:01.589 --> 00:30:05.230 they will not glorify God, but they will slander 00:30:05.230 --> 00:30:09.250 God. I would submit to you that a fifth consequence 00:30:09.250 --> 00:30:13.210 of carnality is that it gives the enemies of 00:30:13.210 --> 00:30:19.450 God cause for slander against His name. That 00:30:19.450 --> 00:30:25.759 is a serious thing to do. When I live a lifestyle 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:32.099 in which the flesh dominates, in which I am walking 00:30:32.099 --> 00:30:36.099 like a mere man, I am aberrant, I am abnormal, 00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:41.279 I am unnatural, I am a contradiction, I sense 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:44.900 it in myself with guilt and depression, it impacts 00:30:44.900 --> 00:30:48.619 other people, it grieves the Holy Spirit, and 00:30:48.619 --> 00:30:51.599 it gives the enemies of God cause to slander 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:56.950 His holy name. But there is a sixth and final 00:30:56.950 --> 00:30:59.509 consequence that I want to point out, and it's 00:30:59.509 --> 00:31:02.690 one that's very sobering. It's found in 1 Corinthians 00:31:02.690 --> 00:31:12.109 chapter 11. He writes again to these carnal believers, 00:31:12.430 --> 00:31:20.829 believers who had allowed their carnality to 00:31:20.829 --> 00:31:22.869 affect the way that they observed the Lord's 00:31:22.869 --> 00:31:26.740 Supper. If you can imagine it, they came to the 00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:33.079 Lord's Supper drunk. And instead of the Lord's 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:35.680 Supper being a time when the Lord's people fellowshiped 00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:39.259 together and shared commonly in the elements, 00:31:39.500 --> 00:31:42.420 there were those who were drunk and rushing ahead 00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:45.519 before others, and it was a horrible display 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:50.660 of selfishness and fleshliness. And so the apostle 00:31:50.660 --> 00:31:53.660 says to them in verse 29, For he who eats... 00:31:54.170 --> 00:31:57.549 and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself 00:31:57.549 --> 00:32:03.230 if he does not judge the body rightly, if he 00:32:03.230 --> 00:32:05.890 doesn't discern the body, the nature of it, the 00:32:05.890 --> 00:32:09.269 Christian church that is. For this reason, many 00:32:09.269 --> 00:32:14.089 among you are weak and sick, and he says, a number 00:32:14.089 --> 00:32:18.049 sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we 00:32:18.049 --> 00:32:21.170 should not be judged, but when we are judged, 00:32:21.309 --> 00:32:24.700 we are disciplined by the Lord. in order that 00:32:24.700 --> 00:32:27.799 we may not be condemned along with the world. 00:32:28.099 --> 00:32:31.799 My friend, the final consequence of carnality 00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:36.859 is that it places one under God's corrective 00:32:36.859 --> 00:32:41.220 chastening. It places the believer under the 00:32:41.220 --> 00:32:44.420 judgment of God, not condemnation with the world, 00:32:44.579 --> 00:32:47.980 but under the judgment of God, His corrective 00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:52.500 chastening. Now God chastens all of us. in the 00:32:52.500 --> 00:32:56.960 sense of training us. But when it's necessary, 00:32:57.180 --> 00:33:01.119 he will go even further. He will correct us with 00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:05.019 discipline. And he suggests here that that correction 00:33:05.019 --> 00:33:10.140 involves weakness, sickness, and even premature 00:33:10.140 --> 00:33:19.339 death in verse 30. Carnality is so common amongst 00:33:19.339 --> 00:33:23.769 the people of God today. that we all just tend 00:33:23.769 --> 00:33:28.109 to take it for granted. And we say, well, everybody 00:33:28.109 --> 00:33:34.970 lives this way. What's the big deal? My friend, 00:33:35.009 --> 00:33:37.769 I hope in this study of God's Word you see what 00:33:37.769 --> 00:33:41.369 the big deal is. And you begin to perceive the 00:33:41.369 --> 00:33:43.990 kinds of consequences that come upon us, all 00:33:43.990 --> 00:33:49.170 of us, any of us, when we live a fleshly life. 00:33:54.990 --> 00:33:57.650 I'd like you to think of an Old Testament figure 00:33:57.650 --> 00:34:04.009 with me whose name was Lot. We're going to turn 00:34:04.009 --> 00:34:07.130 to just two or three passages regarding Lot. 00:34:07.190 --> 00:34:09.750 One of them is in the New Testament. It's back 00:34:09.750 --> 00:34:13.110 in the book of 2 Peter. It's important that we 00:34:13.110 --> 00:34:14.969 begin here so we understand what we're dealing 00:34:14.969 --> 00:34:25.769 with. In 2 Peter 2, verse 7. Peter writes, and 00:34:25.769 --> 00:34:31.250 if God rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the 00:34:31.250 --> 00:34:35.429 sensual conduct of unprincipled men, for by what 00:34:35.429 --> 00:34:39.849 he saw and heard, that righteous man, while living 00:34:39.849 --> 00:34:44.050 among them, felt his righteous soul tormented 00:34:44.050 --> 00:34:49.789 day after day with their lawless deeds. So we 00:34:49.789 --> 00:34:51.769 have this New Testament commentary. What do we 00:34:51.769 --> 00:34:53.909 learn about it? Well, the most significant thing 00:34:53.909 --> 00:34:56.130 that we learned about Lot is that he was a righteous 00:34:56.130 --> 00:34:59.849 man. Now that word means that he was a saved 00:34:59.849 --> 00:35:04.610 man. He had been saved through his faith. He 00:35:04.610 --> 00:35:08.929 was a nephew of Abraham. He had learned enough 00:35:08.929 --> 00:35:13.530 from his uncle that he understood the promise 00:35:13.530 --> 00:35:19.269 of God and he believed that. And thus he was 00:35:19.269 --> 00:35:22.780 a saved person. In the Old Testament period. 00:35:24.659 --> 00:35:26.820 Now let's go back to the Old Testament, to the 00:35:26.820 --> 00:35:30.500 book of Genesis. And we're going to see that 00:35:30.500 --> 00:35:33.039 we're dealing with a man who was saved, but who 00:35:33.039 --> 00:35:38.139 was carnal. And he illustrates for us the consequences 00:35:38.139 --> 00:35:45.380 of carnality. Lot was a righteous man, but I 00:35:45.380 --> 00:35:47.920 want you to notice some of the evidences of carnality 00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:53.519 first in his life. Chapter 13 of Genesis, verses 00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:59.900 10 and 11. Here we see that his decisions were 00:35:59.900 --> 00:36:04.840 based upon temporal things. He did not have the 00:36:04.840 --> 00:36:08.440 long -distance view like Abraham, who looked 00:36:08.440 --> 00:36:10.880 for a city whose builder and maker was God, not 00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:15.280 Lot. Oh, he believed the promises of God, but 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:20.300 brother, he lived for the here and now. In verse 00:36:20.300 --> 00:36:24.639 10 it says, And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw 00:36:24.639 --> 00:36:28.139 all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well 00:36:28.139 --> 00:36:31.000 watered everywhere. This was before the Lord 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:34.119 destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Like the garden 00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:37.400 of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go 00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:42.619 to Zor. So Lot chose for himself all the valley 00:36:42.619 --> 00:36:48.059 of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus, 00:36:48.079 --> 00:36:51.880 they separated from each other. Abraham, the 00:36:51.880 --> 00:36:54.199 spiritual man, came to the point that he realized 00:36:54.199 --> 00:36:56.960 that he could no longer be in fellowship with 00:36:56.960 --> 00:36:59.960 Lot. There was too much strife between their 00:36:59.960 --> 00:37:03.500 herdsmen. And so he said to Lot, who was younger, 00:37:04.380 --> 00:37:08.760 Lot, you choose. Look this way, look that way. 00:37:08.840 --> 00:37:12.199 You pick what you want. You go that direction, 00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:15.260 and I'll go the other direction. The Lot who 00:37:15.260 --> 00:37:17.099 was younger should have responded to Abraham 00:37:17.099 --> 00:37:21.239 by saying, Abraham, you're my uncle, you're older, 00:37:21.420 --> 00:37:26.360 you choose first. Or at least he should have 00:37:26.360 --> 00:37:30.000 chosen the less desirable out of respect for 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.039 the elder, but not Lot. He chose what was best 00:37:34.039 --> 00:37:38.760 for him. He looked to the east and he said, I 00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:41.880 like what I see there. That reminds me of Zor 00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:45.969 down by Egypt. It even looks like Eden, the garden 00:37:45.969 --> 00:37:49.250 of the Lord. He said, I'm going to take that. 00:37:50.050 --> 00:37:54.130 So he decided to choose what was best for him. 00:37:55.510 --> 00:37:59.329 He made his decisions on a temporal basis, a 00:37:59.329 --> 00:38:03.409 self -serving basis. And then in verse 12 it 00:38:03.409 --> 00:38:06.090 says, Abraham settled in the land of Canaan while 00:38:06.090 --> 00:38:09.389 Lot settled in the cities of the valley and moved 00:38:09.389 --> 00:38:14.010 his tents as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom 00:38:14.010 --> 00:38:17.110 were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the 00:38:17.110 --> 00:38:21.150 Lord. What happened? Well, Lot got down there 00:38:21.150 --> 00:38:24.670 in the valleys, and somehow he got acquainted 00:38:24.670 --> 00:38:30.110 with city life in Sodom. And one day he decided 00:38:30.110 --> 00:38:32.389 that his house was too far from Sodom, so he 00:38:32.389 --> 00:38:34.369 picked up his tent and he moved it a little closer, 00:38:34.449 --> 00:38:39.170 put it down. And then he decided that was a little 00:38:39.170 --> 00:38:41.050 bit too far away. It took too long to get back 00:38:41.050 --> 00:38:42.469 in the forest, so he picked up his tent and he 00:38:42.469 --> 00:38:47.150 moved a little closer until finally Lot moved 00:38:47.150 --> 00:38:51.889 right into Sodom itself. He was intrigued by 00:38:51.889 --> 00:38:56.989 the life of Sodom. Here is a saved man, a righteous 00:38:56.989 --> 00:39:02.010 man, but somehow Sodom and all that is a part 00:39:02.010 --> 00:39:06.650 of it attracts him, and he is drawn to that city. 00:39:07.730 --> 00:39:11.849 evidence of carnality. Now, what are the consequences 00:39:11.849 --> 00:39:16.110 that he faced for his carnality? Well, first 00:39:16.110 --> 00:39:19.210 of all, he exhibited a contradictory lifestyle. 00:39:21.289 --> 00:39:23.750 Turn over to chapter 19, verse 1, by the way. 00:39:25.590 --> 00:39:30.329 This is the last passage we'll look at. It says, 00:39:30.369 --> 00:39:32.889 Now the two angels, these have been sent from 00:39:32.889 --> 00:39:36.639 God to bring judgment upon Sodom. came to Sodom 00:39:36.639 --> 00:39:39.639 in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate 00:39:39.639 --> 00:39:42.440 of Sodom. You know what that tells us? Not only 00:39:42.440 --> 00:39:44.079 that he was living in Sodom, but that he was 00:39:44.079 --> 00:39:46.880 a judge in the city. That's where the judges 00:39:46.880 --> 00:39:49.000 did their work, at the gate of the city. He was 00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:51.539 a leader. He was sort of like on the city council, 00:39:51.579 --> 00:39:55.840 or maybe even a mayor of the city of Sodom. That's 00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:59.659 Lot for you. Now here's a fellow who has moved 00:39:59.659 --> 00:40:04.320 to Sodom, who has become a leader in that city. 00:40:05.670 --> 00:40:09.070 And yet down inside of him, his righteous soul 00:40:09.070 --> 00:40:13.969 is vexed by the filthy, wicked life of the people 00:40:13.969 --> 00:40:16.409 who live in the city. You see the contradiction? 00:40:18.429 --> 00:40:22.269 You see it? That was a consequence of his fleshliness. 00:40:23.190 --> 00:40:26.809 In his heart, he knew what was right. He was 00:40:26.809 --> 00:40:29.909 vexed by all that he saw around him. But there 00:40:29.909 --> 00:40:35.219 he lived. A contradiction. I would also point 00:40:35.219 --> 00:40:37.380 out the consequence that this kind of a lifestyle 00:40:37.380 --> 00:40:39.840 gave the devil opportunity with him and with 00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:42.519 his family. If you read this chapter, you'll 00:40:42.519 --> 00:40:44.940 find out that his future sons -in -law were killed 00:40:44.940 --> 00:40:48.039 in the judgment that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:40:49.260 --> 00:40:51.920 His wife, who escaped the city with him, nonetheless 00:40:51.920 --> 00:40:56.000 lingered in her heart in the city. And looking 00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:59.480 back longingly to be there, it says that some 00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:03.300 of that judgment of God, that hot... pitch and 00:41:03.300 --> 00:41:07.960 asphalt fell upon her and she became there entombed 00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:11.539 in it and was immediately killed and was like 00:41:11.539 --> 00:41:17.360 a pillar because the material totally engulfed 00:41:17.360 --> 00:41:22.860 her body. She was lost. He had two daughters 00:41:22.860 --> 00:41:32.220 left. What about them? His two daughters committed 00:41:32.220 --> 00:41:36.079 incest with their father in order to produce 00:41:36.079 --> 00:41:40.900 offspring. You tell me there's no consequences 00:41:40.900 --> 00:41:45.679 to a carnal life in a family? Here's a man who 00:41:45.679 --> 00:41:49.280 had two sons -in -law killed. His wife was killed. 00:41:49.440 --> 00:41:52.079 His two daughters lived immorally, committed 00:41:52.079 --> 00:41:58.460 incest with him. Why? Why? Because of his carnality. 00:42:01.869 --> 00:42:03.949 You say, was he chastened? Did God deal with 00:42:03.949 --> 00:42:07.750 him? Well, all of this surely had to be so. But 00:42:07.750 --> 00:42:10.329 do you realize that ultimately Lot, who had a 00:42:10.329 --> 00:42:12.610 lot in the beginning, I mean, he was the Lot 00:42:12.610 --> 00:42:16.469 who had a lot, so much so that he and Abraham 00:42:16.469 --> 00:42:20.309 couldn't even live in the same region. He ended 00:42:20.309 --> 00:42:26.389 up a caveman. He lost everything that he owned, 00:42:26.610 --> 00:42:30.449 everything that he counted worthy to live for. 00:42:30.940 --> 00:42:34.739 In terms of things in this life, he lost it all 00:42:34.739 --> 00:42:38.199 and was a cave dweller, as far as we know, until 00:42:38.199 --> 00:42:42.739 the day he died. He had nothing. Jason, yes. 00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:46.480 He probably longed for the day when he would 00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:52.380 die. Thus are the consequences of a carnal life. 00:42:52.659 --> 00:42:54.599 You say, what's the answer to that? I don't want 00:42:54.599 --> 00:42:59.409 that. Listen, my friend. If you find yourself 00:42:59.409 --> 00:43:01.909 today in a position where your life is characterized 00:43:01.909 --> 00:43:08.570 not as spiritual, but as carnal, I mean the flesh 00:43:08.570 --> 00:43:13.389 has dominated you. And the evidence, as we've 00:43:13.389 --> 00:43:16.650 talked about, you can see in your life. And the 00:43:16.650 --> 00:43:19.130 consequences are beginning to come to pass in 00:43:19.130 --> 00:43:21.030 your life. I want you to know something. There's 00:43:21.030 --> 00:43:26.429 an answer. The answer is... found in the conviction 00:43:26.429 --> 00:43:31.309 by the Holy Spirit of your true condition. The 00:43:31.309 --> 00:43:33.789 first step to the answer is what you may be sensing 00:43:33.789 --> 00:43:37.590 in your heart right now when you say, that's 00:43:37.590 --> 00:43:41.510 where I am. Because you see, that enlightenment, 00:43:41.690 --> 00:43:46.030 that conviction comes from the Holy Spirit. The 00:43:46.030 --> 00:43:48.789 ability to see it as abnormal, to see yourself 00:43:48.789 --> 00:43:51.530 as one who is living unnaturally, a child of 00:43:51.530 --> 00:43:54.679 God, but terribly sick in carnality. That comes 00:43:54.679 --> 00:43:57.820 from the Spirit of God. And so your response 00:43:57.820 --> 00:44:02.000 to that needs to be genuine repentance and confession 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:07.239 of sin. What Jesus called a mourning for sin. 00:44:08.599 --> 00:44:11.400 That would include whatever restoration needs 00:44:11.400 --> 00:44:13.679 to take place, whatever restitution needs to 00:44:13.679 --> 00:44:18.219 be made, whatever asking of forgiveness of other 00:44:18.219 --> 00:44:22.070 people. You say, wait a minute. I can confess 00:44:22.070 --> 00:44:24.190 it to God, but I don't think I can talk to my 00:44:24.190 --> 00:44:25.909 wife about it. I don't think I can talk to my 00:44:25.909 --> 00:44:31.550 kids about it and ask their forgiveness. Do you 00:44:31.550 --> 00:44:37.489 want the forgiveness of God? My friend, unless 00:44:37.489 --> 00:44:41.570 you are willing to repent completely, including 00:44:41.570 --> 00:44:46.690 taking those steps that are hard, you have not 00:44:46.690 --> 00:44:49.309 dealt adequately for your sin to be forgiven. 00:44:52.039 --> 00:44:54.059 You say those things are hard to do, yes, but 00:44:54.059 --> 00:44:55.960 you know what? They test our genuineness. They 00:44:55.960 --> 00:44:58.179 test whether we really mean that we're repenting. 00:44:58.860 --> 00:45:02.760 They also serve as reminders to us of the seriousness 00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:07.679 of getting into a fleshly condition. The real 00:45:07.679 --> 00:45:11.480 answer is to walk by the Spirit. That's the real 00:45:11.480 --> 00:45:14.719 answer to carnality, and we'll take that up on 00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:17.300 another occasion. Let's bow together in prayer. 00:45:21.639 --> 00:45:24.039 I wonder as we look at God's Word this morning 00:45:24.039 --> 00:45:26.019 if the Spirit of the Lord has said something 00:45:26.019 --> 00:45:32.960 personally to you. I pray that if you're one 00:45:32.960 --> 00:45:36.099 here who is a natural person, who is devoid of 00:45:36.099 --> 00:45:40.380 the Spirit of God, who does not understand spiritual 00:45:40.380 --> 00:45:45.420 things, and who cannot, my prayer for you today 00:45:45.420 --> 00:45:47.960 is that you would repent of your sin and trust 00:45:47.960 --> 00:45:51.699 in the Lord Jesus Christ. that when the Spirit 00:45:51.699 --> 00:45:54.760 of God convicts you of your sinfulness, you will 00:45:54.760 --> 00:45:57.739 flee to the Lord Jesus Christ, to the cross of 00:45:57.739 --> 00:46:00.800 Calvary, and there cry out for His mercy and 00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:04.880 grace. Oh, my friend, it's free, and there's 00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:10.099 plenty for you if you will but come. Will you 00:46:10.099 --> 00:46:12.840 come today to my fellow believer, my brother, 00:46:12.900 --> 00:46:16.860 my sister in Christ, you who have been caught 00:46:16.860 --> 00:46:20.900 up in a carnal, fleshly life? Will you today 00:46:20.900 --> 00:46:25.000 repent and deal thoroughly with that sin that 00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:28.420 has captured and dominated your life and get 00:46:28.420 --> 00:46:32.340 yourself out of that fleshly condition to walk 00:46:32.340 --> 00:46:37.079 with God once more? Father, speak to us, I pray. 00:46:38.019 --> 00:46:42.780 Enable us to respond in the Holy Spirit that 00:46:42.780 --> 00:46:47.980 we may walk with you. And thus, by walking in 00:46:47.980 --> 00:46:51.579 the Spirit, not allow the flesh to dominate us. 00:46:53.579 --> 00:46:59.099 In Jesus' name, amen. I'd like us to stand as 00:46:59.099 --> 00:47:01.320 we close the service. We're going to take our 00:47:01.320 --> 00:47:04.960 hymnals and sing one verse. Let's all stand together, 00:47:05.119 --> 00:47:09.159 and the one verse will be from 314. We're not 00:47:09.159 --> 00:47:11.340 going to tarry the invitation. We're not going 00:47:11.340 --> 00:47:14.280 to lengthen it. I believe this, that if the Spirit 00:47:14.280 --> 00:47:16.260 of God has done a work in your life, that you 00:47:16.260 --> 00:47:17.539 will respond to Him.