0:00:01.051,0:00:03.771
Okay, brethren, we find ourselves

0:00:03.771,0:00:09.697
in Ephesians 2 once again.

0:00:09.697,0:00:20.147
This is part four of a five part series

0:00:20.147,0:00:25.001
on these first three [br]verses of Ephesians 2.

0:00:25.001,0:00:27.213
We can read those together.

0:00:27.213,0:00:28.576
I've called this series:

0:00:28.576,0:00:30.021
"How Dead is Dead?

0:00:30.021,0:00:32.309
The Five-fold Fallenness of Man."

0:00:32.309,0:00:33.650
Today's part four.

0:00:33.650,0:00:38.519
Today, we're going to focus on the flesh.

0:00:38.519,0:00:41.232
We've looked at man dead in sin,

0:00:41.232,0:00:43.774
dead with regards to the world,

0:00:43.774,0:00:46.483
dead with regards to the devil.

0:00:46.483,0:00:53.126
Today, dead with regards to the flesh.

0:00:53.126,0:00:56.061
Next week, Lord willing,

0:00:56.061,0:00:58.560
the wrath of God.

0:00:58.560,0:01:06.095
Our deadness to God.

0:01:06.095,0:01:08.117
Ephesians 2:1,

0:01:08.117,0:01:13.226
"And you were dead..."

0:01:13.226,0:01:16.772
You were.

0:01:16.772,0:01:19.964
Only if you're a Christian, you were.

0:01:19.964,0:01:26.524
If you're not a Christian, you are.

0:01:26.524,0:01:30.495
Let me just tell you up front here,

0:01:30.495,0:01:38.171
nobody needs to embellish how bad man is.

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All we need to know

0:01:40.309,0:01:42.429
is the reality of the situation,

0:01:42.429,0:01:46.373
and it's bad.

0:01:46.373,0:01:48.892
"You were dead in the trespasses and sins

0:01:48.892,0:01:52.311
in which you once walked,

0:01:52.311,0:01:55.314
following the course of this world,

0:01:55.314,0:01:57.867
following the prince [br]of the power of the air,

0:01:57.867,0:01:59.556
the spirit that is now at work

0:01:59.556,0:02:01.627
in the sons of disobedience,

0:02:01.627,0:02:04.688
among whom we all once lived,

0:02:04.688,0:02:06.772
in the passions of our flesh

0:02:06.772,0:02:09.164
carrying out the desires of the body

0:02:09.164,0:02:10.917
and the mind,

0:02:10.917,0:02:14.349
and were by nature children of wrath

0:02:14.349,0:02:17.227
like the rest of mankind."

0:02:17.227,0:02:18.366
So there you have it.

0:02:18.366,0:02:21.408
Three verses that spell out

0:02:21.408,0:02:28.438
this five-fold fallenness of man.

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Last week, when I got done preaching,

0:02:32.889,0:02:36.028
one of our younger theologians came up

0:02:36.028,0:02:38.805
after I was done and asked me

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why I hadn't included any application.

0:02:44.886,0:02:47.971
I preached about the prince [br]of the power of the air.

0:02:47.971,0:02:51.314
This young man wanted to know

0:02:51.314,0:02:56.212
how do I apply that to my life.

0:02:56.212,0:02:59.706
And brethren, what I told him,

0:02:59.706,0:03:02.389
is that sometimes when we're confronted

0:03:02.389,0:03:05.372
by the Word of God,

0:03:05.372,0:03:11.038
I told him it's enough if at times

0:03:11.038,0:03:15.118
we're just simply left worshiping.

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Brethren, that is not a bad [br]application of Scripture.

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If we simply are confronted by it

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and we come away seeing God as big

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and ourselves as incredibly small.

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That is profitable.

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That is good.

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Look, I recognize that in these verses

0:03:41.634,0:03:42.893
that we're dealing with -

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following the course of this world -

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you know, we could just get consumed

0:03:48.008,0:03:49.152
with the world,

0:03:49.152,0:03:50.961
and how do we overcome the world,

0:03:50.961,0:03:52.799
and how do we not love the world,

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and you know what?

0:03:53.660,0:03:56.148
Scripture deals with those [br]things in other places.

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But what I want to do is [br]what Paul wants to do.

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And right now, Paul is not telling[br]us how to overcome the world.

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Right now, Paul is not telling us[br]how to overcome the devil.

0:04:04.443,0:04:06.756
He's not telling us how [br]to overcome the flesh.

0:04:06.756,0:04:08.548
You know what he's doing right now?

0:04:08.548,0:04:11.170
He is concerned that we have

0:04:11.170,0:04:14.013
some recognition of the exceedingly

0:04:14.013,0:04:17.169
immeasurable greatness of God's power

0:04:17.169,0:04:18.516
toward us who believe.

0:04:18.516,0:04:20.146
He wants us to measure it.

0:04:20.146,0:04:22.733
And by measuring it, what he wants to do

0:04:22.733,0:04:24.130
is he wants to take us down

0:04:24.130,0:04:27.064
into the depths of the pit [br]from which we came

0:04:27.064,0:04:31.124
over against the exaltation [br]to which we've been saved.

0:04:31.124,0:04:33.442
And it's in that contrast;

0:04:33.442,0:04:34.993
it's in that difference

0:04:34.993,0:04:36.893
that he wants us to step back

0:04:36.893,0:04:39.777
and just be amazed and be in awe

0:04:39.777,0:04:41.128
at the power of God.

0:04:41.128,0:04:44.013
And brethren, if we look at these things -

0:04:44.013,0:04:47.485
the wretchedness, the [br]brokenness of mankind

0:04:47.485,0:04:50.308
and we're left saying, "Wow!"

0:04:50.308,0:04:51.673
You know, that's enough?

0:04:51.673,0:04:53.560
Do you know if you're left coming away

0:04:53.560,0:04:54.642
from the Word of God

0:04:54.642,0:04:56.664
and you fall down on your face,

0:04:56.664,0:04:58.184
don't we get the sense that

0:04:58.184,0:05:01.254
that's exactly why God does [br]everything that He does?

0:05:01.254,0:05:02.531
Because in the end,

0:05:02.531,0:05:06.099
it's not so much just about [br]the application to our lives

0:05:06.099,0:05:07.723
in the sense that, you know,

0:05:07.723,0:05:09.127
I have to walk out this door

0:05:09.127,0:05:11.772
and now I have a list of things to do.

0:05:11.772,0:05:13.751
Brethren, what God really wants us to do

0:05:13.751,0:05:14.841
is walk out this door,

0:05:14.841,0:05:17.656
and fall down on our faces and say,

0:05:17.656,0:05:21.594
"Wow! Thank You, Lord!

0:05:21.594,0:05:25.397
Thank You! Thank You!"

0:05:25.397,0:05:28.098
You know what He wants us to do in this?

0:05:28.098,0:05:30.891
He wants us to recognize

0:05:30.891,0:05:35.998
what sort of people we were

0:05:35.998,0:05:40.876
that He rescued us from His wrath.

0:05:40.876,0:05:42.092
That's what it is.

0:05:42.092,0:05:44.618
The end in view is worship.

0:05:44.618,0:05:48.267
The end in view is awe.

0:05:48.267,0:05:51.446
Brethren, we need to be gripped.

0:05:51.446,0:05:55.909
We need to be changed and amazed

0:05:55.909,0:05:58.896
that God would actually unleash

0:05:58.896,0:06:04.486
His great might on such people as we were.

0:06:04.486,0:06:05.875
That's the issue.

0:06:05.875,0:06:09.474
So, today, part four.

0:06:09.474,0:06:14.993
Turn our attention towards the flesh.

0:06:14.993,0:06:18.877
Brethren, what we have is man

0:06:18.877,0:06:24.865
like an animal, but worse.

0:06:24.865,0:06:29.322
Because we have a mind.

0:06:29.322,0:06:32.141
Look at it.

0:06:32.141,0:06:34.170
Right at the end of v. 2,

0:06:34.170,0:06:35.985
"the sons of disobedience."

0:06:35.985,0:06:38.864
The devil was at work in [br]these sons of disobedience -

0:06:38.864,0:06:39.791
look what it says -

0:06:39.791,0:06:43.646
"among whom we all..."

0:06:43.646,0:06:46.351
All of us.

0:06:46.351,0:06:48.448
Among them we lived.

0:06:48.448,0:06:50.847
In other words, we were one of them.

0:06:50.847,0:06:53.780
All of us.

0:06:53.780,0:06:57.734
This is a summation, a summary statement

0:06:57.734,0:07:02.982
of all mankind in their natural condition.

0:07:02.982,0:07:06.032
We lived among these sons of disobedience

0:07:06.032,0:07:11.455
"in the passions of our flesh,

0:07:11.455,0:07:14.330
carrying out the desires of the body

0:07:14.330,0:07:16.581
and the mind."

0:07:16.581,0:07:19.381
Now, just get a feel for this.

0:07:19.381,0:07:21.641
The New King James:

0:07:21.641,0:07:24.698
"We all once conducted ourselves

0:07:24.698,0:07:28.686
in the lusts..." the lusts.

0:07:28.686,0:07:31.545
Lust. What a word.

0:07:31.545,0:07:33.230
Just let that roll of your tongue.

0:07:33.230,0:07:36.509
Lust.

0:07:36.509,0:07:39.016
That produces imagery in our minds.

0:07:39.016,0:07:40.684
"...The lusts of our flesh."

0:07:40.684,0:07:42.514
Or the New American Standard,

0:07:42.514,0:07:48.427
"We too all (all!) formerly..."

0:07:48.427,0:07:51.287
We - Christians. This was us too.

0:07:51.287,0:07:59.111
"We all formerly lived in [br]the lusts of our flesh."

0:07:59.111,0:08:01.435
King James Version:

0:08:01.435,0:08:04.494
"We all had our conversation..."

0:08:04.494,0:08:07.202
That doesn't mean just what we speak.

0:08:07.202,0:08:11.655
That's the full-orbed life of the man.

0:08:11.655,0:08:14.384
"We all had our conversation in times past

0:08:14.384,0:08:16.455
in the lusts of our flesh."

0:08:16.455,0:08:18.134
So, here we have it.

0:08:18.134,0:08:22.536
Man - dead in sin is very much alive

0:08:22.536,0:08:25.359
to the lusts of the flesh.

0:08:25.359,0:08:27.576
Man, like an animal, like I said,

0:08:27.576,0:08:29.643
he's an animal: base.

0:08:29.643,0:08:31.511
Animal: lust.

0:08:31.511,0:08:35.067
But worse, because what [br]he breaks this out into

0:08:35.067,0:08:37.662
as he seeks to go deeper,

0:08:37.662,0:08:39.873
as he seeks to break this thing out

0:08:39.873,0:08:42.065
into some subcategories,

0:08:42.065,0:08:43.560
he goes to the mind.

0:08:43.560,0:08:44.903
You see, we have a mind

0:08:44.903,0:08:46.102
unlike the animals,

0:08:46.102,0:08:48.837
but even that mind is just an expression

0:08:48.837,0:08:54.040
of the lusting, the cravings of the flesh.

0:08:54.040,0:08:56.322
Pollution. That's what [br]we're talking about.

0:08:56.322,0:08:58.029
We're talking about the dirtiness

0:08:58.029,0:09:00.543
and the filthiness of man.

0:09:00.543,0:09:04.136
He's one big bag of lusts.

0:09:04.136,0:09:06.550
This is man like an animal, lusting.

0:09:06.550,0:09:07.969
Lusting.

0:09:07.969,0:09:11.819
Brethren, like a dog driven to its vomit.

0:09:11.819,0:09:13.652
You say, oh, that's about people

0:09:13.652,0:09:14.996
who once made a profession

0:09:14.996,0:09:17.292
or maybe even were teachers [br]and they came back.

0:09:17.292,0:09:19.151
Yes, but you think about that.

0:09:19.151,0:09:20.973
For Scripture to liken a man like that

0:09:20.973,0:09:23.136
to a dog that returns to its vomit,

0:09:23.136,0:09:24.452
you know what that implies?

0:09:24.452,0:09:27.703
He was once at the vomit, [br]left it, and came back.

0:09:27.703,0:09:30.452
Man at his vomit is a picture -

0:09:30.452,0:09:35.258
or dogs at its vomit.

0:09:35.258,0:09:37.312
You know how many times

0:09:37.312,0:09:41.882
Scripture likens sinners to animals?

0:09:41.882,0:09:43.746
We're likened to pigs

0:09:43.746,0:09:45.438
and we're likened to dogs.

0:09:45.438,0:09:46.849
And you think about a dog

0:09:46.849,0:09:48.575
licking up its vomit.

0:09:48.575,0:09:52.162
You say, that's gross!

0:09:52.162,0:09:54.007
That's us.

0:09:54.007,0:09:57.959
That's mankind.

0:09:57.959,0:09:59.433
That's ugly.

0:09:59.433,0:10:02.704
This is the ugliness of mankind.

0:10:02.704,0:10:05.247
This is the dirt, the filth, the muck.

0:10:05.247,0:10:07.264
You think about a pig.

0:10:07.264,0:10:16.166
Listen, my uncle raised pigs.

0:10:16.166,0:10:20.239
You ought to see a pig and hear a pig

0:10:20.239,0:10:21.688
and watch them eat

0:10:21.688,0:10:26.134
and watch what they swim in.

0:10:26.134,0:10:28.569
You may have some refined idea.

0:10:28.569,0:10:30.016
You know, you walk out of here

0:10:30.016,0:10:31.202
after it's been raining,

0:10:31.202,0:10:32.538
your foot steps in grass

0:10:32.538,0:10:35.049
and it's a little muddy.

0:10:35.049,0:10:39.422
You ought to see it firsthand.

0:10:39.422,0:10:42.663
You get an idea of what God sees

0:10:42.663,0:10:45.668
when He sees man in all the lusts.

0:10:45.668,0:10:50.670
Just like a pig greedy to [br]plunge into the slime.

0:10:50.670,0:10:56.528
Brethren, what I'm saying here is, again,

0:10:56.528,0:11:00.074
this isn't embellishing on [br]the badness of man.

0:11:00.074,0:11:02.410
This is the picture.

0:11:02.410,0:11:07.800
So often Scripture is likening us

0:11:07.800,0:11:09.989
to some sort of animal.

0:11:09.989,0:11:11.701
Believer, this was you.

0:11:11.701,0:11:13.441
Unbeliever, this is you.

0:11:13.441,0:11:16.219
All of us - we lived in lusts.

0:11:16.219,0:11:17.300
Somebody says,

0:11:17.300,0:11:19.086
"I'm not a murderer."

0:11:19.086,0:11:21.426
"I'm not part of the drug cartel."

0:11:21.426,0:11:24.443
"I'm not like these [br]homeless drunks out here."

0:11:24.443,0:11:25.481
"I'm not like that."

0:11:25.481,0:11:27.884
"I'm not like the woman [br]that prostitutes her body

0:11:27.884,0:11:30.768
so that she can [br]satisfy her drug addiction."

0:11:30.768,0:11:31.971
"I'm not like that."

0:11:31.971,0:11:34.295
"I wasn't born on the [br]wrong side of the tracks."

0:11:34.295,0:11:35.703
"I'm not like those sinners."

0:11:35.703,0:11:39.620
"I wear a white shirt when I go to work."

0:11:39.620,0:11:41.951
You know what Paul does?

0:11:41.951,0:11:43.724
He puts out his finger,

0:11:43.724,0:11:46.709
and he places it on our lips.

0:11:46.709,0:11:49.797
Shhh...

0:11:49.797,0:11:52.124
Stop.

0:11:52.124,0:11:56.594
Just stop.

0:11:56.594,0:11:58.821
This is you.

0:11:58.821,0:12:02.219
Or this is what you were.

0:12:02.219,0:12:04.337
He closes our mouth here.

0:12:04.337,0:12:05.834
All of us.

0:12:05.834,0:12:13.126
"Among whom we all once lived."

0:12:13.126,0:12:15.441
Shhh...

0:12:15.441,0:12:18.476
Stop the boasting in what you were,

0:12:18.476,0:12:21.306
because this is you.

0:12:21.306,0:12:23.196
This is me.

0:12:23.196,0:12:25.487
Lusts of the flesh.

0:12:25.487,0:12:27.408
It's an ugly picture, I know.

0:12:27.408,0:12:29.863
Paul means it to be.

0:12:29.863,0:12:32.833
This is man as he is.

0:12:32.833,0:12:36.941
His base, polluted, vulgar, offensive,

0:12:36.941,0:12:42.893
lusting self.

0:12:42.893,0:12:44.881
But brethren, this is where we ought to

0:12:44.881,0:12:47.590
go out and just fall down before the Lord.

0:12:47.590,0:12:49.395
The absolutely astounding thing

0:12:49.395,0:12:52.094
is that God would ever ever ever

0:12:52.094,0:12:59.533
want something to do with us.

0:12:59.533,0:13:04.104
Thank You, Lord.

0:13:04.104,0:13:06.928
The flesh.

0:13:06.928,0:13:08.066
Look at it.

0:13:08.066,0:13:14.504
"The passions (or the lusts)

0:13:14.504,0:13:17.411
of our flesh."

0:13:17.411,0:13:19.006
The flesh.

0:13:19.006,0:13:21.264
We've got to be confronted by this term.

0:13:21.264,0:13:23.627
The flesh.

0:13:23.627,0:13:25.276
Because it's used in Scripture.

0:13:25.276,0:13:26.373
It's used quite often.

0:13:26.373,0:13:31.779
Paul especially uses this terminology.

0:13:31.779,0:13:34.926
Perhaps you're not aware.

0:13:34.926,0:13:38.972
We have friends in different places

0:13:38.972,0:13:42.852
that have been involved

0:13:42.852,0:13:47.660
in various degree of debate

0:13:47.660,0:13:50.745
over the meaning of this word.

0:13:50.745,0:13:53.060
There is a debate among men who we know

0:13:53.060,0:13:56.804
concerning what does it actually mean?

0:13:56.804,0:13:59.704
And what are the consequences[br]of what it means?

0:13:59.704,0:14:02.899
And what should we expect from Christians

0:14:02.899,0:14:06.008
because of what it means?

0:14:06.008,0:14:08.613
We have to ask the question:[br]What is Paul referring to?

0:14:08.613,0:14:10.542
And the first thing we need to recognize

0:14:10.542,0:14:13.252
is much like we looked at when [br]we dealt with the world,

0:14:13.252,0:14:14.572
so it is with the flesh,

0:14:14.572,0:14:17.130
that it's a word that carries

0:14:17.130,0:14:19.587
different shades of meaning.

0:14:19.587,0:14:21.759
So we need to recognize that right away

0:14:21.759,0:14:23.844
that when you come across the word flesh

0:14:23.844,0:14:26.519
in your Bibles, it's not [br]just enough to say

0:14:26.519,0:14:28.456
it means the same thing all the time,

0:14:28.456,0:14:30.039
so it must mean that right there.

0:14:30.039,0:14:32.855
We actually have to examine the context

0:14:32.855,0:14:34.272
to really figure out

0:14:34.272,0:14:36.207
what in the world we're dealing with.

0:14:36.207,0:14:38.383
I'll just tell you this right off,

0:14:38.383,0:14:40.258
in the ESV, you don't see it,

0:14:40.258,0:14:43.068
but if you've got another [br]translation in your hands,

0:14:43.068,0:14:45.805
you may well see that the term "flesh"

0:14:45.805,0:14:47.665
is actually used here twice.

0:14:47.665,0:14:51.453
The ESV says "flesh" the first time,

0:14:51.453,0:14:55.262
"body" the second time.

0:14:55.262,0:14:59.199
But in the original, same word.

0:14:59.199,0:15:00.247
Same word.

0:15:00.247,0:15:01.178
What's he doing?

0:15:01.178,0:15:03.188
Is he just redundantly repeating himself?

0:15:03.188,0:15:05.851
He talks about the passions [br]or the lusts of the flesh,

0:15:05.851,0:15:07.696
and then he talks about the passions

0:15:07.696,0:15:09.237
or the lusts of the flesh again.

0:15:09.237,0:15:12.293
No, he's actually giving us an overall,

0:15:12.293,0:15:13.883
and then he's subdividing it

0:15:13.883,0:15:18.178
into two categories.

0:15:18.178,0:15:20.790
He's not just redundantly [br]repeating the same thing.

0:15:20.790,0:15:22.995
And the reason it's not the same thing

0:15:22.995,0:15:24.840
is because he's actually using flesh

0:15:24.840,0:15:27.330
with two different meanings here.

0:15:27.330,0:15:30.412
And you have to recognize from [br]the context what's going on.

0:15:30.412,0:15:31.601
But just very quickly,

0:15:31.601,0:15:34.109
I want to run through [br]some shades of meaning

0:15:34.109,0:15:36.334
that you find in the term "flesh"

0:15:36.334,0:15:38.591
when you find it in Scripture.

0:15:38.591,0:15:42.248
For instance, it can just simply mean

0:15:42.248,0:15:44.374
"human nature."

0:15:44.374,0:15:45.930
In other words, Paul is using it

0:15:45.930,0:15:47.302
in a very negative way,

0:15:47.302,0:15:49.578
when he talks about [br]the lusts of the flesh.

0:15:49.578,0:15:52.834
That obviously is the ugliness of mankind.

0:15:52.834,0:15:57.054
However, we have the word used this way:

0:15:57.054,0:16:01.666
"the Word became flesh [br]and dwelt among us."

0:16:01.666,0:16:03.494
Or, "tabernacled among us."

0:16:03.494,0:16:06.673
Christ became flesh.

0:16:06.673,0:16:09.957
That obviously carries no negative

0:16:09.957,0:16:13.437
overtones or undertones.

0:16:13.437,0:16:14.355
Not at all.

0:16:14.355,0:16:15.764
What does that mean?

0:16:15.764,0:16:18.200
He became a man.

0:16:18.200,0:16:21.287
It has to do with our human nature.

0:16:21.287,0:16:23.531
"In the days of His flesh,

0:16:23.531,0:16:25.716
Jesus offered up prayers and supplications

0:16:25.716,0:16:29.607
with loud cries and tears."

0:16:29.607,0:16:32.452
So, just like the world can,

0:16:32.452,0:16:35.132
flesh can carry meaning

0:16:35.132,0:16:37.593
that is no way negative.

0:16:37.593,0:16:38.933
Or how about this?

0:16:38.933,0:16:42.355
It can mean our common ancestry

0:16:42.355,0:16:44.004
or our bloodlines.

0:16:44.004,0:16:46.485
For instance,

0:16:46.485,0:16:48.791
the New King James Version,

0:16:48.791,0:16:52.765
Romans 11:14,

0:16:52.765,0:16:55.648
Paul is speaking about [br]provoking to jealousy

0:16:55.648,0:17:00.111
those who are "my flesh."

0:17:00.111,0:17:01.822
And I refer to the New King James

0:17:01.822,0:17:05.584
because it actually translates it "flesh."

0:17:05.584,0:17:08.168
He wants to provoke to jealousy

0:17:08.168,0:17:09.994
those who are my flesh

0:17:09.994,0:17:11.243
and save some of them.

0:17:11.243,0:17:13.485
Well, the ESV says, "fellow Jews."

0:17:13.485,0:17:16.057
The New American Standard [br]says "fellow countrymen."

0:17:16.057,0:17:17.920
You see, what he's talking about there.

0:17:17.920,0:17:23.402
Flesh are those that he's related to.

0:17:23.402,0:17:29.062
My own flesh and blood, we might say.

0:17:29.062,0:17:34.388
It has to do also with [br]just this earthly life.

0:17:34.388,0:17:35.736
Single people,

0:17:35.736,0:17:40.317
Paul would say to you -

0:17:40.317,0:17:43.354
again, I'm going to read from [br]the New King James

0:17:43.354,0:17:47.999
because it's actually not

0:17:47.999,0:17:51.367
trying to translate this

0:17:51.367,0:17:56.190
away from the original meaning.

0:17:56.190,0:17:59.684
Paul says, look, if you marry,

0:17:59.684,0:18:01.041
you have not sinned.

0:18:01.041,0:18:03.299
And if a virgin marries, [br]she has not sinned,

0:18:03.299,0:18:08.461
nevertheless, such will [br]have trouble in the flesh.

0:18:08.461,0:18:12.388
The NAS translates that: "this life."

0:18:12.388,0:18:16.419
Single people, you really [br]badly want to get married.

0:18:16.419,0:18:18.881
Paul says I'll spare you.

0:18:18.881,0:18:21.778
You'll be spared problems.

0:18:21.778,0:18:24.833
I know he says that - I've tried both.

0:18:24.833,0:18:27.351
I prefer the married life [br]a whole lot better.

0:18:27.351,0:18:29.917
I commend that.

0:18:29.917,0:18:31.129
But anyways, you see,

0:18:31.129,0:18:33.225
that's getting away from the flesh.

0:18:33.225,0:18:34.339
The flesh.

0:18:34.339,0:18:35.667
This life.

0:18:35.667,0:18:39.148
Or how about sometimes it [br]just means all mankind.

0:18:39.148,0:18:42.524
It means human beings in general.

0:18:42.524,0:18:45.766
Luke 3:6, "All flesh shall see

0:18:45.766,0:18:47.232
the salvation of God."

0:18:47.232,0:18:49.326
That's just all humanity.

0:18:49.326,0:18:51.739
Or John 17:2 where Jesus is speaking

0:18:51.739,0:18:53.729
of His Father having given Him

0:18:53.729,0:18:56.026
authority over all flesh.

0:18:56.026,0:18:59.011
The New American Standard[br]says "over all mankind."

0:18:59.011,0:19:02.539
"...To give eternal life to all [br]whom He has given Him."

0:19:02.539,0:19:09.089
Sometimes flesh means the [br]soft part of our body.

0:19:09.089,0:19:11.772
For instance, Luke 24:39.

0:19:11.772,0:19:15.162
Jesus says, remember - they're blown away.

0:19:15.162,0:19:16.507
Here's the risen Christ.

0:19:16.507,0:19:19.214
He just kind of appeared in the room.

0:19:19.214,0:19:22.871
You can imagine they're a bit amazed.

0:19:22.871,0:19:24.998
They're not certain what they're seeing,

0:19:24.998,0:19:27.931
and He wants to assure them,

0:19:27.931,0:19:29.926
"I'm here. I'm here as a man.

0:19:29.926,0:19:31.346
I'm here in flesh and blood."

0:19:31.346,0:19:34.288
And He says this to them,

0:19:34.288,0:19:37.469
"See My hands and My [br]feet that it is I Myself.

0:19:37.469,0:19:39.669
Touch Me and see, for [br]a spirit does not have

0:19:39.669,0:19:43.028
flesh and bones as [br]you see that I have."

0:19:43.028,0:19:45.150
See, flesh is over against the bones.

0:19:45.150,0:19:49.649
The flesh is that which covers the bones.

0:19:49.649,0:19:52.579
It's the soft part of us.

0:19:52.579,0:19:55.491
It's the stuff our bones are covered with.

0:19:55.491,0:19:57.175
And I often think,

0:19:57.175,0:20:00.370
Brother Charles Leiter,

0:20:00.370,0:20:04.362
he often refers to the fact

0:20:04.362,0:20:07.387
that the Romanian [br]translation of the Scripture

0:20:07.387,0:20:12.304
literally translates this "meat."

0:20:12.304,0:20:13.768
In our Bibles, it's "flesh."

0:20:13.768,0:20:16.312
In the Romanian Bible, [br]every place you see "flesh"

0:20:16.312,0:20:18.336
it says, "meat."

0:20:18.336,0:20:21.276
"The lusts of the meat."

0:20:21.276,0:20:24.452
What a word.

0:20:24.452,0:20:26.768
Sometimes, this idea of flesh,

0:20:26.768,0:20:31.523
it's the whole body.

0:20:31.523,0:20:34.718
"For we who live are always [br]being given over to death

0:20:34.718,0:20:37.183
for Jesus' sake, so that [br]the life of Jesus also

0:20:37.183,0:20:40.983
may be manifested in our mortal flesh."

0:20:40.983,0:20:44.021
Just our mortal bodies.

0:20:44.021,0:20:46.630
It's interchangeable with that.

0:20:46.630,0:20:49.988
But brethren, the most sinister,

0:20:49.988,0:20:54.796
the most dark -

0:20:54.796,0:20:58.114
that way that it is used

0:20:58.114,0:21:03.149
when it's just the base ugliness of man.

0:21:03.149,0:21:06.004
If you search it out in all of its uses,

0:21:06.004,0:21:09.548
you know what you so often see?

0:21:09.548,0:21:17.037
It is that which pertains to our humanity

0:21:17.037,0:21:24.263
which is contrary to the Spirit of God.

0:21:24.263,0:21:26.891
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh.

0:21:26.891,0:21:30.143
That which is born [br]of the Spirit is spirit."

0:21:30.143,0:21:33.621
It is that which is separated from,

0:21:33.621,0:21:35.696
contradictory to.

0:21:35.696,0:21:38.335
You've got flesh. You've got spirit.

0:21:38.335,0:21:41.627
Oh, that separation - that distinction,

0:21:41.627,0:21:44.158
yes, right there is made [br]by our Lord Jesus Himself,

0:21:44.158,0:21:46.004
but so often it's Paul

0:21:46.004,0:21:49.425
who sets that on the table for us.

0:21:49.425,0:21:52.203
"For to set the mind [br]on the flesh is death,

0:21:52.203,0:21:54.287
but to set the mind on the Spirit

0:21:54.287,0:21:55.465
is life and peace."

0:21:55.465,0:21:58.056
Or this, "the desires of the flesh."

0:21:58.056,0:22:00.310
They are against the Spirit.

0:22:00.310,0:22:02.580
And the desires of the Spirit

0:22:02.580,0:22:04.111
are against the flesh.

0:22:04.111,0:22:07.746
Flesh is used in this fashion to express

0:22:07.746,0:22:10.407
that which is in complete antithesis

0:22:10.407,0:22:12.609
to the Spirit of God.

0:22:12.609,0:22:13.963
It is opposed.

0:22:13.963,0:22:18.273
The flesh is all that man is.

0:22:18.273,0:22:21.125
It's his man-ness.

0:22:21.125,0:22:22.991
It is his humanness

0:22:22.991,0:22:26.564
apart from the work of [br]the Holy Spirit in him.

0:22:26.564,0:22:27.942
Just think about these words

0:22:27.942,0:22:29.715
that Paul spoke to the Corinthians.

0:22:29.715,0:22:31.008
You know them. Remember,

0:22:31.008,0:22:32.466
they're acting carnal.

0:22:32.466,0:22:34.350
Even there - carnal.

0:22:34.350,0:22:36.696
Some of the translations use carnality

0:22:36.696,0:22:39.334
in 1 Corinthians 3.

0:22:39.334,0:22:42.070
Carnal.

0:22:42.070,0:22:44.186
Remember the Romanian translation: meat.

0:22:44.186,0:22:47.534
What is the Spanish word for meat.

0:22:47.534,0:22:48.382
Carne.

0:22:48.382,0:22:49.572
Carnal.

0:22:49.572,0:22:50.968
It's the meat.

0:22:50.968,0:22:53.547
It's the lusts of the meat.

0:22:53.547,0:22:57.922
It's the lusts of the man-ness of man -

0:22:57.922,0:23:00.320
the humanness.

0:23:00.320,0:23:01.985
Listen to this.

0:23:01.985,0:23:03.677
1 Corinthians 3:3,

0:23:03.677,0:23:07.450
"You are still..." and he's [br]speaking to Christians here.

0:23:07.450,0:23:11.865
You don't want this said of [br]you if you're a Christian.

0:23:11.865,0:23:14.260
"You are still of the flesh."

0:23:14.260,0:23:15.967
You are still of the meat.

0:23:15.967,0:23:18.148
You're carnal. You're carne.

0:23:18.148,0:23:20.993
"For while there is jealousy [br]and strife among you,

0:23:20.993,0:23:23.616
are you not of the flesh

0:23:23.616,0:23:26.106
and behaving only in a human way?"

0:23:26.106,0:23:28.212
Or, your translation says,

0:23:28.212,0:23:30.884
"behaving like mere men?"

0:23:30.884,0:23:35.788
You say, well, that [br]doesn't sound that bad.

0:23:35.788,0:23:37.392
Just to behave like a mere man?

0:23:37.392,0:23:39.161
That doesn't sound so bad.

0:23:39.161,0:23:41.666
Don't you hear what Paul is saying?

0:23:41.666,0:23:45.396
All men are sons of disobedience

0:23:45.396,0:23:49.554
and we all lived - or still live -

0:23:49.554,0:23:52.377
among the sons of disobedience

0:23:52.377,0:23:54.015
carrying out the lusts

0:23:54.015,0:23:56.506
of our mere man-ness.

0:23:56.506,0:23:57.483
That's the issue.

0:23:57.483,0:23:59.202
You say that doesn't sound that bad

0:23:59.202,0:24:00.649
to merely be a man,

0:24:00.649,0:24:01.951
but to merely be a man

0:24:01.951,0:24:05.518
means everything rotten about man

0:24:05.518,0:24:07.778
who is without God;

0:24:07.778,0:24:09.317
who is separated.

0:24:09.317,0:24:14.571
Mere man-ness - don't you recognize?

0:24:14.571,0:24:17.734
Mere man-ness is ugly.

0:24:17.734,0:24:20.224
It is depraved.

0:24:20.224,0:24:22.555
He looks at these Corinthians.

0:24:22.555,0:24:27.126
They were whoring after prostitutes still.

0:24:27.126,0:24:28.817
1 Corinthians 6

0:24:28.817,0:24:31.107
He has to talk to them about drunkenness.

0:24:31.107,0:24:32.809
The rich are getting together

0:24:32.809,0:24:34.199
and despising the poor,

0:24:34.199,0:24:36.205
and they're glutting themselves

0:24:36.205,0:24:38.632
and getting drunk.

0:24:38.632,0:24:40.479
They're taking each other to court.

0:24:40.479,0:24:41.783
They're full of envy.

0:24:41.783,0:24:43.425
They're full of jealousy.

0:24:43.425,0:24:48.200
They are pitting one another [br]against each other in disunity

0:24:48.200,0:24:50.978
and exalting man.

0:24:50.978,0:24:53.672
That's mere man-ness. It's ugly.

0:24:53.672,0:24:58.987
It's horrible.

0:24:58.987,0:25:01.051
Now these different shades of meaning

0:25:01.051,0:25:02.288
are important,

0:25:02.288,0:25:05.887
because just look at the text.

0:25:05.887,0:25:07.877
"The sons of disobedience,

0:25:07.877,0:25:11.389
among whom we all once lived..."

0:25:11.389,0:25:18.004
First, "in the lusts of our flesh,

0:25:18.004,0:25:22.618
carrying out the desires

0:25:22.618,0:25:27.997
of the flesh (or body) and the mind."

0:25:27.997,0:25:30.643
The word flesh shows up here twice.

0:25:30.643,0:25:33.379
It carries two different meanings.

0:25:33.379,0:25:34.835
I mean, this is clear

0:25:34.835,0:25:36.343
to the translators of the ESV.

0:25:36.343,0:25:38.688
That's why they translate [br]it two different ways.

0:25:38.688,0:25:39.946
First, flesh, then body.

0:25:39.946,0:25:43.200
The first use of flesh - [br]it's this broad concept

0:25:43.200,0:25:46.320
which contains - notice -

0:25:46.320,0:25:48.269
it's the broad concept.

0:25:48.269,0:25:53.783
It contains both the desires of the flesh

0:25:53.783,0:25:55.762
or the desires of the body

0:25:55.762,0:25:59.703
and of the mind.

0:25:59.703,0:26:03.058
And you see, the [br]ESV translators are right.

0:26:03.058,0:26:04.417
Body - because what?

0:26:04.417,0:26:06.742
It's that part of our humanness

0:26:06.742,0:26:10.990
over against the mind.

0:26:10.990,0:26:14.906
You have it used flesh [br]in this broad ugly way,

0:26:14.906,0:26:17.138
and then it's used of the body.

0:26:17.138,0:26:18.532
When it's used of the body,

0:26:18.532,0:26:21.198
it doesn't necessarily need to carry

0:26:21.198,0:26:22.630
any negative connotation,

0:26:22.630,0:26:24.475
just like "mind" by itself

0:26:24.475,0:26:26.850
doesn't carry any negative connotation.

0:26:26.850,0:26:29.060
But because these are outworkings

0:26:29.060,0:26:31.902
of the lusts of the flesh,

0:26:31.902,0:26:35.558
it's all negative here.

0:26:35.558,0:26:37.319
And what Paul does is he narrows in

0:26:37.319,0:26:40.254
on these two particular ways

0:26:40.254,0:26:43.064
in which these lusts of the flesh

0:26:43.064,0:26:45.403
manifest themselves.

0:26:45.403,0:26:48.878
The desires of the body,

0:26:48.878,0:26:52.493
the desires of the mind.

0:26:52.493,0:26:54.822
So let's look at these two things.

0:26:54.822,0:26:57.637
First, think about the body.

0:26:57.637,0:27:02.109
The desires of the body.

0:27:02.109,0:27:04.006
You know, what's interesting here

0:27:04.006,0:27:08.055
is we first have the term passion

0:27:08.055,0:27:12.166
or lust - isn't that a desire?

0:27:12.166,0:27:14.071
Yeah, that's a desire.

0:27:14.071,0:27:16.733
And then he uses the term

0:27:16.733,0:27:21.012
that's translated "desire" again.

0:27:21.012,0:27:25.933
It almost can sound like [br]he's being redundant here.

0:27:25.933,0:27:28.560
The second word that he uses

0:27:28.560,0:27:31.187
is the idea of the will.

0:27:31.187,0:27:33.829
It's determination.

0:27:33.829,0:27:36.214
You need to think about this.

0:27:36.214,0:27:40.018
As lost people, our bodies -

0:27:40.018,0:27:42.619
they are determined.

0:27:42.619,0:27:44.732
They are willed.

0:27:44.732,0:27:47.755
There is something at work

0:27:47.755,0:27:51.703
that is driving - driving.

0:27:51.703,0:27:52.712
It's the will.

0:27:52.712,0:27:55.484
Paul is hitting on what slaves we were

0:27:55.484,0:27:58.622
to our bodies as they willed

0:27:58.622,0:28:00.834
to have done to them certain things.

0:28:00.834,0:28:02.656
There was the determination.

0:28:02.656,0:28:03.620
This is sin.

0:28:03.620,0:28:05.993
We see this concept over in Romans 6.

0:28:05.993,0:28:10.100
Sin that seeks to reign in the mortal body

0:28:10.100,0:28:14.458
and to have us obey the [br]passions of the body.

0:28:14.458,0:28:17.615
Sin is at work. It's pressing us.

0:28:17.615,0:28:19.156
The will of the body.

0:28:19.156,0:28:22.339
The determination of the body to gratify.

0:28:22.339,0:28:25.455
There's an urge. There's a driving.

0:28:25.455,0:28:29.567
There's a lusting to gratify its passions

0:28:29.567,0:28:31.976
in a way that opposes God.

0:28:31.976,0:28:32.995
That's the issue.

0:28:32.995,0:28:35.305
That's how sin seeks to reign.

0:28:35.305,0:28:37.064
Look, we have to recognize,

0:28:37.064,0:28:38.792
the appetites of the body

0:28:38.792,0:28:41.072
were created by God.

0:28:41.072,0:28:42.794
And it was good.

0:28:42.794,0:28:44.993
He created us to hunger.

0:28:44.993,0:28:46.474
That's good.

0:28:46.474,0:28:49.198
He created us with these appetites.

0:28:49.198,0:28:51.805
Thirst.

0:28:51.805,0:28:54.570
You know, He designed pleasure.

0:28:54.570,0:28:57.077
Do you know He designed the nerves

0:28:57.077,0:29:00.431
that release that into our brains

0:29:00.431,0:29:03.468
which get processed and produce

0:29:03.468,0:29:07.475
feelings that are good and pleasurable.

0:29:07.475,0:29:09.617
He did that.

0:29:09.617,0:29:14.258
(incomplete thought)

0:29:14.258,0:29:15.772
Some of my children, you know,

0:29:15.772,0:29:18.448
you try to scratch their backs [br]when they were younger,

0:29:18.448,0:29:19.759
and it just tickled them,

0:29:19.759,0:29:22.343
and they couldn't stand it.

0:29:22.343,0:29:25.550
To me, it's wonderful.

0:29:25.550,0:29:28.308
You massage my wife's [br]feet, she just melts.

0:29:28.308,0:29:31.318
You touch mine and it's [br]like, ugh, I can't stand that.

0:29:31.318,0:29:35.898
But God created in His kindness,

0:29:35.898,0:29:38.942
He created our ability to have

0:29:38.942,0:29:40.884
somebody scratch our back,

0:29:40.884,0:29:45.135
and it's like, ah, that feels so good.

0:29:45.135,0:29:46.754
Isn't that kind of Him?

0:29:46.754,0:29:50.229
He didn't have to do that.

0:29:50.229,0:29:51.400
Kind of Him.

0:29:51.400,0:29:57.018
Have you ever taken a big scoop

0:29:57.018,0:30:00.760
of carrot cake or cheesecake,

0:30:00.760,0:30:05.057
and it's like, that's wonderful!

0:30:05.057,0:30:09.034
He's created that.

0:30:09.034,0:30:10.386
I mean, men and women

0:30:10.386,0:30:12.107
look forward to their honeymoon.

0:30:12.107,0:30:14.003
Why? They are going to experience

0:30:14.003,0:30:17.293
such things as - I mean,

0:30:17.293,0:30:22.526
they're a picture of our [br]relationship with Christ.

0:30:22.526,0:30:25.832
Just absolutely good.

0:30:25.832,0:30:28.905
Very good.

0:30:28.905,0:30:31.301
That's how He created us.

0:30:31.301,0:30:34.687
And so, we don't want [br]to despise these things,

0:30:34.687,0:30:37.080
but listen.

0:30:37.080,0:30:39.702
He created these appetites for us

0:30:39.702,0:30:41.345
to be in control of,

0:30:41.345,0:30:43.676
not for them to control us.

0:30:43.676,0:30:48.122
And He created these [br]appetites to serve Him.

0:30:48.122,0:30:53.281
He created these appetites [br]to be for His glory.

0:30:53.281,0:30:57.709
Not for His glory to be [br]dragged through the muck.

0:30:57.709,0:30:59.880
That's the issue.

0:30:59.880,0:31:04.475
What happens is sin seeks to reign -

0:31:04.475,0:31:05.579
reign!

0:31:05.579,0:31:08.966
It seeks to commandeer these appetites

0:31:08.966,0:31:11.440
and use them against God.

0:31:11.440,0:31:12.740
That's what happens.

0:31:12.740,0:31:15.037
This is the ugly part.

0:31:15.037,0:31:18.523
And these passions, these appetites,

0:31:18.523,0:31:20.680
they're in the grip of sin.

0:31:20.680,0:31:21.717
And what happens?

0:31:21.717,0:31:24.785
They scream at us to be satisfied,

0:31:24.785,0:31:26.884
and they're relentless in their demands.

0:31:26.884,0:31:29.407
And they don't care what God has said

0:31:29.407,0:31:30.916
or what has commanded.

0:31:30.916,0:31:33.000
Just do it because [br]it's going to feel good!

0:31:33.000,0:31:34.222
Do it! Do it!

0:31:34.222,0:31:37.348
And they drive us! Do it!

0:31:37.348,0:31:38.773
Oh, God will understand.

0:31:38.773,0:31:40.769
God will understand. You hear that.

0:31:40.769,0:31:42.195
"I'm going to leave my wife

0:31:42.195,0:31:44.417
because I don't love her anymore."

0:31:44.417,0:31:47.446
Why? "I think God just [br]wants me to be happy."

0:31:47.446,0:31:50.336
No, designed us to glorify Him.

0:31:50.336,0:31:53.367
And He gave us these [br]appetites to glorify Him.

0:31:53.367,0:31:54.494
And we're just driven.

0:31:54.494,0:31:56.159
We'll go from one woman to the next

0:31:56.159,0:31:57.285
or one man to the next.

0:31:57.285,0:31:59.610
You just see this works out

0:31:59.610,0:32:01.473
in such a hideous, ugly way

0:32:01.473,0:32:03.218
when you get the drug addict

0:32:03.218,0:32:05.908
who they've just got [br]to have their next fix.

0:32:05.908,0:32:07.886
And you say, oh, I'm not like that.

0:32:07.886,0:32:09.370
Yes, you are.

0:32:09.370,0:32:11.833
Even if it hasn't manifested [br]itself like that.

0:32:11.833,0:32:12.738
You are.

0:32:12.738,0:32:16.260
Our will held captive.

0:32:16.260,0:32:19.264
We love to think, oh, we're free.

0:32:19.264,0:32:21.010
We're free.

0:32:21.010,0:32:23.162
The guy dragging on his cigarette -

0:32:23.162,0:32:24.882
"I could give it up anytime I want.

0:32:24.882,0:32:26.374
I just don't want."

0:32:26.374,0:32:28.755
That's exactly right.

0:32:28.755,0:32:31.561
You could if you wanted.

0:32:31.561,0:32:35.418
But you see, your body [br]screams for nicotine.

0:32:35.418,0:32:38.601
And you know what?

0:32:38.601,0:32:43.896
When these lusts scream at us,

0:32:43.896,0:32:46.751
we don't have the power to resist.

0:32:46.751,0:32:49.987
One lust may trump another.

0:32:49.987,0:32:51.842
I've seen plenty of sinners

0:32:51.842,0:32:55.840
get rid of one for another.

0:32:55.840,0:32:58.399
But you don't have power over them.

0:32:58.399,0:33:01.557
One stronger than the one you're presently

0:33:01.557,0:33:05.474
if you're lost, controls your life.

0:33:05.474,0:33:07.516
A stronger one may come along

0:33:07.516,0:33:09.215
and boot that one out.

0:33:09.215,0:33:10.739
Kind of like the stronger demon

0:33:10.739,0:33:13.965
comes along and boots out the lesser one.

0:33:13.965,0:33:16.694
That may be true.

0:33:16.694,0:33:18.788
You've heard of the bondage of the will -

0:33:18.788,0:33:20.976
here we are.

0:33:20.976,0:33:23.969
We are given to the will of the body.

0:33:23.969,0:33:26.277
That's what he's talking about here.

0:33:26.277,0:33:32.518
God gave us appetites [br]to be subordinate to us.

0:33:32.518,0:33:37.031
He wants us to keep them under control,

0:33:37.031,0:33:39.118
but they dominate.

0:33:39.118,0:33:40.978
They dominate.

0:33:40.978,0:33:45.341
What happens is we [br]buckle to their authority.

0:33:45.341,0:33:47.003
God is to be on the throne.

0:33:47.003,0:33:48.297
But what happens?

0:33:48.297,0:33:51.117
Sin takes the place on the throne,

0:33:51.117,0:33:53.588
and our passions take [br]a place on the throne.

0:33:53.588,0:33:56.451
We get down and we bow before them.

0:33:56.451,0:33:58.992
And we bow, and we bow.

0:33:58.992,0:34:02.280
You find people out here,

0:34:02.280,0:34:05.795
they eat when they're not hungry.

0:34:05.795,0:34:07.646
There's enough fat on their bodies.

0:34:07.646,0:34:09.426
They don't need to eat.

0:34:09.426,0:34:12.020
And they eat.

0:34:12.020,0:34:13.740
Undoubtedly throughout this city,

0:34:13.740,0:34:17.141
people will drink today [br]who are not thirsty.

0:34:17.141,0:34:20.811
And they will drink to get drunk.

0:34:20.811,0:34:23.267
And they will bow down to that.

0:34:23.267,0:34:27.052
Drug use. Prescription pain killers.

0:34:27.052,0:34:30.264
People just bowing down, bowing down,

0:34:30.264,0:34:32.673
bowing down.

0:34:32.673,0:34:36.596
And then there's sex.

0:34:36.596,0:34:39.869
Sex is a god in this country.

0:34:39.869,0:34:42.094
And how many people bowing down -

0:34:42.094,0:34:44.590
sex-crazed, pornographic society.

0:34:44.590,0:34:45.998
And brethren, the thing is,

0:34:45.998,0:34:48.553
we're not talking just [br]about the society out there.

0:34:48.553,0:34:53.341
Paul is saying this - Christian -

0:34:53.341,0:34:57.987
this was you.

0:34:57.987,0:35:00.946
Unbeliever, this is you.

0:35:00.946,0:35:07.747
This is man in his ugliness.

0:35:07.747,0:35:09.993
We all know about these things.

0:35:09.993,0:35:12.928
We all know about the relentless demands

0:35:12.928,0:35:16.665
of our bodies and how we serve them.

0:35:16.665,0:35:19.826
Now, let's go to the [br]other subcategory here.

0:35:19.826,0:35:21.074
Look at the text.

0:35:21.074,0:35:23.000
It's not just carrying out the desires

0:35:23.000,0:35:28.133
of the body... "and the mind."

0:35:28.133,0:35:30.609
Paul doesn't stop. There's more.

0:35:30.609,0:35:33.368
And see, both of these things

0:35:33.368,0:35:38.304
are subgroups of the overriding lusts -

0:35:38.304,0:35:41.660
lusts of the flesh.

0:35:41.660,0:35:44.627
There is this other subdivision,

0:35:44.627,0:35:46.180
this other component.

0:35:46.180,0:35:50.132
What? The mind.

0:35:50.132,0:35:57.187
Think about the filth of the mind.

0:35:57.187,0:36:01.624
The thoughts of fallen man.

0:36:01.624,0:36:04.299
I know there may be those who imagine,

0:36:04.299,0:36:07.304
look, I'm not some great sinner

0:36:07.304,0:36:10.851
like you're describing.

0:36:10.851,0:36:15.479
I never got drunk in my life.

0:36:15.479,0:36:22.837
Never fornicated with my neighbor.

0:36:22.837,0:36:26.608
I've not done drugs in my life.

0:36:26.608,0:36:33.453
Well, it's true, you may not have.

0:36:33.453,0:36:35.779
We may think ourselves [br]not like the gluttons,

0:36:35.779,0:36:38.303
not like the drunks, [br]not like the drug addicts,

0:36:38.303,0:36:40.119
but you know what Paul says?

0:36:40.119,0:36:44.695
He said you just wait a second.

0:36:44.695,0:36:48.404
Again, before there's any boasting,

0:36:48.404,0:36:52.308
shhh...

0:36:52.308,0:36:58.038
Hear what God says about your condition.

0:36:58.038,0:36:59.749
There's the mind.

0:36:59.749,0:37:02.015
What are we talking about here?

0:37:02.015,0:37:06.996
That part of the flesh

0:37:06.996,0:37:08.976
that has to do with the thoughts,

0:37:08.976,0:37:10.865
the thinking, the intellect,

0:37:10.865,0:37:12.757
the affections.

0:37:12.757,0:37:15.040
This is just as much an expression

0:37:15.040,0:37:17.660
of the carnal lusting of our flesh

0:37:17.660,0:37:20.595
as is sexual immorality,

0:37:20.595,0:37:22.692
gluttony, sloth.

0:37:22.692,0:37:24.561
What are these desires of the mind

0:37:24.561,0:37:26.209
or the will of the mind that is

0:37:26.209,0:37:27.876
such an expression of the flesh?

0:37:27.876,0:37:30.106
We're talking about anything

0:37:30.106,0:37:33.666
you live for and dwell on in your thoughts

0:37:33.666,0:37:35.554
apart from God.

0:37:35.554,0:37:37.444
We're talking about godless thoughts.

0:37:37.444,0:37:40.077
We're talking about the [br]things that you're after.

0:37:40.077,0:37:41.822
And see, this is the thing,

0:37:41.822,0:37:45.061
what God has designed us for is Him.

0:37:45.061,0:37:46.999
God has designed us to worship Him.

0:37:46.999,0:37:49.807
God has designed our minds [br]to be used for His glory.

0:37:49.807,0:37:52.359
And when your mind is after

0:37:52.359,0:37:54.683
other things than Him,

0:37:54.683,0:37:56.830
and not after them for His glory,

0:37:56.830,0:37:59.613
but after them because that's [br]what you've got to have,

0:37:59.613,0:38:01.704
and you've got to have them at any price,

0:38:01.704,0:38:03.183
and that's what you're driven.

0:38:03.183,0:38:05.204
And it's lust, and it's driving.

0:38:05.204,0:38:06.662
And there you go.

0:38:06.662,0:38:10.237
You're plowing deeper and [br]deeper into this thing.

0:38:10.237,0:38:11.989
And you're dwelling on these things.

0:38:11.989,0:38:14.458
And you're filling your mind full of them.

0:38:14.458,0:38:15.881
What you have to understand

0:38:15.881,0:38:18.540
is God looks at that and He says,

0:38:18.540,0:38:22.367
that is like a dog running to the vomit.

0:38:22.367,0:38:24.384
That is that disgusting.

0:38:24.384,0:38:25.845
That's what that's like.

0:38:25.845,0:38:27.630
It is unclean.

0:38:27.630,0:38:28.855
It is dirty.

0:38:28.855,0:38:30.724
It is the pollution of man.

0:38:30.724,0:38:32.135
It's in the mind.

0:38:32.135,0:38:33.569
When we think about the dog

0:38:33.569,0:38:34.836
going to its vomit,

0:38:34.836,0:38:36.862
it isn't just like the man -

0:38:36.862,0:38:39.195
you know, the man, [br]you try to clean him up.

0:38:39.195,0:38:41.438
He's been a drug addict.[br]He goes to drug rehab.

0:38:41.438,0:38:43.984
He comes back out again,[br]and he runs back to it.

0:38:43.984,0:38:45.387
Brethren, don't you recognize

0:38:45.387,0:38:46.847
what we're talking about here?

0:38:46.847,0:38:48.952
We're talking about people [br]who in their mind

0:38:48.952,0:38:51.257
are full of jealousy.

0:38:51.257,0:38:54.486
You can't escape that.

0:38:54.486,0:38:57.437
We're talking about minds full of hatred.

0:38:57.437,0:39:05.105
Bitterness, malice, envy, jealousy.

0:39:05.105,0:39:07.787
Jesus hits on it.

0:39:07.787,0:39:10.434
It's not the guy that [br]sleeps with prostitutes

0:39:10.434,0:39:11.886
and you try to clean him up

0:39:11.886,0:39:15.839
and he keeps going back.

0:39:15.839,0:39:17.846
It's the man who sits at his office

0:39:17.846,0:39:20.832
and lusts after the secretary.

0:39:20.832,0:39:23.210
Day after day.

0:39:23.210,0:39:25.229
And his mind is filled

0:39:25.229,0:39:30.323
with the pornographic thoughts.

0:39:30.323,0:39:34.689
It's everything you go after [br]in your mind apart from God.

0:39:34.689,0:39:37.086
It may be learning.

0:39:37.086,0:39:40.748
It may be having books, having classes,

0:39:40.748,0:39:42.302
being in the university,

0:39:42.302,0:39:45.000
just lusting after more knowledge;

0:39:45.000,0:39:46.548
lusting to learn;

0:39:46.548,0:39:48.580
lusting after degrees.

0:39:48.580,0:39:50.945
It can be very white collar.

0:39:50.945,0:39:52.769
It can be very clean.

0:39:52.769,0:39:56.411
It can look really neat.

0:39:56.411,0:39:58.247
You're not visiting the brothels.

0:39:58.247,0:40:00.099
You're not over in India

0:40:00.099,0:40:03.223
dealing and plying with [br]the sex trade over there.

0:40:03.223,0:40:06.576
No, but you're in the college classroom

0:40:06.576,0:40:08.340
and you're doing the same thing

0:40:08.340,0:40:10.527
in your dirty, filthy mind.

0:40:10.527,0:40:13.310
And you're full of hatred towards others

0:40:13.310,0:40:15.154
because you're a god in your own mind

0:40:15.154,0:40:16.696
and other people challenge that

0:40:16.696,0:40:18.415
and you're jealous because you want

0:40:18.415,0:40:19.559
what other people have.

0:40:19.559,0:40:21.435
And you're envious.

0:40:21.435,0:40:25.748
Brethren, this is mankind.

0:40:25.748,0:40:27.708
And we know the filth of it.

0:40:27.708,0:40:29.324
We know the dirt of it.

0:40:29.324,0:40:32.546
This is where Paul is saying,

0:40:32.546,0:40:36.102
do you not recognize the power of God

0:40:36.102,0:40:41.182
that takes you up out of this?

0:40:41.182,0:40:42.758
There may be those here

0:40:42.758,0:40:44.787
that have never gotten drunk.

0:40:44.787,0:40:47.081
I know it. Never been high on cocaine.

0:40:47.081,0:40:49.165
Never had sex outside of marriage.

0:40:49.165,0:40:52.629
Never... never, but you just simply

0:40:52.629,0:40:55.513
can't escape jealousy.

0:40:55.513,0:41:00.242
Because it's right there.

0:41:00.242,0:41:02.688
You want what they have.

0:41:02.688,0:41:07.239
Covet. Covet.

0:41:07.239,0:41:09.935
You need wealth.

0:41:09.935,0:41:11.913
You need popularity.

0:41:11.913,0:41:13.825
You need a car like the neighbors.

0:41:13.825,0:41:16.603
You need your children [br]to succeed like theirs.

0:41:16.603,0:41:18.646
You need this.

0:41:18.646,0:41:20.711
And we're just driven all our lives.

0:41:20.711,0:41:23.622
Brethren, is that not how it [br]was when we were lost?

0:41:23.622,0:41:25.937
No care for God. No care for His glory.

0:41:25.937,0:41:28.481
Even religious. Religious. Do this.

0:41:28.481,0:41:30.888
Self-righteous. Earn your way.

0:41:30.888,0:41:33.193
Be something before God.

0:41:33.193,0:41:35.124
Be good enough!

0:41:35.124,0:41:36.841
You don't need that Christ.

0:41:36.841,0:41:38.367
You don't need that.

0:41:38.367,0:41:40.298
You don't need justification.

0:41:40.298,0:41:42.560
You need to be good. Work it out.

0:41:42.560,0:41:44.246
Keep the law. Keep going.

0:41:44.246,0:41:46.204
Just driving, driving.

0:41:46.204,0:41:47.533
The lusts of the flesh.

0:41:47.533,0:41:49.280
This lust of pride

0:41:49.280,0:41:51.371
to be able to stand before God

0:41:51.371,0:41:52.793
and say, "Look at me,

0:41:52.793,0:41:54.506
and look what I've done."

0:41:54.506,0:41:56.360
Rather than bowing and saying,

0:41:56.360,0:42:00.388
"Thank You, Lord. I know what I was."

0:42:00.388,0:42:02.371
Brethren, this is it. Just think.

0:42:02.371,0:42:03.831
Think. Think.

0:42:03.831,0:42:05.587
A desire to be right.

0:42:05.587,0:42:07.613
A desire to win the debate.

0:42:07.613,0:42:10.113
A desire - this desire -

0:42:10.113,0:42:12.162
lusting after social media.

0:42:12.162,0:42:14.622
Lusting after all the gossip of it.

0:42:14.622,0:42:16.658
Just wanting to hear the latest thing.

0:42:16.658,0:42:19.140
Hear the garbage. Hear the trash.

0:42:19.140,0:42:21.430
Have something to debate about out there.

0:42:21.430,0:42:22.777
You want to win.

0:42:22.777,0:42:26.195
There's just this lust after video games.

0:42:26.195,0:42:28.029
Why? It makes me feel good.

0:42:28.029,0:42:29.608
It does something in my mind.

0:42:29.608,0:42:31.874
It produces these things in my mind.

0:42:31.874,0:42:33.950
I need more. I need more.

0:42:33.950,0:42:36.634
You make your resolutions.[br]Anybody ever been there?

0:42:36.634,0:42:38.812
As a lost person, I made resolutions.

0:42:38.812,0:42:42.400
Okay, I'm not going to do this anymore

0:42:42.400,0:42:44.046
when I get out of high school.

0:42:44.046,0:42:45.719
And I did it and I did it worse.

0:42:45.719,0:42:48.542
Okay, I'm not going to do this [br]when I get out of college.

0:42:48.542,0:42:49.527
And you know what?

0:42:49.527,0:42:50.938
Shortly before God saved me,

0:42:50.938,0:42:53.032
I just came to resign myself:

0:42:53.032,0:42:55.094
I'm never giving those things up.

0:42:55.094,0:42:56.771
I didn't have the power to do it.

0:42:56.771,0:42:58.851
The first time it was really sinking in -

0:42:58.851,0:43:00.661
all our resolutions are trash.

0:43:00.661,0:43:02.689
They don't go anywhere. Why?

0:43:02.689,0:43:05.542
Because inside of us [br]there is this craving,

0:43:05.542,0:43:07.340
there is this driving -

0:43:07.340,0:43:08.921
that's the idea: lusting.

0:43:08.921,0:43:10.624
Lusting, lusting.

0:43:10.624,0:43:11.734
We've got to have.

0:43:11.734,0:43:13.287
See, we so often think about it

0:43:13.287,0:43:15.615
just in the category of sexual immorality.

0:43:15.615,0:43:18.148
But we're talking just our desire

0:43:18.148,0:43:21.050
in our mind to have whatever it is.

0:43:21.050,0:43:23.041
Movies coming in or TV -

0:43:23.041,0:43:24.518
just lusting after it.

0:43:24.518,0:43:26.367
I've got to know the next episode.

0:43:26.367,0:43:28.907
Just some new thing - fill my mind.

0:43:28.907,0:43:31.814
We've just got to have - always looking,

0:43:31.814,0:43:33.808
always some new thing in this world.

0:43:33.808,0:43:35.503
Never content in God.

0:43:35.503,0:43:37.831
Always needing something more.

0:43:37.831,0:43:40.587
That's why our sin just [br]gets worse and worse.

0:43:40.587,0:43:42.056
That's why the drug addict,

0:43:42.056,0:43:43.880
they can handle a little bit at first,

0:43:43.880,0:43:45.984
but then they've got to have[br]more and more.

0:43:45.984,0:43:48.041
The drunk - a little bit in the beginning.

0:43:48.041,0:43:49.138
More and more and more.

0:43:49.138,0:43:50.892
Sexual people that reach

0:43:50.892,0:43:52.981
these stages of perversion.

0:43:52.981,0:43:54.677
It doesn't start that way.

0:43:54.677,0:43:56.451
It's more and more. Why?

0:43:56.451,0:43:59.579
Just lusting, lusting, lusting!

0:43:59.579,0:44:01.772
Brethren, this is what we were.

0:44:01.772,0:44:04.920
Can you imagine God looking [br]at such people as us

0:44:04.920,0:44:09.129
and saying, "I think I'm [br]going to send My Son

0:44:09.129,0:44:18.555
to die under My wrath in their place."

0:44:18.555,0:44:27.221
Paul wants us to look at that and say,

0:44:27.221,0:44:31.929
"What have You done, Lord?"

0:44:31.929,0:44:35.025
What have You done?

0:44:35.025,0:44:43.535
In such a state of lust,

0:44:43.535,0:44:48.311
none of us can stand before God.

0:44:48.311,0:44:50.730
Can you imagine walking before

0:44:50.730,0:44:59.031
the holy, holy, holy God?

0:44:59.031,0:45:05.798
Children of wrath like [br]the rest of mankind.

0:45:05.798,0:45:08.091
We'll be engulfed.

0:45:08.091,0:45:11.746
We'll be consumed.

0:45:11.746,0:45:18.405
Paul seeks to put his [br]finger to our lips now.

0:45:18.405,0:45:20.181
I have heard sinners say,

0:45:20.181,0:45:21.804
"Well, when I stand before God,

0:45:21.804,0:45:28.099
I'm going to tell Him..."

0:45:28.099,0:45:31.544
One sight of the holy God,

0:45:31.544,0:45:35.949
you won't be saying anything.

0:45:35.949,0:45:42.192
You may cry "mercy," but it's too late.

0:45:42.192,0:45:47.697
But God has unleashed such power

0:45:47.697,0:45:50.122
through the Son of God

0:45:50.122,0:45:52.587
and His coming and His life

0:45:52.587,0:45:55.758
and His death and His exaltation

0:45:55.758,0:45:59.593
far above all rule and authority [br]and power and dominion.

0:45:59.593,0:46:02.034
And there is such a power here.

0:46:02.034,0:46:04.543
A power like Peter talks about.

0:46:04.543,0:46:08.860
We no longer live for the [br]passions of the flesh,

0:46:08.860,0:46:10.901
but for the will of God.

0:46:10.901,0:46:14.016
There is a power whereby we no longer

0:46:14.016,0:46:15.897
surrender our members

0:46:15.897,0:46:18.369
as these servants of unrighteousness.

0:46:18.369,0:46:20.546
But now, to righteousness,

0:46:20.546,0:46:24.871
the body becomes the [br]dwelling place of God.

0:46:24.871,0:46:26.997
The very temple of the Holy Spirit.

0:46:26.997,0:46:30.227
Brethren, there is power in regeneration.

0:46:30.227,0:46:32.935
Transforming power.

0:46:32.935,0:46:35.613
That is where the power of God unleashed.

0:46:35.613,0:46:39.209
It's in His Son.[br]It's in the cross.

0:46:39.209,0:46:43.391
And that's what Paul is doing here.

0:46:43.391,0:46:45.221
He's just wanting to show us

0:46:45.221,0:46:47.939
this wretchedness of man,

0:46:47.939,0:46:53.868
so that it magnifies the power

0:46:53.868,0:46:58.126
and the grace of God.

0:46:58.126,0:47:02.761
Isn't our salvation just amazing?

0:47:02.761,0:47:04.912
Amen.

0:47:04.912,0:47:07.018
Thank You, Lord.

0:47:07.018,0:47:08.436
You're dismissed.