Enslaved to the Desires of The Flesh by Tim Conway

okay brethren we find ourselves in Ephesians chapter two once again this is part four of a five part series on these first three verses of Ephesians 2 we can read those together I've called this series how dead is dead fivefold fallenness of man today's part for today we're going to focus on the flesh we've looked at man dead in sin dead with regards to the world dead with regards to the devil today dead with regards to the flesh next week Lord willing the wrath of God our deadness to God feegans 2:1 and you were dead you were only if you're a Christian you were if you're not a Christian you are let me just tell you up front here nobody needs to embellish how bad man is all we need to know is the reality of the situation and it's bad you are dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world following the Prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind we're by nature children of Wrath like the rest of mankind so there you have it three verses that spell out this fivefold fallenness of man last week when I got done preaching one of our younger theologians came up after I was done and asked me why I hadn't included any application I preached about the Prince of the power of the air this young man wanted to know how do I apply that to my life and brethren what I told him is that sometimes when we're confronted by the Word of God I told them it's enough if at times we're just simply left worshipping that is not a wrong and abetted brethren that is not a that is not a bad application of Scripture if we simply are confronted by it and we come away seeing God as big and ourselves as incredibly small that that is profitable that is good I know look look I recognize that in these verses that we're dealing with following the course of this world you know I could tell us all I we could we could just get consumed with the world and how do we overcome the world and how do we not love the world and you know what scripture deals with those things in other places but what I want to do is what Paul wants to do and right now Paul is not telling us how to overcome the world right now Paul is not telling us how to overcome the devil he's not telling us how to overcome the flesh you know what he's doing right now he is concerned that we have some recognition of the exceedingly immeasurable greatness of God's power toward us who believe he wants us to measure it and by measuring it what he wants to do is he wants to take us down into the depths of the pit from which we came over against the exultation to which we've been saved and it's in that contrast it's in that difference that he wants us to step back and just be amazed and being all at the power of God and brethren if we look at these things the wretchedness the brokenness of mankind and we're left saying wow you know that's enough do you know if you're left coming away from the Word of God and you fall down on your face don't we get the sense that that's exactly why God does everything that does because in the end it's not so much just about the application to our lives in the sense that you know I have to walk out this door and now have a list of things to do rather than what God really wants us to do is walk out this door and fall down on our faces and say wow thank you lord thank you thank you well you know what he wants us to do in this he wants us to recognize what sort of people we were that he rescued us from his wrath that's what it is the end in view is worship the end in view is aw brethren we need to be gripped we need to be we need to be changed and amazed that God would actually unleash his great might on such people as we were that's the issue so today part 4 turn our attention towards the flesh rather than what we have is man like an animal but worse because we have a mind look at it right at the end of verse 2 the sons of disobedience the devil was at work in the sons of disobedience look what it says among whom we all all of us among them we lived in other words we were one of them all of us this is a summation a summary statement of all mankind in their natural condition we lived among the sons of disobedience in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind now just get a feel for this the New King James we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts the lust lust what a word this was that roll off your tongue lust that produces imagery in our minds the lust of our flesh or the new American Standard we - all all formerly we Christians this was us - we all four early lived in the lusts of our flesh King James Version we all had our conversation that doesn't mean just what we speak that's this is that's the full orbed life of the man we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh so we are here we have it man dead in sin is very much alive to the lusts of the flesh man like an animal like I said he's an animal base animal lust but worse because what he breaks this out into as he as he seeks to go deeper as he seeks to break this thing out into some subcategories he goes to the mind you see we have a mind unlike the animals but even that mind it's just an expression of the lusting the cravings of the flesh pollution that's what we're talking about the dirtiness and the filthiness of man he's one big bag of lust this is man like an animal lusting lusting brethren like a dog driven to its vomit you say well that's about people who once made a profession or maybe even we're teachers and they came back yes but you think about that for scripture to liken a man like that to a dog that returns to its vomit you know what that implies he was once at the vomit left it and came back man at his vomit is a picture or man dogs dogs at its vomit you know how many times scripture likens sinners to animals we're likened to pigs and we're liking to dogs and you think about a dog looking up its vomit you say that's that's gross that's us that's mankind that's ugly this is the ugliness of mankind this is the dirt the filth the muck you think about a pig and what a pig listen my uncle raised pigs you ought to see a pig and hear a pig and watch them eat and watch what they swim in you may have some refined idea you know you walk out of here after it's been raining your footsteps and grass and it's a little muddy you ought to see it firsthand you get an idea of what God sees when he sees man and all the lust all just like a pig greedy to plunge into the slime you see brethren what I'm saying here is again this isn't embellishing on the badness of man this is the picture so often scripture just likening us to some sort of animal believer this was you unbeliever this is you all of us we lived in lust let's all what he says oh I'm not a murderer I'm not part of the drug cartel I'm not like these homeless drunks out here I'm not like that I'm not like the woman that prostitutes her body so that she can she can satisfy her drug addiction I'm not like that I wasn't born on the wrong side of the tracks I'm not like those sinners I wear a white shirt when I go to work you know what Paul does he puts on his finger and he places it on our lips stop just stop this is you or this is what you were he closes our mouth here all of us among whom we all once lived stop the boasting in what you were because this is you this is me lust of the flesh it's an ugly picture I know Paul means it to be this is man is he is his base polluted vulgar offensive lusting self but brethren this is where we ought to go out just fall down before the Lord the absolutely astounding thing is that God would ever ever ever want something to do with us thank you lord the flesh look at it the passions are the lusts of our flesh the flesh we're going to be confronted by this term the flesh because it's used in Scripture it's used quite often Paul especially uses this terminology perhaps you're not aware we have friends in different places that have been involved in various degree of debate over the meaning of this word there there is a debate among men who we know concerning what does it actually mean and what are the consequences of what it means and what should we expect from Christians because of what it means and we have to ask the question what is Paul referring to and the first thing we need to recognize is much like we looked at when we dealt with the world so it is with the flesh that it's a word that carries different shades of meaning so we need to recognize that right away that when you come across the word flesh in your Bibles it's not just enough to say well it means the same thing all the time and so it must mean that right there we actually have to examine the context to really figure out what in the world we're dealing with I'll just tell you this right off in the ESV you don't see it but if you've got another translation in your hands you may well see that the term flesh is actually used here twice the ESV says flesh the first time body the second time but in the original same word same word what's he doing is he just redundantly repeating himself he talks about the passions or the lusts of the flesh and then he talks about the passions of the lusts of the flesh again no he did he's actually giving us an overall and then he's subdivided into two categories he's not just redundantly repeating the same thing and the reason it's not the same thing is because he's actually using flesh with two different meanings here and you have to recognize from the context what's going on but just very quickly I want to run through some shades of meaning that you find in the term flesh when you find it in Scripture for instance it can just simply mean human nature in other words Paul is using it in a very negative way when he talks about the lusts of the flesh that obviously is the ugliness of mankind however we have the word used this way the word became flesh and dwelt among us our tabernacled among us Christ became flesh that obviously carries no negatives overtones or undertones not at all it just what does that mean he became a man it has to do with our human nature in the days of his flesh Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears so it can get just like the world can flesh can carry meaning that is no way negative or how about this it can mean our common ancestry or our bloodlines for instance the New King James Version Romans 1114 Paul is speaking about provoking to jealousy those who are my flesh and I refer to the New King James because it actually translates it flesh he wants to provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and saved some of them well the ESV says fellow Jews the new American Standard says fellow countrymen you see what he's talking about their flesh are those that he's related to my own flesh and blood we might say it has to do also with just this earthly life single people Paul would say to you he again I'm going to read I'm going to read from the New King James because it's actually not a it's not trying to translate this away from the original meaning Paul says look if you marry you've not sinned and if a virgin marry she has not sinned nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh the Naas translates that this life single people you really badly want to get married Paul says I'll spare you you'll be spared problems sad I know he says that I've tried both I prefer the married life a whole lot better I commend that but but anyways you see that's getting away from the flesh the flesh this life or how about sometimes it just means all mankind it means human beings in general Luke three six all flesh shall see the salvation of God this is all humanity or John 17 - where Jesus is speaking of his father having given him authority over all flesh the new American Standard says over all mankind to give eternal life to all whom he has given them sometimes flesh means the soft part of our body for instance Luke 24:39 Jesus says remember they they're blown away here's the risen Christ he just kind of appeared in the room you can imagine they're a bit amazed they're not certain what they're seen and he wants to assure them I'm here I'm here as a man I'm here in flesh and blood and he says this to them see my hands and my feet that it is I myself touch me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have see fleshes over against the bones the flesh is that which covers the bones it's the soft part of us it's the stuff our bones are covered with and I often think Charles brother Charles Leiter has has he often refers to the fact that the Romanian translation of the scripture literally and it translates this meat and our Bibles it's flesh in the Romanian Bible every place you see flesh it says meet the lusts of the meat what a word sometimes this idea of flesh it's the whole body for we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus sake so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh just our our mortal bodies it's interchangeable with that the brethren the most sinister the most dark that way that it is used when it's just the base ugliness of man if you search it out in all of its uses you know what you so often see it is that which pertains to our humanity which is contrary to the Spirit of God that which is born of the flesh is flesh that which is born of the Spirit is spirit it is that which is separated from contradictory - you've got flesh you've got spirit oh that separation that that distinction yes right there is made by our Lord Jesus himself but so often it's Paul who sets that on the table for us for to set the mind on the flesh is death but to set the mind fear life and peace are this the desires of the flesh they are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh flesh is used in this fashion to express that which is in complete antithesis to the Spirit of God it is opposed the flesh is all that man is it's his man Ness it is this human Ness apart from the work of the holy spirit in him just think about these words that Paul spoke to the Corinthians you know them remember they're acting carnal even their carnal some of the translations use carnality in 1st Corinthians 3 carnal remember the Romanian translation meat what is the Spanish word for meat carne carnal it's the meat it's just it's the lusts of the meat it's the lust of the man Ness of man the humaneness listen to this first Corinthians 3 3 you are still and he's speaking of Christians here this is not a good is you don't want this set of you if you're a Christian you're still of the flesh you're still of the meat your carnal your carne for a while there is jealousy and strife among you are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way or your translation says behaving like mere men you say well that doesn't sound that bad just to behave like a mere man that doesn't sound so bad don't you hear what Paul is saying all men are sons of disobedience and we all lived or still live among the sons of disobedience carrying out the loss of our mere madness that's the issue the presence on that bad to merely be a man but to merely be a man means everything rotten about man who is without God who is separated mere madness don't you recognize mere madness is ugly it is depraved he looks at these Corinthians they were whoring after prostitutes till first Corinthians six he has to talk to them about drunkenness the rich are getting together and despising the poor and their glutton themselves and getting drunk they're taking each other to court they're full of envy they're full of jealousy they are pitting one another against each other in disunity and exalting man that's mere madness it's ugly it's it's a horrible now these different shades of meaning are important because just look at the text the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived first in the lusts of our flesh carrying out the desires of the flesh or body and the mind the word flesh shows up here twice carries two different meanings I mean this is clear to the translators of the ESV that's why they translate it two different ways first flesh then body the first use of flesh it's this broad concept which contains notice it's the broad concept it contains both the desires of the flesh or the desires of the body and of the mind and you see the ESV translators are right body because what it's that part of our humanists over against the mind you have it used flesh in this broad ugly way and then it's used of the body when it's used of the body it doesn't necessarily need to carry any negative connotation just like mind by itself doesn't carry any negative connotation but because these are out workings of the lusts of the flesh it's all negative here what Paul does is he narrows in on these two particular ways in which these lusts of the flesh manifests themselves the desires of the body the desires of the mind so let's look at these two things first think about the body the desires of the body what you know what's interesting here is we first had the term passion or lust isn't that a desire yeah that's a desire and then he uses the term that's translated desire again it almost can sound like he's being redundant here the second word that he uses is the idea of the will it's determination you need to think about this as lost people our bodies have it determined they are determined they are willed there there is something at work that is driving driving it's the will Paul is hitting on what slaves we were to our bodies as they willed to have done to them certain things there was a determination this is sin you receive this concept over in Roman six stin that seeks to reign in the mortal body and to have us obey the passions of the body sin at work it's pressing us the will of the body the determination of the body to gratify races there's an urge there's a driving there's a lusting to gratify its passions in a way that opposes God that's the issue that's how sin seeks terrain look we have to recognize the appetites of the body were created by God and it was good he created us to hunger that's good he created us with these appetites thirst you know he designed pleasure do you know he designed the nerves that release that into our brains which get processed and produced feelings that are good and pleasurable he did that I mean isn't that a kind some of my children you know and you tried to scratch their backs when they were younger and it just tickled them and they they couldn't stand it to me it's wonderful you massage my wife's feet just melts you touch mine is like I can't stand that but God created enya's kindness he created our ability to have somebody scratch our back it's like ah it feels so good and that kind of him he didn't have to do that kind of him have you have you ever taken a big scoop of carrot cake or cheesecake it's like that's wonderful he's created that I mean men and women look forward to their honeymoon why they are going to experience such things as I mean they're there a picture of our relationship with Christ just absolutely good very good that's how he created us and so we we don't want to despise these things but listen he created these appetites for us to be in control of not for them control us and he created these appetites to serve Him he created these appetites to be for his glory not for his glory to be dragged through the muck that's the issue what happens is sin seeks to rein in our Mort reign it seeks to commandeer these appetites and use them against God that's what happens this is the ugly part and these these passions these appetites they're in the grip of sin and what happens they scream at us to be satisfied and they're relentless in their demands and they don't care what God has said or what God has commanded just do it because it's going to feel good do it do it and they drive us do it Oh God will understand God will understand you hear that I'm going to leave my wife because I don't love her anymore I'm going to go after that why I think God just wants me to be happy no God designed us to glorify Him and he gave us these appetites to glorify Him and we're just driven we'll go from one woman to the next or one man to the next or that you just see this works out in such the hideous ugly way when you get the drug addict who just they got to have their next fix and you say oh I'm not like that yes you are even if it hasn't manifested itself like that you are our will our will held captive we love to think oh we're free we're free the guy is dragging on his cigarette I could give it up anytime I want I just don't want Ted that's exactly right you could if you wanted misty your body screams for nicotine and you know what when these lusts scream at us we don't have the power to resist one lust may trump another I've seen plenty of sinners get rid of one for another but you don't have power over them one stronger than the one you you're presently if you're lost controls your life a stronger one may come along and boot that one out kind of like a stronger demon comes along and boots out the lesser one that that may be true you've heard of the bondage of the will here we are we are given to the will of the body that's what he's talking about here God gave us appetites to be subordinate to us he wants us to keep them under control but they dominate they dominate what happens is we buckle to their authority God is to be on the throne but what happens sin takes the place on the throne and our passions take a place on the throne we get down and we bow before them and we bow and we bow you find people out here they eat when they're not hungry and the fat on their bodies they don't need to eat and they eat undoubtedly throughout this city people will drink today who are not thirsty and they will drink to get drunk and they will bow down to that drug use prescription painkillers people just bowing down bowing down bowing down and then there's sex sex is a god in this country and how many people bowing down sex-crazed pornographic society and Britain the thing is we're not talking just about the society out there we're talking about Paul is saying this Christian this was you unbeliever this is you this this is man in his ugliness we all know about these things we all know about the relentless demands of our bodies and how we serve them now let's go to the other subcategory here look at the text it's not just carrying out the desires of the body and the mind Paul doesn't stop there's more and see this both of these things are subgroups of the overriding lusts lusts of the flesh there is this other subdivision this other component what the mind think about the filth of the mind the thoughts of fallen man I know there may be those who imagine I look I'm not some great sinner like you're describing I never got drunk in my life never fornicated my neighbor I'm not done drugs in my life well it's true you may not have we may think ourselves not like the gluttons not like the drunks not like the drug addicts but you know what Paul says he said you you just wait a second again before there's any boasting Shh hear what God says about your condition there's the mind what are we talking about here that part of the flesh that has to do with the thoughts the thinking the intellect the affections this is just as much an expression of the carnal lusting of our flesh as is sexual immorality gluttony sloth what are these desires of the mind or the will of the mind that is such an expression of the flesh we're talking about anything you live for and dwell on in your thoughts apart from God we're talking about godless thoughts we're talking about the things that you're after and see this is the thing what what God has designed us for is him God has designed us to worship Him God has designed our minds to be used for his glory and when your mind is after other things than him and not after them for his glory but after them because that's what you got to have and you got to have them at any price and that's what you're driven and it's lust and it's driving and there you go and you're plowing deeper and deeper into this thing and you're dwelling on these things and you're filling your mind full of them what you have to understand is God looks at that and he says that is like a dog running to the vomit that is that disgusting that's what that's like it unclean it is dirty it is the pollution of man it's in the mind when we think about the dog going to its vomit it isn't just like the man you know the man you try to clean him up he's been a drug addict he goes to drug rehab he comes back out again and he runs back to it brethren don't you recognize what we're talking about here we're talking about people who in their mind are full of jealousy you can't escape that we're talking about minds full of hatred bitterness malice Envy jealousy Jesus hits on it it's not the guy that sleeps with prostitutes and you try to clean him up and he keeps going back it's the man who sits at his office and lusts after the secretary day after day and his mind is filled with the pornographic thoughts it's everything you go after in your mind apart from God it may be learning it may be having books having classes being in the university just lusting after more knowledge lusting to learn lusting after degrees it can be very white-collar it can be very clean it can it can look really neat you're not visiting the brothels you're not you're not over in India dealing and plying with the sex trade over there no but you're in the college classroom and you're doing the same thing in your dirty filthy mind and you're full of hatred towards others because you're a God in your own mind and other people challenge that and you're jealous because you want what other people have and you're envious you brethren this is mankind and we know the Silph of it we know the dirt of it this is where Paul Paul is saying do you not recognize the power of God that takes you up out of this there may be those here that have never gotten drunk I know it never been high on cocaine never had sex outside of marriage never never but you just simply can't escape jealousy because right there you want what they have covet common you need wealth you need popularity you need a car like the neighbors you need your children to succeed like theirs you need this and we're just driven all our lives brethren it was not not how it was when we were lost no care for God no care for is good in religious religious do this self righteous earn your way be something before God be good enough you don't need that Christ you don't need that you don't need justification you need to be good work out keep the law keep going just driving driving the lusts of the flesh just as lust of pride to be able to stand before God and say look at me and look what I've done rather than bowing thank you lord I know what I was breathing this is it just think think think a desire to be right a desire to win the debate a desire this desire lusting after social media lusting after all the gossip of it just wanting to hear the latest thing hear the garbage hear the trash have something to debate about out there you want to win you want to do this is lust after video games why it makes me feel good it does something in my mind it produces these things in my mind I need more I need more you make your resolutions anybody ever been there as a lost person I made resolutions okay I'm not going to do this anymore when I get out of high school and I did it and I did it worse okay I'm not going to do this when I get out of college and you know what shortly before God saved me I just came to resign myself I never given those things up I didn't have the power to do it the first time it was really sinking in all our resolutions are trash they don't go anywhere why because inside of us there is this craving there is this driving that's the ideal lusting lusting lusting we've got to have see we so often think about it just in the category of sexual immorality but we're talking just our desire in our ma trained to have whatever it is movies coming in or TV just lusting after got it only up next episode just some new things fill my mind we're just gonna have always looking now he's some new thing in this world never content in God how he's needing something more that's why our sin just gets worse and worse that's why the drug addict they they can handle a little bit at first but then they got to have more and more the drunk a little bit in the beginning more and more and more sexual people that reach these stages of perversion doesn't start that way it's more and more by just lusting lusting lusting this is the prison this is what we work and you imagine God looking at such people as us and saying I think I'm going to send my son to die under my wrath in their place wants us to look at that and say what we think what have you done Lord what have you done in such a state of lust none of us can stand before God can you imagine walking before the holy holy holy God children of Wrath like the rest of mankind will be engulfed will be consumed all seeks to put his finger to our lips now I have heard sinners say well when I stand before God I'm going to tell him one sight of the holy God you won't be saying anything you may cry mercy but it's too late but God has unleashed such power through the Son of God and his coming and his life and his death and his exultation far above all rule and authority and power and Dominion and there is such a power here a power like Peter talks about we no longer live for the passions of the flesh but for the will of God there is a power whereby we no longer surrender our members as these servants of unrighteousness but now to righteousness the body becomes the twelve place of God a very temple of the Holy Spirit rather than there is power and regeneration transforming power that is where the power of God Unleashed it's in his son it's in the cross and that's what Paul is doing here he's just wanting to show us this wretchedness of man so that it mad fyz the power and the grace of God this isn't our salvation just amazing amen thank you Lord you're dismissed

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Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Tim Conway

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Length: 47min 9sec (2829 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 15 2017