Sermon Central
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Lose Some Weight!
Contributed by Tony Searles on Nov 19, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: A little play on words here, but with a serious intent. The message encourages us to gain victories over the flesh, so that our Spirit man can flourish in the Lord, and gain strength; while our flesh "loses weight"!
Stand & Read - 1 Cor. 3:1-7
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. [2] I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, [3] for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? [4] For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? [5] What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. [6] I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. [7] So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”
“Lose Some Weight!”
PRAYER…
Well…I know what you must be saying to yourself since you have heard this title today…
-“You are one to talk Pastor Tony!”
-“Speak for yourself chubby!”
-“What’s it to ya!”
But…I DON’T want you to misunderstand what I am trying to say this morning…
I want to propose to each of you today that we should “lose some weight”; but in a SPIRITUAL sense.
-In a SPIRITUAL fashion we all could afford to “Lose Some Weight” this morning.
What do I mean???
Well…we all have this problem with ourselves…
We may be Christians, BUT, we still live in this earthly body otherwise known as, “The Flesh”.
-This is something that is just a fact of our Christian life…however, we are not at one with the flesh; nor do we settle with its desires or conform to its ways.
No Way! Not at all!
That is what John 3:30 tries to tell us when it says…”He must increase, but I must decrease.”
-Rather, we are to struggle against our flesh and fight against its desires. Not allowing for it to have its way with us, because it is only God who is to have control of us…not the flesh.
Therefore…when we “spiritually lose weight”, what I am trying to say, is that we are gaining victory over the flesh…and the flesh loses it power over us.
-Otherwise…we are losing our carnality…
For the Christian, there is nothing attractive or appealing about the flesh. In fact, it is terribly distasteful and offensive when the flesh takes control of the Christian.
(I will explain more as we go…)
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Hear the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15-19…
“For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. [16] But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. [17] So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin, which indwells me. [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. [19] For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.”
What is Paul trying to say???
He is saying that he feels like a bit of a “spiritual” Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde at times.
-Why does he feel this way???
-Because of the flesh that he is struggling with and battling on a daily basis.
And the bad news is…that in these last days…it isn’t going to get any easier either because the world is growing more evil by the minute.
ILLUSTRATION:
Former secretary of Education, William Bennett, recently wrote:
“In the past thirty years we have drifted as a nation. Violent crime has increased 560%; illegitimate births increased 400%. There has been a tripling of the percentage of children living inn a single parent home. Teenage suicide has increased 200%, and there has been a drop in the SAT scores of almost 80%”
-Folks, we can all see the decline in our world today…sadly we know this is so…
ILLUSTRATION:
I heard that just this week in California, there has been a law that was passed making it illegal to preach against homosexuality in that state. If a preacher did still do it, the Church then runs the risk of no longer maintaining its Tax-Exempt status, among other consequences.
And the next state they want to do this in is…NEW YORK!
Friends…we are in a dilemma!
We need to LOSE SOME WEIGHT!
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“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”
