Christ’s Spirit or Fleshly Desires
Even though the presidential election is more than a year away, it seems that it dominates much of the evening news. Each person running for office tells us what our problems are and how they will fix them. While, I wish the winner’s success, I see America’s problems as deeper than politics: We need Jesus back in America. I see our problems, our decline as a society, as linked directly to the decline of America’s churches.
We have less than half the number of churches in America that we had a hundred years ago and yet the population in those hundred years is three times what it was then. There are 310,000 Protestant churches in America and 80% of them are showing a decline or no growth in attendance. More than 4,000 churches close their doors every year because 3,500 people are leaving the church every day. Our society reflects the decline in our churches. Sixty percent of men and forty percent of the women who use the internet regularly watch pornography. Here in Virginia in just the last two years we have seen the loosening of abortion restrictions, the legalization of marijuana and the growth of illegal drugs use. Few churches are on fire, and it shows.
I believe the following scripture describes America’s Churches today. In Revelation 3:15-18 Christ speaks to this, “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." Therefore, I want us to ask ourselves, does Spirit of Christ govern Americans or do fleshly desires govern our Nation?
Paul says in Romans 8:6-10 that we are governed by fleshly desires. “6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 9 …10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.” These two short passages describe two states of mind: literally, "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God...But if Christ is in you...the Spirit gives life because of righteousness." I say chains hold you either to the flesh or to the Spirit. I say chains to illustrate how powerful our attachment is to one or the other, flesh or Christ. Chains are strong, hard to break. Like chains, if the bond to the flesh has you, it is difficult to break. So too is the bond of the Spirit once you permit it to fill you. These two quite distinct mindsets lead to two differing choices of lifestyle, two different states of mind.
These two states of mind influence our present circumstance and control our destiny, whether “death” or “life and peace”. Genesis 2:17 tells us that death arose from rebellion against God and has left man in a state of flesh-serving carnality ever since. Adam had but one law to keep. His failure ushered in "the law of sin and death". Sin and death are chains, strong chains. Jesus came to free us from sin and death, to free us from our chains.
How many of you have ever heard of a movie/play entitled “The King and I”?
The movie version starred Yul Brynner and Debra Kerr, and has been popular for decades. However, many people do not realize the movie and play tell the true story of a widowed Englishwoman named Anna who accepted the position of governess for the King of Siam (Thailand) in the late 1800s.
It seems that one day, while on an errand, Anna got lost. “She found herself in a dark alley, from which the only exit appeared to be a door of polished brass in a high brick wall. Half-afraid that she was trespassing in some forbidden place; she pushed open the door, then stepped over the sill into a paved courtyard. The courtyard contained a garden. Near the center of the garden was a small pond of water; there a woman was sitting on the ground, chained to a post. She was nursing a naked child about 4 years old.”
In a conversation with this woman, Anna discovered that her son’s name was “Sorrow”. She explained that she had been born a slave, but an Indian merchant who had fallen in love with her and desired to marry her had purchased her freedom. Under Siamese law, the transaction was legal, and the woman began a life of happy freedom.
Her former owner, however, had never been reconciled to the idea of letting her go, so about three months after her marriage, her former owner had her kidnapped, brought back to this courtyard and chained to the post. She had been chained those chains for four years.
Anna returned to the palace and informed the King who rescued this poor woman from her chains. The woman’s husband was so grateful he contacted Anna to thank her and told her that he had changed his son's name to “Freedom”.
In John 8:36, Jesus said “… if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." freed from the chains of sin. That is why Jesus came. He came to seek and save the lost. That is why He died and rose from the grave for you.
It was the single most important thing ever done for human beings. Yet, many folks do not realize the weight of their chains. They do not sense the need for freedom from their sin. People seem to be much more concerned about being freed from bad government, or from financial bondage, or from a boring and unsatisfying life. But free from sin? Many do not seem worried about that.
There does not seem to be any sense of urgency or importance for some folks. There are three reasons why people might not want freedom from their sin chains.
The first reason is that they think they are okay just the way they are. Yes, early on they may have experience self-loathing and self-hatred. However, after a while, they get used to it. It becomes normal for them.
How do things become normal? I have to wear glasses in order to see anything clearly especially anything close like these sermon notes. I also have to wear glasses to see you folks at the back of the sanctuary clearly. Without my glasses, all you folks are just blurry images. I have worn glasses for so long that I sometimes forget that I even have them on. However, there are times when glasses can be a real nuisance, times when I cannot remember where I left them. There are times when they fog up, they get dirty, or they dropped and broken. Every few years, my eyes change. I have to get a new prescription, new glasses. I have gotten used to all of this; it is normal for me.
That is the way it is with the sin in people’s lives. After a while they have grow accustomed to it. After a while, their chains of sin are normal.
MTV is a television channel that features music videos aimed at teenagers and young adults. Some years back MTV had a special on the “Theology of Sin”. They asked celebrities their opinion of various sins. Actress Kirstie Alley said, “I don’t think pride is a sin…I think some idiot made that up." A rock singer from the group Aerosmith said, “Lust is what I live for. It is what I got into the band for.” Rapper “Ice-T” opined that anger is necessary. “You have to release this tension, because life brings tension." The people that MTV interviewed appear totally controlled by their flesh.
That is how many people have dealt with their sin. They have just grown accustomed to their chains. The chains are now part of their lives. They are normal.
The second groups of sinners know that they have sinned and they are uncomfortable with their sins; it is just that their sins are not as bad as the sins of others.
My brother passed away a few years ago. He was raised a Christian, but then he just drifted off into alcohol abuse and drugs. In his 50s, his lifestyle finally caught up with him. Hepatitis C was destroying his liver. He moved back to our hometown. He finally accepted Christ, God forgave him of his sins, but the damage to his body was done.
He talked to me about the life he had lived. He was troubled and distressed about all he had done. I tried to comfort him concerning his salvation but the damage he had inflicted on his children and others was impossible to undo. It hurt him so.
We who have not gotten down in the gutters of life tend to view our sins not as bad as what others have done. We can tend look at others who have lives failed terribly and say, "That person is terrible. I cannot imagine anyone doing such a thing. I am glad I am not like that." If we think someone else deserves our wrath, we have a problem. When people think like that, it is almost as if they expect–when they come before the judgment seat–to have God to say to them, “Your chains are not too bad; I have seen worse. Come on into heaven.”
It does not work that way. Psalm 5:4, "You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell." Habakkuk 1:13, “Your [God's] eyes are too pure to look on evil; you [He] cannot tolerate wrong." You cannot enter into God’s presence even if your sins are not “too bad”.
That brings me to the last group of people; these are people who know they have sin in their lives but they believe they can take care of the sin all by themselves. They believe if they just do enough “good things” they can balance out the “bad things”. They believe that on the Day of Judgment God that–if they do enough good deeds–God will not pay attention to the bad things they thought, said and did. Instead, the goof that they have done will overwhelm God. Their good deeds will cause god to ignore their bad stuff.
The problem is–their SINS are still there. The bad stuff is still attached to them. God cannot allow them into heaven.
In Romans 7:15-19, Paul describes the problem this way, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate–I do. If I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do— this I keep on doing." Here, Paul, the man whose letters comprise much of the New Testament, expressed his frustrating struggle with sin. “The good I want to do–I do not do…but what I hate–I do.”
That is why Paul, a great religious leader, cries out in Romans 7:24, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" What was his answer to that question? Jesus was and is the answer.
I John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We have to face our sins; we have to confess pour sins.
Alcoholics Anonymous has a famous 12-point program for overcoming alcoholism. Their principle is first and always every day, you have to admit you have a problem.
Paul had to admit that he was a sinner. When it comes to sin, if you do not admit you have a problem, you will end up trying to ignore your sin, hoping it will go away. You will always make excuses for the sin. You will always pretend you can solve the problem on your own. As long as you refuse to admit you have a problem, it will always have control of you.
Again, I want to read to you from “Anna and the King of Siam”. As she entered the courtyard and saw this woman in chains, “For a moment Anna was unable to command her voice. At last, she asked the woman her name. The woman savagely replied go away. Undisturbed, Anna sat down on the blistering pavement beside the chained woman and child. Very gently, she asked the child’s name. ‘His name is Sorrow,’ the woman answered reluctantly, turning away. However, the defiant look in her face had already softened. Gradually, under Anna’s sympathetic prompting, her story came out." Notice, Anna had no power to release this woman from chains. Nevertheless, she knew the King and when the King interceded, he had the chains removed and the woman was free.
Romans 8:1-2, “… there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 6:4-7 tells us “We were therefore buried with him [Christ] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because ANYONE WHO HAS DIED IN CHRIST has been SET FREE from sin.” You do not have to make excuses, confess.
When we seriously accept that Christ died for our sins, the Holy Spirit then takes abode in us. Now, we walk closer and closer with Jesus, our temptation towards sins diminishes. 1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
Have you backslid? Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? Do not be slow about coming to the alter. Do it now.
I have the story of Rose Crawford. She had been blind for 50 years, but then she had an operation in an Ontario hospital. She said "I just can’t believe it," as the doctor lifted the bandages from her eyes. She wept, when for the first time in her life, she saw a dazzling and beautiful world of form and color greeted her eyes; she could now see. The amazing thing about her story was that 20 years of her blindness was unnecessary. She did not know of the development of the surgical techniques that could have restored her vision at the age of 30. 20 years of blindness was unnecessary. If someone had only told her, she could have had her vision restored 20 years before.
We are all sinners. We have all fallen short of the Gory of God. We must confess our sins, accept Christ and have our lives restored. If we do not, we are wasting time.
Alter call: Sin is not okay. You may think your sins are not as bad as others people's sins are. You cannot overcome sin by yourself. If you truly have not accepted Christ and seriously accepted Him, come to the alter now. If you have backslid, come to the alter and rededicate your life now.
