08/12/07 TITLE: “A Marked Man”
INTRODUCTION:
Use of forehead and arm in symbolic sense
Eze 3:9 (forehead symbol of mind / attitude)
Deu 26: (arm / hand of God symbol of His actions)
In Deuteronomy 6:8, God told His people to take his word and permeate their lives with it. He told them to bind it as a symbol on their foreheads and on their arms. They took him literally. You may have seen Jewish people with little boxes called Phylacteries on their foreheads with scrolls of scripture in them, or with scripture bound on their arm. They should have seen what the symbols were pointing to. They are good at missing the point of what symbols are pointing to. The forehead is a symbol for a person’s mind, their thought life. We are to saturate our mind, our thoughts with the word of God. The arm is a symbol for our actions. We are to live out God’s word through our actions in day to day life. That is what is meant by the “Mark of the Lamb”
John uses similar language in Revelation when he talks about the “Mark of the Beast”. Again people want to take this literally, but it has similar symbolism to what we just talked about. You can tell Christians apart from unbelievers by what they think and what they do.
We are marked by our thoughts, our heart, our attitude, and our actions. We are instantly and permanently marked as His, sealed by the Holy Spirit the moment we accept Him as our Lord and Savoir. Do you really think God needs some external mark to identify you?
Jesus said “I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me”(John 10:14)
We are all marked people. We have either the mark of the lamb, or the only other choice, the mark of the beast.
Gal 5: 16-26 (NIV) 16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
PRAY
I THE CONFLICT (FLESH VS SPIRIT)
II. THE CRUCIFIXION OF SIN NATURE
III. THE CONFOMITY TO HOLY SPIRIT
I: THE CONFLICT (FLESH VS SPIRIT)
The text tells us that the flesh and the spirit are in opposition to one another (v17). The flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh. This is a struggle that happens in every person. The unbeliever has no hope in this struggle (Paul in Ro 7).
THE SPIRITUAL ODD COUPLE (Felix and Oscar)
We have, inside each of us the ultimate odd couple, the flesh and spirit
They are at war with each other.
The flesh is our sin nature. Our sin nature is an unholy monster, and the more we feed him the bigger he gets and the more control he gains.
In someone without the Holy Spirit living within them, the only positive force to oppose the sin nature is our God given conscience.
But without the Holy Spirit, we are in big trouble. We are fallen, depraved, natural enemies of God and his law written on our hearts (Ro 2:15)
Ro 8:7 (NIV) the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
The unbeliever is controlled by the desires of the flesh.
He has no hope of escaping this, he is a slave to it
The internal battle is hardly fair. It’s like an 800lb gorilla sin nature, fighting Bubbles the chimp spirit of natural man.
A. Deeds of the Flesh
The deeds of the flesh are obvious because everyone has a God given sense of right and wrong (Ro 2:15)
1. Three Sexual sins: sexual immorality , impurity (porneia / fornication), and debauchery. Sexual sins are often placed first in these types of negative lists because of their large impact and immense consequences.
2. Two religious / vertical sins: idolatry and witchcraft – pharmakeia (often includes idea of drug induced/enhanced trance)
3. Eight social sins (horizontal – fellow man):
Hatred, discord, Jealousy, fits of rage (often progressive, many of the items in the list found their context in the church among those with a said faith but displaying deeds of the flesh instead of the fruit of the spirit.
Selfish ambition (getting ahead at the expense of others)
Dissentions, Factions (causing divisions, destroying unity of church body)
Envy (an evil thought, wanting what someone else has)
4. 2 sins that show lack of self control:
Drunkenness
Orgies (Carousing: related to drunkenness)
“And the like”: this list was not to be seen as exhaustive, merely representative.
A person who produces these works of the flesh is living according to their sinful nature, and in that condition, you have no possible way to reconcile yourself with God, no way to have a real relationship with Him, no inheritance of the promise, the Kingdom of God. Your future, if you are that person, is filled with disappointment, sadness, emptiness, and finally, eternity apart from God.
When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savoir, the tables are turned on the internal battle between our odd couple sin nature and spirit.
As a believer, you now have the Holy Spirit making His home in your heart.
The 800 pound gorilla of our sin nature is still there, but now he is no match for the godzilla of the internal battle, the Holy Spirit.
The believer is controlled by the Holy Spirit. This person now has available to them the power to conquer the flesh, to not sin. This does not mean we stop sinning, but we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us, the power to not sin. We have to avail ourselves of that power.
B: Fruit of the Spirit (basic divisions from Walvoord/Zuck)
The word fruit here (Karpos) is singular in form, which means we cannot say “Hey, I have three out of nine, that’s not bad.” All of these nine characteristics should be evident in the life of a believer. The source of the fruit, however, is not ourselves. On our own, we do not have the ability to conjure up even one of these. The Holy Spirit works in us and through us and it is He that produces the fruit.
1. Three virtues of the mind with God as their source:
Love (agape): Listed first as it is the foundation for all that follows
Joy (chara): inner rejoicing regardless of circumstances
Peace (eirene) – inner calmness, repose, quietness, even in chaotic or difficult circumstances
2. Second three build on first three and reach out to others
Patience (makrothymia) No thought or retribution when wronged
Kindness (chrestotes) a reflection of God’s actions toward us, benevolence
Goodness (agathosyne) treating others well even when they do not deserve it. Again this is a reflection of how God treats us.
3. Final three guide the general conduct of a believer who is led by the Spirit
Faithfulness (pistis): trustworthy/reliable, like servant in Lk 16: 10-12
Gentleness (prautes): submissive to God, considerate of others when discipline is needed.
Self-control (enkrateia) ability to curb fleshly impulses described in vs 19-21, the antithesis to drunkenness and carousing.
(Greek definitions above, paraphrased from Thayers, Zodhiates)
II. THE CRUCIFIXION
2Ti 2:22: Flee evil desires, pursue righteousness
Crucify – death on a cross, shameful
Just as crowd detested Jesus and chanted “Crucify Him”
We should detest our sin nature and be willing to chant “Crucify Him”
Scriptures:
Ro 8:13
Ro 6:6
Col 3:5-10
Crucifying sin nature is taking off old self
III. CONFORMING TO THE SPIRIT
This is putting on the new self
IICOR5:17 old has gone, new has come
Ro 8:9-15 obligation to live by the Spirit
Like all battles, victory is won before battle even begins, determined by our day to day life
You the believer are responsible for your own Spiritual growth, you need more than you can get here at church a few hours a week.
CONCLUSION
UNBELIEVERS:
Admit battle within
Admit what you are doing to fix yourself is not working
Illustration: lawn mower with no gas, I pulled starter rope for 10 minutes before I figured out there was no gas. What I was doing would never work no matter how long I tried
What you are doing will NEVER work.
How long will you keep getting beat up by sin nature. How long will you take His mark?
How long will you accept the fruit being produced in your life, the pain and emptiness.
Repent, believe on Jesus as Resurrected Son of God. Trust Him as your savoir.
BELIEVERS:
Be aware of the internal battle.
Crucify the Sin nature
Conform to the Spirit
Make our prayer personal, let God lead you to whatever area needs to be addressed, purity, anger, relationships, self control and discipline, secret sin, etc.
