영어설교(English sermons)

Think of Flesh is Death (Romans 8:5~8)

호걸영웅 2017. 7. 10. 10:34

Think of Flesh is Death (Romans 8:5~8)

 


 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

 

Intro)

1. An English Author, Samuel Smiles, left a saying, If you plant the thought, it will reap action. If you plant the action, you will reap character. If you plant character, you will reap fate. Samuel Smiles is saying that ones thought will change ones fate.  Indeed, humans act based on what they think. Therefore, thinking is very important. In everyday matter, having a positive mindset will result in one being more open to action. If one has constant negative thoughts, one will act more passively.

 

2. According to law of 80:20.  20% of thinking will change 80% of life. Humans hand and feet move by human mind.

 

3. There is a story about a person who became bankrupt from gambling. It says, 24/7 he could only think of cards. If he tried to sleep and close his eyes, he could still see 48 cards in front of him. Whatever he saw, such as a bowl of rice or the sink, he could still see cards. That was his situation, so whenever he had money, he would go to gamble again. As a result, he lost all inherited money from his parents, and his wife and child left him. He hated that he lost everything from gambling, so he decided to quit gambling. He made a drastic decision to cut his 10 fingers with an axe. Although he cut his 10 fingers, he still lied to get money and go off to gamble again. He thought, if he doesnt see the cards then he would not think of it. So he used a drug to blind his eyes. Although he did all these things, he could not stop thinking of cards and gambling. Later on, he attempted suicide and failed. This person was trapped in thought of human flesh, so he was doing only what human flesh can do.

 

Body)

Thinking of Flesh of Work

1. In todays Bible verse, St. Paul clearly says, For to be carnally minded is death.”

A person who follows the flesh will think of only their selfish desire. Such as what to eat, drink, wear, and enjoy. The problem with this is greed rather than instinct. For example, how much more to have, to build, and how high to climb.

 

In Luke 12:16

16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

People who can only think of the work of flesh are selfish, spiritually blind, and place priority on worldly success in this life.

 

2. St. Paul defines this type of people in Romans 1:19,

29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,[c] wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,[d] unmerciful;

 

We have to think about why people are trapped in this type of thought. It is because we inherited it from Adams falling. Adam was made in Gods image, and was the first man created by God. God told him not to eat the forbidden fruit, but he disobeyed and the result was Adam recognizing and turning to his human flesh. In Genesis 3:7 it says,Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.By eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve became of fleshly mindset.

We are their future generation, destined to be thrown into hell. 

Therefore, author of Psalm 51:5 says, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
.

Todays Bible verse says,Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. Having thought of flesh and doing the work of flesh is what Satan wants. As far as we do such things, we will be in the palm of his hand. If we continue to act of our flesh, we will be committing acts of which God does not view pleasantly. People of flesh will become enemy with God, and disobey Gods word. St. Paul in Galatians 5:17 says,17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 

In todays Bible verse, St. Paul says,

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Therefore, we die. Matter of fact, our nature is lived by our desire before Christ. So, in

Ephesians 2:3 says, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

God saved us with the price of Jesus blood. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we have earned our salvation and become loving children of God once again.

 

Then you may ask, Why is faith so important? Let me tell you a story. There was a boy in an orphanage, who did not have a family name. one day, an American couple came and took him as their child. Their family name was Robert. Now, the child has the name Robert. Faith is like this, if you accept the changed situation and understand, that is faith.

 

What is faith? If there is a politician who wants to join a different political party, he would have to put his name and his information and swear in under oath.  Believing in Jesus takes a similar procedure. Believing that Jesus Christ died for us, and believing that Jesus is the Son of God who came, as the Bible said.  Then you become a Christian who believes in Jesus. In the past during the Korean War, North Korean Communists lost, and many were captured. We paused the war and the captures of the North had to be sent back, but they did not want to return North. They signed on to become citizens of the South, and earned their freedom. Even now, the options are open for them. It has been about 60 years since the South and North separated. How hard it is to live in North Korea right now. They are always in lack of food. More importantly, they are in lack of freedom. They do not have freedom of religion, or freedom of speech. They cannot move, they cannot use internet as they want, because they are under constant watch. on the other hand, South Korea, how well do they live. How free they are. Believing in Jesus is similar, if we believe in Jesus and follow Gods path, we are able to have freedom and happiness that we would not experience in being trapped in the thought of flesh. Who has faith in God will have hope in Heaven and the joy that we are saved from our sin will overflow, hallelujah.

Of course, although we believe in Jesus we still have thoughts of flesh so we chase our desire as a habit, as it was before we accepted Jesus as our savior. St. Paul

22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin.

Paul who was filled with the Holy Spirit used to fight with the nature of flesh. Like so, we always have to fight with many different temptations in this world. Satan’s temptation continuously comes to us. However, praying and interacting with brothers and sisters in faith and serving in the church will lead you to thinking less of the flesh and you will lead you to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Today’s Bible verse’s author, St. Paul, always prayed for overflowing Holy Spirit. Therefore he did was not defeated by thoughts of flesh and spread the word of the gospel until he died. Worldwide there were churches that were built by the spreading of the gospel. Even now, it has been spread to us.

 

Conclusion)

In order to please God, we have to become a follower that is filled with the Holy Spirit. In order to defeat the thought of the flesh, we must recover relationship with God through faith. In Hebrews 11:6 says, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Then why cant we please God without faith? Without faith we would not know our Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Even as Christians we sometimes do not obey Gods word, and we act on our own. Sometimes God punishes us because of this, to bring us back to Him. We must live by His glory. We must love others and work hard to spread the gospel, this becomes the thought of life. once, Samuel sent message of God to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22,23, 22 So Samuel said:

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And
to heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as
the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as
iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”

. If you remember you have disobeyed Gods word, you must repent of your sins and come back to your heavenly father. Hallelujah!

                                  062417 Ik sun Ahn