Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you wish to follow along,
of course, Romans chapter 8 again. I will read a couple verses.
I will begin with a couple verses that I dealt, or at least one
verse that I dealt with last week, and then we'll move on
a little in the context here. Romans chapter 8, and let me
read verses 5 through 14. For they that are after the flesh, do mind
the things of the flesh. And remember, as I tried to point
out last week, this is a statement of fact. This is the way it is. This is not how fleshly men sometimes
mind. This is how they always mind.
They cannot but mind the things of the flesh. For they that are
after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. reiterate again,
lest I forget to do it later. Remember the flesh, most people
think of the flesh, when the Bible talks about the flesh,
of course we think of this, you know, our bodies, skin, that
thing. But some understand it means this sinfulness that we
are, this corruption that we are. But most people think of
the flesh as immoral things. But sadly, they think of it as
immoral things only. Now, immoral things are, The
flesh. Do not, do not misunderstand
me. But some moral things may be
the flesh too. Because morals change. Morals change. I mean, years
ago, you know, and I know people can argue and fuss about it and
all of that, but you know, years ago, if you were a female and
you got into public to go to a beach, I mean, you had to pretty
much still cover yourself completely, didn't you? I mean, it was law.
It ain't the same, it ain't that today. It ain't close to that
today. Today, it's about get away with
as least amount of fabric as you can get away with. And I'm
not meaning to preach on that. Even religion can be the flesh. Even religion can be the flesh.
Dare I say it, even Calvinism can be the flesh. So let me go
on. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh. That's what they do. But they
that are after the spirit, they mind, I'll put that in there,
but that's the whole meaning of it. But they that are after
the spirit, the things of the spirit. They're not perfect. They are not sinless. But even
when they're sinning, they cannot not mind the things of the spirit.
They still know God. They still think about God. They
still think about Jesus Christ. So you get what Paul's saying
here. Four, to be carnally minded is
death. And that's not physical death.
That's spiritual death. If you're carnally minded, you're
unregenerate. You're unconverted. You are not
saved. It's clear. And let me tell you
something, Paul doesn't abandon that truth in the rest of these
verses we're reading. That's right. For to be clearly
minded is death. but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Now you don't come up, you don't
muster up a spiritual mind, and then God gives you life and peace.
God gives you a spiritual mind. He freely bestows it upon you
in regeneration and conversion by the gospel. And then you experience
that life and peace. Because the cardinal mind is
enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God,
Neither indeed can be. So I will add this in. Stop trying to get your flesh
to keep the law. Now I dare not, I am not saying
try to disobey God's law. God says honor your mommy and
your daddy, honor your mommy and your daddy. Right? It says
thou shalt not steal, then don't steal. But the gospel goes even
further for us because some of us have stolen already. And we
can't change that. We can't do enough good to negate
that in God's sight. So the gospel comes along and
lets us know through Jesus Christ, let him that stole, steal no
more. I like that. I need that because
all of I hear is thou shalt not steal, I'm a goner. I'm a goner. Let's move on, because the carnal
mind is enmity against God, for it's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. But, ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now there's the caveat. He said, that's the caveat. If
so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man
have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ
be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life
because of righteousness. Now we'll, Lord willing, look
at this in a moment. And those of you who are live streaming
or fortunate, it's a little late, I understand, but I'm not gonna
rush through all this. So we're gonna get you a snack real quick. Here's my title before I read
any further. Dead Body, Spiritual Mind. Dead Body, Spiritual Mind. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirits that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren,
we are not debtors, We are debtors, I'm sorry. Therefore, brother,
we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For
if you live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And I will preface this
in case, because it's in my notes, but, and nobody else. That's
right, yeah. And nobody else. If you're not
led of the Spirit of God, you're not a child of God. Amen. So then, having said that, again,
dead body, spiritual mind. Being in Christ, being vitally
united to Christ by God is an inward work of God by the Spirit. We all know that here. Those
listening to me live stream, probably, already know that as
well. But let me say this, God does
not work on the outside and gradually start to work toward the inside.
That's what religion thinks. Let me try to explain that. They
think, it's like this, God kind of works on you. He works on
you. He comes and gives you some conviction.
You get under spirit conviction and then you do something out
here. You come forward, you pray, You
pray the sinner's prayer, you believe, you whatever, you're
baptized, you join the church, whatever. You repent of your
sins, you ask for forgiveness, whatever. And then this work
then starts to work, at least starts to work inside. That is
a lie. God invades the inside. God implants, imparts spiritual
life first. The spirit of life in Christ
Jesus, that kind of life in Christ Jesus that makes one free from
the law of sin and death. So God works inside, he invades
inside God by his spirit and his gospel invades the mind first. the mind first. Now we can talk
about heart and mind, and we often separate them, but they
in the, we're not talking about the brain per se, and the muscle
that pumps the blood per se. We're talking about that innate,
that inner, that's not, innate's not right. That inner ability
that God creates, that new man that's created in us that has
a new heart and a new mind. And that's why Paul calls these
spiritual people, these people who are born of the Spirit of
God, spiritually minded. Yes, that's right. Spiritually,
they mind spiritual things. Exactly. And I will go so far,
they can't help it. Yeah, you're right. They can't
help it because they're led by the Spirit of God. Exactly. They're
led by the Spirit of God. So God, by his gospel, invades
the mind first. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit,
they mind the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded, that
means you're dead. But if you're spiritually minded,
that means there's life and there's peace there. There's peace there. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. In other words, verse seven,
Paul is saying this, the carnal mind's legal enmity is the opposite
of the spiritual mind. And the spiritual mind, does
not attempt to keep the law by the flesh, through the flesh,
in the flesh. It understands, the spiritual
mind understands that by the deeds of the law, there shall
no flesh be justified in God's sight. That's what the spiritual mind
knows. The carnal mind is totally opposite. The carnal mind says,
I'll give it my best shot, at least my best shot. I'll give
it my best shot. But it's not subject to the law
of God. A spiritual man's mind is subject to the law of God.
It doesn't say he keeps the law of God. And I know people can,
and to know me and all they will. I don't care what they want to
call me. Call me what you will. But the spiritual man loves God's
law. Look at what Paul, we've already
seen what Paul, I delight in the law of God after the inward
man. And I would keep it. The will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good, I find not, because
we know, according to law, we are to do it with all of our
being. And we've got a part of that
all of our being that's called the old man, and he will not
bow. He will not bow. Because the
carnal mind is immanent against God, for it's not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. But you're not in the
flesh. See it? But you're not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now what I want to dwell on is this last phrase of that verse
for a moment. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his. An astounding statement. Now
the Spirit's going to be in us. There's a real sense in which
our brothers and sisters during the Old Testament dispensation
often had the Spirit of God with them. And even our Lord said
this to his disciples during his sojourn here on the earth,
the spirit of God's with you, but he's going to be what? In
you. And he is dwelling in God's people. Now, so that's a fact. But you're not in the flesh,
but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you.
Now, if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he's none of
his. Now let me say this, this is not a rejection of eternal
election, as there are some who are prone to try to say. You
don't take one truth of the scripture and try to play it against another
truth of the scripture. If there seems to be any contradiction,
the problem's up in here and here. It's not in here. This is not a negation of eternal
election. It is this, it is no ownership
because there is no vital union to Jesus Christ by the Spirit
of God. A person can be elect, but that
don't mean they're saved, regenerated, and converted. But if you are
elect, God must, not because of necessity on his part, but
because it's his sovereign purpose, God Almighty in time will regenerate
you and convert you and put his spirit within you. This verse here lets us know
this idea of some, that there are people out there that are
elect and they're never regenerated, they're never converted, they
just wake up in glory one day. It ain't so. Because I will say this, even
for children who die in the womb or young, whatever, we don't
know age, and I don't have, this is thus saith Walter, not the
Lord. Okay? There may be infants who die
that God Almighty does a work of grace for them and nobody
knows it. And if they are saved, that's
got to happen for them. Because they're sinners just
like we are. People that are severely retarded,
mentally You know, God will take care of all that. But he's still
got to give them life in Christ Jesus. But don't come to me as
an adult and tell me, I believe I'm one of the elect, based on
what? Paul gives us the what, he lets us know. First Thessalonians
one, four through 10 mainly, I'm not gonna go back and read
it because of time, but he said, he told the Thessalonians, I
know you're one of the elect, I know you're the elect of God.
That's an amazing statement, isn't it? Yes, sir. How does
he know that? He wasn't back yonder, before
the foundation of the world. God didn't write their names
down in this book. Yeah. There is a book that has
their names written in it. Yes, sir. Now, there's a few
of them, their names written down in this book, but not the
whole horde of them. No. How does Paul know that?
He goes, he'll say, for our gospel came not to you in word only,
but in power. And then the Holy Ghost and in
much assurance, much assurance concerning Jesus Christ, he is
able number three. That's not my title, but he is
able number three. You see, God Almighty always
manifests in time that which he decreed and set his heart
on in eternity. So away with this idea of, well,
I just hope I'm one of the elect. You better hope you're a believer
in Christ. "'cause he that believeth not
shall be," what? It starts with a D. You know
what that word is? Damned. Damned. Now, contrary also to
those who teach a higher Christian life. Now, let me try to explain
it, and I know it varies. I know I'm kind of painting everybody
with the same brush. I don't mean to do that, but
basically it boils down to this. You can be saved, but you're
not very devoted. You can be saved, but you're
not very faithful. You could save, you could be saved, but
you don't really care about the things of the spirit. You just,
you go on through life believing in Jesus and confessing your
sins, but you just basically kind of just live your life,
but there's no real zeal and, you know, energy there. Oh, but
then they teach that there comes a time when just maybe, if you're
submissive enough, if you're obedient enough, if you're willing
enough, then all of a sudden there's this extra breath of
fresh spiritual air. And all of a sudden you become
a really zealous Christian. I ain't never been there. I ain't
never been there. And those who say they've been
there, I don't doubt that they've been there, but it ain't the
work of the spirit of God. Because God, when he comes in,
he invades immediately. Lydia didn't say, well, I believe
what Paul says, but I'm going on back to Thyatira and do my
thing for a while. She was evidently had her a house
to stay in where she was at the time. And she said, Paul, Y'all
come home with me, I'm gonna feed you, we gonna fellowship
some. Right off the bat, she was spiritually, what? Minded. Why? Because God opened her heart
so that she attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul. If you got a man speaking for
God, you better attend to what he says. Overlook the gender that's not
the point though. It is a man who must stand in
this place publicly only a man But if God gives you a man and
he speaks for God you better listen to what he says in spite
of his flaws Despite of his flaws so again contrary to those who
teach this higher Christian life the spirits work does not conform
our bodies to righteousness and And if Christ be in you, if he
is, the body is dead because of sin. Now, clearly he's not
talking about physical death. We are not corpses. Now, one
day, if Christ doesn't come back first, we all will be corpses
one day. But we're not corpses right now.
So Paul's not talking here that we're walking around zombies.
Zombies is the big popular thing. Well, the weird thing is a zombie
still have to be killed. But that's the flesh. You believe
what you want and make money off of it on TV. If they'd share
some with me, I might not be so hard on them. I repent of that. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin. But the spirit, and notice that
is still capital S. Because let me tell you, even
the new man is of no value if we don't have God himself in
us, guiding us, because we'll resort to the old man always. He is natural to us. He's what
we really are by nature. We are far more familiar with
the old man than we are the new man. No, and if Christ be in
you, the body's dead because of sin, but the spirit is life
because of righteousness. Let me try to give us a little,
this is of course not physical death, though the word necrosis
is what's used. But he is speaking of a spiritual
or metaphorical way, it's what he's talking about. But it's
not physical death, but it's subjected to spiritual death. This body is still under the
curse. Yes, sir. God has not delivered
my body and all that goes with it. Old man, just visit my mind,
my heart, my lungs, my kidneys, everything. It's still under
the curse. That's what Paul said. That's
what he's talking about. And if Christ be in you, he hadn't
fixed up your body. Your body will fall apart, more
than likely, just like everybody else's will. You know what I'm
saying? It's not physical death, but being subjected to spiritual
death. Our bodies are under the curse.
Therefore, in youth, even as a safe person, we're often overzealous. Why? Because the body's dead.
We're overzealous. When we get our old age, we begin
to find physical inability. unable to do, even physically,
what we'd like to do for the Lord. Why? Because the body's dead because
of sin. Ah, but the Spirit. The Spirit's
life because of righteousness, and it ain't our righteousness.
Somebody says, don't say that there. No, it says it everywhere
else. It says it everywhere else. It's not our righteousness. It's
God's righteousness in Christ. As Joe says, I like that. If
Christ be in you, the body's dead because of sin, but the
spirit is life because of righteousness. But, I look at it. But if the
spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in
you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. We are
not going to be bodiless beings floating around on clouds in
heaven forever. We're going to have a body in
which we can live and exist and serve God and do whatever God's
got purpose for us to do one day. and we're gonna do it in
a body that's no longer subject to death. Death. In other words, if you
have the spirit of God in you, God will not leave you in a decayed
body, or a sack of bones, or a bunch of ashes, or in a fish's
belly somewhere, squirted out the backside. God will raise
you. This body is not your eternal
home. But you have one that's, the
weird thing is, the Bible says it's prepared by God. I can't
explain that. I can't explain that. I just
believe God that it's true. All right, let me move on here.
This is just introduction. We haven't even got to the point
of the message and I'm getting hungry. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors. Not to the flesh, to live after
the flesh. Here's the question, who are
you indebted to? That's what it boils down to.
If it's all about you, you're lost. Folks, this is exactly,
Paul's not giving us decent believing then going on to great believing.
He's talking about you either believe or you don't believe.
You're either regenerate or you're not regenerate. You're either
saved or you're lost. And the question here again,
ain't election and predestination. It just does the spirit of God
dwell in you. That's the question. Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the
flesh. Oh, here we go. Now look at this one. For if
you live after the flesh, ye shall die. He ain't lost. He ain't changing things now.
And this ain't physical death, though some would teach this.
They would then refer to the Corinthians. By my, of course,
I was trained in this. In my mind, when I first read
this and realized, okay, I've got to deal with this, I thought,
well, we talk about the Corinthians, how some of them, God had killed
some of them because they were rebelling against God, right?
I knew what this was talking about. Paul's not getting off
on another subject in one verse and then returning back where
he was. He's still talking about the same thing. Now, granted,
the KJV is a little difficult here. But I'm not going into
all the details of that. But look what it says, for if
you live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye, but then
notice, through the spirit. Not through your own willpower. But through the spirit, you see
it? Not through your own gumption.
Not through your own zeal. Because we're in a dead body,
and even if we had zeal at one time, that zeal's gonna start
to die. We're not gonna be able to do even what we used to do.
I like what, and this is a side note, but it's the same thing.
I like what Clay Curtis said. He said some of us Christians
thinks as we're getting older, we're getting maybe a little
bit better, a little bit more holy because we don't care about doing
the things we used to do that we knew were wrong. No, we're
just getting too old to do them. Ain't getting no holier. Probably
ain't got the money to go do them. You understand what I'm
saying? I like what he said there. All
right, let me just give you this. Now this is loosely taken from
the Amplified Bible, and the Amplified Bible's pretty good
on this verse. But this is the Amplified Bible
worked on by Walter Pendleton. Romans 8, verse 13. For if you conduct your life
According to the dictates of the flesh you are poised to set
to destined to utter spiritual final ruin Because death is ruin
You shall die utter ruin but if you by God's Spirit are Habitually
putting to death and I like because that's the context of it You
don't just do it one day and then you got all that fixed up.
Now, you're okay. I This is a, it's not just an everyday battle,
it's an every moment battle. You know, an everyday battle. And it seems like the battle
gets more difficult as you get older and lose some of that bodily
vim and vigor. Things that used to didn't bother
you at all start to bother you now. But let's go back. But if
you, by God's Spirit, are habitually putting to death the evil deeds
prompted by your body because they are still so active in your
flesh, you will actually genuinely live in Christ forever. That's
what Paul's talking about there. In other words, if you're not
mortifying the deeds of your body through the Spirit, you
are not saved. He ain't left that theme, folks.
He ain't left that theme. God's people care about how they
live before God and one another. You ever fell a brother or sister
and you feel what? So you don't go, oh, I thank
God I'm forgiven. No, you feel miserable inside. Your conscience
eats at you and eats at you. And the only thing that gives
you relief is the knowledge of the person and work of Jesus
Christ.