If you wish to follow along,
of course, Romans chapter eight 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 eight, and let me read verses five 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. And let me 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 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. Oh yeah. Even religion can be
the flesh. Dare I say it, even Calvinism
can be the flesh. You're right. 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. 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. That's it. That's it. It's clear. And let
me tell you something. Paul doesn't abandon that truth
in the rest of these verses. That's right. 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 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,
brethren, 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. And nobody else. If you're not led of the Spirit
of God, you're not a child of God. 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. 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 eminent
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
beings. And we've got a part of that
all of our beings called the old man, and he will not bow. He will not bow. because the
carnal mind is imminent against God, for it's not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. But you're not in the
flesh. You 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 just 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 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 said, for our gospel came
not to you in word only, but in power and in 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. Because 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 can be saved, but you don't really care
about the things of the spirit. 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
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, and all
of a sudden there's this extra breath of fresh spiritual air,
and all of a sudden you become a really zealous Christian. And
you've 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 and we'll feed you. We will fellowship. So right
off the bat, she was spiritually what? Mad. 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. In spite of his flaws. So again, contrary to those who
teach this higher Christian life, the Spirit's work does not conform
our bodies to righteousness. 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 the
zombies still have to be killed. So, you know. But that's the
flesh, you know. You believe what you want and
make money off of it on TV. It works. 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 Hmm as Joseph 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 gotta 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 and
You don't just do it one day and then you got all that fixed
up and now you're okay. 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 thing, folks.
He ain't left that thing. 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. And then you go and ask for forgiveness
and you try to do better, but we're not perfect at this thing.
The spirit don't just move us around like robots. We are led
of the spirit. So again, let me read it one
more time and I'll move on. 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. Now the reason it's even said
that way is because people like this can still be saved if God
is so pleased to act upon them. Because all of us were like that
because the carnal mind is enmity against God. You see? Y'all didn't know I was such
a good preacher, did you? But if you buy God's spirit,
it ain't me, it's this book. Would you just bow to the book
and try to not make it to where it leaves you pretty easy? No,
if it sticks you right in the eye, then deal with the Pope
guy. If it cuts you down in the heart, then deal with that. Don't
run from it. Don't obfuscate from it. You
may obfuscate your very soul. 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. I like that. And like I have to give the credit
to the Amplified Bible, I just modified a few things there.
Why do we say that? Why does Paul say, for as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. If
you're not being led by the Spirit of God to mortify, what? To mortify the deeds of the body,
you do not belong to Jesus Christ in a living, saving union. That
includes me as well. Me as well. That was the introduction. And we'll have to give you these
four things and the scriptures to go with them and you can deal
with it later, study it later. The body is to be dealt with. Paul said, I keep my body under. I bring it into subjection. So there is effort in this thing. There is action in this thing,
but it's gotta be through the spirit. There's no, well, what's the
key preacher? Here's the key to be led by. That ain't up to you. That's
up to him. If you're led by him, it'll show
on you. Because when you do screw up, he'll chastise you and correct
you for it. And how long he does that or
takes in that, that's his business. Sometimes it may be like that,
and sometimes it may take a while. But that's his business. But
if you're His, if His Spirit's in you, His Spirit is leading
you. It don't say if you follow the
Spirit here, though we ought to follow the Spirit's lead.
Don't kick and buck, it'll just make it worse. But it's like
putting a leash around a dog's neck, especially a small one. You take him where you want him
to go. You're leading him. You see, that's what the Spirit
of God does for us. And aren't we glad? Because we would revert
back to the old man and give in completely were it not for
his lead. So the body is to be dealt with,
but it is a foe, not a friend. It's a foe, not a friend. Secondly, the fleshly acts of
the body are to be mortified. Kill them. Deaden them. And if
they raise back up tomorrow, then start all over again. Start all over again. Don't give
up, my brothers and sisters. Don't give in to the flesh, my
brothers and sisters. It's far easier to be willingly
led than God Almighty to force you into the dirt. So the fleshly
acts of the body are to be mortified, and it is mortification by the
Spirit. It is not sanctification. You
can't be more sanctified than sanctified. Now there is ongoing
sanctification, but there is only one sanctification. You
don't get more sanctified. The holy place was never going
to become the holy of holies. And the holiest of all was never
going to become just the holy place. The holy place was as
holy as it needed to be. It was exactly perfectly holy,
although it was not the holy of holies. I don't have to explain
that. That's the fact of the scripture.
That candlestick didn't need to become the laver. It just
needed to be what? The candlestick. And the laver,
or the brazen altar, didn't need to become the Ark of the Covenant. If you're in Christ, you're as
sanctified as you'll ever be other than putting down this
mortal flesh and be given your new body. I don't care if Mason Lilly don't
like that. You think I won't keep mentioning his name? That
man turned on the gospel we preach. Called us heretics. Somebody says, do you hate him?
No, I hope God does something for him. Thirdly, God will deal
with this body one day. He'll deal with it. He's going
to change, Paul said, this vile body and make it like unto his
own glorious body. How? Because he's able to subject
all things unto his will. Fourthly, let me say though,
we are not to totally disregard this body altogether. And I will
just read that one because God willing, if we're still alive,
we'll deal with that later. First chapter 12 verse 1, I beseech
you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice. Sounds like a conundrum, don't
it? It is. It is. Never try to make everything
match up all sweetened. We love to do that. We want all
of our ducks in a row, don't we? present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, and that's just your reasonable
service. Be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your body? Mind, you see that? Because that's
where it started, and that's always the source through the
Spirit of God. renewing of your mind that you
may prove what is a good and acceptable and perfect will of
God. So there's my four points. You got that quickly today. This
is not a take it or leave it proposition. We are either in
one state or the other. And the believer doesn't dabble
over into one for a while, then come back into the other. The
believer has both of these things at the same time. Flesh and spirit. Now here, in the end, who's gonna
win? The strongest. Let me tell you,
the Spirit of God's stronger than our flesh. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? We'd have given
up by now if this wasn't of the Spirit of God. So let me close
this out. A man or a woman is either one
or the other, carnal-minded or spiritual-minded. but even the
spiritual-minded person is living in a dead body because of sin. And it's a constant daily struggle. Now I know some folks say, well,
they've taught, well, boy, it's good when you know you're in
chapter seven, but ain't it great to get in chapter eight? You
ever heard that taught? I'm still feeling pretty rough
about myself in chapter eight. Huh? The only encouragement is
this, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. We always are forced by the Spirit
to lovingly, willingly believe Christ. Rest in him. Trust him. Father, we thank you
for the food that's here prepared. We thank you for help us to fellowship
together, just socialize together as well. Lord, be with us in
Christ, amen.