Transcript
Well, good afternoon, Brethren.
A significant portion of the Bible, and that may be an understatement, is devoted to the subject of sin. And I’m sure most of you would agree that, rightfully so, God dedicates a large portion of the Scriptures to the subject of sin. God’s word defines what sin is. He gives clear examples, and He also warns of the impact, the consequences, of those who commit sin. And for these reasons, we frequently cover the subject in messages, in Bible studies, in the materials that we produce, articles, in the magazines, what we post on our websites. You think about some of the consequences of sin, bondage, you may not think of that very much, but Jesus taught that whosoever commits sin has made him or herself a servant of it. We fall into bondage as a result of sin.
Sickness and curses, time and time again in the Scriptures. David actually sang a song that he had no rest, no shalom, that’s the word he uses there, in his bones because of his sins. He said that his wounds stank because of sin. Sin leads to separation. Isaiah tells us that sin causes separation between mankind and their Creator. Sin causes God to hide His face from people. Not only is it bondage and sickness and curses, not only is there separation caused as a result of sin between mankind and God, but there also comes judgment and wrath.
The Apostle Paul warned that God’s wrath will be revealed against all ungodliness, all unrighteousness, all forms of sin. But that’s not all, not just judgment and wrath. The ultimate price will be paid for those who sin against God, and that’s eternal destruction, death. The church in Rome was told by the Apostle Paul that the wage of sin is ultimately death. There are hundreds, thousands of verses that either define sin, give examples of it, or as I was just saying, warn of its consequences.
However, my purpose today is not to define sin, nor is it my goal to list as many sins as possible with the time that I’m given. It’s not my intention to discuss the dreadful consequences that sin has on our lives. It’s not my purpose to talk about the horrendous impact that it not only has on our lives, but on the lives of people that are around us when we do commit sin.
No, today I want to talk about what could be considered the most vital information the Bible tells us about sin, what fuels it, and how to cut it off at its sources. I liken sin to cancer. Both sin and cancer plague mankind. Unprecedented types and numbers of cancer that exist today. Anyone who has battled cancer knows or is familiar with studies that suggest certain cancers thrive on specific fuel sources, like added sugars or refined carbohydrates.
People who are taking treatment for cancer will reduce their intake of added sugars. I’m not talking about natural sugars that are produced in natural foods but added sugars or refined carbohydrates. They stay away from that as they’re treating their cancer, trying to destroy this plague.
So, what fuels sin? It’s not added sugar. It’s not refined carbohydrates. We’re not going to turn there because we’ll go there shortly, because the Apostle Paul reveals one of the fuel sources to the Galatians, but right after or right before he talks about that, he lists fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry. Think about idolatry. Think about Solomon. He let idolatry run rampant in the kingdom of Israel, and as a result, the kingdom was torn in two.
Hatred. When we talk about hatred, you can think about Cain and how he demonstrated hate in the most heinous way against his brother Abel. Or Jonah. Jonah had hatred towards the Ninevites to the extent that he asked God to essentially commit genocide against an entire people. Wrath. Think about Moses when he struck the rock rather than speaking to it, and it cost him entry into the kingdom, into the land of promise.
Think about strife. Probably no better example than Esau and his brother Jacob. Now that’s an example of strife between two brothers that are born of the same parents. Then he continues, Paul in Galatians, seditions. Absalom, he wanted to undermine his dad’s rulership as king of Israel and take over. Envying. Think back to Cain again. Murder. Think to Moses again. What caused him to think that killing an Egyptian was justifiable? What fueled this?
Drunkenness. You can think about Noah and the dramatic account that occurred as a result of him becoming drunk. You can think about Lot. His drunkenness ended with him committing incest. Horrendous things that we would think about. Heresies. We see it in the New Testament written by many of the authors of the New Testament, the apostles, but over the ages, over the eras of the church, even today, former ministers and wives. What was fueling them to take on heretical thinking?
Then the apostle warns the following, “Of the which I tell you,” it’s a long list, “As I have in time passed, they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” That’s why Paul, as well as God and all the other writers, were inspired to put so much emphasis on sin because the consequences are dramatic. The phrase they which do there is prassō, and it means to practice. To perform repeatedly or habitually. It’s not poieō, which means it can occur on occasions. Brethren, we can fall into sin on occasion. We will fall into sin on occasion, but what fuel sources are behind us practicing sin?
We can fall into sin at any given time, but God does not want us to practice it. I have both good news, and I have bad news. First the bad. Sin relies on three fuel sources. As I said, “three fuel sources,” how many are thinking possibly Satan and society and self? But it’s not. It’s not. When I tell you what those three fuel sources are, you’re going to say, “Of course, of course. Why didn’t I think of that?” because these fuel sources, I liken them to natural gas or electricity. They’re very difficult to detect in their natural form.
We only recognize these power sources, natural gas or propane or electricity, when we see the flame on our stovetop or we see the lights go on in our homes when we flip a switch. That’s how we have evidence that electricity exists or that gas, natural gas exists. How many of you have seen videos of the tragic aftermath of a major gas explosion? Utter destruction. Or videos of individuals who unknowingly walked into a pool of water and an electrical wire that was live was in the water and people stood in horror as they watched the individual die a quick death from electrocution. We’ve seen all of those types of things.
The same applies to sin. It’s easy to see sin and the havoc and destruction it causes, not only to our own lives, but to the lives around us, but its fuel sources are almost as hard to detect as electricity and natural gas. If we do detect them, oftentimes it’s too late. Tragically, people only realize that those fuel sources were flowing in their lives after they sinned, after they’ve fallen away, or in extreme cases, after they’ve spiritually died.
We’ve seen all three cases happen. So, what fuels all of these sins that I mentioned? And some of the other ones that I haven’t mentioned yet, but I may mention during the course of this message. Let’s turn to First John chapter two, First John chapter two. First John chapter two and verse twelve. “I write to you, little children, because your sins, the subject here of sins, are forgiven for his name’s sake.” So, the setup is sin. “I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.” Now, that’s a statement, but I expressed it as a question. That’s interesting.
The apostle Paul was stating that they had overcome the wicked one. “I write to you, little children,” he goes on, “because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you,” again, he says, “have overcome the wicked one.”
John not only suggests, but states twice that we have overcome Satan, which means that Satan isn’t our most dangerous enemy. And you can say the same thing about society. Society is not our most dangerous enemy, brethren. When we say society, we mean essentially the world. If we were to go over to Chapter five, the same apostle, John, says that we have overcome the world. We have overcome society.
Christ in his prayer to the Father said, “We are not of the world.” We have been called out of the world, brethren. Christ likened us to himself. In His prayer, He asked the Father not to take us out of the world, but to keep us from evil. Now that’s key. Brethren, for that reason, in part, I’m giving this message. It’s an answered prayer, hopefully, what you’ll learn today.
Think of Israel. God delivered Israel from the grip of Pharaoh, who typed Satan. God delivered Israel out of the land of Egypt, which types the world. My point is that Israel’s worst enemy in the wilderness was not Satan or Pharaoh or no longer Egypt the world. Israel’s worst enemy was itself. And brethren, we are too. We can be our worst own enemies or our own worst enemies.
In fact, in chapter one of this same book, it says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” So, brethren, what drives sin? What fuels it? Verse fifteen, he just finished speaking to the man, the young people, but to all of you, to everyone who has overcome Satan and come out of this world, He says in fifteen, “Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, those are not of the Father, but is of the world.”
Brethren, every sin, from the smallest to the greatest, whether it violates the first four commandments that govern our relationship with God or the last six commandments which govern our relationship with each other, with fellow man, our sins are rooted in the lust of our eyes, in the lust of our flesh, and in the pride of life. So now you know. I told you might be thinking, “Of course, of course.” That’s good.
We could safely read Verse sixteen this way. “For all the sin that is in the world is a result of, is caused by, is fueled by these two kinds of lust and the pride of life.” That’s what plagues this world, ultimately. The free-flowing fuels that cause sin, or rather, not observing holidays, the world’s holidays. We’re coming up into the Christmas season. Not observing Christmas, easy. Not eating unclean meat, not a problem. Attending services on Saturday, not too difficult, but why do we struggle with other sins? Why do we hate? Why do we struggle with jealousy and strife, contention, greed, vanity?
He that says he is without sin deceives himself. What is causing me at times to have a self-righteous attitude? Why are we drawn to choosing pleasure over obedience to God at times? Because we fail to cut off all of these fuel sources: Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. But I told you there’s good news. You and I can shut them all off. We can turn off the switches, the main breakers. We can shut the valves off and stop these three from flowing in our lives. And if we do that, we essentially choke sin to death out of our lives.
You think about planes or trains or automobiles or the biggest machinery that you can think of, the most expensive fighter jets that the U.S. government or the Chinese or the French or the Russians can develop and design, if those things do not have fuel in them, they’re going nowhere. If sin does not have its fuel sources, the tank is empty, and it will go nowhere and we will succeed.
Brethren, my job, our job as a ministry led by Mr. Pack is to give you the necessary instructions on how to shut off lust, how to shut off pride in your life, which is the only way that you can avoid sin. Most of us have heard the saying, “simplicity in Christ.” How many times have we heard that? Many, many, many, many times. But how many recall the context of that statement or that phrase that Paul gave to the Corinthians? Some may not even remember where it’s located. He was speaking to the Corinthians.
That phrase, “simplicity that is in Christ,” of course it has an application in just about every area of our lives, but what was the context of that phrase and how does it possibly tie into what we’re talking about?
Second Corinthians chapter eleven. Second Corinthians eleven. In verse one, “Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous, I have a zeal, godly zeal for all of you. For I have espoused you to one husband.” What a beautiful, eloquent way of putting our relationship to Christ. “That I may present you as a chaste virgin to Him. But I fear as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
The context for this very familiar phrase is what occurred between Satan and Eve in the garden. The Apostle Paul draws a powerful parallel between Eve, Adam’s wife, and us, the bride of Christ. And he drops a clue right there for the Corinthians, who needed it very badly, that will lead us to the instructions on how to effectively cut off sin’s power sources.
So, let’s go back to the garden, Genesis chapter Two. Genesis chapter Two. So, if we understand this, it will lead us to the instructions we need. Genesis Chapter two. We’re going to understand how the simplicity that is in Christ helps us when it comes to lust and pride. Genesis chapter two, verse eight, “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.”
And verse fifteen, let’s go down there, “And the Lord God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded,” that word is used 494 times in the Bible, brethren. That’s the first time. When we talk about God’s commandments, God commanded this person or that person or Israel, that’s the word that’s used. This is the very first time that that word is used. “God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it,’ for in the day that you eat thereof shall surely die.”
So, God drew a line, and He expected Adam and his wife Eve to respect that line. In fact, in Genesis three, we’ll turn there, Genesis chapter three, just a page or two over in your Bibles, Eve echoed this command almost verbatim back to Satan, to the serpent. I’ve never had a chance to talk to Satan. I’ve never seen him face to face. She did. And she’s off to a great start.
Genesis three, verse two, “And the woman said to the serpent, ‘we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of it nor touch it or you will die.’” Herein lies the problem. We know God’s commandments, brethren. We go so far as to memorize verses to help us in our Christian walk. This was practically a memory verse for Eve, if I could put it that way. She repeated it again almost verbatim.
We memorize verses that guide us on what to do. “I can do all things in Christ, which strengthens me.” We have memory verses on what we shouldn’t do. “Be not conformed to this world. Lean not on my own understanding,” verses that I have memorized. How is it then we slip if we know, if we memorize what to do and what not to do? Enter Satan. The subtlety, remember?
The Apostle Paul explains that when you mix lust of the eyes with lust of the flesh and you throw in pride of life, they conceive sin and then sin gives birth to death. Well, Satan, I’ll refer to him as the death doula. You know what a doula is? It’s a birthing coach. It’s there to assist women with giving birth. Satan, in the end of things, if you really want to summarize it, he’s a death doula. He has very little to do with us conceiving sin. He just has to entice us to become pregnant with it. And he knows what will cause it: Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. He is always there to help us deliver sin.
Verse four, “And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You shall not surely die’ for God knows that in the day you eat thereof your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” In other words, “Don’t worry, Eve. God didn’t mean what He said. Everyone goes to heaven, as the world would put it. No one goes to a false hell.” All to get us to what? Open up our own fuel lines.
What? If that’s the case, hmm, let me reconsider things. Verse six, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,” lust of the flesh, “and that it was pleasant to the eyes,” lust of the eyes, “and a tree to be desired to make one wise,” pride of life, to be as God, “she took the fruit.” I don’t know if she touched it. She ate it, and here it says, “And gave it also to her husband.” In other words, Adam didn’t even take it from the tree, as far as I can read here. He took it from the hand of his wife.
Brethren, Satan knows that to kill us, we must commit sin. And Satan didn’t hand the fruit to Eve. He knew better. He wasn’t going to touch what he knew shouldn’t be touched. Eve had to approach the tree, she had to look at it, she had to desire its fruit to satisfy herself, and ultimately, she had to take it. All Satan did was entice her to engage and act on her lust and her pride. And this is what lust, and pride can do to any one of us, brethren.
If lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh start to operate, suddenly you lose sight of all the allowable options. Can you imagine the hundreds, I don’t know if there were thousands of options that Eve had in the garden? And I would argue she probably wasn’t starving at that moment in time. She may have been a little bit hungry, but she had so many options.
You know what lust of the eyes can do? It can narrow our vision, and then we become fixated. Our body begins to crave, or her body began to crave what she shouldn’t touch. Regardless, she opened the release valves, and the lust of the flesh began flowing. The lust of the eyes was flowing, and certainly the pride of life.
I think of Cape Canaveral or Space Center Houston. We’ve all heard it right before a launch as they count down. Lust of the flesh, it’s a go. Lust of the eyes, it’s a go. It was one power source right before launch. Eve can’t get Satan’s comment about being as gods out of her head. She keeps thinking about it. So, Satan watches as she flips that final switch. And what do they say in Houston or Cape Canaveral? “We have liftoff.” She wants, she desires, she reasons with herself. She esteems herself as God. She esteems herself higher than she actually was. And brethren, sin, disobedience to God, which is what sin is, was conceived and death was born.
What does James, the Apostle James, say about this? James chapter one. James chapter one and verse thirteen, “Let no man say when he is tempted,” verse thirteen. “I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does he tempt any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.” Brethren, death, precisely what God said.
What do you think Paul feared would happen if the minds of the Corinthians became corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ? What he feared for the Corinthians was death, eternal death. He pleaded with them to protect their minds from losing the simplicity that is in Christ. Well, what does that mean?
Let’s go to Matthew four because now we can contrast Eve and what happened with her and Christ and what happened with him in the wilderness. Matthew chapter four. I said the trail would lead us to the answers or the instructions on how to shut off or cut off what fuels sin. And that trail leads us right to Christ. Matthew Chapter four and verse one, “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward hungry.” That’s an understatement. 40 days without eating?
“And when the tempter came to him, he said, ‘If you be the Son of God,’ consider yourself quite a lead-in.” I’m talking to the Son of God, right? He wants him to start thinking about himself, Christ, by offering up his title. “Command that these stones be made bread.” Lust of the flesh. Hit him while he’s weak. But he answered and said, “It is written, ‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” Now, that’s a general statement, but we’re going to look at specific examples on what God says regarding the lust of the flesh.
Then the devil took him up into the holy city and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you be the Son of God,” consider who you are, “cast yourself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning you.” “You can’t be hurt. You’re a member of the God family. You might be in human form, but don’t forget, everything that is at your power, or at your ability to do, within your power to do.”
And said to him, “If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down, for it is written He shall give his angels charge concerning you. And in their hands, they shall bear you up lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.” Brethren, pride of life. Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” Now consider for a moment, a person who tempts God must think that he is equal to or greater than God. We’ll look at scriptures to help us avoid this also.
Verse eight, “And again, the devil took him up onto an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, showed it to him so that He could see it and the glory of them.” Lust of the eyes. “And said to him, all these things will I give you, if you fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, get you hence, move along, Satan for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” And God prescribes in his word how to cut off the fuel source of the pride of life as well. Brethren, we’re going to look at that. That, brethren, is simplicity in Christ. Cut off sin’s fuel sources and you will not commit it.
Back to James one. I skipped a verse on purpose. What extraordinary knowledge do we have about being blessed? How being blessed now indicates that we’ll be in God’s eternal family. Think about it. Remember the fantastic list of items that Mr. Pack gave us. If we do them now, they put us into a blessed condition before the kingdom arrives. Well, the verse just before the ones we read moments ago tells us something extraordinary as well.
Verse twelve, “Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried,” that means accepted or approved, “he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to him that love him.” Now, let’s see here for a moment. What do you think that word blessed means? Makarios. Supremely blessed, happy. Blessed are the poor in spirit; Mr. Pack taught us. Blessed those who mourn. Blessed are those who are meek. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the pure in heart and blessed are those or anyone who endures temptation.
Brethren, we cannot be drawn away by our own lusts and pride as we read in verse fourteen because if we accomplish what has been asked by God, we will be coronated one day very soon. Think about that. With the crown of life. Think about that moment. When a crown of life is placed on your head, meditate on that. Think about that moment. Now think about what it takes.
So, let’s keep it simple. To be blessed, we must also allow lust and pride to be shut off. We must shut it off, shut it down, take away the power source that fuels sin, and we cannot let the lust of our eyes or the lust of our flesh or the pride of life drive our thoughts, our words, or our actions. Sometimes we overthink it, brethren. We waste a lot of time navigating the issues that we have in our life. I got to tell you; it’s almost like a labyrinth of mirrors and smoke.
When counseling people, nearly 100% of the time, we’re trying to help the homeowner shut off one or more of the three fuel sources. How? I wonder if some of you even know where the breaker is in your house. I didn’t know it when I was growing up. I had to learn it. Ask me where the water valves are or ask yourself or maybe the main gas line coming into your house.
Well, brethren, we’re going to define each one of them. We’re going to describe some of the primary desires of each one of them. We’re going to list some of the associated sins that will overlap with one another. And then we’re going to look at verses to help with cutting them off. Here are the instructions.
Let’s start with lust of the eyes. Remember? Pleasant to the eyes. Here’s a definition. You can build on this. Definition of lust of the eyes are desires that are awakened by seeing and pondering. Simple enough. The primary desire is to have or possess. Some of the sins that you could associate with lust of the eyes is covetousness, materialism, greed, attraction to idols, people of fame, good-looking people. Well, here’s what we can do about it.
I said we get to the verses. Job thirty-one. Job thirty-one. Job. Yes, Job. This is inspiring to read. Something that I will not forget easily. Job thirty-one and verse one, “I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? For what portion of God is there and what inheritance of the Almighty that’s in the heavens?” If I’ve made a covenant with my eyes and then I think upon a maid,” that’s one example of a type of sin that comes, lusting after the opposite sex, “is it not destruction to the wicked and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?”
In other words, I made a covenant with my eyes because I know what punishment is for not keeping that covenant with my eyes. And you know what a covenant means? It simply means that you’ve decided beforehand, not in the moment of temptation. Cut off the lust of the eyes, brethren, before we set out each day. Simple enough. Remind yourself. Job reminded himself of the promise he made about not looking or gazing at the opposite sex. He was mindful of his eyes.
Brethren, are we mindful of our eyes? Do we think about these two things, objects that are right up in the center of our skull, our brains, our heads? Brethren, make a personal rule not to gaze to lust. Simple enough. And remind yourself of it often. Remind you of the covenant that you’re making with your eyes. Set boundaries before going out in public or engaging in online activities.
Remind yourself as you’re going to the internet. It doesn’t matter if you’re in your office or in the privacy of your home. Remind yourself right before you turn on your computer or open up your browser or turn on the television of your eyes, the covenant that you have with your eyes, the commitment that you’ve made. Mentally rehearse what you’ll do when confronted if the temptation occurs.
Notice that Job made a covenant that forced him not to think twice or take a lingering look at another woman lustfully. Why? Brethren, whatever we gaze at, our mind will ponder, will think about. Your eyes can quickly go from admiration, nothing wrong with admiring beauty, to imagination. It can go like that. That’s what happens when we linger with our eyes and we break the covenant that we have.
Let’s go to Psalm one hundred and one. Psalm one hundred and one. What are ways that we can make a covenant? What can we do? What does that look like? Psalm one hundred and one. This is King David. A lot of biblical scholars say that this is a coronation psalm. They say that this was written before he sinned with Bathsheba, who he looked at while she was bathing on the rooftop. He was stating his commitments. If you read, he’s stating his commitment as kings. If he only had heeded his own covenant, his covenant words with his eyes.
Psalm one hundred and one, verse two, and I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. “Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.” Verse three, “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.” He made a covenant. He stated as king, or soon to become king, or during his kingship, rulership, that he would set no wicked things before his eyes.
Brethren, I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. You must walk in your house with a perfect heart. How? Make a covenant with your eyes that we will not expose them to wicked things. So that goes into media choices or entertainment. Don’t watch movies or TV programs with occult themes, or graphic sexual content, or filled with violence. Hard to avoid that nowadays. We have to sometimes skip scenes. I don’t know what a sex scene actually adds to a movie, so skipping it does nothing to, “Oh, what’s the plot now? I’ve lost the plot.” No, no, typically the plot continues. It’s just a break.
Avoid music videos. If you hear a song that has bad lyrics, you can probably be sure that the video is going to graphically demonstrate what they’re singing. Avoid videos. And I said the internet browsing. Avoid content that feeds covetousness. Idol worship.
Not just sexual things, pornography, covetousness, idol worship, materialism, fascination with forbidden things, conspiracy theories, your eyes will begin to lust after those things. And you’ll click here, and it’ll take you there, and then take you there, and before you know it, lust of the eyes is flowing. Brethren, use filters or settings to prevent explicit or violent material. Shut it down. Keep a covenant. Learn to adjust your security settings if you don’t know how.
Verse six, here’s a way to prevent it. So, this is part of the covenant with your eyes. “My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me.” Now that’s important, brethren. Make a covenant with our eyes to use them to watch those in the church who reflect the qualities of being blessed. Look for meekness and imitate it. Look for those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness and spend time with them.
Make a covenant with our eyes to use them more often to identify the needs of others and less to search for what we want. Let me say that again. Make a covenant with our eyes to use them more often to identify the needs of others and less to search for what we want. These eyes can be used for both purposes.
What else can you do? To fulfill your covenant, turn your eyes away. That may sound like a silly, simple solution, but that’s what it takes. You ever heard of hand-to-eye coordination or hand-eye coordination, or if you play soccer or a sport that uses the feet, feet-to-eye coordination, feet-eye coordination? Wherever your eyes go, your hands will coordinate to follow. Wherever your eyes go, your feet is coordinated with your eyes to go where your eyes go.
If you find yourself in a situation that you know is going to open up the valve of lust of the eyes, just turn. If I turn my head this way, eventually my entire body. And brethren, if it works for your hands and your feet, need I say that it works for other parts of your body, too? Think about it. Young folks, older folks, too. And then think about the impact that wherever your eyes go, your hands, your feet, and other body parts will also follow. So, make a covenant with your eyes.
Second Corinthians chapter four, and we’ll move on here. Second Corinthians chapter four. One final thing because oftentimes, the other fuel sources begin here. That’s why I’m spending more time on this than the others. Second Corinthians Chapter four, verse eighteen, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Brethren, train your eyes to see spiritually, not carnally.
We heard about the kingdom in the sermonette earlier. Brethren, see the kingdom. See it with your spiritual eyes. See the promised land, if you will. See it with your eyes. See the new heavens and the new earth. See the cities that you will one day rule. Develop your spiritual eyes. And the more your eyes develop spiritually, the weaker your carnal eyes will become. Brethren, learn from Eve’s error, and look at Christ’s example, and this will help us cut off what fuel sin from the lust of the eyes.
Now, lust of the flesh. Good for food. Remember Eve? Here’s a definition for you. Bodily cravings, sensual appetite, excess. The primary desire is to feel physical pleasure or satisfaction. Some of the sins that we can associate with it, again, this overlaps, adultery, fornication, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murder, drunkenness, gluttony.
I want to point out three things to understand this. Eve’s problem wasn’t that she saw that the fruit was good for food. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s good for food. Her biggest mistake, although it was a mistake, her biggest mistake wasn’t being tricked by Satan. It also doesn’t appear that Satan’s immediate objective was to get the couple or her to obey and worship him, although we know Satan would enjoy that, but that wasn’t his primary objective.
No. First things first when it comes to Satan and his subtlety. He subtly is getting people to reject God and begin obeying another god or gods that ultimately Satan rules. I’ll explain that. And here’s how I’m going to explain it. Which God would Satan like you and me to obey first? Not him. If he showed up and he says, “I want to be your God,” I’m going to say, “No. Sorry. You’re not qualified,” but he’s more subtle than that.
Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three. And I’ll let you get there. Verse seventeen. “Brethren, be followers of me, and mark, in a good way. Take aim at, look to, that’s what that word mark means, those who walk so, like him, as you have us for an example. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and I’ll tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.” Enemies of the cross of Christ? How would he describe them? “Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things.)”
Satan wanted Eve and wants us to allow the lust of our flesh to govern our thinking and decision making, starting with our bellies, brethren. Talk about subtle. That is what Paul meant when he said, “Oh, I fear that the subtlety of the serpent is happening to you like it did to Eve.” Don’t let your minds become corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Satan uses our own physical needs like eating as a way for us to begin disobeying God.
The apostle Paul told the Romans, “Know you not that to whom you yield yourself servants to obey, servants you are.” We can find ourselves obeying our bellies, and again, brethren, other members of our body, and that explains why lust of the flesh fuels so many sins. We have this strong desire if we allow the fuel of the lust of the flesh to flow to satisfy ourselves. Personal gratification. Eve obeyed her belly and supplanted God’s authority over her. Adam accepted when Eve gave it to him. His belly and his wife supplanted God’s authority over him. Let that be instructive, brethren.
I’ve seen people, man or woman, when they are having difficulty waiting for that perfect mate or spouse that God has… they’ll go out of the church, get married, thinking that they can just jump back in the saddle once they’ve done that. That’s how extreme it can get because they have this longing, physical desire to be with someone. What other reason would they be? They can find love, brotherly love in the church. Part of what must be driving it is the need to have physical satisfaction of being with someone. It can become powerful, overpowering at times.
Christ, on the other hand, if you recall, refused what every cell in his body was screaming for. His body yearned for physical relief, not just satisfaction. You really have to meditate on the intensity of those fuels wanting to flow in Christ’s life at that moment. Brethren, we can overcome, just like Christ did, the sins of the flesh. And He tells us how to prevent it. He tells us to cut it off. David went from lusting Bathsheba with his eyes to craving personal physical gratification. Started with the lust of the eyes, and then, I can tell you, as sure as I’m standing here, is as sure as you’re sitting there, lust of the flesh started to overcome him. And what he saw, he wanted to gain now personal gratification out of it. And he committed adultery. And it was flowing so much that we’ll get to this, the pride of life. Of course, he can sleep with Bathsheba. He’s the king of Israel. Problem was, he became king of himself. The problem was that his flesh was ruling over him. And therein lies the downfall. He could have employed a well-known tactic. In fact, he had to have read this as king of Israel, but he didn’t apply what he already knew. Genesis thirty-nine.
We’ll go there very quickly. Genesis thirty-nine, we know the account pretty well. The account of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. Again, David would have read this. Verse four. “And Joseph found grace in his sight, Potiphar’s, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had, he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.”
“And it came to pass…” verse seven, “…after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes,” oh, lust of the eyes, “on Joseph; and she said, ‘Lie with me,’” lust of the flesh. But he refused. And he begins to reason with her, verse nine, “There is none greater in this house than I; neither has he kept anything from me but you, because you are his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against who? Not just Potiphar, but God.” Now, did that stop her? Did that help her understand that she needed to cut off what was fueling her toward adultery?
Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, verse ten. “And it came to pass, as she spoke to Joseph day by day.” I don’t know if you’ve noticed this before, this wasn’t just a one-time event, that he hearkened not to her to lie by her... To lie by her, or to be with her. Satisfy her in some way. She was absolutely focused. And it was nonstop, the temptation. “And it came to pass about this time, Joseph went into the house; and none of the men of the house were there, and she caught him by his garment saying, Lie with me.”
And he left his garment in her hand, and it says, probably one of the most powerful words when it comes to the lust of the flesh, “Fled”. That’s why lust of the flesh, there’s not much you can do. You can’t reason with it. You just got to flee. And got himself out of there. Remember what I told you about the eyes? You turn your eyes in the direction toward the exit, guess what’s going to follow? Every other member of your body.
David knew this, he read this. He could have fled from the window that he was peering out of, or the rooftop that he was looking from. He could have fled the situation, but he didn’t. The same thing we must do. When we sense the lust of flesh, our spiritual alarm go off. If someone were to pull the fire alarm, wherever you’re seated, here in headquarters, somebody pulled the fire alarm, what do you think we would do? We’d flee.
Just not going to sit there and let the alarm go off. Brethren, our spiritual alarm should go off. And what’s the only thing we should do? Second Timothy chapter two. Let’s go there very quickly. Second Timothy two. This is what the Apostle Paul told the young Timothy, evangelist. Second Timothy chapter two, verse twenty-two. Of all the other things that I’ve told you, here’s another piece of advice. “Flee also youthful lusts.” The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians a little more plainly, “Flee fornication.”
We avoid or escape the snare of the devil if you look at verse twenty-six, when we shut off the lust of our flesh. And how do we shut off the lust of our flesh? Simple, flee. Flee from the thing that’s causing us to open up that valve and allow that fuel source to flow. Every situation. It doesn’t have to be sexual sins, brethren. If it’s heresy, get up and leave. If need be, report it to your minister. Report it to your headquarters. Don’t entertain it.
Strife or contention. If you find yourself either with brethren, or at work, or in your home, and strife and contention starts to overtake you, and it begins to flood your mind, and your thoughts, and your actions, walk away in meekness. Blessed are the meek of the world. If it’s hate or wrath, leave and cool off. I’m not saying run away from problems, but leave and cool off, and then return and address the situation.
Brethren, turn your eyes, turn your nose, turn your mouth, turn your hands and feet, and every other body part and go. That’s what you need to do. The cancer studies I mentioned at the outset also suggest that an effective way to prevent and combat certain cancer is to starve them. It’s not the only way you treat cancer, of course. But you starve them off certain fuel sources, like the refined carbohydrates and sugar that I mentioned earlier.
Take for example, what people do if their outdoor propane grill suddenly catches on fire. Where a live electrical wire is lying in a pool of water. You can see the sparks. We should do what any other professional does, is what? Shut the valve off the tank or flip the main breaker. Makes sense. If we deprive sins of the flesh of its fuel source, we’re going to effectively address it.
Again, think about the analogy of the planes, or the trains, or cars. If they don’t have fuel in the tank, they won’t go anywhere. Well, one way we can do that, brethren, is the same way that Christ employed. Fasting. Fasting is a powerful way to put our bodies in subjection as the Apostle Paul suggested. We are letting our flesh know. When we fast, brethren, we’re not just drawing closer to God. We’re letting our flesh know, like Christ did, who is the boss.
We’re reaffirming to our flesh that God, the Father is the boss. Remember, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Galatians five, one final thing on this, Galatians five. Simple, brethren, the simplicity that is in Christ. Verse sixteen, we know this. I said we might come to it later in the message. “For this I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” That’s why I didn’t go to it earlier. I would have revealed it too quickly.
“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you are led by the Spirit,” think about Christ, when we read earlier, Matthew four, “Led by the spirit into the wilderness,” you are not under the law when you’re led by God’s spirit. Now, the works of the flesh, and then he goes on to list all the ones that we listed of the which I tell you, I wanna repeat it, brethren, at this point.
“As in the past, they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Ultimately, all the other means that we can come up with, like fleeing and fasting to shut off the lust of the flesh flowing in our lives, must be supported by God’s spirit leading us. So, what’s walking in the spirit? What does that mean? If we walk in the spirit, we shut off the valve to the lust of the flesh in our lives.
Well, verse twenty-two, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ have crucified…” what? “…the flesh with the afflictions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Brethren, when the fruit of the spirit is present in our lives, we can know that we know that we have successfully cut off lust of flesh in our lives, because two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
If the fruits of God’s spirit are evident in your lives, it’s going to be evident that the lust of the flesh is absent. That’s why it’s so important that we exercise God’s spirit. When we’re exercising God’s spirit, what else would you expect to see in your life? I can tell, you can tell if you’re exercising God’s spirit by love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Brethren, learning from Eve’s error, and looking at Christ’s example, will help us cut off what fuels sin from the lust of the flesh. Let’s wrap up with pride of life. You shall be as God’s. One definition, self-exaltation. To self-promote, to have an inflated ego, to desire to impress, or be superior. The primary desire is to be admired, elevated, or recognized as important. It doesn’t matter to what degree.
If you’re feeling that desire no matter what it is, that’s an early warning sign that the pride of life is creeping into your life. Some of the sins that you will see vanity, arrogance, self-righteousness, glorying in achievements or position, resistance to counsel and correction, rebellion, gossiping. Gossiping? Sure, what I have to say is important. It’s so important I can’t keep my mouth shut.
You need to know what I know, because when I tell you, you’re going to see that I’m an important person, an important source of information. Murmuring, my opinion, my judgment about others, my complaining? It must be hurt, because I’m right on this one. All pride of life. Of course, we don’t fall into that, right, brethren? Yes, occasionally we do. I think this is the most dangerous fuel source of all three.
This is like liquid oxygen and hydrogen, the fuels that they use to launch SpaceX rockets. It’s powerful enough, liquid oxygen and hydrogen, powerful enough to propel between one and ten million-pound SpaceX rockets out from Earth’s gravitational pull. If this fuel line is not closed, the pride of life, brethren, it has resulted in many launching themselves right out of the church, or God launching them out of the church.
Eve saw that the fruit was to be desired to make one wise, and become as a God, and no one was going to stop her. That is Satan encapsulated. Nebuchadnezzar, abased for seven years, why? Because he says, “I have built this kingdom with my power and might.” What does Satan say? “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will ascend. I will be like,” no, scratch that, “I will be the most high.”
Satan ultimately wants you to think of yourself, although you’re not conscious of it maybe, of being God, of taking matters into your own hand, deciding for yourself, being self-sufficient. Well, here’s what you can do. Humble yourself. Humble yourself like Christ did. Whatever it takes. Here’s one way, Philippians chapter two, as we begin wrapping up here. Philippians two and verse three.
“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Brethren, the more responsibility we take in the work, let’s say, or in your job, it requires greater lowliness of mind. You know, having low self-esteem gets a bad rap.
The world teaches and coddles people, so that they have strong self-esteem. What they’re doing inadvertently, and it plays right into Satan’s subtle hand, is creating mini-Gods all over the place. That’s why we see society as we see it. Vanity, putting down others to elevate oneself. One of the worst, my dad hated that. He said, “If you have to put someone else down to elevate yourself, you’re not my son.” That’s how drastic he was about that.
Bragging when we win, blaming others when we lose. The world is beguiled, let us not be the same. The more effort we put into helping others requires lower self-esteem than the esteem we have for those we help. Lower your self-esteem, so that it falls under the esteem you have for everyone else. It’s what it says. Some of the most self-righteous people I’ve met in life, inside or outside the church, tend to be the most generous or helpful.
We have to be careful even when we’re generous or helpful. How did Christ finish his parable about the Pharisee and the Publican who were both in the temple? Both in the temple, mind you. After describing the Pharisee who thanked God, as he complained that others are not as helpful, or generous, or religious as him, and that he disliked those who aren’t as Christian... I mean Jewish or religious as he was.
Christ concluded that everyone who exalts himself in their mind or outwardly, shall be abased, and those who humble themselves shall be exalted. Brethren, humble yourself. Humble ourselves. Just do a study on humility and humbleness to help yourself. First Peter five. Just a few pages over. We get dressed every day for reasons we all can understand. So, why not put on humility before leaving our rooms, and going into the other parts of the house to interact with our family?
Why don’t we put on humility, and clothe ourselves with humility before we leave the house every day? We get dressed every day. Do you remember to clothe yourself with humility? Here’s what the apostle Peter said in verse five. “Yea, all of you be subject to one another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary,” here it is, “the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.” Or I could put, entice us to open up the fuel lines of the pride of life. Brethren, we do get dressed every day, but we need to dress ourselves with humility. Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened, and they discovered their nakedness, but they didn’t discover their pride of life, as each stood before God, and blamed someone else for their sins.
God saw through their fig leaves. They were still naked. The pride of life, the most powerful fuel, was flowing unabated in their lives. Brethren, we can’t let that happen with us. One final scripture, Romans twelve. As ministers, just a thought here, we will find that people who have not cut off the pride of their life, do not want to subject themselves to counsel or correction. They won’t humble themselves.
If we try to correct, or counsel them for something they did, or are doing, trying to get them to shut off their own valves, they think, “What do you know? I know my situation better than you.” Food for thought, as we close. Romans twelve, and verse one, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Verse two, “And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Hopefully, this message, brethren, has contributed in some way to you being transformed, thinking differently, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Verse three, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man with the measure of faith.” Brethren, to cut off the powerful fuel of pride of life, obey God to the end, through every trial, every temptation, or even torture, as Christ did.
In lowliness of mind, be sure your self-esteem is always lower than the esteem that you have for other people. Don’t be self-righteous. Attend to others. Being as generous and helpful as possible without comparing yourself to or judging those who may not be. And finally, because we put on clothes every day, clothe ourselves each and every day with humility, and God will give us grace. If we do these things, we avoid the sins fueled by the pride of life, having learned once again the lessons from Eve’s error, and Christ’s perfect example.
Brethren, a significant portion of the Bible is devoted to the subject of sin, and rightfully so. God’s word defines it, gives clear examples, and warns of its impact and consequences. But we have learned that sin is powerless without its fuel sources, without the sources that drive it. God gives us ways to cut off all three to ensure we’re in a blessed state and receive the crown of life.
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