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Sermon Title: A Right Spirit
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1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Several times in my ministry I have had the occasion to discuss with someone what the meat and milk of doctrine are.
I have been told that the milk of doctrine is that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The same person would tell me that the meat of the doctrine is topics such as the 2300 days, the details of Revelation and Daniel, details of end time events and so on.
Then we run into a text like the one we just read. Do not love the world…… Well that is a little easier to figure.
Love not world. Picture shows, dance, and destructive health habits. I heard once of someone that had been delivered from chewing gum. Another felt that it was worldly to show the elbows. Some of the most conservative people that I have ever known, when it comes to lifestyle, felt that the ladies should demonstrate how righteous their group was by the size of the polka dots on their navy blue head scarves, and the men had to wear beards.
Holiness.
What is it? How do we get there? Can we recognize it or not?
When the writer talks about loving not the world, he's not talking about theatre, he’s not talking about television, or those things that we call worldly.
He goes deeper than that. He's talking about our attitudes. He is talking about our motives. He is talking about how we relate to God’s children around us.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
He’s not talking so much about the world around us as He's talking about our attitudes, our affection, love, affinity for it, our love for it.
The world becomes an umbilical cord that attaches us to it, and he says I want you to watch your attitude about worldly attitudes and how much your heart is attached to them.
You can note that Samson never fell until he gave his heart to Delilah. He slept with the prostitute and kept his anointing, I'm not telling you to do that, but he did do that......
But when he got with Delilah the Bible says that he loved her, and he told her all of his heart, and what you your heart is attached to, that becomes an opportunity to sap your strength, even if it is yourself.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Then it goes further and says that
16 For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life;
That's all that is in the world. It doesn't matter whether it is a silent movie, or now its a DVD, that's still all that is in the world. All that is in the world is lust......
It doesn’t matter whether you are talking about drinking alcohol, trying to promote yourself, being prideful, or taking a joint, the details are not important, and God tells you don’t have to go on an expedition searching for all of the details. God says I'm going to stop you from having to go on an expedition to see what is out there. I can summarize all the complexity of sin by just three phrases.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world.
Think about that those 3 things are the paramount things that concern us. We worry about our housing and food. We are enticed by beautiful things. We are wrapped up in our own prideful opinions and ideas.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world.
Would you be surprised to know that is exactly where our parents in the garden fell?
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (appetite), it was pleasant to the eyes (beauty), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (pride), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
I want to digress for just a minute and talk about something out of
Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Often we wonder how Jesus could have experienced every temptation that there is. But if we look at general categories, he was tempted in all the ways that we are tempted.
Luke 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
Jesus overcame appetite with the Word of God.
4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give you, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If you therefore will worship me, all shall be yours.
Jesus overcame the temptation to look to beauty as truth with the Word of God.
By the way, I do not think that Satan showed Jesus the slums and ghettos of the world, do you?
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall you serve.
9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here:
10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you:
11 And in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash thy foot against a stone.
Jesus overcame the temptation to depend upon his own works, to act presumptuously against God by the word of God.
12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, You shall not tempt the Lord thy God.
So Jesus conquered in every AREA of sin, where we have fallen in every area of sin.
I would like to take David as a type for all of mankind as he pours out his heart in the 51st Psalm.
51:1 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight; That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart; These, O God, You will not despise.
18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.
David had experienced the Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life in his relationship with Bathsheba.
In his repentance, he figuratively walks through the Sanctuary, reversing the steps that he took with Bathsheba.
He acknowledges and confesses his sin. This would be an alter of burnt offering experience. He not only asks to be washed, he asks to be purged with the bitter herbs that were used in the Passover service. He asks for the candlestick experience of light with-in to be his once more. Then he offers God the pleasing sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart. And finally, as the relationship is restored, David breaks out in praise to God.
Have you ever been in David’s position? Have you ever needed a High Priest to lead you through the sanctuary as he ministers on for you?
I don’t know about you, but I need a priest, an attorney that can be touched with the way I feel, even though the judge can throw the case out of court, I need to be able to walk into the attorneys office and know that he relates to me, and know that I have an attorney a high priest that can be touched with the feeling of my infirmity. That can get in touch with me.
It's not always easy being me. I find myself many times living in the 7th chapter of Romans crying trying, crawling on my knees trying to stumble in to the 8th ch. But I am stuck in the 7th chapter.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
I made up my mind but evil is present. I struggle. And I find that the struggle gets more severe. Yes, I can refrain from certain things. But as I examine my motives, I become appalled, for pride rules. Pride in being right. Pride in overcoming. Pride in humility. And I find that as my desire becomes stronger to be Christ’s child, I see more and more about myself that is worthless.
O wretched man that I am!!!!!
Who shall deliver ?
I'm going through that 7th chapter struggle. Wrestling. Struggling. I learned that I’m justified in the 5th chapter.
I was buried with him in baptism in the 6th chapter I rose up to walk in the newness of life.
But in the process of "to Walk" in the newness of life I stumbled and ran into my old nature and found my man, myself split. Jacob and Israel warring in the middle of the night trying to find out who I am, who I really am.
In the chapter, I am preoccupied with trying to find my nature and finally, I press, weary, bruised tattered and torn and disgraced by myself many times, I crawl bruised across the finishing line of the 8th chapter of Romans and there I find the deliverance where the judge has hit the mallet and has declared that therefore there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,
I am guilty but I am free. They've got evidence, but I am delivered, I’m caught red-handed but he has judiciously decreed and expedited my case and caused me to be exonerated even in the face of all the evidence, for now being justified I now have peace not just peace of God, but peace with God. And peace in God.
And yet every day, even after living in the 8th chapter of Romans, I still find myself from time to time, even after being consecrated to the ministry, still I find myself needing a high priest who can be touched with my frailties.
I haven’t reached the point that I don't have to repent yet. I'm telling you about me. And I suspect I am talking about you, too.
I still have to have an attorney, because sometimes I get prosecuted.
What should my attitude be?
Let’s look back at the 51st Psalm.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast (right) spirit within me.
David prays for a new, a steadfast (not swayed by emotions or winds of doctrine) spirit. A renewing of the mind.
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Jesus the son of God did not try to overpower anyone with his knowledge. He did not try to force them to accept any doctrine. He did not use all of the mighty wisdom that he had available to overwhelm his opponents with his all knowing mind. He never played the power politics that he could have played.
Why did Paul give the command to have the mind of Christ?
Philippians 2:1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
Jesus came to serve. That was the mental attitude that he had. That was the right spirit that he exhibited.
Isaiah 42: 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.