©1998 Larry Huntsperger
Peninsula Bible Fellowship
|
7/5/98
|
Flesh Defined
|
Phil. 3:1-6
|
7/5/98 Flesh Defined
How can we tell the difference
between the work of the Holy Spirit through us
and the human results
of our natural talents and abilities?
And how can we tell the difference
between the leading of the Holy Spirit
and our feelings or emotions?
And how can we tell the difference
between what my flesh is prompting me to do
and what the Holy Spirit is prompting me to
do?
We started something last week
that really does need to be tidied up a bit
before we walk away from it.
We were talking about the two faces of the flesh - the
fearful flesh,
and the boastful flesh.
To help get us back into that discussion
I want to review a little of what we talked about
last week
and then pick up where we left off.
We were home-based in a comment
Paul makes in II Cor. 3:5-6
where he says:
2 Cor. 3:5 Not that we are adequate in
ourselves to consider anything as coming
from ourselves, but our adequacy is from
God,
2 Cor. 3:6 who also made us adequate as
servants of a new covenant, not of the
letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills,
but the Spirit gives life.
And we saw that
if we have the fearful flesh
we were talking about last week
we will hear Paul saying
that we are not adequate
to consider anything as coming from ourselves
and we will respond inside
with a hearty, AMEN!
We will affirm with certainty
that there is certainly nothing we can offer
to the true work of Christ.
And even though our response
sounds like whole-hearted agreement
and affirmation of the Word
it is really simply an expression
of our own fear-generated sense of inadequacy.
And when Paul goes on in the next phrase
to say, "but our adequacy is from God,
who has also made us adequate...
those of us who wrestle with fearful flesh
tend to reinterpret that phrase to read,
but our adequacy is from God
who also WILL make us adequate
or CAN make us adequate.
We see our being fully equipped
and completely adequate for the Christian life
as being a distant hope -
something we may one day achieve,
but certainly not a present,
living reality.
But there is a flip side to the flesh,
a second type of flesh response
that on the surface
appears to be the kind of response
God really wants from His people.
Rather than being the response
of the fearful flesh
it is the response of what we'll call
the boastful flesh.
On the surface the boastful flesh
looks very different.
It looks aggressive,
confident,
productive,
capable.
When those afflicted by the boastful flesh
hear Paul saying,
2 Cor. 3:5 Not that we are adequate in
ourselves to consider anything as coming
from ourselves, but our adequacy is from
God, who also made us adequate...
what they hear is this:
"Well, of course I recognize
that all of my gifts,
and talents,
and abilities,
and strengths
have been given to me by God.
They are a sacred trust,
given to me by my Creator,
and I have a sacred obligation
to use them for the Kingdom."
The boastful flesh has no problem
with that second phrase affirming
that God has made us adequate...
And the boastful flesh
has no problem charging in
and attempting great things for God
and challenging others to do the same.
Those who suffer from fearful flesh
tend to gaze on in amazement
at those who are afflicted with boastful
flesh,
believing that they should be more like
those aggressive, confident brothers and
sisters.
But the problem with both groups
is that they are both looking to their flesh
for the resources to live the Christian life.
The fearful flesh looks to their flesh
and is overwhelmed with their inability
to pull it off
because they are keenly aware
of their own failures
and limited gifts and talents
and tremendous load of baggage from the
past.
The boastful flesh looks to their flesh
and is overwhelmed with their obvious ability
to pull it off
because they are keenly aware
of their superior gifts and talents
and tremendous load of potential for
success.
The fearful flesh
looks to the flesh
and sees all those things
that disqualify the person from success.
The boastful flesh
looks to the flesh
and sees all those things
that qualify the person for success.
And both groups
are absolutely wrong.
I believe every one of us
has a natural tendency
to fall victim to one or the other
of these two traps.
I even gave you a little test last week
to help you identify
your own type of flesh expression.
If you have fearful flesh
you will tend to say things like this to yourself:
#1. "If only I were more like so-and-so
I would be able to live
a truly effective Christian life."
If, on the other hand,
you have boastful flesh,
you will be more inclined to say something
like this to yourself:
#2. If only there were more Christians like me in
the Body of Christ
we would be able to get
a lot more done
a lot more effectively."
That's pretty much where we left off last week,
and it opened up a number of questions
concerning how we can tell the difference
between
the impulses of the flesh within us
and the true working of God's Spirit.
That's where I want us to go
with the time we have remaining this morning.
But before we do
I just want to make a couple of observations
that I found fascinating
as a result of our time together last week.
1st of all
I found it interesting to see how easily
most of us were able to recognize
our own type of flesh expression.
When I asked for a show of hands
for the two types of flesh
there was no hesitancy with most of you to
plug yourselves into one group
or the other.
2nd,
it occurred to me afterwards
how comfortable we are
with our own brand of flesh,
and how uncomfortable we are
with the opposite type.
Those who have fearful flesh
have lived with it their whole lives.
They don't really like it,
but they understand it,
and with careful mental reworking
they can even begin to believe
there is actually something holy or Christian
about it.
Fearful flesh isn't boastful,
it isn't puffed up,
it isn't abrasive or assertive.
And if we work at it
we can even begin to blur the lines
between fear and humility.
At the same time,
fearful flesh reacts strongly
to even the term "boastful flesh".
Being boastful
somehow seems like a so much greater evil than
being fearful.
And its the same way with
those who have boastful flesh.
They look at their natural confidence
in their own abilities
and with just a little mental gymnastics
they, too, can see something holy,
something truly "Christian"
about their flesh-based approach to life.
After all, they are out there doing things,
they're aggressive
and motivated
and productive in their Christian walk.
And if they aren't careful
they will blur the lines between
being boastful and being diligent, and
determined, and productive.
And the boastful flesh
will also look at its counterpart with a sense of
revulsion.
For the boastful flesh the worst of all sins
is to be fearful.
They tend to look at those with fearful flesh as
being spineless wimps
who just need to get a grip on themselves
and get busy about the work of the
kingdom.
Now, what I want to do
with the rest of the time we have this morning
is to begin to work through
a clear distinction between
the flesh and the Spirit
as it relates to our efforts
to live an effective and
productive walk with God.
And step #1 in that process
is to spend a few minutes talking about
what the life of the Spirit
and the work of the Spirit is NOT.
Paul talked about this
in Philippians 3:1-6
Phil. 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in
the Lord. To write the same things again is
no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for
you.
Phil. 3:2 ¶ Beware of the dogs, beware of
the evil workers, beware of the false
circumcision;
Phil. 3:3 for we are the true circumcision,
who worship in the Spirit of God and
glory in Christ Jesus and put no
confidence in the flesh,
Phil. 3:4 although I myself might have
confidence even in the flesh. If anyone
else has a mind to put confidence in the
flesh, I far more:
Phil. 3:5 circumcised the eighth day, of
the nation of Israel, of the tribe of
Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the
Law, a Pharisee;
Phil. 3:6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the
church; as to the righteousness which is in
the Law, found blameless.
Now it is a little hard for us
to hear clearly what Paul is saying here
because he is speaking
in strongly cultural
1st century Jewish terms.
It might help if I tell you
that Paul defines the flesh in this passage
with three major elements:
1. His inherited attributes
2. His social position of prominence
3. And his personal strength of will and
character.
When he talks about being circumcised the 8th day,
of the nation of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of Hebrews,
it is his way of saying,
"Folks, when it comes to inherited attributes for
potential success with God,
I was born on the right side of the tracks,
with silver spoon in my mouth.
I had the inside track."
Now, we're not especially impressed
with any of the things Paul mentions
because we are not first century Jews.
If this passage would have been written today, in our
American culture,
making the same point,
it would have said,
"Do you really want to compare flesh with me?
Take a look! I was born with the body,
with the looks,
with the talent
with the name,
and with the money.
I'm one of the few golden boys
who entered this world
with everything you wish you had.
I can beat anyone at any sport,
my singing career is world wide,
and a million teenage girls
have my face pinned to their bedroom
walls."
2. Then, after talking about his inherited gifts,
he goes on to talk about
his position of social prominence.
He says, "as to the Law, a Pharisee."
He is saying, "When measured by the standard we
all accept for achieving success, I WIN!"
In our culture we might say,
"I was salesman of the year."
or "I was the CEO."
or "I was the crew leader"
or "I was the President."
3. And then he talks not just about what he had
been handed by life,
but he talks about what he did with it -
he talks about his own zeal,
his strength of will and determination.
He vastly exceeded all his countrymen
in his bold, aggressive approach to life.
He alone spearheaded
the most aggressive attack
on those he saw as enemies to the truth.
In today's terms
this is the athlete who trains ten hours a day,
this is the entrepreneur
who works 80 hours a week.
In other words,
when Paul defines and identifies the flesh in
this passage
he defines it as including:
everything we bring with us into this world at birth,
and everything we can accomplish
and achieve through those things
we brought with us into this world at
birth.
Now think about that...
That includes your physical appearance,
and physical abilities -
everything from how well you can play basketball
to what kind of public speaking voice you
have,
it includes your personality,
your IQ,
your creative and musical abilities.
It includes the economic bracket you were born
into,
and the one you worked your way into.
It includes everything you have accomplished
through your own skills,
determination,
and self-discipline.
Now, Paul says he considers all these things as
rubbish
when it comes to their ability
to help him live the Christian life.
The Lord Jesus Christ said the same thing
in John 6:63,
John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life;
the flesh profits nothing; ...
Now, what I'm going to say next
is just a half a step off from our main topic,
but it may help clarify
what I'm trying to say here.
The entire kingdom of man-made religions
is based upon motivating the flesh
to serve God.
Man-made religion
thinks in terms of using your natural gifts and
talents and abilities
to further the kingdom of God.
Man-made religion
challenges people to "use their musical abilities
for the Lord",
to "use their athletic abilities for the Lord",
to "use their speaking abilities for the
Lord".
EX. Some time ago
I saw a survey that indicated that
the one thing most American fear most
is having to give a speech in public.
When I was in Jr. High School
I discovered something about myself.
I discovered that
even though I am by temperament
a rather shy, retiring,
almost reclusive type personality,
yet I had the ability
to stand up in front of people and talk.
Assign me a book to read and I was in hideous
agony,
but assign me an oral report
and life was great!
When I was in high school
one of my aunts noticed this ability within me
and said, "Larry, you should go into the
ministry."
I know my aunt's comment was well-intended -
she was no doubt genuinely concerned
about finding something little Larry
might be able to succeed at.
But her thinking had been trained
by man-made religion.
"Give your talents to the Lord",
or even worse,
"Use your talents to succeed
in the world of religion."
And if the whole idea of being a minister
hadn't been totally repulsive to me
I could have done what she suggested.
I could have refined my speaking ability,
and gotten my theological training,
and entered the ministry
in any one of a dozen or more different
denominations,
and become a successful minister.
Because that's how the world of religion works -
and those who are most successful in the world
of religion
are those who are most skillful
in using their natural flesh abilities
to achieve that success.
Q. But then what's the difference
between what my aunt suggested I do
and what I've actually ended up doing with
my life?
We are out of time
and we are going to leave that question
along with all the others I started with today
unanswered until next week.
But the one thing I wanted us to accomplish today
is to see two things:
#1. The flesh, as it is defined by Paul in Scripture,
is everything we bring with us into this world at
birth,
and everything we can accomplish
and achieve through those things
we brought with us into this world at
birth.
#2. And then to recognize
that none of those things are of any value in
achieving the life God calls us to in Christ.
And just to help open a window
to where we will go next week,
I'll conclude by saying that
the true calling of the Christian life
is not the calling of giving our talents
and abilities
and resources to God,
it is the calling discovering
what it means
to allow God to live through us.