THE WORKS OF THE FLESH...
Text. Galatians 5:19, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest…”
I’ll never forget the day I was called to go the hospital to visit a old friend of mine…He was an alcoholic…He had tried for years and years to stop but he could not do it…The effects of alcohol had over taken his body…
In his younger years this man was an very attractive man…Tall, dark, very smart…had a lot of good things going for him, but he could not give up drinking…He liked to party and just wouldn’t stop living in the party mode of life…
I really want you see this image…That day when his sister called me to come to the hospital, this man was lying on his death bed…It was on this bed that he would take his last breath of air on the earth…
When I walked in the room that afternoon at BMH, I was shocked…I mean really shocked…I have seen a lot of sick people in my life but this was really the first time I had laid my eyes on a person who’s liver had just died…
This man, my old friend had gone from a good looking outgoing man to a mere hull of a person…His face was shaped like the head of a rat…His chin was sharp like a rat and his cheek bones were only covered by a thin layer of skin and that same skin was old and worn…Just like if he had been exposed to the hot rays of sun for a hundred years…
When I looked into his face, my heart ached…I could see the deep lines and burnt reddish color that so often accompanies severe alcoholics…His eyes were sunk deep back in his skull…He looked like a wrinkled, worn out piece of leather…It was obvious that this man’s life had been one of misery…
By just looking at this man lying on the bed, it looked as if he could have been 90 or 100 years old but he was the same age as me…I was completely dumbfounded that someone so young could look so old…
For him to be so young and yet to look so old, you could tell that something had been wrong with his life…For me, I knew he had lived and unruly life… He had obviously soaked up booze as if it were a sponge…He had degenerated to such a ruined state that if I had not been told who he was I would have not recognized him…
It was a pure shock…because the last time I had seen him was a day a couple years earlier when he came down to the dock just to say hello…
I had tried many times to get him to come to church with me but his answer was, “He would come to church when he got through sinning…” He never made it…He never quit sinning, and the truth be told, none of us will ever be free from sin…we are born sinners and therefore we are all sinners…
As I pondered on all this, my thoughts went to Galatians 5:19-21, which says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition's, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revelling, and such like…”
When Paul writes about the works of the flesh, he uses the Greek word ergos for “works…” This word signified some kind of action, deed, or activity…
I’ll never forget the day I was called to go the hospital to visit a old friend of mine…He was an alcoholic…He had tried for years and years to stop but he could not do it…The effects of alcohol had over taken his body…
In his younger years this man was an very attractive man…Tall, dark, very smart…had a lot of good things going for him, but he could not give up drinking…He liked to party and just wouldn’t stop living in the party mode of life…
I really want you see this image…That day when his sister called me to come to the hospital, this man was lying on his death bed…It was on this bed that he would take his last breath of air on the earth…
When I walked in the room that afternoon at BMH, I was shocked…I mean really shocked…I have seen a lot of sick people in my life but this was really the first time I had laid my eyes on a person who’s liver had just died…
This man, my old friend had gone from a good looking outgoing man to a mere hull of a person…His face was shaped like the head of a rat…His chin was sharp like a rat and his cheek bones were only covered by a thin layer of skin and that same skin was old and worn…Just like if he had been exposed to the hot rays of sun for a hundred years…
When I looked into his face, my heart ached…I could see the deep lines and burnt reddish color that so often accompanies severe alcoholics…His eyes were sunk deep back in his skull…He looked like a wrinkled, worn out piece of leather…It was obvious that this man’s life had been one of misery…
By just looking at this man lying on the bed, it looked as if he could have been 90 or 100 years old but he was the same age as me…I was completely dumbfounded that someone so young could look so old…
For him to be so young and yet to look so old, you could tell that something had been wrong with his life…For me, I knew he had lived and unruly life… He had obviously soaked up booze as if it were a sponge…He had degenerated to such a ruined state that if I had not been told who he was I would have not recognized him…
It was a pure shock…because the last time I had seen him was a day a couple years earlier when he came down to the dock just to say hello…
I had tried many times to get him to come to church with me but his answer was, “He would come to church when he got through sinning…” He never made it…He never quit sinning, and the truth be told, none of us will ever be free from sin…we are born sinners and therefore we are all sinners…
As I pondered on all this, my thoughts went to Galatians 5:19-21, which says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition's, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revelling, and such like…”
When Paul writes about the works of the flesh, he uses the Greek word ergos for “works…” This word signified some kind of action, deed, or activity…
Very often it referred to a person’s occupation, to one’s labor, or to the things produced by someone’s effort in life…
It described a person’s line of work, his career, his labor, or his profession…It denoted the results of his hard work…
Because Paul connects this word to the flesh, he is telling us something very important… Just like a person has a career or profession and works hard to achieve results, the flesh, if it is allowed to go its own way and do what it wants—will work very hard to produce fleshly results…
When the flesh is not surrendered to the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, it will work around the clock, twenty-four hours a day, to produce fruit that is hurtful, damaging, and even deadly…This is the occupation of the flesh…
The word, “Flesh” used in Galatians 5:19 is the Greek word sarx, which is used mostly in Paul’s epistles to illustrate sinful impulses and carnal cravings…
Paul uses the phrase, “works of the flesh,” to give the idea that the flesh has its own mind and desires…If a believer doesn’t crucify the flesh and keep it under control, it will eventually manifest those evil desires…In other words, the flesh will go the work!
Paul says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest…” The word, “Manifest” is the Greek word phaneros… It means to appear, to manifest, to become visible, to become apparent, to become seen, to be well known, or to become conspicuous…
By using this word, Paul tells you that IF you let the flesh have its way, it will jump at the chance to manifest its evil desires and carnal cravings…
In fact, the flesh is so carnal and base that if you don’t stop its activity, it will even try to lead you into adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition's, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and other similar vices…
Little Baby…
When a little baby is first born into the world, he looks so pure, so innocent, so clean…but if that child is abandoned to the control of its his flesh, he’ll end up in crime, scandal, alcoholism, or drugs…and become bitter, hardhearted, and filled with malice and strife…
Why? Because these are fruits that the flesh produces… This is why it is so important to teach our children and to train ourselves to mortify (Crush) the deeds of the flesh and live in subjection to the control of the Holy Spirit…
The friend of mine that I talked about earlier who died from alcoholism was once a beautiful, pure looking baby boy…His proud mother and father had probably carried dreams in their hearts of what their infant son would one day become…Maybe they hoped he would become a lawyer, or doctor, or teacher…But at the age of 55, this person looked like 90 or 100 years old…and there he lay, dead as one can get, a wasted life…The flesh had its way in that man’s life and led him to destruction---the place where flesh always wants to go…
It described a person’s line of work, his career, his labor, or his profession…It denoted the results of his hard work…
Because Paul connects this word to the flesh, he is telling us something very important… Just like a person has a career or profession and works hard to achieve results, the flesh, if it is allowed to go its own way and do what it wants—will work very hard to produce fleshly results…
When the flesh is not surrendered to the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, it will work around the clock, twenty-four hours a day, to produce fruit that is hurtful, damaging, and even deadly…This is the occupation of the flesh…
The word, “Flesh” used in Galatians 5:19 is the Greek word sarx, which is used mostly in Paul’s epistles to illustrate sinful impulses and carnal cravings…
Paul uses the phrase, “works of the flesh,” to give the idea that the flesh has its own mind and desires…If a believer doesn’t crucify the flesh and keep it under control, it will eventually manifest those evil desires…In other words, the flesh will go the work!
Paul says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest…” The word, “Manifest” is the Greek word phaneros… It means to appear, to manifest, to become visible, to become apparent, to become seen, to be well known, or to become conspicuous…
By using this word, Paul tells you that IF you let the flesh have its way, it will jump at the chance to manifest its evil desires and carnal cravings…
In fact, the flesh is so carnal and base that if you don’t stop its activity, it will even try to lead you into adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition's, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and other similar vices…
Little Baby…
When a little baby is first born into the world, he looks so pure, so innocent, so clean…but if that child is abandoned to the control of its his flesh, he’ll end up in crime, scandal, alcoholism, or drugs…and become bitter, hardhearted, and filled with malice and strife…
Why? Because these are fruits that the flesh produces… This is why it is so important to teach our children and to train ourselves to mortify (Crush) the deeds of the flesh and live in subjection to the control of the Holy Spirit…
The friend of mine that I talked about earlier who died from alcoholism was once a beautiful, pure looking baby boy…His proud mother and father had probably carried dreams in their hearts of what their infant son would one day become…Maybe they hoped he would become a lawyer, or doctor, or teacher…But at the age of 55, this person looked like 90 or 100 years old…and there he lay, dead as one can get, a wasted life…The flesh had its way in that man’s life and led him to destruction---the place where flesh always wants to go…
You may not be an alcoholic or a drug addict, but let me ask you this: Are You allowing your flesh to dominate your attitudes or your relationships?
Are you giving way to the carnal impulses of bitterness or anger that the flesh wants to produce inside you?
If you give in to these impulses, they will destroy your relationships, make you hardhearted, and fill you with negative attitudes that steal your joy and your peace and can also steal your life away right before your eyes…
You see, a life dominated by the flesh is a hard life…It is filled with excess, imbalance, extremity, laziness, self-abuse, hatred, strife, bitterness, irresponsibility, and neglect…
The way of the flesh is the hardest route for any individual to take; yet the flesh cries out to be in charge, screaming to have its own way, demanding to be the boss…Unless you take your flesh to the Cross and mortify it by the power of God, it will keep screaming until you finally surrender to it and allow it to produce its ruinous effects in you life…
Are you giving way to the carnal impulses of bitterness or anger that the flesh wants to produce inside you?
If you give in to these impulses, they will destroy your relationships, make you hardhearted, and fill you with negative attitudes that steal your joy and your peace and can also steal your life away right before your eyes…
You see, a life dominated by the flesh is a hard life…It is filled with excess, imbalance, extremity, laziness, self-abuse, hatred, strife, bitterness, irresponsibility, and neglect…
The way of the flesh is the hardest route for any individual to take; yet the flesh cries out to be in charge, screaming to have its own way, demanding to be the boss…Unless you take your flesh to the Cross and mortify it by the power of God, it will keep screaming until you finally surrender to it and allow it to produce its ruinous effects in you life…
Thanks...
Robert N. Graves Sr. Fisherman for Christ...
posted by Fisherman For Christ at 7/26/2009 08:46:00 PM
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