Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at some scripture from Romans chapter 8 but before we do that I want to ask you a question.
Have you ever woke up in the morning only to find that you can’t feel your entire foot! Because of the way that you were laying on it in the middle of the night it feels completely dead because it fell asleep. You touch it with your finger but there are no senses there at all. It’s completely numb of all feeling. Well, that is what we’re going to talk about today. That is what the word mortify means. Mortify means to deaden bodily appetites especially by abstinence, self-inflicted pain, or discomfort.
Romans 8:13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Roman’s 8:8
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
The ultimate goal of the Christian life is to become pleasing unto God. It’s about learning to do the will of God. It has to do with becoming obedient and faithful unto him. Those who walk In the flesh cannot please him. In order to please him, we have to first become spiritual and then mortify the sinful desires and deeds of the flesh. Jesus taught the apostle that the spirit is indeed willing, but it is the flesh that is weak.
I remember as a child when I went to the dentist one day and they stuck a needle into my gums. He filled me full of Novocaine. Moments later, I couldn’t feel anything. As the dentist worked on my cavity, I couldn’t feel anything that he did at all. He had completely deadened off the nerve endings in my mouth.
That’s what we have to do in the Christian life. We need to deaden off our sinful desires and urges. This is so that we can become pleasing unto God.
Romans 8:6
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
The word carnal means relating to physical feelings and wants of the body, without any spiritual element at all. Some synonyms for the word include carnal, animalistic, fleshy and sensual. Carnal means worldly or earthly, or focused on what is temporal.
I want you to remember the other day how we were talking about marriage. God has created marriage for the fulfillment of sexual desires and physical needs. Sexuality is to provide for a husband’s needs in the bedroom and vice-versa in a marriage. It is a way out of fornication.
Some people decide that they don’t want to spend time with somebody else for the rest of their life so they have a one-nighter sexual relationship with somebody else and go their way.
It’s very similar to animals out in the woods. There is nothing spiritual involved, there is no love for the other, it is just driven by carnal desires.
Remember that sexuality was created by God but it was meant to be used during marriage. The carnal mind leads to death. What we have to do to inherit eternal life someday is to become spiritually minded.
Galatians 5:19
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Galatians 5:16
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Just like when your foot’s asleep in the morning when you wake up, we need to deaden off those desires of the sinful carnal nature.
There are good desires and there are bad desires. For example, we can desire to spend some time with the Lord Jesus Christ and worship and pray to Him today. You can desire to have some fun with your children today. Desire is a strong feeling of wanted to have something or wishing for something to happen.
Each of us need to learn to modify bad desires in our life. These are desires to do what is wrong or evil. They are desires to do something that is immoral or wanting something that you shouldn’t have.
What we want to do is deaden off those urges so we don’t even feel them anymore. It’s s like giving your heart and your mind a shot of novacaine.
Galatians 5:16
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
The Apostle simplifies it right there. If you walk in the spirit you’re not going to be fulfilling the flesh.
The definition for walk is to follow a particular course action.
If you are walking in the spirit you are endeavoring to follow the things of the Holy Spirit. Follow means to obey a certain course of life or conduct oneself in a certain way. The Christian life is about truth.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The Lord God wants us to do good things. He doesn’t want us living a life of immorality and wickedness.
Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Colossians 2:6
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Genesis 5:22
And Enoch walked with God….
Galatians 5:16
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
When you love somebody, it is an intense feeling of deep affection for them. It’s a profoundly tender and passionate feeling for another person, or a warm personal attachment. Divine love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It’s a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.
In the Christian faith, Jesus is our joy. He is our strength. Joy is an emotion that results because of success or good fortune. It’s the prospect of possessing what one desires.
Another fruit of the Spirit is peace. Peace is tranquility. It’s a state of harmony. It is freedom from disturbance. Peace is a stress free state of calmness that comes when there is no fighting or war.
Long suffering is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It means having or showing patience in spite of troubles that you have to endure that are caused by other people. It’s patiently enduring lasting offense or hardship. Somebody who is long-suffering, endures something that is unpleasant for a long period of time. You have to deal with abuse, mistreatment, personal injury or suffering but you endure it patiently.
Gentleness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Gentleness is having the quality of being kind and tender and mild mannered. It’s being a soft-hearted person. Goodness is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Somebody who’s filled up with this quality is morally virtuous. Goodness is the quality of being morally right and admirable. Somebody who’s filled up with goodness is generous and kind and filled with moral excellence.
Faith is another gift of the Holy Spirit. Faith means to have complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Faith-filled people have a strong belief in God and for the doctrines of the Christian faith. Faith is loyalty to duty or to God and Christ.
Meekness means that you are submissive and you submit to the teachings of Jesus Christ to become obedient unto him. Somebody who is Meek is soft-hearted and mild and gentle and also they are forbearing which means they have a desire to forgive others even when they are provoked. Blessed are the meek because they will inherit the earth. People who are meek are trainable and teachable.
Lastly, temperance is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Temperance is moderation in your actions, thoughts or your feelings. It’s a habitual moderation in regards to the appetites or passions of the human body. Temperance has to do avoiding excesses. Moderation is the avoidance of extremes.
Temperance and moderation can be applied to a lot of things that you do in your day. These are fruits of the Holy Spirit. If you walk in these fruits, you’re not going to fulfill the desires of the flesh that’s a promise.
Romans 8:13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Colossians 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
We need to be focused on the things of the Holy Spirit and deaden those bad desires in our life. We need to turn away from the desires of the flesh and of the mind so that we can become pleasing unto God and fulfill His will and calling for each of us.
I think that’s where I’m going to stop for right now, but Lord willing, we will talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everyone.
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 