The Conquering of the Disciple

Before last, we took up the topic of the great inner conflict of the disciple, a fierce struggle

between the cravings of our insatiable flesh and the indwelling Holy Spirit, emphasizing

the need for an ongoing crucifying of the flesh and a walking in the steps of the Spirit.

And since that talk, some of you have approached me and asked if I might not say a little bit

more on this vital topic, moving from the forest to the trees and indeed down into the

individual weeds, getting really, really practical.

So that's my hope this morning, to take up this crucial topic of sin slaying and try to

thicken the description of the path to victory as concretely as possible.

And this is an arena, or at least it can be, of great frustration and even anguish for many

Christians.

They attempt to slay their sin, but never seem to succeed at it.

I wonder if you've heard of Samuel Johnson.

He was, here's some excerpts from his prayer journal.

He was a professing Christian, and it starts in 1738.

That's at least as early as I've found some of these references.

He writes in 1738,

Oh Lord, enable me to redeem the time which I have spent in sloth.

But you keep working through his dictionary, and 20 years later, you still see an entry like,

Oh mighty God, enable me to shake off sloth and redeem the time misspent in idleness and sin

by a diligent application of the days yet remaining.

Of course, two years later, enable me, Lord, to shake off idleness and sloth.

Then two years later, I have resolved to resolve till I am afraid to resolve again.

Let me shake off sloth.

A few years later, my indolence since my last reception of the Lord's Supper has sunk into

grosser sluggishness.

My purpose is from this time to avoid idleness and sloth and to rise early.

Five months later, resolved to rise early, not later than 6 a.m. if I can.

A year later, I purpose to rise at 8 a.m.

Because though I cannot rise early, it will be much earlier than I now rise, for I often

lie in my bed until 2 p.m.

And several years later, still, I am not yet in the state to form any resolutions.

I propose, I purpose, and I hope to rise early in the morning at 8 a.m.

And by degrees, eventually at 6 a.m.

Then 1775, okay, six years after that.

When I look back upon my resolutions of improvement and my amendments which year after year have been

made and broken, why do I yet try to resolve again?

I try because reformation is necessary and despair is criminal.

Therefore, resolved, rise at 8 a.m.

Then a couple of years, several years after that, I will not despair.

Help me.

Help me, oh my God.

Resolved, rise at 8 a.m.

Or earlier to avoid idleness.

And this is just a few years.

This is 44 years after his first entry about sloth and just a few years before his death.

Okay?

So, a familiar frustration?

An ineffectual fight against sin.

What can we do?

Is there any hope?

Will our battle against our sin be like Samuel Johnson's effort against sloth and just kind

of drag on more and more resolutions?

What is the path of promised victory?

That's what we want to look into.

And to lead us into that sought-out territory, there is a pivotal principle the Apostle gives

us in Romans 8.13, where Paul writes,

If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

And this is where we want to begin to kind of pull on the threads of sin slaying.

And let's not fail to notice, in passing, the stakes in this matter.

Are they not remarkably high?

None other than life and death are in the balance here.

As the full statement of the Apostle reads, Romans 8.13,

If you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

As John Owen, Puritan John Owen famously put it in lapidary succinctness,

Be killing sin, or sin will assuredly be killing you.

So if we are to live, we must be putting to death the deeds of the body.

Incidentally, by deeds of the body, Paul means the deeds of the flesh.

It's clear from the parallelism of this verse that we're looking at.

That is, the stuff in us that comes out of us when we are acting out of hostility toward God,

or in subordination to him, or unbelief toward him.

That's what we mean by the flesh, or the deeds of the body.

In a word, sin.

Okay?

All that falls foul, or falls short, of the perfect humanity set forth in Christ.

So that's the target of our zealous efforts at extirpation.

And extirpation, it must be put to death, it says.

Not simply wound, or periodically prune.

Just a little off the top, please.

That should be sufficient.

No, we need to put it to death.

The axe must be laid at the root of the tree.

And for if we let our flesh prevail,

what we think, feel, and do,

be shaped decisively by our flesh,

what we think, feel, and do,

apart from or against God,

we will die.

We will die.

So, the vital question becomes,

how do we manage to put to death the deeds of the body?

And notice how, in our text,

how it emphasizes the need to battle this flesh

in a particular way.

In a particular way.

Do you notice that?

If by the spirit,

you are putting to death the deeds of the body,

you will live.

So this is critical.

This is critical.

The Christian is not simply one

who tries to put to death the deeds of the body.

Lots of unbelievers do this too.

Everyone from dieters to ascetics

perform all kinds of acts of self-denial

against their acts of the body.

Therapies and self-help manuals decant

multiple methods of doing this.

And there's a whole new spate of them.

Every new year they come out

to try to assist us

in getting control over our habits

and these sorts of things.

Self-disciplined,

kind of Ben Franklin types

abound,

armed with all kinds of resolutions

for self-improvement,

just like Samuel Johnson.

All these resolutions for self-improvement.

And again,

neither does just being a Christian

guarantee

that we will go about

seeking to put to death the flesh

in the right or effectual way.

And often our efforts

can feel like

they're amounting

to just a miserable failure.

Remember Samuel Johnson's

unavailing efforts here.

So,

the apostle is adamant here,

it must be by the spirit

that we do the killing.

No other way is effectual.

So our question naturally becomes,

how is this done?

What does

putting to death

the deeds of the spirit

by the spirit

mean?

What does that mean?

Now,

the apostle is not

quite as explicit here

as we might wish

that he were,

but we're not without resort.

For the context

that we have,

that this verse is in,

gives us a good clue

as to what he means.

For he's just explained,

same chapter,

verse five,

so Romans eight,

five,

those according

to the spirit

set their minds

on the things

of the spirit.

Okay,

verse five.

So it's likely

that

the way we put

to death the flesh

by the spirit

is by

setting our minds

on the things

of the spirit.

Okay?

And if this is so,

then the question

becomes,

what are

the things

of the spirit?

What are the things

of the spirit?

Well,

without wanting

to unduly narrow

the identification,

it is interesting

that there is

one place

in the New Testament

where the exact

phrase occurs,

and it's again

from Paul's pen,

1 Corinthians 2,

14.

Okay?

I'll read that.

1 Corinthians 2,

14.

The natural person

does not accept

the things

of the spirit

for they are

folly to him.

He is not able

to understand them

because they are

spiritually discerned.

And in the context,

what he is talking

about here,

I should read it

from verse 12.

Now,

we have received

not a spirit

of the world,

but the spirit

who is from God

that we might

understand

the things

freely given

to us

by God.

And we impart

this in words

not taught

by human wisdom,

but taught

by the spirit

interpreting

spiritual truths

to those

who are spiritual.

And the natural

person does not

accept these

things of

the spirit.

So,

what are the

things of the

spirit here?

Well,

the words,

the words

taught by

the Holy Spirit

given to Paul

to teach us

in his,

in the New Testament

writings.

In other words,

the apostolic words

that we now have

in the apostolic

writings.

The scripture.

The voice

of the spirit

heard through

the inspired

words,

apostolic words

that we now

have in the

scripture.

Okay,

so,

so,

I want to suggest

that to set

our minds

on the things

of the spirit

certainly involves

setting them

on the word

of God

as we now

have it

in our

Bibles.

So,

this is my

central claim

and I'm

quite confident

that we are

in solid,

on solid

ground here.

Incidentally,

a corroborative

piece of

evidence

that we have

made a right

identification,

things of the

spirit,

the word of

God,

is in Paul's

discussion in

Ephesians 6

of the whole

armor of God.

You remember

that?

Okay,

and if you

look down

through that

whole armor

of God,

there's only

one piece

of that armor

with which

you can

kill.

What is

that?

Do you

remember?

Well,

the sword

of the spirit

which is

the word

of God.

Okay,

the sword

of the spirit

which is

the word

of God.

Okay,

so,

and as

further

and decisive

support for

this contention,

does not

Jesus do

exactly this?

When he

is faced

with temptation,

remember you

get in Luke

4,

different places

in the Gospels,

when he's

faced with

temptation

by Satan

coming to

him,

how does

he respond

to that?

He says

no,

but he

quotes

scripture.

That's right,

he actually

comes back

with scripture

and he sets

his mind

on,

the things

of the spirit

which is

the word

of God,

the scriptures.

That's

exactly how

he does it.

So,

I want to

suggest

that

we put

to death

the deeds

of the body

by the spirit,

okay,

by means of

the spirit,

by taking

our minds

and setting

our minds

firmly

on the

word of

God.

Okay,

so it's

the word

of God

that is

the instrument

in killing

our sin

as we set

our minds

upon it.

The word

is the means

by which

the vigorous

action of

the spirit

is released.

We set

our minds

upon it.

That's what

we need to do.

So,

how does this

practically

work itself

out?

I find

Paul's

remarks

in Galatians

to be

really helpful

in filling

this out.

Particularly

in Galatians

3,

about

verse 5,

which

gets at

what we

do,

what we

do,

such

that the

Holy Spirit

is at

work.

Okay,

and Paul

is asking

in Galatians,

in Galatians

3, 5,

he's asking

them,

now think

back,

Galatians,

when the

spirit of

God came

to you

and how

did the

spirit work

effectually

in you?

Okay,

and then he

asks them a

question.

He says,

does he

who supplies

the spirit

to you

and work

miracles

among you,

does he

do so

through

works of

the law

or by

hearing

with faith

or by

hearing

with faith?

So he's

asking the

Galatians,

now remember,

how is this

miracle working

power of the

spirit unleashed

in your

lives?

How did that

work?

Two options.

Was it

trying to make

things happen

by performing

the works of

the law,

just obeying

commands?

Was that how

it happened?

Gong,

wrong answer,

thank you for

playing,

no,

no,

second answer,

or by

hearing with

faith?

Hearing with

faith.

Bingo,

right answer,

you win.

So,

and incidentally,

this is one of

the grand points

of the whole

epistle of

Galatians,

that you are

actually sanctified,

you are made

progressively holy

by the same

means and

principle by

which you

were justified.

Originally,

when you came

to Christ,

you heard a

wonderful promise

and you

believed in

that promise

and you

were justified.

And you

know what?

It's just

the same

when it

comes to

sanctification.

You have

a promise

and you

set your

mind on

that promise

and you

believe that

promise,

you ingress

that promise

and you

will be

sanctified.

You are

sanctified in

the same

way in

which you

are justified.

And that's

Galatians in

a nutshell.

So,

that's what

he's saying.

And notice,

notice how

Paul doesn't

just say

by faith.

By faith.

He adds

something else.

Notice,

hearing.

Okay?

Hearing by

faith.

Okay?

So,

why does

he add

hearing there?

How does

accenting

hearing

make a

difference?

Well,

because

the Spirit

is supplied

by our

hearing.

He works

his miracles

in our

hearing.

Okay?

And this

is vital.

If you want

the Spirit

released to

work with

power,

you need

to hear

the Word

and believe

it.

Okay?

Hear the Word

and believe

it.

So,

when you

are battling

with sin,

what is

your first

act

in this

fray?

Okay?

Listen.

That's your

first act.

Listen.

Hear

something.

Get

something

into your

ear.

Okay?

Martin Luther

used to

say,

the ear

is the

Christian's

organ.

The ear

is the

Christian

organ.

What do

you mean

by that?

Not

seeing a

crucifix?

Isn't

the eye?

No!

It's the

ear.

Okay?

We need

to hear.

So,

faith comes

by hearing

and hearing

by the

Word of

God.

Okay?

So,

don't

minimize

the importance

of hearing.

Okay?

And by

hearing,

I'm not

saying necessarily

it has to

be acoustic

out loud.

Just like

when you

read a

book,

you're

actually hearing

it in your

mind,

aren't you?

You're

hearing it

acoustic.

Ambrose used

to do this.

Almost all

reading used

to be out

loud.

It used

to be

acoustic.

So,

anybody that

would read

silently like

we do

was a

marvel.

And Bishop

Ambrose was

one of those.

And people

used to

come and

actually just

watch him

because his

mouth would

be moving,

but they

wouldn't hear

anything.

But he was

hearing something.

Okay?

When you read

it, you hear

it.

So,

that's what

we mean

here.

So,

I need to

hear it,

even if it's

an inner

hearing.

So,

don't just

say,

oh,

when temptation

comes,

I'm just

going to

trust God.

I'm just

going to

trust God.

Well,

good.

But how

does that

play out

concretely?

That's still

too vague.

It's just

too vague

and amorphous.

I need to

get a

concrete

promise

about

something that

he tells

me,

promise or

his character,

and trust

that

concretely.

So,

how does

this play

out?

How does

this play

out?

Well,

when the

flesh

kindles

something

seeking to

conceive

sin in

me,

how do

I try

to kill

that?

Put it

to death.

Okay?

I need

to hear

the word

and listen

to a

promise.

And that's

what energizes

the spirit

to do his

killing work.

Okay,

let me give

you an example

of this.

In fact,

turn to

John 14.

Okay,

John 14

John 14:1

verse 1.

This is a

helpful example

of this.

See,

this is

precisely what

we see

Jesus doing

for his

disciples.

He sees

them starting

to get

anxious.

Okay,

uh-oh,

he's saying

something about

going away

and the

anxiety is

starting to

bubble up

and they're

about to

give themselves

over to

fear.

Their hearts

are about

to be

troubled.

And,

uh,

what does

he tell

him?

He gives

him a

promise.

Okay,

he says,

let not

your hearts

be troubled.

Okay,

believe in

God.

Okay,

good.

But that's

still too

vague,

too concrete.

Believe also

in me.

Okay,

I'm the

concrete

embodiment

of God

here.

Believe in

me.

Okay,

but even

that's not

quite enough.

He's going

to give

him something

more to

hang on

to.

Notice how

he goes

to a

specific

promise.

Okay,

in my

father's

house,

there are

many

mansions.

If it

were not

so,

I would

not have

told you.

And if

I go to

prepare a

place for

you,

I will

come back

and receive

you unto

myself.

That where

I am,

there you

may be

also.

So,

notice how

anxiety is

starting to

come up.

Okay,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

no,

believe in

God,

believe in

me,

focus,

me.

And here,

I'm going

to give

you a

concrete

promise

and put

your trust

in this

promise.

See,

he gets

a word

of promise

into them

in their

hearing,

and then

they're able

to put

their trust

in that,

and they're

able to

be at

peace,

and their

heart

not be

troubled.

And this

is what

we need

to do.

Okay,

if I,

oh my

goodness,

I'm this

old now,

and I'm

not married

yet,

and I need

a spouse,

oh my

goodness,

my life

is coming

undone,

what do

you do?

Okay,

well,

is there

some sort

of promise

that addresses

that?

You know,

Abraham,

God,

what will

you give

me?

What will

you give

me?

Abraham,

I am

your exceeding

great reward.

I think

you need

to give

me something

I,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

you tell

me you

are my

exceeding

great reward.

Genesis 15.

Okay,

there's a

concrete thing

that he

says.

I hear that,

I listen to

that.

Okay,

okay.

Yeah,

yeah,

there you go,

exactly,

exactly.

I remember

dropping

Vienna off,

my oldest

daughter.

She was

going to

kindergarten,

and she

was so

excited for

this,

and she

was there,

everything

was all

ready,

and she

was just

so happy

and excited,

and dropped

her off.

She had

her lunch

packed,

her lunch

box,

and I

picked her

up at

the end

of the

day,

and she

was crying.

And,

you know,

Vienna,

what happened?

Oh,

everybody

thought my

lunch box

was silly.

So they

made fun

of me

because I

had the

wrong

lunch box.

I don't

know,

it didn't

have the

right logo

on or

something.

And you

can see

she's about

to give

in to

these soul-sinking

thoughts,

I'm not

loved.

What do

we do?

As we're

driving home,

we're just

trying to get

her hearing

some word,

you know,

and try to

put to death

those soul-sinking

thoughts of

I'm not

loved.

Zechariah

2.8,

you are

the apple

of my

eye.

He who

touches you

touches the

apple of

my eye.

Jeremiah

31,

I don't

know,

three,

I have

loved you

with an

everlasting

love.

And on

and on

and on.

And you

can fill

those in.

And it

just began

to lift it

up and

gave her

something

concrete.

And even

for

kindergartner,

this works.

You can

do this.

You can

do this.

Scared of

getting on

a plane?

I see a lot

of people

scared of

getting on

a plane.

Oh my

goodness.

What if

it goes

down?

Oh,

there's

just a

lot of

empty

air

between

me

and

the

ground.

Deuteronomy

33,

27.

Underneath

me are

the

everlasting

arms.

What do

I need

to do?

I need

to tell

myself

that.

I need

to hear

myself

hear

the

words

underneath

are

the

everlasting

arms.

fear

not.

I am

with

you.

Be

not

dismayed.

I

am

your

God.

I

will

help

you.

I

will

uphold

you

by

my

victorious

right

hand.

I

will

uphold

you.

I

trust

in

those

promises

and

a

peace

begins

to

distill

into

my

heart.

And

that

sin

that's

about

to

conceive

of

anxiety

is

put

to

death

by

means

of

the

spirit.

About

to

leave.

I

should

have

tried

this

one.

About

to

leave

home

and

head

out

for

college.

I

think

uh-oh.

Whoa.

Leave

my father's

household.

I

am

with

you

and

we'll

watch

over

you

wherever

you

go.

Genesis

24

15.

You

are

the

God

of

my

fathers.

He

will

be

with

me

in

the

next

generation.

You

slant

with

concrete

promises.

And

even the

little

ridiculous

things.

I'm

late.

Oh

my

goodness.

I'm

oh

there

are

I'm

not

going

to

make

it

to

study

school

in

time.

There

are

roadblocks

that are

just

going

up.

There's

a

race.

I'm

supposed

to

tell

you

what

am

I

going

to

do?

Oh

no.

I'm

getting farther

away.

I'm getting

farther away.

Whoa.

The Lord

reigns.

Let the

earth

rejoice.

I can't

control this

but he

is in

control.

He

reigns.

I can

rejoice.

I can

rejoice.

Weary in

the

are

in

your

labors

for

others.

Proverbs

11

25.

Whoever

waters

others

shall

be

themselves

watered

of

God.

I

can

trust

you

God.

If

I

water

I'll

just

keep

watering

your

garden.

I

can

trust

you.

You

will

water

me.

You'll

water

me.

Are

you

here?

I'm

saying

do you

come

unto

me

all ye

that

weary

and are

heavy

laden?

I

will

give

you

rest.

Okay,

I'm

coming

Lord.

I'm

going to

keep

pressing

in,

but I'm

going to

keep

coming.

Is your

lot one

of

tribulation,

maybe leading

to self-pity

and discouragement?

Well,

kill it with

this word.

I had a

chance to

share it

this morning

with someone

who was just

starting to

sink.

Whoa,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa.

Jesus

says,

in this

world,

you shall

have much

tribulation.

Yep,

you got that

right.

Your assessment

is sound,

but be

of good

cheer,

for I

have

overcome

the world.

This won't

be the last

chapter.

He's overcome

the world,

so we can

be of good

cheer.

So again,

you get

the concrete

promise,

and you

hang on

to that,

and you

just ring

out its

sweetness,

and that's

how the

uprising of

the flesh

will be

put to

death.

Death.

Afraid of

dying?

Fear of

death?

Again,

I've done

this many

times,

not too

many times,

but several

times,

right as a

person's

dying.

It is

fear,

you know.

Hey,

remember,

Jesus says,

John 11,

I am

the resurrection

and the

life.

Whoever

believes in

me,

even though

they die

like everyone

else,

yet they

will live

again.

Do you

believe this?

Then you're

at rest.

Spurgeon,

this morning,

did anybody

read morning

by morning?

Spurgeon,

this morning?

Affliction.

And the

lovely verse

was,

I have

chosen you

in the

furnace of

affliction.

Isaiah 48,

10.

As you

hear that,

I have

chosen you

in the

furnace of

affliction,

does that

not

distill

like a

soft,

cold

shower

on those

flames of

affliction,

assuaging

the flurry.

It's like

an asbestos

armor against

the heat of

affliction.

Yeah,

I might be

afflicted,

sure,

but I

have chosen

of God.

He's chosen

me.

He's chosen

me.

Death,

too.

When you

pass through

the waters,

I always

think of

Bunyan's

Pilgrim's

Progress and

crossing that

river.

when you

pass through

the waters,

I will be

with you.

And through

the rivers,

they shall

not overwhelm

you.

Isaiah 43,

2.

You hear

that,

even in

that last

hour,

and that

trembling

hand will

be stilled,

because you're

feeling him

holding it.

Hard time

giving up

ill-gotten

gain.

This is

oh,

gee,

you know,

but if I

come clean

and I

just tell

him how

much I

really

made,

that I

won't have

this money

anymore.

I have

so many

to use

this money

and nobody's

going to

find out.

I'm feeling

that the

Lord's

convicting

me,

but what

a loss

this would

be.

Remember

God's

words to

Amaziah.

Remember

King

Amaziah.

He's trying

to get

himself out

of his

problems,

so he's

hired all

these Egyptian

mercenaries.

Remember?

And then the

prophet comes

and says,

don't trust

the Egyptian

mercenaries.

But I've

already,

just tell him

to go home.

Tell him

to go home.

But he

says,

oh,

but I've

already

paid him

a thousand

talents.

I don't

want that,

I don't

want to have

loss of all

that money.

Remember

what the

prophet

tells him

in 2 Chronicles

25,

9?

the Lord

is able

to give

you so

much more

than that.

So much

more than

that.

That

verse

has helped

me to

put to

death

the

inducement

of flesh

to,

well,

no,

no,

I just

got to

hang on

to this.

No,

it's

ill-gotten.

No.

The Lord

is able

to give

you so

much

more.

Don't worry

about that

loss.

Don't worry

about that

loss.

And

that's just,

you know,

hearing that

and trusting

it,

it's just

chemo

on just

the cancer

of the

flesh.

Lust

enticing

you away.

Yeah.

Matthew 5a

says,

the pure

in heart

shall see

God.

I want

to see

God.

Do I

want to

cloud my

eyes so

I can't

see God

well?

I don't

want that.

No.

And then

you turn

away.

Poll of

pornography.

Rejoice.

Proverbs 5,

18,

19.

Rejoice in

the wife

of your

youth.

Let her

breasts

satisfy

you and

fill you

with delight

at all

times.

I don't

want to

lose my

capacity

to have

my wife

satisfy me

sexually.

So I'm

not,

I'm not

going to

create some

sort of

composite

fantasy that's

not going to

allow me to

be delightfully

satisfied

in my

wife.

you walk

away.

Don't

think you

can face

tomorrow?

Too many

troubles.

I just

can't make

it.

It's just

overwhelming.

You and I

often will

wake up and

we'll kind of

grab each

other's

heads in

the morning.

At night,

usually the

way we've

gone to

bed is,

we'll just

say,

sufficient

thereof is

the evil

of each

day.

There's

been a

lot today.

Guess what?

It's done,

it's okay.

We're just

going to

close our

eyes and

it's

sufficient.

And then

we wake

up in

the morning,

clasp

our hands

and say,

okay,