Sermon Outline
Love Jesus, Hate the Flesh
Scripture: Varied
Introduced May 2011
Outline of the Sermon
Introduction: A number of years ago, I attended a Bible Conference in which the speaker said – “Following Jesus is painful, if you love your flesh!” The flesh wants more food, more romance, more pleasure. It is a veritable giant of godless passions that always says, “If you give me more than before, then I’ll have enough.” Our culture caters to our flesh. Newspaper? What do we see:
- Lust of the flesh – Leaders in immorality.
- Lust of the eyes – Constant corporate greediness
- Pride of life – look what money does to people.
The same can be said of secular television. Following Jesus is painful if you love your flesh. Some of us are in hell today because we vex ourselves with sin and Jesus is trying to work something deeper in us:
1. We Cannot Serve the flesh
a. Matthew 19:21 – Jesus asked the rich young ruler to stop loving this world; he wouldn’t.
b. Matthew 6:24 – No man can serve 2 masters.
2. We must not pamper the flesh
a. Matthew 5:27-30 – Cut off yourself from this life; remove the wood from the fires of your passion; don’t let romantic sins entangle you to try you, kill you, and perhaps even prove you never belonged to God.
b. We must not pamper the flesh – for as a little monster, it will not give up or give in until it wins.
3. We must trust that God will take care of our needs and legitimate desires.
a. Matthew 6:29-34 – Apart from God’s provisions, don’t value the flesh.
b. Romans 7:18 – In my flesh, my lower nature (not just the skin, blood, and corpuscles), dwells no good thing. The flesh reasons and tries to convince us why we should sin … it philosophizes why feeding it is okay … God tells us, don’t value either its desires or logical reasoning.
4. If I follow Jesus, it will be painful to my flesh. Romans 7:21-25:
a. There is a war between my mind and flesh … my mind interacts with both the flesh and the spirit part of me. So, feed my mind God’s word, and then I purify myself. Romans 12:2. I become transformed. We must allow God’s word in us to change us; as contrite as the saying is – the battlefield is in the mind.
b. The stronger the mind is and the stronger our new spirit man is – the easier it is to say no to the flesh.
Conclusion / Decision / Invitation:
What does your flesh want today that you want to give it? How will you stop? Following Jesus is painful if you love your flesh. We are blind if we are not consciously pursuing a life in God through Jesus Christ. Let's have an abundant entrance into the kingdom.
Decision / Invitation
Sermon Creation Date: Can’t remember; it was written, however, during a personal men’s retreat I attended.
Additions:
1. In point three of this sermon – we say: We must trust that God will take care of our needs and legitimate desires. Sometimes it is hard for hearers to understand what it means to “trust”. The ministry of Living Waters has given a good illustration that I use often when given the opportunity to teach.
When you sit on a chair, you simply know, believe, expect that the four legs under the chair will keep you up. You simply rest on the chair, knowing it will keep you up. So too, to trust in God means to rest in Him knowing, believing, and expecting He will take care of His own.
2. Also, if you have been noticing, some of the sermons have my own personal experiences embedded in them. Not to worry, you can reword the section either with a similar experience of yours or eliminate it all together. I hope these sermon outlines have been a blessing to you.
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