Sun 9:30a Class; 10:30a Worship; 11:35a Communion
Bible Bites
Are We Better Than They?
How do people become so broken in life? Churches routinely see these folks at the doors of their buildings. Brethren often assist them from their own pocketbooks with money, housing, and food. But what is almost universally true of these same people is their total lack of interest in spiritual matters. They have their hand out for money, but place a Bible in it and they’re out the door. I don’t want to sound cynical, but I also must face the facts. Over the course of preaching for 30 years I have talked to literally hundreds of these folks. I can count on one hand the number who accepted the offer to seriously study the Bible; and none who stuck with it. Again, I ask, how do people become so broken in life? Why do they continue down the path of destructive behaviors socially, economically, and especially, spiritually?
Draw this observation closer home. Sometimes we have kinsmen who’ve completely unraveled in life. They can’t blame it on their home life. They can’t blame it on lack of opportunities to excel in life (lack of education; poverty, etc.). They have fouled up, messed up, and, sometimes, they’ve been in and out of jail too many times to count. You finally reach a point where you think, “I can’t do anymore to help this person, so I wash my hands of them.”
Draw the matter closer still. We look at others and pass judgment: “Broken; Worthless; Bum; No Count.” They are “the publicans and sinners” of our day. But seldom do we look with such honesty at ourselves and say, “I am the chief of sinners” — and mean it! We, the respectable and decent servants of the Lord, we are NOT poor, blind, naked, wretched and miserable! We know what kind of woman “it” is that touches the Master’s feet! Have any of us fallen so hard and so far from common decency and righteousness? “Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and done many wonders in Your Name?”
Please read Romans 3.9-19, paying close attention to the question: “Are WE better than THEY?” Listen to the biting answer: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who seeks after God; There is none who does good, no, not one!... That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God!” To what avail will we argue with this? We cannot win, nor overcome. Paul dashes us to pieces and grinds us into the dust, in order to pave the way for the Savior of our souls. We cry aloud with Isaiah, “Woe is me for I am undone!” (6.5). There are no excuses justifying our sin. In His Presence, we will “shut our mouths” and stand “guilty” before His throne. We are NOT better than they!
The question posed correctly is: “How did we all become so broken?” Paul answers: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest...” (Galatians 5.19). We are “all” fouled up because we have all “worked” the will and way of the flesh. “Works” (Greek ergos) means “some kind of action” and, often, referenced a person’s occupation in life and the things produced by their hard work. Just so, the “Flesh” will work as hard in someone’s life to produce the terrible and wretched results that we often see in the worst case scenarios — skid row drunks; drug addicts, prostitutes, etc. The Flesh if left to itself will work non-stop to produce hurtful, damaging, and deadly results in everyone’s life. None of us are immune. The Flesh (Greek sarx) in Paul’s epistles is not “equal” to the body (see Romans 8.6-9). Rather, it is a mindset opposed to God that can work its way in both matters of the fleshly body and in one’s mind (such as “jealousy” and “envy”).
The works of the flesh will “manifest” themselves in our lives. The Greek word means “to become visible, to become apparent, to be well known.” If the Flesh has its way in our lives — if we let it have its way — then it will be seen in adultery, fornication, idolatry, murder, drunkenness, and so forth. Every drunk or murderer on death row was once a pristine baby held in the arms of its mother. No sin. No moral depravity. But a baby left to itself — untrained and undisciplined — often becomes the very visible wretch we see in life. The Flesh will have its way in their life (and ours) leading us to destruction — the wasted, useless life of the Prodigal.
We may not be alcoholics or drug addicts, but in our hearts be fornicators, adulterers, and lascivious! We may not be murderers, but in our hearts hate and despise others so that we cannot speak civilly to them. Giving in to the Flesh will destroy us.
A life dominated by the Flesh is a hard life — filled with excess, imbalance, laziness, self-abuse, hatred, strife, bitterness, and neglect. Unless we take the Flesh to the Cross and crucify it—we will surely be destroyed by it! Note that Galatians 5.24 speaks of two crosses. The Cross of Christ is the only way out of the Flesh’s domination of our lives. But we must also (past tense) have “crucified” the Flesh by our obedience to the Gospel. We nailed the works of the Flesh to Jesus’ Cross and we’re never pulling the nails and reviving the corpse! It is a decisive act. We’ve made our minds up and we’re not returning to our old ways. It is a difficult task. We must break old friendships that lead us astray. We must daily choose not to go to places and be with people that will weaken our resolve. We must never forget how vile of sinners we truly are; how terrifyingly deceitful our own hearts can be (Jeremiah 17.9). We must always remember that WE are NOT better than THEY! We are just as broken and in need of God’s gracious repair.
