John 3:6
What’s Wrong With Me?
If you have been around, you know that we often speak of man being a
trinity in nature; that is, he lives in a body (flesh), he has a will
(soul), and he is an eternal being (spirit).
\\#6\\ Notice that Jesus drew a clear line of distinction between the
flesh and the spirit. These two are in totally separate camps with
no crossover.
The Scripture also often speaks of the superiority of the spirit over
the flesh.
Mt 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak.
Ro 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my
flesh,) dwelleth no good thing….
If the flesh is so bad, why did God put us in it to begin with? What
is wrong with the flesh?
Let me give you some answers.
I. The flesh has been corrupted.
A. This is not how God created the flesh but how mankind has
degraded it.
1. Sometimes Christians are asked, "If God created
everything, why did He create evil and sin."
2. The answer is that God did create pretty much everything
but His creation has been corrupted.
a. God created Lucifer not Satan.
b. God created free will not sin.
c. God created the human race not the present human
condition.
B. What does corrupted mean?
1. It means man has and continues to devolve from what God
originally created.
2. Many like to think that man is evolving but the opposite
is true.
a. Man never lived in a cave until after the fall!
b. Where did he live? In a perfect garden!
(1) Adam and Eve needed no walls to protect them from
wild animals, heat and cold, or storms. There
were none of those things.
(2) The world had a perfect climate.
(3) They needed no fire to cook since there was
no death.
(4) They needed no light to see by as they wore the
glory of God and it gave off light.
(5) They needed no method of preserving food since
there was no corruption.
(6) They needed no communication since they were the
only two humans.
(7) They needed no entertainment since they were
content with creation.
C. When mankind fell, all of that was lost plus and an almost
infinite amount more!
1. sickness 4. old age
2. death 5. natural disasters
3. accidents 6. sin
D. The flesh has been corrupted.
II. The flesh is separated from God.
A. We have a difficult time understanding the word "separation"
in our age.
1. Modern conveniences mean we are never separated.
a. Angel, Nathan, Bradley, Micah live 1000 miles away.
b. Christy, Robert, Evvie, and child live 2400 miles
away.
c. 150 years ago, that meant I would probably never see
them again.
d. An average day of travel in a covered wagon was 5 to
10 miles per day. Considering weather, it would
take more than one year to make the journey.
e. Trains, cars, and air planes have made travel that
once took months or years take only hours or days.
f. I can pick up a cell phone and reach them almost
anytime night or day. (Yesterday I talked to our
friend in Russia!)
g. Even if you are aboard the International Space Station
at an altitude of 14,000 feet, you could communicate
regularly with friends and family!
2. The only remaining separation is death.
a. When a person dies, you cannot see, hear, communicate,
share, or—to some degree—even imagine what is
happening to them.
b. So it is with those who are separated from God.
(1) You cannot see God, hear from Him, communicate
with Him, share with Him, or even imagine or
guess what He is about or is doing.
(2) This complete and total separation from God has
led some to believe that God does not exist.
B. God does exist, but He is beyond the comprehension of mortal
flesh.
1. 200 years ago doctors had no notion of DNA or germs.
2. Scientist could not conceive of protons and neutrons.
3. Such things were doubted because they were beyond their
comprehension.
4. Scientific evidence had to catch up with scientific
theory.
5. Today, anyone with any education at all takes their
existence for granted.
C. Those who doubt the existence of God are doing so because
their flesh is separated from God and incapable of
comprehending Him.
1. They must exercise a faith that is foreign to the flesh.
2. Before anyone can know God exists, he must first believe
that He does exist.
3. These doubters are caught in the vicious cycle of fleshly
limitations which will lead to their ultimate damnation.
D. In like manner, some people question the reality of the hell as
described in the Bible.
1. The Bible describes hell as a place where flames,
darkness, thirst, and worms torture you forever.
torture of flames, darkness, thirst, and worms gnawing
2. Such a place is as far beyond the comprehension of flesh
as is God, but our inability to comprehend it does not
make it any less real.
3. Our lack of ability to comprehend or communicate with God
today is only partial separation from God.
4. Hell will be the ultimate separation from God, complete
and final.
E. Outline
1. The Flesh has been corrupted.
2. The Flesh is separated from God.
III. The flesh has a "bend" to do wrong in the best of us.
Ho 11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding
from me: though they called them to the most
High, none at all would exalt him.
A. Like you can bend a little twig and make it grows in the
direction you want, so the nature of flesh has bend, but the
direction it has been bent toward is sin.
1. When Adam and Eve sinned, they made a permanent bent in
the direction of their descendants.
2. An arrow shaft with a bend will miss the target.
3. One of the definitions for the word sin is "to miss the
mark."
4. The evil bend that is inside of us causes us to be less
than God desires. That is sin.
B. This slight bend to wrong grows into a sharp turn to do evil.
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?
IV. The flesh thinks it is always right.
Pr 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his
own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
Pr 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto
a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Pr 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own
eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is
wise.
Jud 17:6 In those days there was no king in
Israel, but every man did that which was right
in his own eyes. \\#Judges 21:25\\
A. You and I know that a lot of people are doing wrong.
1. But did you know that most of them THINK they are doing
right?
2. There are a few wicked hearts that know what they do is
wrong and do it anyway.
3. But most think they are right!
4. That’s really amazing when you consider all the wrongs
that people do!
B. There are people out there right now who are drinking away
their life, gambling away their income, injecting drugs into
their body, sticking a gun in someone’s ribs, beating the
life out of a stranger, molesting a little child and they
have somehow reasoned that their wickedness is—in their
case—all right!
C. Hopefully no one in this church is guilty of such an extreme
wrong, but every one of us is just as guilty of the faulty
reasoning.
D. It is inherit to the flesh!
1. You think you’re right and your mate is wrong.
2. You think your cause is just and your neighbor’s is not.
3. You think you have the right of way and the other car is
supposed to stop.
4. You think they started it and you’re just responding in
kind.
5. One morning when I worked at the hotel, a room called
complaining about his neighbor.
"I don’t know what is going on but they are beating
on the wall. They woke me from a sound sleep."
I called the room and inquired.
"Yes, we did beat against the wall but they beat on it
first and we were just showing them what it sounded
like."
V. The flesh is arrogant even when its wrong.
Luke 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to
pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a
publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as
other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of
all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not
lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to
me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house
justified rather than the other: for every one
that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he
that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
A. There are three important truths to see in this parable.
1. The first man was terribly wrong in his attitude and his
actions.
a. You don’t have to be wrong in both areas to be wrong.
b. You can be doing the right thing with the wrong
attitude and it’s wrong.
c. You can also have the right attitude but be doing the
wrong thing and it’s wrong.
d. But if you have the wrong attitude and the wrong
action you are terribly wrong!
2. The first man had no idea he was wrong. \\#14\\ Jesus
made it clear that he was.
3. The first man was extremely proud even though he was
wrong.
B. How many have been the times when we thought we were doing
good and were so proud of it, but actually, we were terribly
wrong!
1. Personal confession - I find myself falling into this all
the time!
2. We don’t word it exactly like this but we follow the
formula.
3. "If so-n-so thinks I am going to let them get away with
such-n-such, they’ve another thought coming! I’ll just
sass-n-sass."
VI. With all of these marks against it, the flesh cannot please God.
Ro 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please God.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and
all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and
we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities,
like the wind, have taken us away.
A. Here is the problem for the religionist who wants to have some
part in earning his salvation.
1. His faulty flesh has deluded him into thinking he can.
2. His arrogant flesh prevents him from seeing that he
cannot.
3. And with every religious work he performs in an attempt to
please God, he offends God more and more.
B. Such flesh cannot please God.
VII. The flesh is very, very powerful.
A. By powerful, I mean that it is strong in its desire to
control and direct us.
1. Every human being has had to do battle with self.
a. Getting out of the bed in the morning.
b. Pushing away from the table.
c. Controlling temper, greed, lusts.
2. But few recognize just how powerful the flesh is until
they are born again.
3. Paul the apostle knew of the battle.
Romans 7:15…for what I would, that do I not; but
what I hate, that do I.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and
these are contrary the one to the other: so that
ye cannot do the things that ye would.
B. What can we do to win in this battle? Our only recourse is
to…
1. …trust Christ as our Savior.
Joh 15:5…for without me ye can do nothing.
2. …walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and
ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
C. This is why Jesus made that most powerful statement:
John 3:7 …Ye must be born again.
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