TOPIC: SUBDUE THE FLESH
MEMORISE:
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Corinthians 9:27
READ: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
MESSAGE:
One of the three expressways to sin is the flesh, which describes the sinful nature of the fallen man. The works of the flesh are listed in Galatians 5:19-20:
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:17 says that the flesh lusts against the Spirit. We must be careful not to fulfil the lusts of the flesh as Apostle Paul warned in Galatians 5:16, knowing fully well that the flesh would typically want to behave sinfully. He himself lamented thus: “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:24
To the glory of God, he found a solution to this problem as he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:27: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
Like Apostle Paul, we too can overcome the negative influence of the flesh by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour and committing to live our lives to His pleasure.
Our annual New Year resolutions to live a godly life cannot help us in this regard. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can any man overcome the flesh. This is why Jesus is calling everyone, saying:
“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
As we cry out to the Lord for help to live for Him and Him alone, bringing our flesh into submission, the Holy Spirit will help us and we also would be able to say, like Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7:
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”
May the Lord give us victory over the flesh, in Jesus’ name.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, please endow help me to uproot every seed of sin the devil has planted in my life and give me victory over the flesh, in Jesus’ name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: ISAIAH 56-61
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 11: I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR
1. I need Thee every hour,
most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine
can peace afford.
Refrain:
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Saviour,
I come to Thee.
2. I need Thee every hour,
stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r
when Thou art nigh.
[Refrain]
3. I need Thee every hour,
in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide,
or life is vain.
[Refrain]
4. I need Thee every hour;
teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises
in me fulfill.
[Refrain]
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