A BODY PREPARED

“5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’ ” 8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me” (Heb. 10:5-8).

We hear of a body that was prepared for the Messiah, for Jesus, and with purpose. But we must understand that there were actually three bodies throughout the history of man. In this lesson we will consider these three bodies, their purpose and timing.

1. Is the body of Man himself…
2. The Lord’s physical body…
3. And three the “body of Christ”, the church…

We begin in the beginning with the first body that was prepared…

PUTTING ON CHRIST – SELF-CONTROL PART 2

In the previous lesson in the series Putting On Christ, we did some study on the value and necessity of the last characteristic of the fruit of the spirit: self-control.

We defined self-control as: “have mastered your inner self” by submitting our spirit to God’s via His word.
Self-control is discipline, under the direction of God’s Word that enables to walk in the light and be pleasing to God.
We can control lust by the spirit of God that is in us. We can control thoughts that become addictions and “not be brought under the power of any” (1 Cor. 6:12).
We can say no, by the power of the spirit that is in us and never become slaves to anything but righteousness.

To wrap this point up I’d like to consider three topics, beginning with…

Take Every Thought Captive “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” (2 Cor. 10:5)…

PUTTING ON CHRIST – SELF-CONTROL

Solomon wrote, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (Proverbs 25:28).

Defining self-control:

The word [ἐγκράτεια] egkráteia, comes from “en, in the sphere of”, and “krátos, dominion, mastery”. That is you have mastered your inner self i.e., “self-control”
Oxford Dictionary defines it this way. “the ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotions and desires or the expression of them in one’s behavior, especially in difficult situations.”
Webster says, “restraint exercised over one’s own impulses, emotions, or desires”.
For the believer “self-control” or “spirit-control” can only be accomplished by the power of God. Peter commands us all to add self-control to our faith (2 Pet. 1:6). It is the Christian’s spiritual wall of defense against the sinful desires that wage war against the soul. Think of yourself standing with a wall around you, outside there are all kinds of activities, some sinful, and some acceptable. It encompasses every life decision. Should I study my bible or, watch my favorite television show? Apply the fruit of the Spirit to the question and the answer will aways be study.

That is not to imply that entertainment doesn’t have a place in our life, but if there is a choice to be made between the two, the right choice must always be according to the Spirit.

“24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

Self-control is running the race so as to receive an imperishable crown which requires discipline. Self-control is not an option for the child of God-IT IS A MUST…

MAKE NO PROVISION FOR THE FLESH

One scripture that we read this morning was from Romans 13:14. I would like to spend our time tonight by expounding a little on both verse 13, and verse 14.

“Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:13-14)

Let’s begin by defining these six words Paul used to warn us how not to walk:
1. Revelry: Usage: “kómos”
2. Drunkenness: Usage: The term “methé”
3. Lewdness: Usage: The Greek word “κοίτη”
4. Lust: Usage: The term “aselgeia”
5. Strife: Usage: The Greek word “eris”
6. Envy: Usage: In the New Testament, “zelos”

Now let’s apply this and learn to Walk Properly…

We have been learning from the scriptures how we who are saved can continue the process of “Putting on Christ”, which is initially done when we accepted the invitation of Christ in baptism. (Gal. 3:27)
• Paul further enlightens us as to the meaning of putting on Christ in his writing to the church at Rome.
• In chapter 13 and verse 14 Paul wrote, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Rom. 13:14)
• Thus, putting on Christ demands that we change, through repentance.
• It is not a one-time thing, rather a lifelong process of sanctification (1 Pet. 3:15), putting on righteous-ness and putting off sin, preparing ourselves for eternity.
• The putting on of righteousness is accomplished by putting on the fruit of the Spirit.
• Thus far, we have studied how we put on love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith-fulness…

As we continue with our theme of Putting on Christ, we turn to the 8th fruit of the Spirit which is gen-tleness.

In the scriptures we read of victory after victory that God has won against the enemies of His people.

• And there are many very sad events throughout the history of man times when people suffered,
mostly because they turned away from following God.

• Yet, tonight in this lesson I wanted to address the good news through some of the
words of glad tidings that bring the church a sense of joy.

Words that I hope will be encouraging to us…

Solomon wrote, “Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?” (Prov. 20:6). 
The following three things are essential traits that God’s children must put on if they are to be faithful… 

1 Absolute Honesty!
2 Complete Dependency on God!
3 Unwavering Loyalty!

Thus, as our Lord is faithful so too, we must put on faithfulness.
• We need to be like God, and Jesus – Faithful in all things. . .

First let’s define faithfulness… What Is Faithfulness?
• [Webster] “Firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty”.
• [Thayer’s] “reliability, dependability, loyalty, and trustworthiness.”

Consider the great example of Daniel…

Three Promises

1) I Will Give you a Land: “1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” (Gen. 12:1)
2) Make you a Great Nation: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.” (Gen. 12:2)
3) All the Families of the Earth will be Blessed:  “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3)

The Newtestament church is that which is now the spiritual Israel, the spiritual kingdom of God and Christ. And even to this day there is established the same three things. A People, A Law, and A Land…

PUTTING ON CHRIST
MAKE ME HAVE KINDNESS AND GOODNESS

Two characteristics that God calls for us to adopt to be pleasing in His sight are kindness and goodness. Immediately we may think that these words are simply redundant.

Kindness is defined by Thayer as “moral goodness, integrity.”
Goodness is defined by Thayer as “uprightness of heart and life.”

We can see that the definitions of these two words are fairly similar.

In studying these characteristics, I thought Jerry Bridges related these two words together well:

“Kindness is a sincere desire for the happiness of others; goodness is the activity calculated to advance that happiness.”
Therefore, kindness is about having the desire for good things to happen to others.
Goodness is doing activities to ensure that those good things do happen to others.
Kindness requires an awareness of others and the thoughtfulness to want to bring goodness to their lives.

Consider two reasons why we need to reflect these characteristics of kindness and goodness.

First, we see these very characteristics in Jesus…

UTTING ON CHRIST CIRCLE OF FRUITFULNESS PART 1

Writing to the saints in the churches of Galatia Paul concluded by reminding them who they are saying: “26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Today we begin a few lessons that I pray will help us all understand JUST how we put on Christ. This is accomplished primarily by adopting the fruits that come from God’s Holy character which we learn of through the life and teaching of Jesus and the holy men of God who wrote the scriptures (2 Peter 1:21).

We must live fruitful lives – or be cut-off from the life-giving vine, which is Jesus (John 15:6). Jesus said, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” (Matt. 7:18). Let’s study the Circle of Fruitfulness. • Who we are will define what we do. • What we do defines who we are. It is an endless circle. 

Now, it is, therefore, impossible for me to say I have put on Christ – if I am not living a godly and fruitful life. I can no longer say as some say, this is who I am, like it or not, and I’m not going to change now! We thank God that Peter didn’t say that, Paul didn’t say that, and we must never adopt that self-condemning attitude. What we must do is imitate Jesus, and the Apostles’ life, and teaching to the extent that we may boldly and truthfully say, such was I, but now I am washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:11). . .