Treasures New and Old

Spiritual Warfare: Delight

I See another Law in My Members

Before we get into deeper discussions regarding the battle of the mind that we face, I wish to discuss the principle or law of delight that Paul makes mention of in Chapter 7 of Romans. It is a most interesting law of nature that God has placed in our being, almost like an instinct. It drives us to actions. It can permeate our thoughts and decisions, and it most certainly can bend us towards either good or evil. Let’s look at the mention of this law:

Romans 7:22-25: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Verse 22 Notes: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man”:

• Delight: G4913: synedomai (Wordsearch’s Strong’s): to delight in, to feel satisfaction, pleasure, rejoice in. Used only once in the New Testament. Here Paul establishes for us what his foremost delight is: the law of God as it works in his inward man to cleanse, establish, fellowship, guide, and teach him as he follows Christ in his journey towards eternity.

• Law G3551: nomos (Wordsearch’s Strong’s): “to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals); law (through the idea of prescriptive usage), general (regulation), special case of Moses [including the volume]; also of the Gospel), or figurative (a principle).” Expanded to all of God’s Word. Not just the Torah, law of Moses, but to all the Scriptures. And this “law of God in the inward man” is good for us to provide:
  1. Guidance
  2. Prescriptions
  3. Principles
  4. Regulations
  5. Promises
  6. Warnings
  7. Encouragements
  8. Reproofs
  9. Corrections
  10. Doctrine
  11. Instruction
  12. Practices
  13. Examples (both good and bad)
  14. Proverbs and wise sayings
  15. Answers to deep questions like “Why are we here?”

• What is said versus what is implied:
  • The inward man is the spiritual man – the new creature the Bible teaches us about. The eternal man who will enter into eternity with a new celestial body. The born-again person who seeks after God.

• • The Bible says that those without Christ are “dead in trespasses and sin”, but this does not imply that they don’t have an “inward man”. They do. But their inward man is dead to true spiritual things, those things that rightly pertain to God and, therefore, are not able to discern spiritual truths.

• • The inward man of a lost person also has their delights, but alas, they are at best temporal delights and often bent towards evil things, false gods, pleasures of this world, power, money, and materialism. Even those who follow some false god or religion have an inward man, but their inward man is still spiritually dead to the true things of God and must be quickened by the Holy Spirit in a life with Christ to be spiritually alive.

• • For Paul (and should be for us) the inward man delights in God’s Word. He delights to make God rule in his/her life. He/she seeks to please God and have fellowship with God. He finds God’s Word to be pleasant, full of life, a blessing, a treasure to be guarded, sets of principles to live life by that are beneficial and not grievous.

• • What is implied in verse 22 is that the external man, the temporary physical being we walk around in and is not a celestial body, is not eternal, is carnal by nature, is selfish, brutal, vain, and seeks to rule in our own life and, therefore, can’t appreciate the things of God; indeed, is at war with God and can’t be redeemed which is why it must die so that we can have it replaced with a new celestial body one day.

• • The external man finds God’s Word to be restrictive, binding, grievous, even torturous, and seeks to throw off God’s Word. He finds pleasure in disobeying God’s Word and those generally of authority (parents, and others).

• • These two entities exist in every one of us who are still living and breathing in our original body, warring against each other, each having losses and victories as we struggle through this evil generation and time.

The Law of Delight

I’m going to extend Paul’s statement and imply that he has discovered a new “law of creation”, that is, that Paul, by confessing that he delights in God’s Law/Word, has pointed out that we all have those things that we delight in. Some are unquestionably physical (I really love a juicy hamburger with cheese and fries every now and then . . .). But to the Christian, there needs to be a primary delight that supersedes all others. This doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy that hamburger once in a while, but if it means I somehow diminished God’s direction in my life, I will forgo the burger.

Therefore, permit me to create what I shall call the “law of delight” that demands attention in our lives because it brings gratification at high levels. The question is, what will it be for the Christian? Consider these verses that I believe God uses to help us focus our delight on Him.

Psalm 1:1-3: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

• Delight: H2656 (Wordsearch’s Strong’s): hepes: “pleasure; hence (abstract) desire; concrete a valuable thing; hence (by extension) a matter (as something in mind): – acceptable, delight (-some), desire, things desired, matter, pleasant (-ure), purpose, willingly.” Occurs thirty-nine times.
  

Matthew 6:19-22 (emphasis added): “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”

• In Matthew 6, Christ ties treasure, your heart, and a single eye all together.
  

• The focus on Scripture feeds the inward man, brings delight to the inward man, is seen as treasure to the inward man, can be laid up as treasure in heaven where the world cannot destroy it. It will allow you to, so to speak, go to the bank of your heavenly treasure anytime to take out a withdrawal that will never be exhausted – can be withdrawn over and over and over again and accrues eternal interest! Consider, our money in man’s banking system gets used up, but treasure in heaven can’t be used up; it seems to replace itself automatically!
  

• Time well “spent”. We talk about spending our time. Time, then, is a commodity that like money can be spent. It can be spent foolishly, or it can be spent wisely. Time spent on temporal things is, indeed, “spent” and gone. Time spent on eternal things is invested time and will return dividends that will compound forever.
  

• I check out a promise I memorized in God’s Word. I apply it in prayer and see God’s hand at work. I obtain a promise, find peace, marvel at God’s grace and mercy, and have direction, etc. Unlike funds I pull out of the bank which are gone the moment I do the withdrawal, these treasure funds remain available for withdrawal again, and again, and again! In fact, the more we use such treasures, the more focused and effective they become. Here is an example: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). That is a promise. It is able to be “spent” today, tomorrow, was spent yesterday, and the day before, and so on. They can’t be exhausted.
  

How Does the Law of Delight Work?

The Law of Delight has a cause and effect factor to it:

• Psalm 37:3-6: (emphasis added): “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement as the noonday.”
  

• Psalm 37:10-11 (emphasis added): “For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
  

• Psalm 94:19 (emphasis added): “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”
  

• Isaiah 58:13-14 (emphasis added): “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
  

• Jeremiah 9:23-24 (emphasis added): “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgement, and righteousness, in the earth: for these things I delight, saith the LORD.”
  

Some Principles We Can Glean Regarding the Law of Delight (and they are like warnings to us who will listen . . .)

1. A delight can be good or bad.

• We may be finding pleasure in things that are harmful, wasteful, temporary, destructive and will bring, in some cases, lasting harm to us, our good name, our abilities, etc. Drugs are a good examples of damaging pleasures. There is pleasure in sin for a season (Hebrews 11:25).
• Beneficial delights may be both eternal and temporal but have good value and results in our lives. Food is a needed delight. Sleep, rest, work, and other activities may be delights of a good nature.
• But beware, too much of good delights can be harmful (as too much sleep, too much food, etc.).

2. What we delight in we will spend capital on.

• This capital may be our time, may be our efforts, and may be our money.
• May be all three as in a video game, we buy it, we play it, we spent hours using it.

3. The higher the delight, the bigger the expenditure.

• For some, this may become an addiction. For some, we even go into debt that we really can’t afford.
• Some will spend so much that they can’t afford other things including necessities. Gamblers will neglect the proper feeding of their bodies (and of their family) while spending their gain on betting.
• Some will go into irreversible debt to further their delights.

4. When pursuing a delight, we exclude other things.

• For example, time spent playing games prohibits doing some other activity.
• Money spent on your delights means those funds are gone and can’t be used for something else.
• Everything is the result of a choice. When we choose a certain delight, we may be choosing not to do something also that may actually be more important and beneficial for us.

5. Delights have by virtue of being a delight some intrinsic value.

• This may be either eternal value or temporal value.
• That value includes some measure of pleasure that we want repeated.

6. Delights that are high value to us demand to be repeated.

• What we get pleasure in we are drawn to again and again.
• The higher the pleasure, the more often we wish to repeat it.

7. We become defined by what we delight in.

• Oh, he’s a gamer
• He is a workaholic
• He’s an alcoholic
• He’s a prayer warrior

When the Law of Delight is Focused on God and His Word

• Back to Psalm 1 and 37
  
  • We will stand like a tree, unmovable in the things of the Lord, not easily swayed, not easily deceived, not easily led astray.
  • We will have abundance of spiritual water. We will not thirst. We will not want false sources of nourishment. Our spiritual bank is easily reached, no running out of water.
  • We will bear fruit on season. This means when we need the fruit to be born as directed by God. We will be able to bear fruit over and over. This fruit is eternal and serves and pleases the Master.
  • Your leaf will not wither. The heat of persecution, of worldly pressures, attempts to compromise you, to corrupt you will fail.
  • God will prosper you. Note: God will prosper you in whatever you do! That indicates both in this world and for those things you do for eternity.
  • He will change your desires to align with His desires and will give you the desires of your heart.
  • He will allow you to inherit abundance of peace.

• Back to Matthew 6
  
  • Eternal delights are like treasures being deposited in the bank of heaven. Such treasure has the very best of security.
  • Can’t be hacked, thieves can’t steal it, inflation can’t minimize it, there will never be a run on the bank.
  • Your treasure will never rust or corrupt or rot over time. It can be used over and over. It has infinite value. You can have peace of mind on what is banked in the bank of heaven.
  • Banking at the bank of heaven will secure your heart. The greater the treasure stored, the more your heart belongs there, and the more you yearn for and desire to be in your heavenly abode.
  • As we bank our treasure in heaven, we find that things that are temporal and earthly are undesirable and easily left behind one day.
  • Finally, banking our treasures in heaven will assist us in keeping a single eye on Christ, our Master, here on earth.

What Do You Delight in?

• Worldly things?
• Eternal things?
• What do you spend your capital on?
• Who do you seek to please? God, the world, yourself?

Jeremiah 15:16: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.”

Maranatha!

Bro. Joe

References

Strong, J. Strong’s Talking Greek_Hebrew Dictionary. Wordsearch. (2020). Wordsearch Bible. [computer software] . Nashville, TN: LifeWay Christian Resources. (Original work published 1890).

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