Overcoming Our Enemies

 

Our greatest enemies are the ones we must fight from within. We battle the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. We have three powerful enemies that wage war against us in our attempt to live the Christian life.

The world is filled with powerful minefields that can sabotage our lives. James writes, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4). We are to beware of this world and to understand that it is not our friend but our enemy.

Our second powerful enemy is ourselves. This refers to the flesh as our sinful nature that is constantly tempting us and pulling us in the wrong direction. We are to beware of our flesh. James explains, “But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” James 1:14-15).

Our third enemy is Satan. He is not omniscient nor omnipresent, and neither is he omnipotent; however, he is certainly powerful enough to trap us if we are not relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter warns, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The roadblocks that the world, the flesh, and the Devil put in our path are many, but here are some of the most common. Fear, hopelessness, guilt, shame, and regret.

Fear inhibits our lives and impedes our ability to live for God. It ties us up, so we cannot believe we will succeed. When the ten spies gave their reports about the Promised Land, ten of them were overwhelmed with fear. They made the people’s hearts melt with fear (Deuteronomy 1:28). Joshua and Caleb had different spirits because they trusted in the Lord and were fearless.

Hopelessness is the typical result of being beaten down by the world, the flesh, and the Devil. It is when you feel defeated and have no way out. That is a lie, of course, but your mind tells you it is true. When Hagar ran away from her mistress, Sarai, she found herself in a hopeless situation. The Lord spoke to her and gave her hope.  She said, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me” (Genesis 16:13).

Shame and guilt run together. The antidote for overcoming guilt and shame is forgiveness. God’s wonderful gift of forgiveness cleanses away all shame and guilt. God’s forgiveness removes our sin as far as the East is from the West (Ps 103:12.

Finally, regret is a result of feeling like your life has been wasted. Joel 2:25-27 states that God can restore what has been lost. There is no regret when we trust God, no matter what has happened in our lives. The Holy Spirit wants to help you subdue your enemies.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. s and desires.

Seeing the World

 

There are two dangers for the Christian when it comes to relating to the world: The first is that he will detach himself from the world. The second is that he will assimilate to the world, and there will be no distinction between him and the world. The Christian attitude should not be one of conformity to the world. Jesus prayed: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:15-16).

Today the temptation to conform is probably as great as it has ever been, especially with all the criticism Christianity receives. The result of conformity to the world is assimilation. There will be no difference between the church and the world system in time. Paul writes: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:2).

Christ prayed that we would succumb to neither isolation nor assimilation. We have to choose whether we will isolate and detach ourselves from the world or become part of the world or make the world our mission.

Christ prayed that his followers would neither isolate nor assimilate but share the good news with the world. This is not easy; that is why we see so many Christians detached from the world, but with the Holy Spirit’s help, we can share the Gospel with this world.

This morning a hummingbird flew into my garage. With the garage door open, there was a space of 16 feet by 8 feet, but it could not find its way out. It kept flying above the door where it encountered no opening. It flew all around the garage, repeating the same pattern. It was wearing itself. I tried to help it find its way, but it only flew its frustrating pattern, bringing it no freedom. The bird would fall to the floor out of exhaustion, only to get up and try again. No matter how much I wanted to help it see the opening, it could not find its way to the open air. Finally, I threw a rag over the tiny bird, carried it outside, let it go, and off it went into a high tree to rest.

The whole thing reminded me of how much God wants us to connect to the world around us so we can share Jesus with them, but we follow our ingrained routine. Not until the Holy Spirit wraps us in his presence and carries us outside can we really see the world.

 

Three Things the Holy Spirit Does

 

The Holy Spirit’s ministry brings to the world’s consciousness three things:

·         a correct perception of sin

·         a correct perception of righteousness

·         an accurate perception of judgment

 

The word sin means to fall short of the mark. We all do! But, it takes the Holy Spirit to show us where we are! It takes the power of God for us to see just how much we have missed the mark. Paul wrote, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). No one makes the cut, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom 3:10).

Isaiah wrote, “The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand” (Isaiah 1:3). The Ox and the donkey are not the smartest animals in the corral, but they know who feeds them. But we often live as if we are responsible for everything. We try to satisfy ourselves but always wind up hungry, empty, and sad.

We need a correct perception of righteousness. Jesus told us in his Sermon on the Mount, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:20). Jesus described God’s standard of righteousness as perfection! “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48).

Christ’s teaching was vindicated when he was accepted back to Heaven by the Father: When Almighty God raised Jesus from the dead, he accepted Christ—Jesus was God’s model of righteousness.

The Holy Spirit convinces us that our own righteousness does not come close to Jesus’ righteousness. Once we are convicted, we abandon all efforts at self-righteousness. We surrender all hope of salvation through our righteousness.

We need a correct perception of judgment. The Holy Spirit convinces the world that there is such a thing as judgment. We become aware of our destiny and that we are undone and unprepared.

The judgment of Satan and the breaking of his power at the cross is proof of that. While Jesus was on the cross, Satan threw everything he had at him, but after dying for our sins, Jesus rose from the dead. Paul writes, “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people” (Eph 4:8). He led a victory parade!

The work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is his work, not ours. Amazingly, while it is the Holy Spirit’s job to bring conviction, he accomplishes this work through us.