Influencing Your Mind - Part 2
John 10:10
Message #4
Today, we are going into the Spiritual Battle – part four. We will get to our primary text for Spiritual Battle in Ephesians Chapter 6 next week.
I know far too many Christians who know (to some extent) about the “Armor of God” in Ephesians Chapter 6, and still, they are being “taken out” by the enemy every day. I’ve taught the “Armor.” Every Pastor I know has taught the “Armor.” Most every Christian I know has heard about the “Armor.” But still... we continue to get easily, repeatedly, and routinely taken out by our spiritual enemy every single day, like sitting ducks at a shooting gallery. And so, I’m not that anxious to get to the Spiritual Armor UNTIL we do more to understand the spiritual battle. And that it is in sincere hope when we do get to the “Armor,” we will have sufficient information and motivation to actually begin applying the armor to our lives in order to walk in spiritual power, to reduce the number of losses to the enemy that we may be currently experiencing.
If you belong to Jesus Christ today, through your faith in Him for salvation and putting yourself under His Lordship, then your final and ultimate victory is complete and guaranteed IN CHRIST. God has so identified you with Jesus Christ that His ultimate victory over the enemy has become your ultimate victory over the enemy.
So, please hear this again (and again). You are not fighting FOR victory; you are fighting FROM A POSITION of victory. However, knowing full well that true believers possess the full and ultimate victory, still, throughout the New Testament, these true believers are encouraged and warned to not let the enemy destroy their lives.
For example, we ended our last message with this statement that Jesus made himself.
John 10:10 (NLT)
10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
Now, if you mistakenly read in there “material wealth and prosperity,” you have been impacted by a heresy, by a false teacher. That is not what that verse means. There is a clear part of this context in John 10 that has to do with our daily life here, prior to our eternal life victory. Because, along with our eternal life, Jesus wants to give us a rich and satisfying life here and now. John 10, verse 10 is saying, in addition to our eternal victory, Jesus wants to give us blessing in our daily life here, and the devil wants to steal, kill and destroy in our daily life here. There are dozens of New Testament Scriptures that warn us we have a very real enemy who can bring very real destruction into our lives today, even though we possess the ultimate victory in Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 5:8–9 (NLT)
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith . . .
Notice closely that the enemy is looking to devour someone who has already put their faith in Jesus Christ. What does that mean that the enemy wants to devour someone who has already put their faith in Christ?
Think about the battle in the spiritual realm for a minute. There are heavenly forces and demonic forces in a battle that involves your life. HOWEVER... they cannot kill one another or end one another’s “existence” to win that battle. What is it then that marks a win for them in the spiritual battle that involves your life? They mark a win or a loss in their battle by which side wins the influence over your life. If the heavenly forces win the influence over your life (according to GOD’S will and GOD’S plan for you), then the heavenly angelic forces mark a win in that particular battle. If the demonic forces win the influence over your life (according to SATAN’S will and SATAN’S plan for you), then the demonic forces mark a win in that particular battle.
What determines a win or loss in the spiritual realm is which side wins influence in your life in THAT particular battle.
We are most often clueless to this truth. For the most part, we do not see the circumstances of our day-to-day lives as wins or losses in the spiritual realm. We never even consider, “Is this choice being influenced by Heaven or Hell.” But trust me, the Angelic beings in the spiritual realm see our day-to-day lives exactly that way.
So today, I want to talk more about the enemy’s tactics and about our losses in these spiritual battles so that when we do get to the victory part, we’ll be “ready” to truly apply God’s Word to our lives.
Two messages ago, we looked at Satan’s first and most all-encompassing deception in Genesis Chapter 3, and we clearly saw that Satan’s most all-encompassing scheme is to influence our mind through deception, to get us to follow HIS will instead of GOD’S will. This is a critically important statement. Your enemy’s overall game plan to destroy your life is to influence your mind through deception, to get you to follow HIS will instead of GOD’S will.
That makes sense, doesn’t it? Because Satan was thrown out of heaven for wanting to be like GOD (Isaiah 14) and his actual first deception was to get a third of the Angels in Heaven to follow HIS will instead of GOD’S will.
What I mean by influencing your mind through deception is getting you to believe HIS LIE instead of GOD’S TRUTH. This can happen in so many ways, what we think about God, or ourselves, or others or this world, etc.
Write the following statement down:
My spiritual enemy wants to influence my mind through deception, to get me to follow his will instead of God’s will.
My prayer is more of us would stand firm in GOD’s plan and GOD’S will against this overall tactic of the enemy, and fewer of US would be so easily taken out by it.
If we will grasp this massive truth, at least we will not be ignorant of the enemy’s tactics (his designs).
2 Corinthians 2:11 (ESV)
11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
You ARE IN a spiritual battle
You HAVE a spiritual enemy
And his general battle plan to destroy your life is to get you to believe his lie, instead of God’s truth in any area of your life, that he can bring pain, damage, or destruction.
Remember, we started by (again) making it clear. If you belong to Jesus Christ, then HE has already won your complete and ultimate victory over the enemy, and it’s THAT POSITIONAL victory that forces your spiritual enemy to resort to attempting to influence your mind, through deception, to get you to choose his lie over God’s truth so that he can bring destruction into your life because of this “positional victory in Christ.”
You actually have free will, and what you choose actually impacts what happens to you. And so, you can be standing in perfect victory and jump right into the cesspool of hell. You have that choice. We closed last week’s message with this truth: The only influence the enemy has over you is the influence YOU give him. The only power the enemy has over you is the power YOU give him.
You’ve got to see yourself standing in the victory of Jesus Christ and this strong and tempting enemy luring you into the cesspool of hell. And you’ve got to understand that you have the option, the ability, and even the tendency to leave the victory of Christ and jump into the cesspool of hell. In your thoughts, in your view of yourself or others, in your opinions, your perspectives, your actions, and in the decisions that you make. You can leave the mountaintop of victory and jump into the darkness of hell at any moment.
Does it mean you lose your salvation? Not if you’re truly saved. If you’re saved, the work is done. Jesus Christ finished that work, and you’re going to heaven. But why destroy your life and everyone else’s life, and be a horrible witness to Christ and drag Christ’s name through the mud on your way to heaven? We want Jesus to say, “Thou good and faithful servant, enter into your rest.” That requires walking in the Spirit here, for him to recognize you as that, there.
2 Corinthians 3 says that some will enter into salvation as though through the flames of hell. This is about eternal life. This is about life and death, and your actions and your choices matter.
(Now, there are some exceptions to this truth, that the devil only has the power that you give him, such as when God grants the enemy LIMITED power in a situation to ultimately bring about God’s ultimate GLORY. Which, most notably in the Bible, is seen in the book of Job.)
But in most cases... the only influence the enemy has over you is the influence you give him, and deception is his primary weapon to trick you into giving him influence over your life so that he can bring destruction into your life.
Next week, we’ll start looking at six specific ways that we can walk in victory in this spiritual battle. We’ll look at six specific ways that we can stand firm and not allow the enemy to deceive us. But for today, we are still on this foundational truth that our daily lives are being influenced either by God’s kingdom OR by the enemy’s kingdom – even though we’ve already been rescued from the enemy’s kingdom and transferred into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:13–14 (NLT)
13 For [God] has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,
14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
But we’ve got to learn to stand firm in the rescue (victory) that Jesus Christ won for us. And in order to stand firm in that victory, we’ve got to learn to recognize the enemy’s attempts at deceiving our minds. So, let’s look at the two biggest weapons that he uses to do that.
The two biggest weapons the enemy uses to gain influence over our minds and our lives, the Bible calls the flesh and the world. Guys, the enemy knows you, and he knows your weaknesses. AND he knows the power of your flesh. AND he knows the power of this world system we live in. The Bible repeatedly addresses these two areas as the enemy’s primary weapons used to influence your mind toward his will.
Let’s start with the flesh. The “flesh” is basically another term for your “sin nature.” The flesh is not that stuff stretched around your body. It’s our old nature that is bent toward sin. It draws you naturally (as in sin nature) toward sin, and it is the number one weakness in your life that the enemy uses to try to devour you. He will appeal to and exploit your sin nature (in any area) to bring destruction to your life.
One of the best books I’ve read on the flesh (and the world) is called: Winning the War Within by Jay Adams.
I’ve often said, for most of us, our spiritual enemy doesn’t really have to work that hard to see us destroy our lives because our own flesh does his work of destruction for him.
In Romans Chapter 8, the NLT uses the phrase “sinful nature” in place of the word “flesh” (because that is what it means).
Romans 8:5–13 (NLT)
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God . . .
8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
And then wrapping up this idea in verse 13.
Romans 8:13 (NLT)
13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
Now, understanding that just a little bit – about how damaging our flesh is to our life with God – how hard do you think the enemy is working to keep you thinking in the flesh and walking in the flesh instead of thinking about and walking in the Spirit?
Your spiritual enemy is constantly trying to exploit your sin nature (your flesh) to bring destruction. He is constantly trying to tempt your SIN nature, to lure your SIN nature, to enflame your SIN nature. Mostly we just continue to “set our mind” on our flesh and to ACT in our flesh, not realizing that the enemy is CAPITALIZING on our flesh in order to bring destruction into our lives.
Now, again, “the flesh” is a general term for our sinful nature. But, each of us have specific WEAKNESSES on our own “particular flesh,” and it is these particular weaknesses that the enemy is looking to capitalize on. It is THESE particular weaknesses in our particular flesh that the enemy is particularly looking to EXPLOIT to our own destruction. This is so important to hear and far too often ignored in discussions about the spiritual battle.
Tony Evans uses the illustration of a football team watching the game films of their opponent in order to look for specific weaknesses in their opponent’s defenses. In case you’re not familiar with it, here’s how it works. The coaches of one team will watch the game films of the opposing team in order to look for very specific and repetitive weaknesses. And if they see a weakness occurring over and over again, they will focus their attack ON that specific weakness. At times they will go back YEARS in watching these films to see if that other team has developed a consistent weakness that they can exploit for victory.
Now, watch very carefully, please.
Your enemy has been watching your “game film” for years, MAYBE since you were a child, and he has watched your film enough to know YOUR particular weakness, in your particular flesh. This is not because he is omniscient or omnipresent but because he is good at doing his homework. He knows what some of you have experienced and what has influenced your particular sin nature. He knows of trauma in your past, and he knows how he can exploit that trauma to continue to do damage in your life today.
He knows your personality weaknesses. He knows what others have done to you. He knows what you have done to others. He knows HOW all of this impacts YOUR particular flesh, and your spiritual enemy does not play fair! He will stick his finger in that old wound. He will stir up that old trauma. He will focus his attack on YOUR particular weakness in order to STEAL, KILL and DESTROY in your life.
No one’s life is destroyed overnight. We can always look back and see a long series of choices that led to that destruction. And often, those choices originally began as a response to a trauma, to abuse, to emotional pain, and our enemy (in all his evilness) tries everything he can to feed the fire of those wounds – hoping to burn our life to the ground.
We’ve got to understand that the enemy specializes in fueling the fire of our own flesh until we make enough poor choices that our life is destroyed.
Now, the WORLD holds a similar use by the enemy as far as the spiritual battle is concerned. When the Bible uses this term “the world,” it is most often talking about the system of operation of this sinful, fallen age. It’s talking about the “world system” whose ruler-ship was given to Satan by Adam.
1 John 2:15–16 (NLT)
15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
Along with the flesh, the love of the world keeps you from loving God (like a double-barreled weapon). And so again, how hard do you think the enemy is working to keep you in love with the world?
Your spiritual enemy holds significant sway over the world system because Satan is its ruler, and he can easily present to you specific things in this world that are particularly attractive to your particular flesh easily leading you down the broad road to destruction.
If you like stuff, he will constantly tempt you with stuff until you destroy your life trying to get more stuff.
If you like to party, he will constantly tempt you into partying, until your partying destroys your life.
If you like to dull the pain, he will constantly tempt you with drugs or alcohol until you are so dulled that your life is destroyed.
And apparently, everybody likes sex because he tempts us with sex at every turn, in every place, and on every device. And in his extreme evilness, Satan has taken what God designed to be one of the highest pleasures in this life (sex), and he has commandeered it to do more damage (probably) than ALL of his other schemes and devices combined.
“The world” is the “system” of this fallen age. The enemy greatly influences it in order to influence you in order to bring destruction into your life.
Now let me end with some strong encouragement to all of us who are carrying the SCARS (effects) of sins of the flesh and the world. Maybe sins we committed. Maybe sins committed against us.
Hear me when I tell you, please, Jesus Christ died to wash away the effects of those sins. BOTH the sins we committed and the sins committed against us. Jesus Christ died to pay the full price to heal us from the effects of those sins in our lives. He died in our place in order to give us NEW LIFE in HIM.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
If you are IN Jesus Christ today, you are a new creation. We’re saved, we’ve been redeemed, we’re transformed. The OLD has passed away, and the NEW has come. And three times, we will read in our key Ephesians Chapter 6 passage Stand Firm, Stand Firm, Stand Firm. It means: DO NOT give up ground that has already been won on your behalf. Jesus Christ has made you a new creation. He has washed you and cleansed you. He has given you HIS OWN new life. Stand firm in the new creation that Jesus Christ has made you.
The enemy will throw fiery darts at you, and he will aim at old wounds, and one of his most common deceptions is trying to convince you that you are not a new creation. That you cannot overcome your past. That you cannot live in peace and victory. That you cannot be transformed. And that is a lie of the devil to get you to choose Satan’s will over God’s will.
But God’s Word exhorts you:
STAND FIRM – in the new life Jesus Christ has given you
STAND FIRM – when the enemy stirs up old wounds or sins
STAND FIRM – in the victory that you have in Christ.
HOW?? Walk in the power of the spirit day by day through ongoing, intimate communion with Jesus Christ. By drawing closer to Jesus. Closer today than yesterday. And closer tomorrow than today. Knowing Him better. Experiencing Him more. Resting in His presence. Resting in His love. Walking in His Spirit. It all comes through communion with Jesus Christ. And that communion brings to you a new life. It makes you a new creation. It gives you the power to stand in victory. Your only victory comes through your complete identification and communion with Jesus Christ.
I know far too many Christians who know (to some extent) about the “Armor of God” in Ephesians Chapter 6, and still, they are being “taken out” by the enemy every day. I’ve taught the “Armor.” Every Pastor I know has taught the “Armor.” Most every Christian I know has heard about the “Armor.” But still... we continue to get easily, repeatedly, and routinely taken out by our spiritual enemy every single day, like sitting ducks at a shooting gallery. And so, I’m not that anxious to get to the Spiritual Armor UNTIL we do more to understand the spiritual battle. And that it is in sincere hope when we do get to the “Armor,” we will have sufficient information and motivation to actually begin applying the armor to our lives in order to walk in spiritual power, to reduce the number of losses to the enemy that we may be currently experiencing.
If you belong to Jesus Christ today, through your faith in Him for salvation and putting yourself under His Lordship, then your final and ultimate victory is complete and guaranteed IN CHRIST. God has so identified you with Jesus Christ that His ultimate victory over the enemy has become your ultimate victory over the enemy.
So, please hear this again (and again). You are not fighting FOR victory; you are fighting FROM A POSITION of victory. However, knowing full well that true believers possess the full and ultimate victory, still, throughout the New Testament, these true believers are encouraged and warned to not let the enemy destroy their lives.
For example, we ended our last message with this statement that Jesus made himself.
John 10:10 (NLT)
10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
Now, if you mistakenly read in there “material wealth and prosperity,” you have been impacted by a heresy, by a false teacher. That is not what that verse means. There is a clear part of this context in John 10 that has to do with our daily life here, prior to our eternal life victory. Because, along with our eternal life, Jesus wants to give us a rich and satisfying life here and now. John 10, verse 10 is saying, in addition to our eternal victory, Jesus wants to give us blessing in our daily life here, and the devil wants to steal, kill and destroy in our daily life here. There are dozens of New Testament Scriptures that warn us we have a very real enemy who can bring very real destruction into our lives today, even though we possess the ultimate victory in Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 5:8–9 (NLT)
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith . . .
Notice closely that the enemy is looking to devour someone who has already put their faith in Jesus Christ. What does that mean that the enemy wants to devour someone who has already put their faith in Christ?
Think about the battle in the spiritual realm for a minute. There are heavenly forces and demonic forces in a battle that involves your life. HOWEVER... they cannot kill one another or end one another’s “existence” to win that battle. What is it then that marks a win for them in the spiritual battle that involves your life? They mark a win or a loss in their battle by which side wins the influence over your life. If the heavenly forces win the influence over your life (according to GOD’S will and GOD’S plan for you), then the heavenly angelic forces mark a win in that particular battle. If the demonic forces win the influence over your life (according to SATAN’S will and SATAN’S plan for you), then the demonic forces mark a win in that particular battle.
What determines a win or loss in the spiritual realm is which side wins influence in your life in THAT particular battle.
We are most often clueless to this truth. For the most part, we do not see the circumstances of our day-to-day lives as wins or losses in the spiritual realm. We never even consider, “Is this choice being influenced by Heaven or Hell.” But trust me, the Angelic beings in the spiritual realm see our day-to-day lives exactly that way.
So today, I want to talk more about the enemy’s tactics and about our losses in these spiritual battles so that when we do get to the victory part, we’ll be “ready” to truly apply God’s Word to our lives.
Two messages ago, we looked at Satan’s first and most all-encompassing deception in Genesis Chapter 3, and we clearly saw that Satan’s most all-encompassing scheme is to influence our mind through deception, to get us to follow HIS will instead of GOD’S will. This is a critically important statement. Your enemy’s overall game plan to destroy your life is to influence your mind through deception, to get you to follow HIS will instead of GOD’S will.
That makes sense, doesn’t it? Because Satan was thrown out of heaven for wanting to be like GOD (Isaiah 14) and his actual first deception was to get a third of the Angels in Heaven to follow HIS will instead of GOD’S will.
What I mean by influencing your mind through deception is getting you to believe HIS LIE instead of GOD’S TRUTH. This can happen in so many ways, what we think about God, or ourselves, or others or this world, etc.
Write the following statement down:
My spiritual enemy wants to influence my mind through deception, to get me to follow his will instead of God’s will.
My prayer is more of us would stand firm in GOD’s plan and GOD’S will against this overall tactic of the enemy, and fewer of US would be so easily taken out by it.
If we will grasp this massive truth, at least we will not be ignorant of the enemy’s tactics (his designs).
2 Corinthians 2:11 (ESV)
11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
You ARE IN a spiritual battle
You HAVE a spiritual enemy
And his general battle plan to destroy your life is to get you to believe his lie, instead of God’s truth in any area of your life, that he can bring pain, damage, or destruction.
Remember, we started by (again) making it clear. If you belong to Jesus Christ, then HE has already won your complete and ultimate victory over the enemy, and it’s THAT POSITIONAL victory that forces your spiritual enemy to resort to attempting to influence your mind, through deception, to get you to choose his lie over God’s truth so that he can bring destruction into your life because of this “positional victory in Christ.”
You actually have free will, and what you choose actually impacts what happens to you. And so, you can be standing in perfect victory and jump right into the cesspool of hell. You have that choice. We closed last week’s message with this truth: The only influence the enemy has over you is the influence YOU give him. The only power the enemy has over you is the power YOU give him.
You’ve got to see yourself standing in the victory of Jesus Christ and this strong and tempting enemy luring you into the cesspool of hell. And you’ve got to understand that you have the option, the ability, and even the tendency to leave the victory of Christ and jump into the cesspool of hell. In your thoughts, in your view of yourself or others, in your opinions, your perspectives, your actions, and in the decisions that you make. You can leave the mountaintop of victory and jump into the darkness of hell at any moment.
Does it mean you lose your salvation? Not if you’re truly saved. If you’re saved, the work is done. Jesus Christ finished that work, and you’re going to heaven. But why destroy your life and everyone else’s life, and be a horrible witness to Christ and drag Christ’s name through the mud on your way to heaven? We want Jesus to say, “Thou good and faithful servant, enter into your rest.” That requires walking in the Spirit here, for him to recognize you as that, there.
2 Corinthians 3 says that some will enter into salvation as though through the flames of hell. This is about eternal life. This is about life and death, and your actions and your choices matter.
(Now, there are some exceptions to this truth, that the devil only has the power that you give him, such as when God grants the enemy LIMITED power in a situation to ultimately bring about God’s ultimate GLORY. Which, most notably in the Bible, is seen in the book of Job.)
But in most cases... the only influence the enemy has over you is the influence you give him, and deception is his primary weapon to trick you into giving him influence over your life so that he can bring destruction into your life.
Next week, we’ll start looking at six specific ways that we can walk in victory in this spiritual battle. We’ll look at six specific ways that we can stand firm and not allow the enemy to deceive us. But for today, we are still on this foundational truth that our daily lives are being influenced either by God’s kingdom OR by the enemy’s kingdom – even though we’ve already been rescued from the enemy’s kingdom and transferred into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:13–14 (NLT)
13 For [God] has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,
14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
But we’ve got to learn to stand firm in the rescue (victory) that Jesus Christ won for us. And in order to stand firm in that victory, we’ve got to learn to recognize the enemy’s attempts at deceiving our minds. So, let’s look at the two biggest weapons that he uses to do that.
The two biggest weapons the enemy uses to gain influence over our minds and our lives, the Bible calls the flesh and the world. Guys, the enemy knows you, and he knows your weaknesses. AND he knows the power of your flesh. AND he knows the power of this world system we live in. The Bible repeatedly addresses these two areas as the enemy’s primary weapons used to influence your mind toward his will.
Let’s start with the flesh. The “flesh” is basically another term for your “sin nature.” The flesh is not that stuff stretched around your body. It’s our old nature that is bent toward sin. It draws you naturally (as in sin nature) toward sin, and it is the number one weakness in your life that the enemy uses to try to devour you. He will appeal to and exploit your sin nature (in any area) to bring destruction to your life.
One of the best books I’ve read on the flesh (and the world) is called: Winning the War Within by Jay Adams.
I’ve often said, for most of us, our spiritual enemy doesn’t really have to work that hard to see us destroy our lives because our own flesh does his work of destruction for him.
In Romans Chapter 8, the NLT uses the phrase “sinful nature” in place of the word “flesh” (because that is what it means).
Romans 8:5–13 (NLT)
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God . . .
8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
And then wrapping up this idea in verse 13.
Romans 8:13 (NLT)
13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
Now, understanding that just a little bit – about how damaging our flesh is to our life with God – how hard do you think the enemy is working to keep you thinking in the flesh and walking in the flesh instead of thinking about and walking in the Spirit?
Your spiritual enemy is constantly trying to exploit your sin nature (your flesh) to bring destruction. He is constantly trying to tempt your SIN nature, to lure your SIN nature, to enflame your SIN nature. Mostly we just continue to “set our mind” on our flesh and to ACT in our flesh, not realizing that the enemy is CAPITALIZING on our flesh in order to bring destruction into our lives.
Now, again, “the flesh” is a general term for our sinful nature. But, each of us have specific WEAKNESSES on our own “particular flesh,” and it is these particular weaknesses that the enemy is looking to capitalize on. It is THESE particular weaknesses in our particular flesh that the enemy is particularly looking to EXPLOIT to our own destruction. This is so important to hear and far too often ignored in discussions about the spiritual battle.
Tony Evans uses the illustration of a football team watching the game films of their opponent in order to look for specific weaknesses in their opponent’s defenses. In case you’re not familiar with it, here’s how it works. The coaches of one team will watch the game films of the opposing team in order to look for very specific and repetitive weaknesses. And if they see a weakness occurring over and over again, they will focus their attack ON that specific weakness. At times they will go back YEARS in watching these films to see if that other team has developed a consistent weakness that they can exploit for victory.
Now, watch very carefully, please.
Your enemy has been watching your “game film” for years, MAYBE since you were a child, and he has watched your film enough to know YOUR particular weakness, in your particular flesh. This is not because he is omniscient or omnipresent but because he is good at doing his homework. He knows what some of you have experienced and what has influenced your particular sin nature. He knows of trauma in your past, and he knows how he can exploit that trauma to continue to do damage in your life today.
He knows your personality weaknesses. He knows what others have done to you. He knows what you have done to others. He knows HOW all of this impacts YOUR particular flesh, and your spiritual enemy does not play fair! He will stick his finger in that old wound. He will stir up that old trauma. He will focus his attack on YOUR particular weakness in order to STEAL, KILL and DESTROY in your life.
No one’s life is destroyed overnight. We can always look back and see a long series of choices that led to that destruction. And often, those choices originally began as a response to a trauma, to abuse, to emotional pain, and our enemy (in all his evilness) tries everything he can to feed the fire of those wounds – hoping to burn our life to the ground.
We’ve got to understand that the enemy specializes in fueling the fire of our own flesh until we make enough poor choices that our life is destroyed.
Now, the WORLD holds a similar use by the enemy as far as the spiritual battle is concerned. When the Bible uses this term “the world,” it is most often talking about the system of operation of this sinful, fallen age. It’s talking about the “world system” whose ruler-ship was given to Satan by Adam.
1 John 2:15–16 (NLT)
15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
Along with the flesh, the love of the world keeps you from loving God (like a double-barreled weapon). And so again, how hard do you think the enemy is working to keep you in love with the world?
Your spiritual enemy holds significant sway over the world system because Satan is its ruler, and he can easily present to you specific things in this world that are particularly attractive to your particular flesh easily leading you down the broad road to destruction.
If you like stuff, he will constantly tempt you with stuff until you destroy your life trying to get more stuff.
If you like to party, he will constantly tempt you into partying, until your partying destroys your life.
If you like to dull the pain, he will constantly tempt you with drugs or alcohol until you are so dulled that your life is destroyed.
And apparently, everybody likes sex because he tempts us with sex at every turn, in every place, and on every device. And in his extreme evilness, Satan has taken what God designed to be one of the highest pleasures in this life (sex), and he has commandeered it to do more damage (probably) than ALL of his other schemes and devices combined.
“The world” is the “system” of this fallen age. The enemy greatly influences it in order to influence you in order to bring destruction into your life.
Now let me end with some strong encouragement to all of us who are carrying the SCARS (effects) of sins of the flesh and the world. Maybe sins we committed. Maybe sins committed against us.
Hear me when I tell you, please, Jesus Christ died to wash away the effects of those sins. BOTH the sins we committed and the sins committed against us. Jesus Christ died to pay the full price to heal us from the effects of those sins in our lives. He died in our place in order to give us NEW LIFE in HIM.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
If you are IN Jesus Christ today, you are a new creation. We’re saved, we’ve been redeemed, we’re transformed. The OLD has passed away, and the NEW has come. And three times, we will read in our key Ephesians Chapter 6 passage Stand Firm, Stand Firm, Stand Firm. It means: DO NOT give up ground that has already been won on your behalf. Jesus Christ has made you a new creation. He has washed you and cleansed you. He has given you HIS OWN new life. Stand firm in the new creation that Jesus Christ has made you.
The enemy will throw fiery darts at you, and he will aim at old wounds, and one of his most common deceptions is trying to convince you that you are not a new creation. That you cannot overcome your past. That you cannot live in peace and victory. That you cannot be transformed. And that is a lie of the devil to get you to choose Satan’s will over God’s will.
But God’s Word exhorts you:
STAND FIRM – in the new life Jesus Christ has given you
STAND FIRM – when the enemy stirs up old wounds or sins
STAND FIRM – in the victory that you have in Christ.
HOW?? Walk in the power of the spirit day by day through ongoing, intimate communion with Jesus Christ. By drawing closer to Jesus. Closer today than yesterday. And closer tomorrow than today. Knowing Him better. Experiencing Him more. Resting in His presence. Resting in His love. Walking in His Spirit. It all comes through communion with Jesus Christ. And that communion brings to you a new life. It makes you a new creation. It gives you the power to stand in victory. Your only victory comes through your complete identification and communion with Jesus Christ.