The
Christians Greatest Enemy
PART
ONE
Who is the Christians
greatest enemy? If you asked the average Christian who they believe
their greatest enemy would be, who or what do you think the answer would
be? The devil? Television? Liberal politics? How about persecution?
Of these, most people would probably say that the devil is our greatest
enemy; however, (while I am no fan of the devil) they would be wrong.
The devil is indeed an enormous enemy to the Christian but he and the
other things mentioned here fall far FAR short of being the greatest.
The greatest and most vicious enemy to the Christian, the one that has
caused the most damage, the one that has destroyed more lives, more
marriages, the one that has lead to more drug addiction, adultery, (et
al) and is responsible for every ill found in the world today..... is
found in Matthew 16:24... "Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me". SELF is our greatest enemy. In contrast,
Jesus taught that in order to serve and follow Him we must deny self.
Today, in our world of self-esteem, self-love, etc.; we seem to be quite
taken with ourselves. "Looking out for number one" seems to
be the order of the day. In contrast, the Bible teaches against "self-love"
and sees no need for "self-esteem" (as we will discuss in
more detail later on). In fact, the Bible teaches that these "selfisms"
would be a sign that we are in the last days. 2 Timothy 3:1-2a states,
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves"... Yet in contradiction
to what the Bible teaches, many Christians today are teaching that our
problem is that we don't love ourselves enough. In fact, the Bible NEVER
warns us against "self-hate", indeed from the Garden of Eden
until now mankinds' problem has never been "self-hate". I
defy anyone reading this to show me one single verse where the Bible
teaches us that we need to love ourselves more. Even though you probably
won't hear much about this on today's Christian radio and TV, "denying
self" is absolutely essential to living the Christian life and
serving God. AW Tozer, speaking on the subject said thus; "Man's
very human habit of trusting in himself is generally the last great
obstacle blocking his pathway to victory in the Christian experience."
(p.97, The Tozer Pulpit, Volume one, Christian Publications, Inc.)
Why are
YOU your greatest enemy?
...Because the only person, place or thing that can stop you from serving
God is YOU! Jesus also said in Matthew 6:24, *No man can serve two masters:
for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will
hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.*
You, I and everyone else on the planet has a decision to make, will
you serve self or will you serve God? If I serve *mammon* (or money/wealth)
then I am doing it for one person, me! If I decide to disobey the Bible
and get drunk, who am I doing it for? If i decide to cheat on my wife,
would I be doing this for some higher cause? Of course not! Only in
my pursuit to please my flesh would I do such a thing. Jesus also said
in Luke 14:25-33, "And there went great multitudes with him: and
he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his
father (in comparison to the persons love for Christ, not actual hate),
and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,
and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth
not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which
of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth
the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after
he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that
behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was
not able to finish. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple". This "forsaking"
of self is at the very CENTER of the Christian life. This denial of
self is to reach into every corner of our lives... do we read our Bibles
in the evening or do we watch TV? Do we go fishing or visit the person
in the nursing home with no family? Are you REALLY forsaking self? ...OR
are you doing YOUR OWN THING while naming the name of Jesus Christ?
What is
"Self"?
I personally like Brother Dave Hunts' definition of self. He said that
self is "me acting independently from God". This truly does
sum up the battle that NO ONE is exempt from. All of us must face this.
Our flesh has desires that it wants to fulfil and God has a desired
will for our lives and they are contrary one to the other. Now the everyday
desires to eat, sleep and breathe are not what I am referring to here.
The constant battle to do one's own will instead of following and trusting
God is what is being discussed here.
The First
Problem
We are sinners; therefore, if we are going to serve God there will be
a BATTLE. Our hearts seem to dwell only upon our OWN desires and how
to fulfill them. The Bible teaches that in addition to being born sinners,
we have hearts are wicked and void of anything good. Look at the following
verses: Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?"; Romans 3:10, "As
it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one"; Romans 3:23,
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God";
Romans 7:18, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth
no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that
which is good I find not."
The Battle
The Bible says in Galatians 5:17, "For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary
the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
The battle between the flesh (and it's sinful desires, aka "self")
and the Spirit is not a light one. Many Christians do not take the battle
seriously. Many do not understand that their flesh HATES the things
of God and the Holy Spirit HATES sin (which dwells in our flesh). This
is not some "petty disagreement" between the two. There must
be no compromise and there will be no "happy medium" where
they will ever meet together. There is an impassible gulf between the
two. They will NEVER be reconciled! So why don't we take this battle
more seriously?
Out of the
Comfort Zone
So what are the consequences of this battle? The major result will be
coming out of the "comfort zone". If your flesh HATES the
things of God (and it does), then serving God will not always be comfortable.
There will be a struggle that your flesh will not be happy with. Personally,
there are times this battle can put me in a bad mood. It's not going
to be fun and games all the time. I hate the way my flesh fights me
in serving God... BUT the Bible does say that the Holy Spirit can and
will give us peace in this battle. The Holy Spirit will lead us, guide
us and be with us the WHOLE WAY. If you call yourself a Christian and
you are never out of your comfort zone, this can mean only one of two
things. One, you are saved yet living only for yourself OR two, you
aren't saved. Now my goal here is not to make you doubt your salvation,
if you know you have trusted Jesus, then there is no need to start doubting
now. At the same time I have to tell the truth. There are many today
that think they are saved and aren't (Matthew 7:21-23). Again, while
this will be a real struggle at times, the Holy Spirit will help you
through it. The more I submit to God and deny self, the more joy of
the Lord I have. When I start to worry about self, my joy leaves. Many
people have a manufactured joy, a canned joy, oh let's just say it...
a FAKE joy. If you want true joy in living the Christian life, your
key is found in "denying self" (in obedience to the scriptures).
Why do we
have this problem?
As Dave Hunt points out in his teaching, "Selfism and it's Remedy",
self had its "awful birth in the Garden of Eden". When Eve
bit the apple she was only thinking of herself. She wasn't thinking
about the consequences of disobeying God, the consequences to her husband
or those that would come after her. What was she thinking? She was thinking,
"that fruit looks beautiful to me", "it's going to make
me wise" and in her mad dash for "self-fulfillment" and
"self-realization", etc. she disobeyed God and sin entered
the human picture. Adam followed her in this sin and here we are today.
Deny Self
Let's look at Jesus' message to his disciples in Matthew 16:21-26, "[21]
From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that
he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and
chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third
day.[22] Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it
far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.[23] But he turned,
and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence
unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those
that be of men.[24] Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me.[25] For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever
will lose his life for my sake shall find it.[26] For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or
what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Why would Peter
rebuke his Lord and tell Him, "Be it far from thee, Lord"?
The answer is quite simple. If Jesus was going to be killed, what was
going to happen to him? While pretending to be concerned for Jesus'
welfare, Peter was actually more concerned with his own "self-preservation".
This was indeed Peter's concern as reflected in Jesus' response (in
verses 24-26). Also, Peter and the other disciples (not yet understanding
that Jesus would come twice) were thinking that they would rule with
Jesus at that time. They were more concerned about their ascension to
power (self-exaltation) and did not want to hear about "denying
self".
Peter's
trust in self
Mark 14:27-30 & 50 state, "[27] And Jesus saith unto them,
All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written,
I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.[28] But
after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.[29] But Peter
said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.[30] And
Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in
this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice....a
few verses later it says of the disciples..."[50] And they all
forsook him, and fled". Finally in verses 66 thru 72 we see Peter
deny his Lord just as Jesus said he would. Yet in Mark 14:29 Peter was
quite sure of himself. He had lots of "self-confidence". A
lesson we all need to learn, trusting in self will lead to disaster
EVERY TIME.
A CLOSER
LOOK
Matthew 16:24, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow me." The Greek word here translated "deny" (according
to the Strongs Exhaustive Concordance) means to "deny utterly,
disown". Now sit back and meditate on Jesus' instruction here.
We are to "deny utterly" and "disown" (FORSAKE!)
our own desires in this life for Gods plan. Yet it is easy to see that
99% of "professing" Christians are not even slightly interested
in obeying this ESSENTIAL command.
SELF AND...
Now let's look at
"self" and its' relation to many of the areas of life.......
Self and
the daily battle
The battle against self is not only a vicious one, it is a daily one.
1 Corinthians 15:31, "I protest by your rejoicing which I have
in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily." 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."
The three words, "I keep under", represent a single Greek
word which by definition means to beat. Paul was saying that unless
he BEAT his body, he would be a castaway (useless). Now this does not
mean to go punch yourself in the mouth. What Paul is doing here is trying
to let us know just how serious this battle is! Again, this is a fight!
(See also, Romans
8:13, Colossians 3:5 and
Philippians 3:3)
Self and
life's priorities
Luke 12:22-34, "And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say
unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither
for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and
the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither
sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth
them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with
taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able
to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider
the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say
unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to da y in the field,
and to morrow is cast into the oven; how ascend above the heights of
the clouds; I will be like the most High.much more will he clothe you,
O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye
shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do
the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye
have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and
all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for
it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that
ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a
treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth,
neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also." These verses can be summed up in Jesus' statement
in verse 22 above, "Take no thought for your life". This scripture
is foreign to most Christians and most of us haven't even begun to obey
it. We have allowed things we don't need to be elevated to the level
of a "need" (cell phones, cable TV, etc.). Now, think about
Jesus' statement, "Take no thought for your life" in light
of how most American "Christians" live. To further make the
point, let's look at Pauls' attitude on the subject...Philippians 3:7-10,
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable
unto his death". Verse 7 sums it up. In verse 10, Paul is speaking
about denying self. Knowing Jesus involves denying self, we can't get
around it.
Self and
Submission / Humility
James 4:6-10, "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves
therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw
nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners;
and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and
weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up".
Drawing near to God requires that we submit ourselves. It is not in
our nature to submit to anything, much less to a Creator Who commands
obedience. Humbling oneself has never been easy.
Self and
Lust
The word lust simply means "desire". In this case we will
be talking sexual lust. An interesting fact is that three of the greatest
men in the Bible were brought down by this same thing. Samson, the strongest
man in the Bible; David, the greatest king in the Bible and Solomon,
the wisest man in the Bible were all three taken by the sin of lusting
after women and committed adultery as a result. In each case they were
out for "self-gratification" and in each case this sin brought
disastrous results in their lives. For mere moments of pleasure they
all purchased disaster for their lives! One seed in the ground grows
into a tree that produces fruit which in turn produces many seeds. Our
lives will bear fruit according to the seeds we plant... and many of
us have a harvest coming that we don't want! Oh that we would turn to
God and turn away from self!!!
TO BE CONTINUED...
In the next issue
we will continue with Part 2 of, "The Christians Greatest Enemy".
We'll deal with self and its' relationship to Money/Stewardship, Disobedience,
False Prophets, your Temperment, going to Church, Prayer, Ministry and
Soul Winning. We will also deal with the MYTH of self-hate many other
"selfisms" such as "self love", "self esteem",
etc.
Thanks so much for
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RELATED
RESOURCES:
"Selfism and its' Remedy" - Sermon by Dave Hunt / www.thebereancall.org
"Seduction of Christianity" - Book by T.A. McMahon & Dave
Hunt
"Beyond Seduction" - Book by Dave Hunt
"Absolute Surrender" - Book by Andrew Murray
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