2 NATURES AT WAR
Today, as we sit here in this sanctuary there is a war going on. There is a war that is raging in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Those wars are wars against evil in the earth. That evil is the threat of terrorism that would threaten the very freedoms and peace of not just the USA but of all peace loving people around the globe. In my eyes it’s a justifiable and good cause regardless of what our liberal media or liberal politicians try to say.
Those same presidential candidates who are screaming against the war in Iraq were also screaming for the head of Ben Laden and Saddam Hussein just a few months ago. Politicians in America, on both sides of the isle, have become so engrossed in pushing forward their own agenda that they have lost sight of what is right and they have forgotten that freedom is not cheap. Freedom is maintained and purchased with the blood of men and women who believe in our country and are willing to give their lives for them.
I am so very proud of those brave soldiers who stand in the front lines facing the enemy in my stead. I can remember when our country rejected us, as we went to do our duty in Vietnam, because that was an unpopular war. I didn’t know there was such a thing as a “popular” war in the first place. It disturbs me greatly to see the same thing happening to those on the front lines today. The only difference is that there is no draft in effect so you don’t see the marching on the university campuses and the riots in the streets, yet no one is praising the job that our men and women in uniform are doing. To be proud and thankful for our military, that stands between us and slavery or death, seems to be politically incorrect today. Let’s not get caught up in second guessing what must be done and whether it was done right or not.
We must not forget that it was American soil that was attacked and that around 3000 people were killed in an unprovoked act of terrorism. In my view that was no less of an attack than what the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. President Roosevelt declared that as a day that will “live in infamy”.
Now we are told that the bombing of the twin towers in New York should be forgotten and that it should not cause us to go after those who planned and supported the attack. It’s not a day that will “live in infamy”, it’s a day that we should just forget about, like it never happened.
How far has America come from the nation that once loved God? How long can this trend continue before the wrath of our righteous, holy God brings judgment upon us? How long will God allow the gays and lesbians declare God’s Word a lie and live in perversion? How long will God tolerate such things even high positions of authority in churches and organizations that claim to be Christian? How long will God allow the same sins that brought judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah to continue unchecked in America? People of God, if there was ever a time that the church needs to be on its face before God interceding for our nation and its leaders, that time is now!
But this morning I don’t want to dwell on the war that we face in America with the enemies of our freedom. There is another war this going on that is just as terrible and just as deadly, perhaps even more deadly than the war against terrorism.
There is war that rages inside each one of us and it’s a war for your heart, your life and most importantly, your eternal soul.
The Apostle Paul faced that same war within his own life and he gave us some great advice so let’s look at what Paul had to say.
Romans 7:18-19, "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. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."
Some of you that are listening to this are saved, filled with the Holy Ghost and your are doing your best to live for God. Some of us are forever walking with the Lord with one foot in God’s kingdom and the other constantly slipping back into the world. Some of you are across that fence and you have found yourself on a fast slide into the very pits of sin and you can’t seem to get hold of anything to stop going further and further into sin.
The fact is, that no matter whether you are doing your best to live for God, or you have totally surrendered your life to the devil, or whether you are somewhere in between, you are still fighting a very real and very deadly battle right now.
I have no doubt that Paul was saved, born again and filled with the Holy Ghost and yet we see that Paul confesses of the war in his own life.
There are two natures that we all must contend with, the nature of the flesh, and the nature of the Spirit. Which nature prevails in this war that rages within us will determine our eternal destiny. We must never forget that we are in a spiritual warfare against the enemy of our souls. He has attacked us with the power of sin and the effect of his attack will never leave us as long as we are walking upon this earth. The war will never cease, the fight will never end, and it will be a fight to the death until this life is over.
The nature of flesh, our body, with all of its desires, wants, needs and lusts, is ever with us. You are like Paul and like me; you are trapped in a body that constantly wants to do things that are wrong. Even as Christians who are filled with the Spirit of God, this fleshly nature is a relentless force that ever tempts us and drives us to do things contrary to the Word of God and the will of our Spirit nature.
The Spiritual Nature, our heart and soul, and that part of us that is ever searching to know God, to love God and to obey God, is ever battling against the flesh to bring it under subjection and to put it down so that we can know God’s blessings in our lives.
Every day that I live I can feel this battle raging. I am ever fighting to keep away from sin, to resist temptation, and to press on in serving the Lord. The fight is not easy and anyone who says that they are never tempted or who says that they don’t have trouble with their own fleshly desires at times, are simply lying to you and to themselves.
Within the heart of every man, woman and child there is a void that can only be filled by the presence of God. No drugs, no amount of money, no amount of fun, and no amount of sensual pleasure can fill that void. Those who seek to fill their lives with all the sin that this world has to offer, only find themselves feeling more and more empty inside. There is nothing in this world that can fulfill that inward longing for something to make live meaningful.
That is not to say that there is no pleasure in sin for even the scripture says that sin can be pleasurable for a little while. When you read of Moses in Hebrews 11:25 you will see that he chose, "…rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season…" But those pleasures are fleeting, and very soon those who indulge in sin are left empty, feeling guilt, living under condemnation, because their own conscious continually tells them that this is wrong and there needs to be a change. Those who live in this fashion need to turn back to God in repentance and surrender their lives to Jesus and let him wash them in his own blood. That’s the only way they will ever find peace and fulfillment in this life.
But, even when they turn their lives over to the Lord, there will still be a raging battle between the Spirit and the flesh. How can this be, since we are born again when we come to Jesus? I thought that we were made into a new creature and that old things were passed away. I thought that the desires of the flesh would be forever defeated and that sin would no longer be a threat in my life. I thought that the Blood of Jesus would drive every sinful desire from my heart.
Let me tell you, that as a minister I still have major battles with the flesh from to time, in fact it seems like it’s all the time. Don’t hear this and think that I’m a fake Christian, and get the idea that I live such a sinful life either. In fact, you had better think of your own life and realize that you aren’t any better than I am. We are all living in bodies of flesh and we are all subject to the same temptations. Even Jesus, our great High Priest, when he walked on the earth was tempted by the nature of the flesh.
Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
The difference is that he never yielded to those temptations, but every one of us has yielded to temptation at some time, and probably many times.
Every day that I live there is a war within that rages. I don’t want to sin and yet, like Paul, I find myself almost constantly feeling regrets or coming under condemnation of my own heart for something I’ve done or something I’ve said, or for something that I didn’t do or say that I should have. It’s an unceasing battle.
I want to keep away from temptation. I even pray, “Lord deliver me from temptation”, yet it comes anyway and I can’t stop it. When the temptations come, I do all I can to resist the devil and run from temptation but there are still times when I yield to it and suddenly realize that I have failed God again.
People who are not even trying to live for God are ever striving to be a better person. They don’t really like the life that they are living. I know that there are many who will say that they enjoy their life of sin, but unless they are completely sold out to the devil, there is always that twinge of conscious, or a pricking of their heart by the Holy Ghost, that reminds them that this is not the way they should be going.
They can’t enjoy sin because of the guilt and the feelings of being empty and the desire for a better life. And yet, they can’t seem to find the answer. They don’t know where to turn. They want a better life, but how to get it is a question that has no answer in the world where they live.
I don’t know about you but right about now I can sense exactly what Paul said in Romans 7:24, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
Is there no hope for me to overcome this battle with the flesh? How can I ever please God or find the peace that I need?
Paul then tells us the answer to our dilemma. His words shine like a beacon of hope and ray of light onto a heart that is troubled and bound in despair.
Romans 7:25, “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."
When we give our lives to Jesus and he comes to live in our hearts, then our understanding is opened, our conscience is cleared, our purpose for living is established, and the very intentions of our soul and being are changed forever. At that instant, when Jesus comes into our heart, we take on the Mind of Christ and his thoughts become our thoughts and our deeds reflect the will of God that works in us. That old mind of the flesh that followed only the desires of the flesh with no thought of God is dead and we are given a new mind.
We are no longer solely under the power of the desires of the flesh and of sin for they are now dead to us and we no longer desire to live according to their dictates.
It is the power of the Blood of Jesus that washes our sins away, that also gives us the power to resist temptation so that we don’t have to sin.
We may find ourselves falling into temptation from time to time as Christians, but we can never more really enjoy it because the Spiritual nature within won’t allow us to stay there. The flesh may will a battle from time to time but it has already lost the war because we are made over comers by the Blood of Christ.
I will have to contend with the desires of this body of flesh as long as I live, but I don’t have to live under its rule and nature. I may have to fight this war of the two natures as long as I live, but my Spiritual nature is guaranteed the victory when it’s all over.
None of us have the power to overcome sin, or to change our lives, or to gain real satisfaction without Jesus. We don’t have the power to over come the flesh within ourselves. That power only comes through the Blood of Christ.
As I come to the close of this message let me ask you this question. ARE YOU LOSING THE BATTLE WITH THE FLESHLY NATURE?
How do you know if you are losing that battle? If you are feeling empty inside then you are losing the battle. If you are tired of the life that you are living and you want things to change, you are losing the battle. If you are seeking for answers and can’t seem to find them, then you are losing the battle.
If you fit in this category then I have good news for you this morning. You have come to the right place to find your answer and you have come to the right place to turn your life around.
Jesus is here. The Holy Spirit is here. And right now you can find your answer and start winning the battle against the flesh.
You can’t fight this battle and win it alone; you need Jesus in your heart. You need the presence of the Holy Ghost in your life to lead, guide and direct you, and to teach the ways of righteousness and to bring real meaning to your life. You need to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior.
If you are a Christian who has been losing the battle to the flesh all too often, then your answer is in Jesus too. You need to come back to Him and surrender your will to God’s will all over again. Come back and do your first works of repentance before God for your failures and then allow Jesus to reign in your life once more.
Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Right now, let’s come together and ask Jesus to come into your heart and life. Come before him and ask him to forgive you of your sin and then determine in your heart not to do those things anymore. Confess Jesus as the Lord of your Life.
Jesus will come in, your sin will be washed away, and he will give you a new life. This can be the day that you begin to win the war between your two natures.
