I want to tell you how to rob a post office. There was a post office in Texas burglarized in 1975 by 3 men. One hid in a closet and later let two others in. They successfully robbed the post office. It was an inside job. The reason I have told you this story is because there are three thieves that are constantly trying to rob you in your spiritual life. they are an unholy trinity and are committed to the destruction of anything that is spiritual about you. Everything God tries to do for you and through you, these three are out to steal it.
In order to fight a successful war, you must know who the enemy is, and you need to know who these three are. The first is the ringleader, Satan. He is the master mind. He seek to keep you from being saved and then to making your Christian life ineffective. Now I am not going to try and prove his existence. Billy Sunday said, “The bible says he is real, and I’ve done business with Him.” The bible has much to say about this enemy, 1 Peter 5:8, 2 Corinthians 4:4. The Devil is the outside reference to sin. He is the tempter. He cannot make you do anything you do not want to do. We always blame him. He tempts, lures, entices, but he cannot make you do what you do not wish to do.
The second member of this unholy trinity is the world. 1 John 2:15, Romans 12:2. Now what does he mean by the world. Civilization without God. 1 John 2:16, He explains what the world consist of. Satan always uses these three, Eve and Jesus. The devil is the tempter, and the world is the temptation. When the devil seeks to draw you away, he always uses the world. Don’t underestimate the world. We are surrounded by it. We are constantly under pressure to be molded like the world. Many are yielding. Standards are changing. Churches are becoming worldly.
The third is the flesh. The flesh is an enemy to my spiritual life. The flesh refers to my old adamic nature. When I got saved, I received a new nature, but the old nature is still there. Galatians 5:17. The flesh is that part of me that responds to sin. The flesh is the tempted. The devil will always use the world and always appeal to the flesh. The only part of a Christian that will respond to temptation is the flesh. James 1:14-15
Now the devil and the world are on the outside. The flesh is on the inside. The only way of entry they have is through the flesh. If the flesh opens the door, and every sin is an inside job. The only way the devil can get an advantage is if I let him in.
I. How Can I Solve this Problem?
1. If there were some way, I could bar that door of entry and live the right kind of victorious life, I would. You see my main problem is not the devil or others. It’s me!
2. How can I nail shut this door, Galatians 5:16
3. This does not mean that the flesh won’t assert itself. It does not mean I won’t be tempted. The flesh will no longer be able to fulfill its desire.
4. What is its desire. Friend, it’s to open the door and let the world and the devil in. it can’t if you let the spirit rule your life.
5. In verse 17, the picture of two fighters. There is a constant battle that you cannot win without the Spirit, Romans 7:15-25.
6. You see I can’t do anything for myself spiritually without the Spirit. That is why God gives me the Spirit at salvation. Whatever He demands of me He provides.
7. No who is to fight the flesh, verse 17. It is the Spirit. The reason so many people are defeated is that they are trying to fight the battle themselves.
8. The spirit fights the flesh and by the way, the fight is fixed. The believer decides who wins.
9. You will always have this conflict and you decide the outcome. You can allow yourself to either be ruled by the flesh or the Spirit. The choice is yours.
10. The flesh is constantly saying, “Let the world in, you’ll like it.”
11. Victory in the Christian life does not come by rules and regulations it comes by submission to a person. Sin is an inside job but so is victory.
12. The problem is that we constantly strive with the Lord. We have pre-conceived ideas about how things should be done.
13. We see people constantly who would rather remain in the bondage of sin rather than do things God’s way.
a. Lost people who would rather go to hell than be saved God’s way.
b. Married couples want help but would rather remain in a mess than set up their home God’s way.
c. Financial problems. We would rather have the problem than turn things over to God.
14. Victory is in submission.
II. The Holy Spirit Produces in Us a Christ-Like Character
1. In verse 22, what this means is that a person who is controlled by the Holy Spirit does not need rules and regulations to make him behave to live right.
2. A simplified explanation of the goals of a Christian.
a. Overcome the flesh.
b. Live a Christ-like life.
3. Dead leaves don’t fall off trees. They are pushed off by the life in the tree to make room for new leaves.
4. In verse 22, the picture is that of a tree planted in the life of the believer.
5. Aren’t you glad God made it so leaves fall off automatically. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to pull off the dead leaves before the new ones can come out.
6. I know a lot of Christians who spend all their time in the trees trying to pull all the dead works off their life.
a. I’ve got to overcome this sin.
b. I’ve got to do this or that.
7. You are wasting time. If you’ll just make sure that the life of Jesus is flowing through, you. He produces his fruit; He’ll push off those dead leaves.
a. Dead leaf of hate, pushed off with fruit of love.
b. Dead leaf of worry, pushed off with fruit of peace.
8. Victory is by walking the Spirit. That simply means to let the Holy Spirit dominate your life. Let everything you do be done to please Him. Let Him set the boundaries.
9. Where are you tonight? Does the flesh win out most of the time? You need to be in submission tonight to the Holy Spirit and the person of Jesus Christ.
