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THE INSIDIOUS ATTACK OF THE ENEMIES OF OUR SOUL
In bringing this message the Holy Spirit emphasized the word "insidious" to such a degree that it seemed necessary to investigate the underlying meanings of the word. "Insidious" is from the Latin insidiosus, and is a derivative of insidiae meaning "ambush". According to Merriam-Webster, it embodies the idea of "awaiting a chance to entrap," "harmful but enticing," "having a gradual and cumulative effect." It also conveys the idea of a progression like a disease that develops so gradually as to be well established before becoming apparent. The attack of the enemy is "insidious," therefore, you must be diligent to "Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life" (Proverbs 4:23).
Our soul has two great enemies, "self" (our flesh or sin nature) and the powers and principalities of this world (Satan and his evil forces). Together these two enemies have mounted a never ending assault upon the life of Christ in every believer (Eph. 6:11-12; Gal. 5:17). The assault is insidious, because the enemy’s strategies are designed to deceive us and blind us to the truth of God by utilizing our common sense, our natural desires, and our tendency to be insecure about ourselves and tomorrow in violation of the promises of God in His word. Very simply, it is quite a step of faith to live by confidence in God’s word when it seems to contradict every principle that we have learned through our physical senses – by what we feel, smell, taste and see here below. As the Apostle Paul put it, "A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man" (1 Cor. 2:14-15). It is natural for a man to desire fame and fortune and to be prideful and self-centered and to be disdainful of others, but if this natural working of our carnal (fleshly) mind is not restrained by the power of the Spirit in us (believers), it will ultimately lead to our spiritual defeat and physical ruin.
Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious to us; For we are greatly filled with contempt.
(4) Our soul is greatly filled With the scoffing of those who are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud. (Psalm 123:3-4).One of the best indexes of the life of Christ in a believer is our heart’s condition as expressed by our day-to-day attitude and how we act towards others. One of the most self-destructive attitudes that a believer can be infected with is one of "contempt" for others, which is just another way of saying that a person has a prideful, critical and judgmental spirit. The result of this is that we become focused more on judging other’s behavior rather than on improving our own. Unfortunately, self-centeredness and pride have become a hallmark of the social landscape in the U.S. in the last fifty years, and therefore, it is easy for Christians to get drawn into this mindset through interaction with unbelievers and the world system. We have become a nation of self-centered individualists that judge the rest of the world by our own personal perspectives and agendas. The following are behavior patterns that grow out of this strategy of the enemy:
1. Developing a critical and judgmental attitude towards others and circumstances (gossiping about and deriding others).
2. Imputing negative motives to others when we have no insight into their lives and circumstances.
3. Blaming others for our problems instead of being objective about our own short comings and character flaws and working to remedy them.
4. Developing a spirit of competition, envy (covetousness) and one-upmanship towards others.
5. Developing a demanding and impatient spirit that moves us to anger whenever people or circumstances inconvenience us or cause things not go according to our agenda.
6. Being focused on things here below rather than having our eyes and our affections set upon Christ and the things that have eternal significance.
Perhaps, the worst part of this behavior is that scripture clearly indicates that it both grieves the Holy Spirit and quenches His operation in a born-again believer (1 Thes. 5:12-19; Eph. 4:22-5:5). God’s word clearly warns us against being contemptuous and judgmental towards others, citing some very undesirable consequences for failing to heed His warning as we see in the following passages:
"Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves."
(2) "For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you [use to] deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you." (3) "Why do you stare from without at the very small particle that is in your brother's eye but do not become aware of and consider the beam of timber that is in your own eye?" (4) "Or how can you say to your brother, Let me get the tiny particle out of your eye, when there is the beam of timber in your own eye?" (5) "You hypocrite, first get the beam of timber out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the tiny particle out of your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5 Amplified Bible) [This statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God. Jesus said that the basis of life was the Law of Sowing and Reaping, and that as we sow into the lives of others so we will reap in our own life. If we sow judgment and criticism into the lives of others then that is what we will reap (receive) in our own life. However, if we sow love, acceptance, forgiveness and mercy into the lives of others then these are what we shall receive in return from God. Moreover, according to the bible we all have fallen short of the righteousness of God and desperately need his mercy, so it follows that we should extend that same quality of mercy to our fellowman if we expect to receive it from God.
Moreover, If we will first experience the sacrifice required to die to ourselves in order to get the log (sin) out of our own eye, then we will receive the wisdom and compassion that is necessary to be patient and loving while helping our brother to get victory over the same problems in his life. The result will be that we will develop a generous and forgiving attitude towards the shortcomings of others, which will create a condition of peace and joy in our lives instead of the bitterness and emptiness that comes from being judgmental, prideful and contemptuous of others.
]Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
(2) And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. (3) And do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? (4) Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (5) But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. (Romans 2:1-5) [The reason we see hypocrisy, deceit, and a lack of genuineness in others is because they are all in our own hearts. One of the greatest characteristic of a Christian is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, "Yes, all those, as well as other evils, are in me and I only can get victory over them moment-by-moment by the grace of God. Therefore, I have no right to judge others." If we will spend the time necessary perfecting victory over the sin that is in our own lives, then there will be no time left over to judge others.]The Holy Spirit is the only one in the divine position to criticize God’s children, and He alone is able to show us what is wrong without hurting and wounding us, He only can create the godly sorrow that will result in repentance (2 Corinthians. 7:8-11). We must ever remind ourselves that it is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when we have a critical spirit. Criticism serves to make us harsh, vindictive, and judgmental, and leaves us with the deception that we are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciples we should cultivate a temperament and an attitude that is humble, generous, nurturing and forgiving. Of course, this will not happen quickly but must be developed gradually over time. We must constantly bring every thought into captivity to Christ that causes us to think of ourselves as superior to others regardless of our circumstances here below:
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself."
"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor."
(Romans 12:10)(Philippians 2:3) (1 Peter 5:5) (James 4:6)We need to be objective with our own spiritual condition and remember how lovingly and patiently God has dealt with us. The knowledge that God has loved us beyond all human limits should motivate us to love others in the same way, understanding that this is only made possible by God’s grace working in and through us. We may get irritated because we have to contend with difficult people. But then we must reflect on how obstinate, disobedient and rebellious we have been towards God and pray for those people rather than judge them! The real question is, "Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His loving kindness can be continually poured out in me and through Me to those around me?" Neither natural affection nor God’s divine love will long remain or grow in us unless it is nurtured. Love is from God, but it has to be maintained through discipline and practice and above all by being honest with ourselves about our own shortcomings. When we stay focused on God’s grace working in us, it is much easier to be patient with others as He works in them. But the result of our humility and compassion towards others is that we will experience God’s love and joy and peace in our own lives and we will stay in fellowship (a lifestyle of immediate repentance and confession when we sin) with Him and continuously available to the transforming power of the Spirit working in our lives.
Finally, "Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously" (Malachi 2:16b). Our state of mind is powerful in its impact upon our countenance and attitude toward others. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and destroys the work of the Spirit in creating the life of Christ in us. This nation is literally overwhelmed with a spirit of competition and a spirit of individuality, both of which are identified with the spirit of anti-Christ and diametrically opposed to every principle of humility and dying to self that God instructs us to follow in Christ.
A spirit of competition for material things, popularity or power will always get our eyes off of Christ and tempt us to deal treacherously with one another. Our goal should be to do our utmost to glorify God in all that we do, not to compete with one another. We should be diligent to do our best in all things (as unto the Lord) and to trust Him with the results. The truth is that as we do for others from a pure heart that the infinite and incomprehensible power and wisdom of Almighty God will be working on our behalf to transform us more into the image of Christ. Do we think for one moment that we can do better for ourselves than God can? Do we even think for a moment that we could in our own wisdom devise circumstances that could bring us contentment and a sense of significance and wellbeing? If we do, then we make ourselves our own god and put our common sense on the throne of our lives instead of Jesus Christ. Once we do this we will create all kinds of idols to our desires and passions here below that will work insidiously in the power of the evil one to destroy any relationship that we might have with others or with our Creator and Lord.
The spirit of competition leads us into the sins of covetousness and preoccupation with the approval of others. It gets our eyes off of Christ and causes us to rely on our own devices and provision, which will inevitably cause us to be brought into bondage to "the cares of this world …" (Mark 4:19). These are the very things that produce wrong attitudes and idolatry in our lives. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. We must refuse to be caught up by "the cares of this world" or anything else that keeps us from trusting in and relying upon Christ for every detail of life.
The spirit of competition will also give rise to the need to constantly justify and vindicate ourselves and this behavior will fight against the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting us of sin and righteousness. St. Augustine prayed, "O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself." Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Stop feeling that you must get people to understand you and that you must convince them of the rightness of your action. Christ never explained anything—He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves. We, like Christ, should only be concerned with the acknowledgment and approval of God and trust Him and Him alone to give us whatever favor we need with one another and with the world. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 13:8 that we are to "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." In other words, if we will maintain a godly attitude towards those around us and love them with the love of Christ, then God will supernaturally engineer the details of our relationships here below through the power of His Spirit in us. But remember that we cannot maintain earthly affection or supernatural love for anyone that we are disrespecting or treating with contempt. So, if we are disrespecting our spouse through impatience, contemptuous words, thoughts or actions, then we are effectively tearing down our relationship with them. Such is the insidious and deceptive strategy of the enemy to destroy marriages and relationships. Thus, our attitudes towards a person will ultimately determine the quality of our relationship with them. So if you want your love for your spouse to grow then determine to treat them with honor, respect and love whether you think they deserve it or not….as we sow, so shall we reap! Changing your attitude will not only change your behavior, but God will work supernaturally to give you favor with those around you! One of my favorite quotes is by Dr. Chuck Swindoll, who states that our life is determined just 10% by our circumstances and 90% by our attitude toward those circumstances. Another way of saying this is that every circumstance can be either a blessing or a curse depending on how we respond to it.
We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender to God in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, "I’ll surrender if …!" Or we approach it by saying, "I suppose I have to devote my life to God." We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways. We are totally missing God if like Saul and Balaam we see God’s law as a restriction that keeps us from achieving our own design instead of agreeing with David that "Thy word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against Thee….I will meditate on Thy precepts, And regard Thy ways…I shall delight in Thy statutes; I shall not forget Thy word" (Psalm 119:11, 15-16). Seeing God’s word as burdensome and restrictive instead of delighting in it is proof of the rebelliousness of our own heart, and rebellion keeps us from believing that God’s will for our life is the highest good for our life.
But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our friends (see John 15:13–14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice through obedience to Christ is the ultimate expression of love.
Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He is perfectly exemplified by Psalm 40:8, "I delight to do Your will, O my God …." He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have you ever yielded yourself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom you are looking for direction, protection and sustenance, then there is no benefit in your sacrifice. But when our obedience and sacrifice is made with our eyes focused on Him, not to benefit us but to please Him, then slowly but surely His molding influence will become evident in our life. And it is then that we will become overcomers in Christ as the operation of the Spirit in us will defeat the insidious attacks of the enemies of our soul….
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Love is patient
"Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap."
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness,
For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. (21) Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. (22) For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their whole body. (23) Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. (24) Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put devious lips far from you. (25) Let your eyes look directly ahead, And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. (26) Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established. (27) Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil. (5:1) My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding; (5:2) That you may observe discretion, And your lips may reserve knowledge. (Proverbs 4:20-5:2)
(Titus 3:3) (18) but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:17-18) (5) Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. (6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (7) And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (8) Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. (9) The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9) (Luke 21:34)., love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, (5) does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, (6) does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; (7) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
