YOUR WORST ENEMY?
There are three enemies we must fight once we have been called by God. These three enemies are: 1. Our
own self; 2. The world we now live in; 3. Satan and his demons!
It is clear we are at war! Our life has been plunged into a end time “State of emergency” by the Almighty
Creator, who made us.
The promise of eternal life is made only to the ones - who has gained the victory, God calls them — the
over comers. “Him that - overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God ..... (Rev. 3.2 ) states --for us!
To overcome, means to conquer! It is not a passive fight that God has called us to, but, a direct frontal,
attack — a crushing conquest! It is an all - out war! Total war! Many wars have been fought in the history of
mankind on this earth, but not one good thing has been produced by any of them! Men and women have been
asked: to give their lives that others might live. People have been called upon to die for every reason man could
devise, for their leader, for their country, and for their church. The greatest motivation man can offer in war is
to protect the country, their home and the family.
In a defensive struggle, one help’s wrestles it from' the hands of another! Or a hero's death takes place!
But God offers us, His called, the whole world. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt.
5:5). He also offers us power: notice Rev 2: 26, “He that overcomes and keeps My work unto the end, to him
will I give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron” (Rev 2: 26 -27).
God, does not call us to go to battle for nothing! He offers us the greatest rewards that any conquering
king of this earth has ever offered to his soldiers. God offers one thing more— that no man can offer! What
might that be? Eternal life! “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, And lose his own
soul? (Life) or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?” (Mat. 16: 26). The most you could hope to
gain, from any other king in any other war would be, a limited amount of power, over a limited area, for a limited
amount of time!
Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, the Caesars, ruled the world, all in their turn, but they are all dead!
Our God offers us all that for which they fought: and died for, in addition to life everlasting! “I am come that
they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly” (John. 10:10). This goal God offers is worth
the greatest conflict we could possibly be put through!
To have the riches of all the earth, and to have power beyond the realm of man's understanding, and to
have practicing knowledge of the laws that make life happy, pleasant, peaceful and productive, along with life
inherent with in our self to enjoy and use these other blessings forever– this is a goal worth fighting for! The
precept followed by every great military leader is — “know your enemy, never underestimate him!”
The United States and Great Britain, the main body of true Israel of today, are going into captivity soon,
conquered by an enemy they do not even recognize! Even in the struggle against the recognized enemy of
Communism and Islamism, and Fascism, the west is losing ground and is having a difficult time because– it does
not recognize the kind of warfare being waged by the enemy!
Both Communism and Fascism and Islamism are fighting a war, a type of war the United States and
Great Britain have never had to fight before! A trade war, a propaganda war, a war using singers, and dancers,
artists, and writers, a war of diplomatic negotiation over conference tables! We are at war with terrorism and
guerrilla war attacking innocent women and children! We are in an open warfare, one facing another in a
desperate, all out battle in a variety of places.
We face a war even more total in its concept! The enemy we fight has no honor, no ethics, no mercy!
In our Christian battle we are forced to fight on three fronts. We have to recognize to put up a defense and
mount an attack against the three fronts —or we may lose!
The three battle fronts again are (1) our- self; (2) the world; and (3) Satan and his demons! Of these
three enemies the self is the first and the worst! In order to fight this enemy, we must know his purpose, his
tactics, his strengths, and his weaknesses! This brings us to a all out war on our selves!
Let's realize first of all, that no Laodicean attitude will ever conquer us in this warfare, if we stay close
to God! Every good called soldier must have good morales! He must have a desire to fight, to conquer, and to
win! Military leaders give men slogans to fight by; let us see the slogans God has given to us. I Tim 6:12, “Fight
the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life ..” Luke 13:24, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate ...” Rom 8:13,
“Mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body...” And in 1 Cor 9: 26 -27 Paul said, “I therefore so run, not as
uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: 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” (I Cor 9: 26 - 27),
The called Christian life of overcoming is not a quiet, passive, pondering sort; but an active, moving,
pressing, striving race, won only by those who press forward constantly! Applying, putting on daily the new
man. Too many called, feel since being baptized and having received God's Holy Spirit, that one does not live
with a carnal mind any longer! But if one discover a fault in ones self or if one is brought to our attention, we
tend to generalize or excuse our own faults, by saying, “'nobody is perfect!” or we say, “I know I have got to
overcome, and I am: trying, but I just can't do everything at once.” These answers come from a carnal mind!
Before we go any further, let's understand two basic facts about the human mind, that God has created
in us. Notice Jer 17: 9, “The heart [the way we naturally tend to think, feel, and believe] is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked: Who can know it?” (Jer.17:9).
This life’s situation does not change completely when we are baptized and have receive God's Holy
Spirit. Our human nature only begins to change at our baptism! At that time we have added to our carnal mind
a portion of the mind of God. God’s mind, His Holy Spirit, begins to reveal to us what we are really like, and
it gives us the power and strength to overcome Satan the enemy, so we “cease to be like we were”!
Too many times we like to use scriptures in the Bible against the people of this world, from a self-superior
sense on our part. Rom 8:7 brings to our attention, “Because.: the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God,- neither indeed can be.” How many times have we used this scripture referring to the
world and it does refer to the world, not realizing the context in which Paul wrote. This scripture, in the book
of Romans, was written to the saints at Rome. It is written to begotten sons of God, members of the body of
Jesus the Christ, members of the Church of God!
Paul demonstrated that neither the Greek mind, which tends to be academic, nor the Jewish mind, which
tends to be proud and self-righteous, was the-right-kind of mind. “He showed that all had sinned and come short
of the glory of God.” Only through God is there any power which would keep a human being from sinning and
coming-under the penalty of death. Paul showed all through Romans chapter 7, that when the spirit of God is
added to our mind, there is an immediate warfare that ensues, because of the basic human nature that we
inherently are. Apostle Paul made a clear statement in Rom 7:23, “But I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”'
As in any war, sometimes the enemy presses very hard, and we find our self in retreat, no longer in control
of the situation and conquering our enemy. This is the time Paul is warning us about in Romans 8:7, urging us
to never give in to our carnal mind and live according to its dictates. In this battle, the war fare is constantly
going on, the enemy is ever present. We are either winning or losing at any given minute of any day. “For though
we walk in the-flesh, we do not war after the flesh: for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations [reasoning], and every high thing
that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ” (2 Cor 10:3 -5).Our warfare takes place within our minds! This is the battlefield where little skirmishes
and big battles are fought every single day at the speed of thought!
God's mind is present with us, especially when we are in contact with Him through never ceasing prayer,
that enables us to see what we should do and how we should act. Our carnal mind is also present with us as
long as we are a human being. This human nature begins immediately to put up a defense against the attack of
God's spirit. It begins to think of ways around doing what God wants us to do. It begins to barricade and entrench
itself with justifications and reasons why we have not or cannot do what God wants us to do. It all seems
perfectly reasonable; and it is very understandable, but is it “Against the knowledge of God!” Unless we
immediately recognize this and ask God for reinforcements, to pull down Satan’s “strongholds,” our carnal mind
has built up, we will find our self beaten back, and having less character each time we submit to our carnal mind
rather than conquering it with God's Holy Spirit!
The basic law of all life is self-preservation! We are no different from any other form of life. Humanly
we want to stay the way we are and humanly, we resist any change. Our human mind is thinking at nearly the
speed of light to come up with some reason why it does not have to submit to the mind of God. Notice very
closely what God said, We must bring into captivity, and what we must control: its our “Every thought,” this
is where sin begins!
Let's notice the process of how this develops. We will start with James 1:14-15, “But every man is
tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin;
and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.” First of all our carnal mind makes us think we would like to do
what is contrary to God's laws. We play with the thought, roll it over in our mind, entertain it and plan until
finally we have gone too far! We have not resisted from the beginning and the power of sin has snowballed until
it is too great to resist! Next, we actually do what we had been thinking about doing! This is sin – death is the
penalty! We are our own worst enemy!
This can be repented of but the only one who knows how many times you can repent before sinning
again, is God! God says very plainly, “I am weary with repenting” ( Jer 15:6). Wise advice is; don't try to find
out how many times God will forgive. Certainly He is a forgiving, loving, merciful and kind God. Yet He warns
us very sternly that if we do not bear fruit consistently, that he will break us off as a dead branch and throw us
into the lake of fire! We cannot assume we are all right! That’s why our Lord tells us to "Examine yourselves,
whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves .." (2 Cor. 13: 5).
How many times have you heard people say, “that’s just the way I am.” I’'m just hardheaded, that's all!''
or, "I have a very quick temper and I tend to jump to conclusions." These are some of the excuses our human
carnal mind puts up. The reason our human mind displays this kind of attitude, is because it is against the
knowledge of God! This is our excuse for not overcoming because we are the way that we are! Human
thinking!
Some even try to blame their sins on their parents and complain, “Dad was always nervous and grouchy
and so am I!" This explanation satisfies the self, it explains readily that we are just born that way, then if that's
just the way we are and there isn't any way of helping the way we are! Then we will always be easily, offended.
We just happen to have a despondent, pessimistic attitude. We "Just can't seem to remember," or we are just
weak!
Our carnal mind seems to be the perfect reason why we do not have to overcome! It is perverted
reasoning! We have been called to overcome what we are! God never inspired the hymn titled, “Just as I am!”
We can't come the way we are to God. We must repent of our human nature and change! The human mind is very
potent and clever in coming up with all kinds of arguments against God's truth, that is telling us to change!
When God’s truth is revealed by His spirit in our mind, and begins to accuse us of not overcoming as
we should, we begin immediately to find an excuse! This is another tactic of our carnal mind! For example, like
the first Adam, who thought about finding a scapegoat for his sin!
Some of God’s called have said, “they inherited their bad habits or their faulty disposition from their
parents.” This is letting their own natural carnal reasoning satisfy them into thinking they don't have to overcome
this problem! They have said, “because it is not their fault, its the fault of someone else!” Some like to blame
their education and claim that if they had received a better education things would be different! After all, you
can't be expected to study the scriptures if you had only a sixth-grade education! Excuses– excuses– excuses!!
Another excuse is our geography! If you had just lived in Oregon instead of Arkansas, things would be
different. If I had lived in the country instead of the city; or if I lived in the city instead of the country, things
would be different!
Perhaps my job is the problem. If I didn't have to work such hard and long hours, I would be able to
study and pray more. If only I had a job I could do with my hands, my mind would be free to think about the
things of God. If I had a job where I had to use my mind, I would be able to develop and use all of the attributes
that God would have us develop. “Passing the-buck" is classic. This is an excuse that mankind has been using
ever since the time of Adam! This is how the real human mind thinks and acts and works.
God faced Adam with the question, “have you eaten of the tree, where of I commanded you that you should not
eat?”(Gen. 3:11). Adam was quick to answer, but the answer was an excuse: “the woman whom You gave to
be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Verse 12).
Adam had to find a reason why he had sinned! Just admitting it to God didn't seem to be enough. but
when he offered the reason, when he explained that it was his wife's fault, not his; his carnal mind was satisfied.
If you read on briefly here in Genesis 3, you will discover the woman was no different from her husband.
When God asked her why she had done this thing, she replied that it was the serpent's fault, that he had been the
one to beguile her—it was Satan's fault!
Most people are only blind to their own sins!“All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the
Lord weighs the spirits”(Prov. I6: 2). We can't have the understanding to know how our own carnal minds work
unless we ask God in heaven to guide us in recognizing this worst enemy we have. “Man's goings are of the
Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?”(Prov. 20:24).
Notice now Jeremiah 10: 23, “0 Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that
walk to direct his steps 0 Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest you bring me to nothing.”
We need also to make Psa 19:12 - 13 our prayer, “Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant
also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me...”
Ask God daily to show us where we are wrong! If our sins are not obvious to us then we desperately
need to ask God to search and cleanse us, to show us the sins that are secret to us! “You have set our iniquities
before You, our secret sins in the Light of Your countenance. For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
we finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are
eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the
power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may gain
a heart of Wisdom” (Psalms 90:8 -12). The marginal rendering reads better here, “That we may get us a heart
of wisdom.” This is the way to get wisdom, to fight our chief enemy, our-self!, because our days are numbered
and they are slipping away all too fast!
Most of us don't have the threescore and ten years left anymore! Using every precious second is
absolutely necessary. We need to concentrate all our force and energy on our worst enemy bringing every
weapon to bear to exterminate this enemy. Psalms. 139: 23, advises us to ask God to “Search me, 0 God, and
know my heart: “Search me, 0 God and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way ever lasting” (Psa.139:23).
In order to come to grips with “our worst enemy,”ask God to help you see you as He sees you.? Pray
daily, asking God in a right attitude to forgive you of your sins and your weakness! Be candid and truthful before
God. Overcome this human nature and stand before God, being more than a conqueror! ☜
James Russell