Our two Collaborating enemies: Satan and our Flesh...

Chapter Eight:

In his letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 6:10-18), Paul was revealing to them the reality that there is a spiritual war upon the Church of God and the need for them, as believers, to understand its importance.  He was teaching them that Satan is a very crafty enemy, and that one needs to be constantly on the alert, on their guard and continually asking God for His strength.   

Gurnall warns us of our first enemy, Satan.  Satan's favorite maneuver against a believer is the surprise attack, of which he uses two main strategies.  These strategies are temptation and accusation. Temptation is his attempt to get us to sin and we never know when He will try to tempt us. Satan is extremely devious. He especially likes to tempt when the Christian is newly converted as a new Christian is on unsure footing and can be easily swayed by trouble, especially if he has been told that becoming a Christian will be an end to his difficulties. Another time is when a Christian is dealing with an affliction or great stress. Gurnall warned, "If you wish to stand firm in the midst of suffering, forewarn yourself of this fact: Temptation is never stronger than when relief seems to dress itself in the very sin that Satan is suggesting."

Satan is always looking for an avenue to tempt us.  It may even happen when you are doing some worthy endeavor for the Kingdom. Also, his job is that much easier if he can find some object to reinforce his temptation. "Do not look on temptation with a wandering eye if you do not wish to be taken by it, nor allow your mind to dwell on that which you do not want lodged in your heart."

Satan is also calculating in how he tempts us. It can be in the guise of something seemingly harmless, or through a friend or someone we look up to, such as a pastor. Satan is very subtle in how he approaches us.  He has studied us, he knows our weaknesses, our desires, what upsets us and what makes us joyous. He will use what he knows about us when we let our guard down, even if it's  just for a moment. And he is the most dangerous of all when he can get us to question God's character and plant a seed of doubt in our hearts about our Heavenly Father. Paul reminded the Corinthians (Second Corinthians 2:11) that they needed to understand the enemy's methods, when he said, "...in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes." 

The second strategy Satan uses are accusations, as a way to cause a break in your relationship with God.  Accusation is his attempt to get us to feel guilty about something we have done that may or may not be true.  Some of the methods of accusations he uses are as follows:  First, he plants his own thoughts or inclinations into our minds in order to convince us that we thought them ourselves. This is why it is so important that we are conscious of our thoughts and don't just accept anything that comes into our mind. 

Second, he likes to exaggerate any sin we do commit. He seeks to discredit us as a child of God. He will act as if he's the Holy Spirit, and bring condemnation, in order to wound us deeply as we think about the terrible thing we have done. He knows we don't want to displease our Heavenly Father and he relishes seeing us suffer, as we think we have sinned against God. He knows that we will sometimes slip up in our walk as Christians, and he closely observes us so that he can pounce at that very moment. 

Third, he attempts to steal your hope and joy as he would rather see us in worry and despair. He may try to convince you that you are not worthy to be a Christian, or that you are not humble enough, or any other thing he can concoct that will cause you to lose your sense of peace and closeness to God.  "Allow Satan's accusations to make you more careful, as this is God's purpose in allowing Satan to spy on you", says Gurnall.  "Let them make you more humble, by acknowledging your sinfulness and the overriding mercy of God."   

This leads us to the second enemy that Gurnall warns us about, our fallen nature.  This enemy comes from within, and it is that part of us that still loves the world and wants to retain control, namely, our flesh.  Our flesh seeks to dominate our spirit for supremacy in our lives and, regretfully, it often wins if we are not wise to its schemes or have little desire to reign it in.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us how we allow it to affect our lives, and be obedient in dealing with it.  

 If you are truly desirous of getting your flesh under control, He will show you the ways it works in your life.  It may be one thing at a time or He may show you several areas that are somehow tied together.  But be prepared, because what you are shown will be some very unsettling things about yourself. What God will reveal to you may take you by surprise due to the ugliness that resides within each of our hearts. Just remember that it is out of His love for us that this needs to be made known to us.

 In Psalm 139:23,24 David said, "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."  I believe he said this as he didn't trust himself to discover what was in his heart and he was asking God to show him.  While the symbol of the heart is usually used to mean love, God warns us that our heart cannot be trusted and is at odds with Him. We are warned in Jeremiah 17:9 that "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" 

We all like to think of ourselves as being kind, patient, and loving,  but in actuality there is a side to every one of us that is selfish and evil .  And sadly, we may even secretly enjoy allowing our flesh to have its way.   We need to be totally honest with ourselves and acknowledge where we allow our flesh to have its way.  For example, do you put others down so you feel better about yourself, do you enjoy feeling sorry for yourself because of how you believe life has treated you, are you judgmental or critical and think you know best but disguise it as only wanting the best for another, or do you say unkind things to other people that you say are just in humor, but secretly you mean them?  

These are but a few examples of what a serious self examination may expose, and it is of the utmost necessity that all the ways we allow our flesh to operate in our lives are exposed.  Until the love of a sin is quenched in the heart, it will never die. It is our love for Christ that must put a stop to our love for sin. 

It is only when we seriously HATE those things that we know reside within our heart, and pray for the Lord to help us overcome them, that we will start to seal up those holes they've created in our armor.   We will have no one but ourselves to blame for the consequences if we choose to do otherwise.  As Gurnall said, "Know your heart. Be intimately acquainted with yourself, and you will better know Satan's design against you. He takes his method of tempting from the inclinations he finds there. As a general walks about the city and views it well, then directs his assaults where he has the greatest advantage, so Satan surrounds and considers the Christian in every part before he tempts."   If we don't become aware of what actually lurks in our hearts, we will continue to allow our flesh to have its way, and we will remain walking in self deception.

There is a remedy for dealing with Satan's temptations, and that is to walk close with the Holy Spirit so that He can warn you when the enemy is getting ready to tempt you. Use the Sword of the Spirit (God's Word) to drive him away when he tempts you, just as Jesus did in the Wilderness.  If you're already caught up in a temptation, you still have time to ask the Lord for His strength and resolve to stop yourself. 

If you struggle with either thoughts that trouble you, or your flesh (i.e. pride, arrogance, self-pity, lust), ask God to show you their origin.  If they come from the enemy (it is usually a thought that you wouldn't think or you know God wouldn't have you think), use the Sword and drive them away. A good way of seeing how others have dealt with temptations is to study the Scriptures and see how others, who have gone before us, have had to deal with these same temptations and learn from them. If it's origin is your flesh, you have to ask God for His strength to help you restrain it, as this will be a day of learning, out of many.

If you actually have done something wrong, ask God to forgive you, receive his forgiveness and let it go.  Remember, God convicts you of a specific thing you have done wrong.  Satan's accusations usually come in the form of an overall feeling of your having done something wrong, but you can't pinpoint it.  His purpose of accusations is to make you feel bad about yourself and to cause a rift in your relationship with God and others. God's purpose of conviction is so that you realize your error, ask for forgiveness and then you move on, having learned from your mistake.  Satan wants to keep you entrapped, whereas God wants you to walk in freedom. 

If you have allowed the second enemy, your flesh,  to cause trouble, you may need to not only ask the Lord to forgive you, but you may need to ask the recipient of your flesh's actions to also forgive you. It's important to remember that our flesh will be with us until we go home to be with the Lord, so identifying how our flesh affects us, and learning to keep it under restraint by being constantly on guard, and asking the Lord's help, is something we learn to do better as we practice it. We'll discover that we're becoming quicker in recognizing when it's trying to raise it's ugly head, and can  make the choice to walk in the spirit and keep our flesh restrained. It is actually encouraging when we realize that we're getting quicker at noticing when our flesh tries to rise up as it shows we are making progress and don't have to be ruled by it!

By being aware of both of these enemies of our spirit, Satan and our flesh, and keeping them both under control by not allowing them to get the upper hand in your life is the key to walking with a clean conscience before the Lord.  And you will joyfully discover that the Fruit of the Spirit is better able to  operate in your life.

Gurnall reminds us, "Satan, with all his wit and wiles, will never defeat a soul armed with true grace, nor will the contest ever end in a stalemate.  Look into the Word. You will not find a faithful servant sifted and winnowed by this enemy, who did not come off with an honorable victory....the glory of the (saint's) victories is attributable to God alone, in whom the weak are as strong as the strongest. "   It is so reassuring to remember that the devil cannot tempt anyone unless God allows it.  Everything must pass through God's hands before it affects our lives. If we are  His children, endeavoring to walk close with Him and doing our utmost to do His will, we can be assured that everything will work together for our good (Romans 8:28).

How we Prepare Ourselves for Wearing the Armor...

Chapter Seven:

While we know that it is God who provides our armor, and it is His power that is behind its effectiveness, we are required to do our part in order to maintain the armor so that we do not create an opening that would allow one of the enemy's fiery darts to enter and cause us harm. In the first chapter of this blog, I said that what I've come to realize is that the armor is who we become, not something we role play and pretend to put upon ourselves for protection.

It's at this point in his book, Gurnall tells us the things that are requirements on our part. Gurnall mainly used Second Peter, 1: 3-5, which starts out by reminding us that God is the divine power that gives us everything we will need for our lives.  God promises we can become more like Christ and escape the world's corruption, caused by evil desires (our flesh).

However, Peter goes on to tell us how we do our part, by putting forth effort if we desire to become more like Christ, grow in holiness, and learn how to keep our flesh restrained so we can walk by our spirit.  In that same chapter of Second Peter, verses 5-9 goes on to tell us what we need to do in order to strengthen our spirit, and Gurnall believed that the eight traits that Peter refers to in these verses are crucial in helping us become more like Christ, and thereby reinforces our armor in the process.

He described the necessity of our wearing solid armor this way: "No part (can be) left exposed. Otherwise Satan's darts may fly in at a little hole, like the deadly one that penetrated the joints of Ahab's armour (First Kings 22:34). If all the man is armed except for the eye, Satan can shoot his fireballs of lust in at that opening and set the whole house aflame.... Our enemies are on every side, so our armour must be on the right hand and on the left (Second Corinthians 6:7)."

He went on to say, "The apostle called sin an enemy that surrounds us (Hebrews 12:1). Satan divides his temptations into several squadrons. One he employs to assault here, another to storm there.  We read of fleshly wickedness and spiritual wickedness. While you are repelling the enemy's temptation to fleshly wickedness, he may be entering your city at the gate of spiritual wickedness. But, you say, all my actions are above reproach. Well, then, what armour do you have to defend your head, your judgment? If he surprises you in this area and plants a seed of heresy, it may soon take root and choke your faith. Thus we see what need we have of universal armour covering every part.....Indeed there are a series of graces (traits), each with a special function to bring life and health to the soul."

In describing the series of eight traits, which can be likened to links in a chain, Gurnall reminds us that they are to be developed, and continue being developed within us, so that we are continually growing stronger in our inner man.  He starts out with the trait of faith, which is the foundation upon which all the others rest.  

As A. W. Tozer said, "True faith rests upon the character of God and asks no further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie. It is enough that God said it, and if the statement should contradict every one of the five senses and all the conclusions of logic as well, still the believer continues to believe. 'Let God be true, but every man a liar,' is the language of true faith. Heaven approves such faith because it rises above mere proofs and rests in the bosom of God.... To attempt the impossible, God must give faith or there will be none, and He gives faith to the obedient heart only. Where real repentance is, there is obedience; for repentance is not only sorrow for past failures and sins, it is a determination to begin now to do the will of God as He reveals it to us."   Therefore, the foundational trait is faith, with the rest being the added links in a chain.

To our faith, we are to add virtue. Virtue can also refer to being a person of honor and integrity.  A virtuous person has and exhibits high moral standards and good ethics, making sure never to deviate from them knowing that they are being an example to the world of how a true believer lives.

To virtue we must add knowledge. By grounding ourselves in the truth of the Gospel, being strong in our study of the Scriptures, and following God's will for our lives,  our increasing knowledge will not only help renew our minds (Romans 12:2), but will stop Satan's attempts to stop our spiritual growth. At this point in the chapter,  Gurnall pointed out an example of the necessity of watching our thought life through the renewing of our minds... "He (Satan) has a clever proposition for every occasion. In one instance he may try to persuade you that you are not humble enough and cause the weeds of self-condemnation to choke out the assurance of your salvation. Another time, he will flatter you into a false sense of pride in your humility, and the pestilence of self-righteousness will wipe out the Spirit's crop of fruit in your life. Satan is not particular what lie he tells you; one will work as powerfully as another if he can get you to believe it."

And to knowledge, we must add temperance, also known as self control. Without it, our flesh can quickly talk us into giving into ungodly pleasures. Self-control keeps a reign on our hearts and is important because it will not only warn us when we are giving into temporary affections, but will let us know when we are straying from our walk with God. 

To temperance we are to add patience. Patience, in this context, is also known as perseverance. Being a believer, we will face adversity from many directions. In order to be able to stand as we're ordered to do, we must learn how to persevere through whatever challenges and trials God allows to come our way, and to do it in an attitude of cheerful submission to God's will for our lives.

To patience (perseverance), we are to add godliness.   Gurnall wrote, "The only worship (of God) that leads to the inner chamber of true godliness is that which is done in spirit and in truth".  There are characteristics that will show we are striving towards godliness.  We will endeavor to walk with God, we will be devoted to God, our attitude towards God will be one of longing to grow closer to Him while at the same time having a reverent fear of Him. Godliness is where we live out our lives with our focus solely upon God, becoming more like Him and drawing closer to Him. Devotion to God is the foundation for living a godly life.

To godliness we are to add brotherly kindness. This is to be developed within us for the benefit of  those are who fellow Christians, those who are part of the family of God. Satan will do his best to cause us to be at odds with a fellow believer as he knows it wounds our godliness and everything we try to do for Christ.  Satan knows that it is very difficult for us to further God's kingdom if we are fighting with one another within God's family.  Practically the entire chapter of Romans 14 is instruction on how to interact with each other so as to help edify and challenge one another to become better saints. It instructs us that the stronger should give way to the weaker, if it doesn't go against God's Word, so that their faith is not affected.

To brotherly kindness we are to add charity. This is the trait that we need in order to graciously reach out to those outside of the family of God, those who still need to receive the Lord as their Savior. We will need kind hearts if we are to be able to reach out to those who may despise us. It's only with the Lord's help that we can do as He did, and reach out to those who would malign us and mistreat us, in order to save as many as possible. While not all are called to be evangelists in their daily job, we are all commissioned to reach the lost for Christ.

We can attain all of these to their fullest by praying for the Lord to help us develop them, and we must develop them in furthering degrees. We can't allow ourselves to become satisfied that we have attained an attribute, as these attributes are something that must continue to increase, as long as we are alive. Our goal must be that we mature and become more like Christ in our inner man.  

At the conclusion, Gurnall gives us a few very important reasons as to why we need to be maturing in these eight traits.  First, when we discover that through our own fault, or an attack of the enemy, we become compromised our immediate response needs to be that we go in prayer and ask the Lord to forgive us and help us so that we do not do it again.  Second, the enemy realizes his time is growing shorter and he is becoming more enraged, therefore it is mandatory that we are well equipped. And, lastly, and most important of all, so that we are ready to stand before our Holy God as His spotless Bride!