BIBLE TRUTH MINISTRY On The Internet : Evangelist Larry Wolfe

"Victory Over The World,
The Flesh, and The Devil"

.....Continued from previous page

TRADITION: To win over the enemies of your soul "You must (grit your teeth) and exercise additional will power and intestinal fortitude"

TRUTH: To win over the enemies of your soul you must allow God's power to be exercised by faith

The second enemy of our soul is the "flesh". For victory in the battle with the flesh Paul commands: "Be strong...in the power of His might"(Ephesians 6:10). This pointed command summarizes Ephesians chapter 4:1-6:9. Literally, being continually strengthened in the power of God's might can be found only in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Five times in this section of Scripture Paul uses the word "walk" to describe our practical victory over the "flesh" by walking in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

First of all he commands us to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called" (4:1). A worthy walk can only be accomplished by the Person of the Holy Spirit for Jesus said: "Without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). We can not in the strength of the flesh please God! Only Jesus can please God! Only as we yield to the ever present Power of the Holy Spirit will we be able to "walk" with our Lord demonstrating the worthiness of the vocation, the calling He has given us, as He commands! "This I say then, walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).

The second "walk" Paul emphasizes is found in (4:17) where he commands us to "walk not as other Gentiles walk". He then describes a multitude of flesh works in v.17-19 second only to his list in Galatians 5:19-21. The only possible way to have victory over the flesh works described here is by fully yielding to the control of the Holy Spirit. Being "continually strengthened in the power of His might" necessitates a full dose of the Word of God! We must digest the "living Word" by letting it "dwell in us richly" (Colossians 3:16). The result of memorizing and meditating on the Word of God will result in Colossians 3:16 "teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." This is the direct result of letting the Word dwell in us richly! It is also the direct result of being "filled with the Spirit"! (Ephesians 5:18,19) which are the key verses in this second section of Ephesians, Paul's Book for the Battle. It is significant that being filled with the Spirit causes the same result as letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly: "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord."(Ephesians 5:19)

The third "walk" mentioned is in (5:2) where Paul gives still another astounding command: "Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor." This command brings to mind the Lord Jesus' great love that only He could have demonstrated to us by His great suffering on the Cross of Calvary. We as lowly men and women could never perform such an act as this in our own strength, but, if we are "continually strengthened in the power of His might" we can walk in love as Christ walked or else the command to do it would never have been given! What a miraculous thought! We have the ability to walk in love as He walked if we "present our bodies a living sacrifice" to Him who alone can do these marvelous things through us by the power of the Holy Spirit!

The fourth "walk" continues to challenge us to give full control to the Holy Spirit as Paul gives still another command: "Walk as children of light" (5:8). Immediately following he underlines the necessity for demonstrating the "fruit of the Spirit" in order to fulfill this most important requirement. His emphasis centers on separating from all "unfruitful works of darkness" in the process we should do the positive thing and "reprove them." Here again the power and presence of the Holy Spirit is the means utilized to have victory by walking as children of light.

The fifth and final "walk" Paul commands us to perform is found in (5:15): "Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise" which directly leads into the closing passage of this section dealing with the second enemy of our soul the "flesh". This command is connected with wisdom and "understanding what the will of the Lord is." Unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit where all wisdom dwells providing us with His full knowledge of God's will we cannot expect to "walk" as we are commanded! We must digest the precious Word of God, allowing it to dwell in us richly providing the food the Holy Spirit thrives on! It is through this process of memorizing and meditating on the Word of God that we yield full control to the Holy Spirit allowing Him to "sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts to the Lord" and thereby getting victory over the "flesh" the second enemy of our soul.

The ultimate command given by Paul in this vital section for victory over the "flesh" is the most important: "Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be (continually) filled with the Spirit." The result of the filling is not speaking in tongues, but "speaking to yourselves in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord". Please compare these two passages: Ephesians 5 :18,19 & Colossians 3:16,17-If you want to be filled with the Spirit get filled with the Word! Allow the Living Word, the Son of God to control your mind, and the Holy Spirit will control your attitudes and actions! Besides, it's the only Biblical way to have success and prosperity! (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2,3; I Timothy 4:15) The second enemy of our soul is soundly defeated if we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit, walking by faith and obeying these simple instructions found in Ephesians 4:1-6:9. The faith necessary to believe and obey these walking-by-faith instructions will only come as we experience spiritual success through memory and meditation on the all powerful, living Word of God!

Continued......


Rev. Larry Wolfe--Evangelist
3015 Pelzer Hwy
#16
Easley, SC 29642

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