Our three great enemies spirirually are the flesh, the world system, and the devil. In Part I, we will explore the role of the old nature, the flesh

1. Spiritual Warfare
Robert D. Patton
Missionary to Suriname
Baptist World Mission

2. ENEMY #1 –
THE FLESH
Thus our weapons must not be
fleshly. The flesh will never cast out
the flesh

3. Temptation and the flesh
 James 1:13 Let no man say when he is
tempted, I am tempted of God; for God
cannot be tempted with evil, neither
tempteth he any man; 14. But every
man is tempted when he is drawn away
of his own lust, and enticed.

4. Our old nature, the flesh
 Gal. 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the
Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of
the flesh. 17. For the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against
the flesh; and these are contrary the
one to the other: so that ye cannot do
the things that ye would.

5. Our old nature, the flesh
 Gal. 5:19 Now the Works of the flesh
are manifest, which are these: Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, 20. Idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, 21. Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and
the like…

6. Our old nature, the flesh
 Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is,
in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will
is present in me, but how to perform that
which is good I find not.
 Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh
mind the things of the flesh, but they that are
after the Spirit the things of the Spirit, 6. For
to be carnally minded is death;but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace.

7. Temptation: Ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil
 The pride of life - to direct our own
destiny.
 Don’t be under God when you can be
like God
 Don’t worship God...
 Steer your own life - don’t be obedient
to God

8. Temptation – to replace these
with dependence on self
 The will of God - depend on God
 The Word of God - confidence in God
 The worship of God - obedience to God

9. Adam at Creation
 God met all his needs
 Body – God cared for everything – food,
water, temperature, oxygen, etc.
 Soul

Intellect – Adam named all the animals

Emotions – love of God and Eve, peace, no
fear or anger

Will – everything OK except to eat one fruit
 Spirit – direct contact with God

10. Satan’s temptation
 God does not really care for you
 God’s word cannot be trusted
 God can live independent of God and
be your own God

11. Satan’s temptations are lies
 God does care for us and meets all our
critical needs
 God is the one person who can be
totally trusted
 God created us to rule under Him, but
not to be independent. No one can be
independent ultimately

12. After the fall…
 Body – now he must work hard for food,
the body begins to age, sickness, pain,
sweat
 Soul
 Intellect – confused – tries to hide from the
God who is everywhere
 Emotions – fear, anger, jealousy, etc
 Will – to do what SELF wants, not God
 Spirit – dead in sin, separated from God

13. Our situation after the cross
 Body – God continues to meet our daily needs,
but we still have to deal with sickness, pain and
physical death though eventually a new body
 Soul
 Intelligence – we have the mind of Christ
 Emotions – we must be under control of the Holy Spirit
– love, joy, peace, etc
 Will – submit our will to God
 Spirit - reunited – contact with God possible

14. Christ meets our primary
needs in Himself
 For acceptance
 For security
 For significance
 But satan wants to tempt us away from
our relationship with Christ

15. Our flesh – our old nature
 The center of the flesh is SELF.
 We have worldly self-centered people
 We also have religious people who are
also basically self-centered
 Satan’s primary interest is to promote
self-interest as the primary motivation
of the world
 But the center of the Christian view is
from the CROSS

16. Our old nature
 When we were dead in trespasses and
sin, our entire focus was self-centered
 When we are saved, that self-centered
focus may persist through the flesh
although we are a new creation in
Christ (2 Cor 5:17)
 We must choose to resist the devil and
submit to God

17. Adam’s choice
 Adam tried to live without God and become
his own God
 But no one can live apart from God
 Since we are spiritually dead when apart from
God, we seek meaning apart from God -
pride; self-exaltation
 Adam couldn’t be God before he sinned, and
he certainly couldn’t be God with sin in his life

18. Christians defeat the flesh by
 Recognizing the defeat of the sin nature
Rom. 6:[6] Knowing this, that our old
man is crucified with him, that the body
of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin.
[7] For he that is dead is freed from sin.

19. Christians defeat the flesh by
 Reckoning that we are dead to sin and alive to
God Rom. 6:[11] Likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 Refusing to let sin rule us: Rom. 6:[12] Let not
sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye
should obey it in the lusts thereof.

20. Christians defeat the flesh by
 Relinquishing control to God as alive
from the dead: Rom. 6:[13] Neither
yield ye your members as instruments
of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield
yourselves unto God, as those that are
alive from the dead, and your members
as instruments of righteousness unto
God.

21. Christians defeat the flesh by
 Relinquishing control to God as alive
from the dead: Rom. 6:13
 Grace (not the law) will give us the
victory: Rom. 6:[14] For sin shall not
have dominion over you: for ye are not
under the law, but under grace.

22. Now we are prepared to be
filled with the Spirit
 Eph. 5:18. [18] And be not drunk with
wine, wherein is excess; but be filled
with the Spirit;
 We must obey His Word: Col. 3: [16]
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord.

23. Don’t limit the Holy Spirit in
your life
 Eph. 4:30[29] Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your
mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace
unto the hearers.[30] And grieve not
the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye
are sealed unto the day of redemption.

24. Don’t limit the Holy Spirit in
your life
 Eph. 4:30[31] Let all bitterness, and
wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil
speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice:[32] And be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake
hath forgiven you.

25. Don’t quench the Spirit
 I Thess. 5:[16] Rejoice evermore.[17]
Pray without ceasing.[18] In every thing
give thanks: for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you.[19]
Quench not the Spirit.[20] Despise
not prophesyings.

26. True freedom – Mt. 16:24-27
 [24] Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross,
and follow me.[25] For whosoever will
save his life shall lose it: and
whosoever will lose his life for my sake
shall find it.

27. True freedom – Mt. 16:24-27
 [26] For what is a man profited, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul?[27] For the Son of
man shall come in the glory of his Father
with his angels; and then he shall reward
every man according to his works.

28. True freedom: Mt. 16:24-27
 Deny yourself.
 .This is not the same as self-denial like an
athlete, which is ultimately self-promotion.
 .It means that we stop being “God” in our
lives
 .We are not designed to be independent of
God
 .We are not designed to be our own master
- either God or satan will master us

29. True freedom: Mt. 16:24-27
 Take up your cross daily
 Follow Christ
 Self will never cast out self.
 We must be led to death of self

30. True freedom: Mt. 16:24-27
 Sacrifice the lower life to gain the higher life
 Don’t find your worth in positions, titles,
possessions and accomplishments
 If you struggle for earthly treasures, you will
fail in all you can be in Christ
 Try to win the world, and that is the most you will
get, and only for a time
 Shoot for the other world, and God gives you
blessing in this one as a bonus

31. True freedom: Mt. 16:24-27
 Sacrifice the pleasure of things for the
pleasure of life:
 Love people and use things, not the
other way around
 Sacrifice the temporal for the eternal:
 The world’s solution is to inflate
the ego and take God’s place -
which is satan’s ultimate goal!

32. We find His will in sacrifice:
Rom. 12:1-2
 [1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable
service.[2] And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

33. Remember who we are in
Christ
 .We are partakers of the divine nature: II Peter
1:[3] According as his divine power hath given
unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of him that
hath called us to glory and virtue:[4] Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises: that by these ye might be par-
takers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust.

34. Remember who we are in
Christ
 Eph. 5:[8] For ye were sometimes darkness,
but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as
children of light:
 2 Cor 5:[17] Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.

35. Remember who we are in
Christ
 We can be victorious over the flesh and sin
 But you can choose to walk according to the
flesh.

36. In Christ
 The flesh is crucified.
 We are dead to sins – The old nature is
not annihilated, but we are separated
(dead) from its power in our lives so that
we can choose to live for God, and not
for self
 This on-going conflict only Christ can
conquer in our lives

37. Christians defeat the flesh by
 This is a constant battle, and we must
depend on Christ continually for the
victory and the power to live for Christ,
obeying the Word, not grieving Him
through unconfessed sin or quenching
Him by resisting His will:
 Remember Eph. 4:30 & I Thess. 5:19

38. Quenching & resisting the
Spirit
 Eph 4:[29] Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your
mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace
unto the hearers.[30] And grieve not
the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye
are sealed unto the day of redemption.
[

39. Quenching & resisting the
Spirit
 Eph 4:[31] Let all bitterness, and wrath,
and anger, and clamour, and evil
speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice:[32] And be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake
hath forgiven you.

40. Don’t quench the Spirit
 I Thess. 5:[16] Rejoice evermore.[17]
Pray without ceasing.[18] In every thing
give thanks: for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you.[19]
Quench not the Spirit.[20] Despise
not prophesyings.[21] Prove all things;
hold fast that which is good.[22]
Abstain from all appearance of evil

41. Live free in Christ
 We have already died to sin - note that
Rom. 6:1-11 has past tenses. They are
not things to do, but facts to believe
 This is what Jesus did for us on the cross.
 But it is our responsibility to crucify the
flesh and walk by the spirit: Gal. 2:20, 5:16

42. Live free in Christ
 We have the responsibility to crucify the flesh and
walk by the spirit: Gal. 2:20, 5:16
 We have already died to sin - note that Rom. 6:1-
11 has past tenses. They are not things to
do, but facts to believe
 .Our belief must precede our feelings and experience
 .We cannot remain neutral. If we do not actively
give our bodies to be used by Christ, satan will take
advantage of us

43. Live free in Christ
 We must take our thoughts captive to Christ. The
battle is in the mind
 2 Cor. 10:[3] For though we walk in the flesh, we
do not war after the flesh:[4] (For the weapons of
our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strong holds;)[5]
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ;

44. The world system – kosmos
 The world - kosmos = the system which
satan has devised.
 Its basis is SELF – and corresponds to
our old fleshly nature, which came from
satan himself

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Spiritual Warfare
Robert D. Patton
Missionary to Suriname
Baptist World Mission

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