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Sermon: Devices of Satan and Victory.
Seasons of great victory and seasons of great defeat and depression.
According to "Life line for Pastors" 70% of Pastors fight depression, and 80% of Pastor's adult children seek professional counseling help for depression. Many Pastors are not willing to share temptations and attacks from Satan, in fear of persecution by their own congregation, and experiencing judgment from their peers, their spouse and their families.
I have gone through mountain top experiences followed by deep valleys and depression. I started to take note of my circumstances, experiences, feelings, defeats and victories. These experiences and findings I believe will help you understand yourself better, and the spiritual war we are in with Satan and his demons. You will find Victory consistently, not within your own body, nor your outer body, nor your inner body, nor through your own mind, but solely through the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Victory and who lives inside of you. 1 Corinthians 15:57 King James Version (KJV)57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Please note the victory is “through” Jesus.
The example:
Let us assume a wonderful speaking opportunity has come. I pray and ask the Lord first. He says: "Speak". I prepare for this occasion with all of my heart, my soul and my mind. I fast and pray. I study the subject and scripture. Life examples come to my mind. I am able to combine all the parts through the Holy Spirit. Now I rejoice; the Lord has given me the sermon. The next day I eat something early but not too much. I want to have an empty stomach before preaching. The Lord speaks through me, I deliver the sermon and people respond. I was used by God mightily. It is a mountaintop experience. I feel full of the joy that God has used me. My body and my emotions are responding to the mountain top experience. However, almost immediately there is another feeling.
1.) I feel a little empty and exhausted.
2.) Then a question comes: "Did I really do well?" Another thought comes: "I probably was a failure". I feel bad but it is more in my sub consciousness.
3.) People come forward to shake my hand. Some have comments. Most say how wonderful I preached etc., etc. I feel good, I did something good.
4.) A deacon comes with a phone in his hand. He says it is your wife on the phone. My wife says she had a terrible day. The kids acted up. She feels all alone. She says I abandoned her and she hangs up the phone. I feel rejected and terrible but put on a good face.
5.) A man comes and wants me to step aside to talk where no one can hear us. He says my sermon was not correct. I try to explain to him where he misunderstood. The church is starting to close their doors. I don't feel good about his comments.
6.) I want to leave for my hotel but the man is not giving up on his points. I am now getting to be impatient, exasperated and a little angry. Somehow I hold it together.
7.) A brother is waiting to drive me to my hotel. He says he must get home. I did not eat before the service because I wanted to pray and prepare myself, but the brother driving me must get home. He does not have time to eat with me at a Restaurant. I am hungry, I don't feel that good.
8.) The brother drives me to my hotel. The dining room of the Hotel is closed and there is no cafeteria. Again, I feel tired, hungry, angry and also exhausted because everything is closed. The Church has not taken care of me well.
9.) I walk into my Hotel room which is dark and empty. I feel alone.
10.) I had felt good at first after the sermon. Now I feel terrible. How is that possible I thought?
11.) I throw myself on the bed. Why did I start to feel badly at church right after the sermon? Now I feel really bad. I don't know why, yet it was a mountain top experience.
12.) I immediately find myself under attack. Thoughts come to my mind. Pictures are flashing before my mind. My body wants to feel better.
13.) Temptation is no sin I thought. The Holy Spirit reminds me: Pick up the Word and gain strength. I am too tired and hungry to pick up my Bible.
14.) The Holy Spirit says: Pray for help and quote My word. I try to pray but I cannot concentrate. Lord, I can't think straight now.
15.) The Holy Spirit says: Call your wife. I can’t Lord she is mad at me.
16.) The Holy Spirit says: Call a friend. I answer, Lord I don’t have a friend. I have no one and I cannot trust anyone. They would insist on my leaving the ministry if they find out I have bad thoughts.
17.)I need to relax a few moments and I turn on the TV or Internet. I am under major attack.
18.) I have thoughts I want to give in to. Scripture says I am free. So why do I feel so very much tempted to do evil? My mind says I am all alone. No one sees me. I won't have to answer anyone. It won't matter what I do or how I think. I am not hurting anyone. I have rejected the way of escape, and now it is too late. I am beyond return. I can't help myself and I do what I should not do. That could be drinking, smoking, drugs, sexual immorality, whatever sin. I fall asleep.
19.) I wake up and think about who am I? How could I do that? Am I really a Christian. I have no idea what happened. I wanted to be in the will of the Lord. I wanted to be holy as He is holy and I could not do it.
An advanced stage of this would be when one goes outside the room to go on the street to find a bar, drugs, or whatever the flesh desires. The record shows how many godly and well known preachers have failed this way.
The problems, Satanic devices, what happens in the Spiritual unseen world, and my lack of understanding the Victory in Christ Jesus. Let us see what happened in the example. There are physical factors, the flesh, feelings, emotional factors , the mind and spiritual factors. Satan uses all six. He conspires with the flesh and the world to defeat us. We are not just in a battle with our flesh and the world but we are also in a battle against principalities and powers of the dark, demons and Satan himself.
After the service I felt empty and a little weak. Why? There was a physical factor involved. The Lord spoke through me but there is the excitement of the word and speaking before a crowd. My body had produced adrenaline. It had gone up and now the adrenaline came down. This causes a slight feeling of emptiness or exhaustion. Without consciously realizing it the body demands to feel better. Also, I had not eaten. There is a low point after the sermon at some time-point. Satan is the roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He encircles me his prey. He sees the opening and an opportunity to attack me. The body feels a little tired and exhausted and wants to feel better. Satan says: Let me work on five fronts to defeat the sixth. I’ll work on his body, his sinful flesh, his feelings, his emotions, and his mind and make it all come together to defeat his spirit. Satan decides to find more things that will make me feel worse, so that I must fulfill the lusts of my body, wanting to feel better.
The solution: When I felt a little down I should have immediately spoken to Jesus inside of me and said: Lord Jesus you renew the inner man day by day. I am a little exhausted. Could you please restore me and watch over me? He would respond: I’ll be glad to do it. I am able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of my Father.
Why did Jesus not do this automatically? Jesus wants me to surrender to Him and depend on Him every moment and every hour. I say I believe Jesus is in me, but in actuality and in problem situations I forget or I lack the faith.
I questioned: "Did I really do well in speaking this Sermon?" The thought comes: "I probably was a failure". Satan says: Let me search out some burning missiles to get to him. A burning missile is like a spear dipped in tar. Satan sets the tar on fire and throws the spear into me. The spear lodges itself in my flesh. Maybe it does not kill me right away but it burns. Satan says let me attack his pride. Give him the thought that he failed. Satan throws the spear and I fall into the trap. I believe Satan somewhat.
Solution: Who gave me the sermon? It was the Holy Spirit. Who spoke through me? The Holy Spirit. All glory or all failure is due to the Holy Spirit and my Lord. I was a servant and did what God wanted me to do. The Holy Spirit cannot fail. There is no failure. I believed Satan’s lie. Also, in some churches they do not respond because they are pew dead and in some churches they are shocked because I speak the truth.
I had failed to run to Jesus when the thought came. I needed to immediately run to Jesus who is on the inside of me, telling Him I had this wrong thought. Please forgive me Lord and please stop it. Jesus is the victory and He will do it.
People said how wonderful I preached. I felt good, I did something good. Satan said: Let me give him some more wrong thoughts through pride and people. Perhaps God will get angry at him for his pride. People come and congratulate me. I feel good and I take away the glory from my Lord. I do not realize that I am hurting my Lord and I am hurting myself.
Solution: I should have immediately thanked people but given all the glory to God. Then I should have run in my Spirit to Jesus to protect me from any pride and not to give Satan an opening.
The angry spouse: Satan said: That pride issue worked, now let me send him another burning missile. Satan had previously instructed demons to go and agitate my wife and children. Now he gets her to call me at church. My wife calls. She is very angry, accuses me and hangs up. She had agreed previously with the trip and she knows I am out of town. Yet I know I don’t spend enough time with her. I feel the rejection. I feel guilt. I am hurting now. My body wants to feel better badly.
Solution: I should have immediately talked to my Lord Jesus inside of me. I should have acknowledged my guilt and asked for forgiveness. I should have asked him to protect me from bad feelings about rejection and guilt. I should have asked Jesus to lead me to spend more time with my wife and to get help for my marriage when I return.
Criticism from a man. Satan says let me send the next burning missile. He hates criticism and there is still pride in him. Let me add some criticism. Satan sends me a man to criticize me and argue with me. I am hurting and my body is hurting. My thoughts are drawn to physical things of the past that have made me feel better.
Solution: The Bible tells us to accept wrong if necessary. We don’t have to be proud and be right all the time. At any rate it was the Holy Spirit’s sermon. I should have told the man: Thank you for your advice. Please let me pray about this and let me examine myself. May the Lord bless you mightily. Then I should have talked to Jesus on the inside of me. Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit gave this sermon. Would you tell me if I put in thoughts not from You? If yes, please forgive me, and cleanse me from all wrong. Please protect me from temptation.
Satan agitates the man to insist he is right. Satan agitates the man to get me angry and that in my pride I would defend myself. I have received unfair criticism I thought and I am starting to get angry. Criticism is burning in me. My anger is burning in me. At least I did not let it out.
Solution: I should have never argued. I need to run to Jesus inside of me and say: Forgive me Lord for getting impatient. Show me what is the truth. Help me to examine myself. Bless this man. Please do not lead me into temptation.
I am hungry after the Service and I don’t feel good. Satan says to his demons: He is hungry. Make sure he finds no food. One of you go to the driver's wife to call her husband and for him to come home immediately. Make sure the man who criticizes keeps him long enough so that the restaurant is closed at his hotel.
Solution: With my hunger, I should have thought to go to Jesus inside of me right away. Please give me a little strength Lord. Please do not lead me into temptation I should have prayed. I am hungry but man does not live by bread alone. My strength comes from you Lord. Please strengthen me right now. Please give me Your joy, for the joy of the Lord is my strength.
8.) At the Hotel, hungry and exhausted. Satan says you demons did a good job. The Restaurant is closed. He won't get any food. I'll now send him another burning missile. I want his flesh to feel so hungry that he forgets everything and that he cannot think straight. Satan says: I will have to prevent him to think about the Son of God who said: “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Solution: I should have run to Jesus inside of me to explain to him my hunger. He would help me until the morning and keep me from temptation.
9.)The Hotel room is dark, empty and lonely. Satan says let me explode loneliness inside of him when he walks into the dark empty Hotel room. He believes he cannot call his wife because she is angry. He has no one he trusts. Let me send that missile and he will burn a little more and fall. I walk into the room feeling terribly lonely. My faith is weak.
Solution: I believed Satan’s lie who said you are all alone. Yet my Father says He will never leave me nor forsake me. Jesus is inside of me. I am never alone. He loves me. The Father counts each one of my hairs. He takes care of me. I should have run to Jesus to tell Him I feel lonely and it’s a lie from Satan. Please help me. I surrender to you. Turn Satan away. You are the Victory my Lord Jesus. Please do not lead me into temptation.
10.) Feelings of good and bad.
So far there are twelve “triggers” to make me fall. I have stated more triggers than we usually experience. Often two or three of these triggers will get us to fall. When the flesh churns and Satan and the world work on us, we so easily forget our faith, and we forget that Jesus is inside of us. We forget that Jesus is the Victory if I run to Him and surrender to Him, asking Him to turn Satan, and the flesh away. Now we have a twelve fold demand from my body to feel better:
- adrenaline is down, the weakness in the body makes me feel bad.
- failure makes me feel bad.
- pride causes God to turn from me.
- rejection from my wife makes me feel really bad.
- guilt for not spending enough time with my wife, makes me feel bad.
- criticism from a man makes me feel bad.
- badgering from the man leads me to anger and increases the bad feelings.
- hunger makes me feel bad.
- exhausted, angry, tired: All three are triggers that make me feel bad.
- loneliness makes me feel bad yet we are never alone.
With all of these pressures on me I am very likely to fall.
Satan says we have him where we want him.
Solution: I have gone on feelings and not by Faith. I have gone on circumstances and not by faith. Scripture says Faith is the Victory and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Victory. I must have the faith that Jesus lives inside of me, that He is willing to live His life through me, and that He will give me the victory if I surrender to Him. Since he is physically with me all the time, He is available to help me all the time. The victory is through Christ. If I fight myself I will lose. If I think I can do it I will lose. The verse: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” is often misinterpreted in our mind by Satan. When I put myself first and before Christ i.e. I fight and Christ helps me, I will lose. Note what the verse actually says: The victory is through Christ , through Jesus first. He wins the Victory. The victory is not through me. So what do I need to do? My part is to yield and surrender to Jesus and to flee temptations in obedience to Him. I must yield, I must surrender and I must humble myself, that I cannot do it. Jesus is the victory. He has won the Victory already on the cross. As I yield to Jesus and ask Him to oppose Satan, my flesh and the world, He will do it and overcome all of these temptations; Praise God.
11.)However, I have forgotten, and I throw myself unto the bed. I start to dwell on the negatives. I am not thinking of the Lord Jesus inside of me. My faith is weak. I am thinking of all the things that went wrong. I am thinking of the critical man. I shudder about what my wife might do when I get home. I think about the growl and hunger in my stomach. I think about the Church not taking care of me, which makes me angry. Note: It’s all about me, me, me. It’s all about the negatives. I have forgotten my great and omnipotent Savior. Like in a depression this is the beginning of a spiral going down.
Solution: Christ Jesus the living Son of God is the solution. He who is in me is greater than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
If I humbled myself and called on Jesus He would take over and give the victory. I have to run to Jesus as soon as I feel bad.
12.)I am lying on the bed. I am really under major attack. Pictures of evil pleasures flash before my mind.
Satan says: Let us go to His mind and attack his mind.
Satan turns to the demons and says: Do you have all his past on visuals? They answer yes. He says get ready and hit the replay button. Focus everything on his mind. All kinds of pictures of what my body wants and sin I have experienced in the past flash before my mind. The pictures in my mind are pleasures and what has made me feel good before I became a Christian or what I have seen in disobedience after I became a Christian. I say "no" this is not right but I seem to have no power to resist.
Solution: Christ Jesus the living Son of God is the solution. I could still run to Him and it would not be too late. I’d have to surrender to Jesus and say: Have mercy on me. I am nearly in defeat. I can’t stop this but you can dear Lord. He who is in me is greater than he that is in the world.
If I humbled myself and called on Him He would give the victory.
13.)Temptation is no sin. I have another thought. The Holy Spirit reminds me: Pick up the Word, the Bible and gain strength.
Solution: I realize in retrospect that this was a way of escape. The word of God would have pointed me to Jesus inside of me. He gives the Victory. He lives in me. I can call on Him.
14.) The Holy Spirit says pray, quote scripture, again pointing to Christ and giving a way of escape.
I start to quote a few verses, but I can’t concentrate. The verses I thought about were not about victory. I stop.
If I do not by faith believe that Christ is in me as per Galatians 2:20 , I will lose the battle. I neither understood nor accepted that Christ Jesus was truly living inside of me and could overcome. My mind is attacked by Satan.
Solution: Pastor Wurmbrand was tortured for Christ. He had 18 pieces of flesh cut out of Him. He said when the torture took place there was nothing that helped him. He forgot all scripture. It was only the Living Christ inside of Him that helped him get through. Christ is the only Victor. Christ is the Victory inside of me, by faith.
15.)The Holy Spirit provides another way for escape, and says call your wife. I thought, I can't call my wife. She has had a bad day with the kids. She is angry at me. What am I going to tell her? That I am weak and tempted? She would not understand. My pride demands secrecy.
Solution: The only solution is to believe by faith that Jesus the Living Son of God lives on the inside of me. He will hear me when I humble myself, and if I confess and repent of my pride. I thought I could be victorious but I have no power. He will step in and provide the victory if I run to Jesus asking Him to do what I cannot do.
16.)The Holy Spirit provides another way for escape and says call a Christian friend. Most pastors don’t have a friend they can share these things with. I did not have a forgiving and gentle friend. I did not have a friend I can trust. The friends I have are judgmental. They would put me out of the ministry. Now I feel really bad. The terrible need to feel better has not left me.
Solution: A good Christian friend is good to pray with and to share. Ask Jesus to provide you with a friend. A friend can help point you to Jesus as the Victory. However, a friend cannot give me the victory. I must with all my heart believe that Jesus lives inside of me and that He is a diligent rewarder of those that seek Him. If I surrender to Him, if I yield to Jesus, if I believe that He lives in me, and if I run to Jesus and ask Him to provide the victory, He will do it, praise God.
17.) Instead I follow a way of failure. I relax on the bed a few moments and I turn on the TV or Internet. Now the major attack by my flesh and Satan is supported by the world. Whatever is shown on TV, or the internet, or movies, will work against me.
By going against God and taking a physical step towards sin, I have made the decision to sin. When I turned on the TV, or the internet or the movies to help cover the pains and desires that have built up in my body I have already sinned and lost. Satan says: Now we have got him. His flesh demands it, he now wants the world and its lusts and I have brought pictures to his mind that have enticed him. Satan says he is defeated.
I now have invited the world to help me sin. The circle is complete. I am sinning having given in to the world, the flesh and the devil.
Solution: God does not generally step in when a person decides to sin. A while ago a pastor of a major church was found dead in his hotel room with a bag of white powder. Another pastor was recently caught with young boys. Another pastor was seen picking up a girl from the street. Another Pastor started a relationship with a women in the church, not his wife. He got her pregnant. If you read this and you are sinning, God has given you yet a time period to repent. Your only hope is to repent and to turn around and to turn to Jesus by faith, submitting to Him and asking Him to exercise His victory over your flesh, and Satan and the world.
18.) I have thoughts not to give in yet I find no power to say “no”.
Satan continues the attack on my mind and combines with the flesh and the world. Satan now guides my mind. Flick the channels he says until you find something interesting. When we flick channels we look for something that will satisfy our flesh. Through flicking the channels we find what will satisfy our lust. Or, we go to the internet or the movies in our room. You say, I better not watch this. Satan says: There is no one around and no one will know. ( Lie ) No one can hold you accountable.(Lie) No human can see you.( Lie, your wife knows in her spirit) You won’t hurt anyone.( Lie. You hurt yourself, your loved ones, your church, when you go against God and when you go into depression afterwards or you die. Unbelievers curse God because we sin. They say there is no God. These Christians are just like the people in the world. They are all hypocrites. Their God can’t help them. ) Satan says: Forget this concept that God is present everywhere. ( Lie ) Forget Habakkuk 2:11 which says that the stones and the beams in your room will record everything. That is not possible ( Lie )
Satan is using my sinful old flesh. He whispers into my mind: " Will God really know"? ( Lie. God the Father is in me. 2 Cor. 6:16. The Holy Spirit is in me. 1Cor. 3:16 and Jesus the Son of God is in me. Galatians 2:20. How will they not know? ) Satan continues:"How can God be against you, you worked so hard"? ( Half truth is a lie ) In the meantime the Father is grieving. The Son is grieving. The Holy Spirit is grieving. What does grieving mean? Weeping, wailing, tears, loneliness, emptiness and hurting with pain? The Holy Spirit is one with Jesus and the Father. If the Holy Spirit is grieving likewise the Father is grieving and the Son.
The Apostle Paul experienced the helplessness of opposing sin himself:
Romans 7:23-24
King James Version (KJV) 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.24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Solution: Romans 7:25
King James Version (KJV) 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord ---------. The Lord Jesus Christ is the solution. Note “through” Jesus. He is the Victory.
19.) After I sin and go to sleep, I wake up and think about who am I? How could I do that? Am I really a Christian. I have no idea what happened. I wanted to be in the will of the Lord. I wanted to be holy as He is holy and I could not do it.
I get up. I am devastated. I say to the Lord :" O wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death?" I get no answer because the Lord has told me already in the Bible.
I continue to try and ask God saying: "How could I do this Lord? Where am I going wrong?" Lord, I wrestled with sin for a while, I quoted scripture and nothing happened ( putting the blame on God ). I get no answers. Psalm 66:18 says: If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear.
Now I feel terribly guilty although Satan had promised me I'd feel better. In fact I feel worse. Satan comes again and says: "How could you do this? Are you not a Christian leader? Are you really a Christian? There is no victorious Christian life. Don't kid yourself. Jesus wasn't there for you. You quoted scripture and nothing happened. You see, just accept the way you are." You are human. You had all kinds of things against you like hunger, loneliness, being tired and substantial opposition. You did your best. God understands.” I know now, I am listening to lies from Satan yet I cannot help myself, I am at the beginning of a major depression. The spiral is going down. There is only one way back:
The Holy Spirit draws me to repent.
Repentance:
Psalm 51:1-10
King James Version (KJV)
51 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Help me to understand that only your Son is the victory. Help me to remember every moment and every hour that you are inside of me. Help me to surrender to your Son Jesus and call on Him every time I feel bad or tempted.
Satan is demanding the death Penalty:
Satan has achieved what he set out to do. He got me to sin. He is now going before the Father to accuse me for he is the accuser of the brethren. He says to God the Father: This man has sinned. Here is the proof of his sins. He is no Christian. God, you said the wages of sin is death. Therefore , this man must die. I demand the death penalty. Your word cannot be broken, I demand the death penalty.
The Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ are before God to intercede for me. Father, the Lord Jesus Christ says: It is true that this man has sinned. But Satan has misquoted Your Scriptures. The verse is: Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Father I died for this man’s sins. He has accepted me and repented. He has given his life to me. I have paid the price for his life. I paid his death penalty on the cross. I died for him that he might live if he accepts me. I have bought him with the price of my life. Father please give your gift of eternal life to him, because I have paid the punishment for him. Please leave him to me. And God the Father answers: The penalty of death has been paid. I release this man into the custody of My Son Jesus Christ.
Causes for Depression:
There are innumerous causes for depression. But sin is always the starting point. A loss of faith can cause depression. Satan stole my vision from God and I went into depression. When Pastors see all the sin and all of the terrible things done through sin it is easy to want to question God. But God cannot sin. He did not cause Cain to slay Abel. He did not give permission for King David to kill Uriah. God did not make the people sin before the flood came. He gave them 120 years to improve. God did not make them sin. God is not responsible for my sin. I am responsible.
Depression often comes for Pastors because they work endless hours for a nominal pay and often without appreciation by their flock. They overwork and have no time for their family. They see evil in their congregations . I saw a little 3.5 year old girl dead in a casket. She had been raped by her father and she died. I nearly fell apart and despaired.
Elijah after his mountain top experience got a message from the queen. He ran away to hide , afraid of being killed, and he became depressed. Why? It was lack of faith.
What happened to Jeremiah? He did the will of the Lord . No one wanted to hear the word of the Lord from him. The religious leaders hated him, the political leaders hated him and the people did not believe him. One can understand his depression. Yet the Lord is glorious and in His holy temple. Now we are His holy temple. The inner man. The Holy Spirit lives inside of me 1Cor. 3:16, the Father lives inside of me 2 Cor. 6:16, and Jesus lives inside of me Galatians 2:20. If I submit to Jesus and ask Him to step in no power on earth or in heaven can stand up against my Lord.
I had believed that the Lord would give me automatically a victorious Christian life. But I had been taught incorrectly. At one time point this drove me into depression and then away from the Lord for 22 years. I rejected God because I thought He would not help me. I gave God an ultimatum: Either heal me so I don’t need to sin any more, or I won’t believe in you. Either set me free or I will not believe in you. If I fall again, I will walk away from you because I do not want to be a hypocrite. I fell and I walked away from God. I lost my wife, my family and most of all my God. I would be in hell today except Jesus came and saved me.
So where does this victorious Christian life come from?
We walk on this earth in a body of the old flesh, tainted by sin. This old body of sinful flesh cannot be saved, and cannot be improved. It wants to sin all the time whether we are saved or not. The Apostle Paul referred to a law of evil in Romans 7:21
King James Version (KJV) 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Paul refers to a law of sin in:
Romans 7:23 King James Version (KJV) 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
So what are these laws and how do they affect a Christian? A law is an unchangeable rule. Let us take the law of gravity for example. If I drop a coin, the law of gravity says it must fall to the ground. If I travel to Germany and drop a coin, it must fall there. If I travel to Australia and drop a coin, the law of gravity says it must fall. Likewise with the law of sin. The old flesh wants to sin and if given a chance be it in the USA, or Canada, or Germany, or Australia, it will sin.
Once we are born again, our soul and spirit are born again, not the old flesh, also referred to as the “old man”, “mortal body” or “body of death” . The born again soul and born again spirit are in the “inner man” or “inward man”.
Ephesians 3:16 tells us that God’s Spirit is in the inner man.
King James Version (KJV)16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
2 Corinthians 4:16 tells us the inward man is renewed.
King James Version (KJV)16 “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”
Please note the outward man is the flesh, the sinful flesh which will get old and die. It will always sin whether we are a Pastor or not. It is subject to the law of sin and will sin. It is the part of our body that is mortal and will be replaced with immortality a new heavenly body. In the meantime the inner men is the one we need to run with to Jesus when we are under attack to sin.
I must yield to Christ, and give Him the right to overcome and control the evil that is within me. Christ has not only set us free from the penalty of sin, but He has also set us free from the power of sin. Jesus won the battle over Satan and death and hell, and by me relying on Jesus, who is within me, I have the Victory.
Galatians 2:20 Note again that Christ lives in me:
King James Version (KJV) 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I need to understand that my body consists of the inner man and the outer man. The outer man can still sin and will sin if I let him. However, I need no longer fulfill the law of sin, Praise God because
The Lord Jesus Christ is the victory:
1 Corinthians 15:57
King James Version (KJV) 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ( Note: The victory is through Jesus not me.)
And Faith is the Victory:
1 John 5:4
King James Version (KJV) 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Victory is in the Faith, that Jesus physically lives in me. Faith says that Jesus will perform the fight for me to defeat Satan, my flesh and the world. My part is to yield and to surrender to Him. He is the Victory and He has overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. Each time sin knocks on the door I must run quickly to my Savior, because: “He that is within me is greater than he that is in the world.” He is able to keep me from falling --- Praise God. Beloved, that is a major step towards the Victorious Christian Life. The ultimate Victory is to let the Lord Jesus live His life through you.
In closing please repent as I did for having the wrong concept on how victory over sin is obtained. I thought it was me with the help from Jesus that would overcome sin. I thought I had to work very hard to do my part. I tried and failed. It was pride and the wrong understanding of the word of God. Victory is only through Jesus. It must be Jesus the Victor doing the work, and my humbly surrendering to Him, asking Him to keep me from falling, to intercede for me and to protect me and to send away Satan and the lusts of my flesh. I can still sin if I want to. My body will want to. But now I understand, I don’t have to anymore. When I go to HIM who lives inside of me, then Victory is mine through Jesus.
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Edgar Reich ( - Present)
The former business man is Reverend Edgar Reich. He has been called by the Lord to teach and preach in Revival. He is a devoted Christian teacher, leading adult Bible study groups at his Church, his former business and his community. God has called him into fulltime Christian Ministry to preach and teach in Revival.He became a Reverend under the leadership of Rev. Dr. R. L. Curry in July 2008. His teaching experience spans 35 years. He holds business degrees via the University of Toronto, Canada and Ryerson Polytechnic Institute in Canada. He taught business at the University of Toronto.