Good Morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
There have been many battles throughout history when certain measures were taken in order to prevent the onslaught of an enemy invasion. One such tactic put forth to prevent one’s adversary from advancing, was to leave nothing behind for them that might aid them in their effort to fight. In order to wage war, armies require large supplies of certain things, such as food, water and ammunition. Retreating armies would leave none of these things behind, and would burn crops, contaminate water supplies, and destroy ammo dumps, in an effort to slow the enemy down and completely stop them in their tracks.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
A scorched Earth policy deprives an enemy force of the things that it needs to make war. We must also deprive the sinful nature of the things it requires to make war; the lusts of the flesh.
“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;” 1 Peter 2:11
Of all the wars that have ever been fought, none is as great as the battle for the soul. This is because Earthly confrontations only deal with what is temporary, whereas the battle against the sinful nature is a fight for one’s own salvation. It is a Spiritual war that must be won at all costs, and we must do whatever it takes to defeat the enemy. This will require destroying sinful lusts, leaving nothing behind for the adversary to get a foothold to wage war against us. We must crucify the deeds of the flesh, and abstain from evil desires, completely cutting off sins’ supply line in the process.
“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Galatians 5:24
Sinful desires are the ammunition that the carnal nature uses to fight against us. What we need to do is remove the ammunition, and not make provisions for the flesh. In doing so, we destroy its ability to engage us in an altercation.
“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Romans 13:14
To abstain means to decline or to refuse doing something, or to refrain deliberately by denying oneself of a certain action or practice. The narrow path of Christ is to deny worldly lusts.
Titus 2 ¹¹ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, ¹² Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
In order to obey God, self-denial is crucial. Rather than focusing one’s mind on what is sinful, it needs to be redirected on the things of the Holy Spirit. Many people are not pleasing unto God simply because they lust after evil things.
1 Corinthians 10 ¹ Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; ² And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ³ And did all eat the same spiritual meat; ⁴ And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. ⁵ But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. ⁶ Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
1 John 2. ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
The Earthly desires that we had when we were young, we are supposed to depart from. We are no longer to be children in our faith, but mature and seasoned men of God.
“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22
Granted each of us come from sinful stock, but we are not supposed to behave like a sinner anymore. We must be transformed into a new creature, which will require turning away from the way that you used to live in your past. This is a process of repentance from dead works to serve the living God.
Ephesians 2 ² Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: ³ Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1
Following the flesh will only lead to death.
Romans 8 ¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³ For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
The true sons of God will reject sinful lusts, and humbly embrace the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5 ¹⁶ This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil 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. ¹⁸ But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
We are engaged in a battle that you cannot see because it’s deep within each of us. It is a battle between the flesh and Spirit, and to be victorious, we must abstain from fleshly lusts which war against our souls. We must remove every sinful desire in our lives, leaving nothing behind that would enable the sinful nature to advance. The soldier of God is involved in the greatest war of all time, a skirmish that will be won, as he begins implementing the policy of….
……….Scorched Earth
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.♥️
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