“THE SIN-CORROSIVE, ‘FLESH-CAPTIVE’, SATANICALLY-CONTROLLED WORLD OR
THE CREATIVE, COMPASSIONATE, CARING
KINGDOM OF GOD?”
BY: J. FARRELL FISHER, AUGUST 22-24, 2018
The issue in this message, the continual warfare of the soul, the captivity under Satan’s ‘lies’, the sad ‘sickness’ of “the sin-corrosive”, ‘flesh-captive walk’, and “the strong delusion” that the devil isn’t real, or, even if he is, it’s not a serious thing to have to deal with, since one can choose to ‘get along with darkness’, tolerate warped religious thoughts, stay away from churches in order to enjoy your ‘flesh’, rather than believe one’s “Christ” crucified it, and that there is even allowance of both good and bad, right or wrong, because “a little sin never will be the reality of separation from your holy god” – “you’re just blind to human potential!” Really?
The “sin-corrosive, ‘flesh-captive’, Satanically-controlled world”, inspired and deceived by Satan, who, yes, provokes rebellion and disobedience, deludes the fallen mind of eternal Truth, filling the heart with ‘lies’, encouraging, inciting, even giving ‘academy of Hell awards’ for going against God’s sacred will and heavenly plan! Even though the brother of Jesus, James, wrote, in James 1:13-15, “Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted of God’: for God, cannot be tempted with evil, neither does He ‘tempt’ any man; But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death”.
But ‘warped’ theologians’ and ‘modern, deceived, professing disciples’ today are convinced “believers can’t do anything but ‘sin’ until they get to Heaven, and because God is so merciful, so understanding, so gracious, that He ‘accepts’ the ‘continuing sin of the believer’ even though King Jesus said, “Go, and SIN NO MORE”, assuring themselves that though there IS sin, it’s not ‘deadly eternally’ because merciful God has, does, and will overlook one’s ‘sin-nature’!
You’ve heard it: “Sin is NOT death, but the occasional side-track from a life ‘believing in God’, but seeing no demand to “do what He says”, even though Jesus Himself said: “Why do YOU call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, YET you do not do what I say?”
True believers do not ‘excuse their sin’; true believers do not ‘pretend’ obedience by their willful ‘choose’ to “walk both sides of life” with their ‘two-street-interpretation’, the highway of holiness AND the highway of optional but forgiven ‘sin’.
James was so right when in James 1:14 he wrote: “But every man is tempted, when he/she is drawn away by his/her own lust, and enticed”, but some, interpreting the ‘faith walk’ as simply an act of disobedience, but void of any consequence, broadcast continuously their warped interpretations – “Sin IS death, but not eternal separation from God, whether one ‘believes’ it or not-just a ‘mis-step’, but merciful God grants realignment and acceptance so you continue to enjoy both ‘good and evil’ under God’s banner of ‘amazing grace’!”
“Drawn away”, for some, does not mean ‘the door is closed TO God’, but, because He is so merciful, He allows us ‘who believe’ to trust, while continuing to sin, because God’s mercy is overwhelmingly more powerful than the ‘flesh-desire’ to sin!
‘The sin-corrosive, flesh-captive, Satanically-controlled world’, IS NOT an avenue of acceptability for those who choose to “walk the Highway of Holiness” but void of “Blood-Redemption” through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on Calvary’s Cross!
I love Spiros Zodhiates’ comments when in his book, “The Behavior of Belief”, he wrote about James 1:14, saying (pps:67-68), “The verb “tempted” here is to be understood as having the same meaning as in the previous verse, the solicitation to sin, the inner desire to do that which is contrary to the law of God laid down for you as an individual. “But each one is tempted by his own lust.”, continuing,
I hesitate to say that I am satisfied with this translation because of the necessity of a careful examination of the Greek word translated “lust”. In the Greek it is “epithumia”. The English word “lust” is almost always associated with the bodily appetites and lasciviousness, whereas the Greek “epithumia” is rather associated with the desire of the soul, which is the moving force of that which pertains to the body. It is an ardent desire, the inclination of the soul to enjoy or acquire something. In its verbal form it means “to set one’s heart upon a thing, to long for, to covet, to desire.” The root of the word is “thumos”, which means “the soul or spirit as the principle of life, feeling, thought, mind, will, and purpose.” Who go into all this detail as to the meaning of this word? Simply to show
That we cannot blame the weakness of the flesh, which God created, as the responsible factor in inducing us to sin. It is the spirit of man; it is the voluntary attitude of man; it is the mental imagination of the pleasure of sin that is condemned in the Scriptures, and not only the actual physical performance thereof. This is just what our Lord meant in the Sermon on the Mount. WATCH YOUR INNER DISPOSITION, YOUR INNER ATTITUDE. You can commit sin simply by looking and wishing, simply by thinking and imagining. The sins of omission and commission are bad, but the worst sins are those of disposition.”
“Disposition”? The Random House Collegiate Dictionary, Revised Edition of 1975, describes “disposition” as follows: “the predominant or prevailing tendency of one’s spirits; mental outlook or mood;…”! It’s like a “two-faced” or “divided heart”, committed TO Christ, but the ‘door’ to the ‘old man’ left opened or cracked, trying to maintain the desires of both worlds, “flesh, old-sin nature, AND the spirit-nature” birthed in and through the Indwelling Christ Jesus!
Zodhiates went on to say, (p.68), “But each one is tempted BY HIS OWN DESIRE OF THE SOUL,”adding, “That would really be a perfect translation of this verse. The diagnosis is now made. Sin is something that begins with the desire of the heart. The remedy, therefore, is not the casting away of parts of your body or the seclusion of the body in a monastery, but the PURIFICATION AND SUBLIMATION OF THAT INNER DESIRE, the cleansing of the heart by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ”, truly understanding, grasping, ‘resting in’: “crucified with Christ”!
But, Do YOU understand? Really, truly, there is no release after repentance and faith in Christ alone to be ‘privileged’ to hold onto, take advantage of, enjoy ‘the old sin-nature’!! AND, yes, the “divided heart” WAS and STILL IS “crucified with Christ”!!! THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY? “You must be BORN AGAIN”, appreciative, thankful, ever rejoicing that your ‘old man’ WAS “crucified with Christ”, and YOU, through true repentance and faith, RECEIVE THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN YOU THAT DOES NOT SIN, learning from the Word daily that YOU “take the sentence of death daily that His Resurrection Life may be manifested, released, unveiled in your mortal flesh” for the world around you to see!
Didn’t the Lord Jesus say, “And I, if I be lifted up (IN YOU), WILL draw all men (around YOU) unto Me”? Are YOU aware of His abiding Presence in you? Do YOU “take the sentence of death daily to your old man that the Resurrected Christ may be manifested, unveiled, revealed, and eternally active of touching your world around you with “Amazing Grace, His awesome Life, and His eternal power, and heavenly intent of, yes, bringing ‘Heaven’ to earth in you, through you, around you?
Do You, daily, execute that sentence of death to ‘self’, AND “rest” in His Abiding Presence, that, through YOU, He might extend His Life, express His love, and prove His power? In 2 Corinthians 1:9 Paul wrote: “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but trust in God “in us” who raises the dead around us and through us”, saying also in chapter 2:14, “Now thanks be unto God, which also causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place.” 1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul said, “I die daily”, that he didn’t ‘rest’ in his best efforts – he died to himself that Christ Jesus would be His all in all!”
Of course, I KNOW that there are those who, even in their faith walk, look inward to self, inspired by ‘fleshly pride’, resulting in doubt, in distress, and disappointment, because ‘self’ is not the Abiding Savior, self is not the Great Physician, and self is not the Spiritual Emancipator that “sets the captives free”!!
Examine thoroughly James 1:17-18! “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. OF HIS OWN WILL HE birthed us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creative, spiritually eternal, regenerated, sanctified nature!
“OF HIS OWN WILL”? It’s not men ‘trying’ – it’s men “trusting”! It’s not men ‘attempting’ – it’s men “atoned for” by the shed blood of Christ alone! It’s not men ‘sensing a heavenly nature’ – it’s men repenting, resting, and relieved that God “birthed us in Him by His Holy Spirit”!
Does Holy God still say, “Choose YOU this day whom you will serve,” even knowing that many men will ‘lean’ to themselves and never ‘enter His Haven of Rest’, the Resurrected, Reigning, Restoring Savior of fallen men to His “eternal intent” – “Christ in you the hope of glory”!! It was George D. Moore and H.L. Gilmour, in the old American Hymnal, who wrote: “The Haven of Rest”. It says:
“My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea, So burdened with sin and distress, Till I heard a sweet voice saying, “Make me your choice,” And I entered the haven of rest.
I yielded myself to His tender embrace, And, faith taking hold of the word, My fetters fell off, and I anchored my soul; The haven of rest is my Lord.
The song of my soul, since the Lord made me whole, Has been the old story so blest, Of Jesus, who’ll save whosoever will have A home in the haven of rest.
Oh, come to the savior, He patiently waits, To save by His power divine; Come, anchor your soul in the haven of rest, And say, “My Beloved is mine.”
I’ve anchored my soul in the haven of rest, I’ll sail the wide seas no more; The tempest may sweep o’er the wild stormy deep, (but) In Jesus I’m safe evermore.” Are YOU a selected one, a chosen one, a ‘crucified with Christ’ sinner saved by grace, complete in Christ, lacking nothing, one living in “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ”?
“OF HIS OWN WILL?” Around you, you’ll find men who say, “Let your conscience be your guide”, and, if you do, you’ll find ‘self-consciousness’ to be the downfall of personal spiritual blindness, never leading you to “the foot of the Cross, to the empty tomb, or see, sense, celebrate the Resurrected Christ on His eternal Throne of glory still fulfilling, obeying, and submitting to the Sovereignty of the Holy Father, thankful to Him for receiving His volunteers of repentance and faith and obedience to the King of kings and Lord of lords!
“OF HIS OWN WILL!!” In Ephesians 1:3-14 is an anointed, uplifting, Word of encouragement! It says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, WHO HAS BLESSED US WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST, just as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons BY JESUS CHRIST TO HIMSELF, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which HE MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.
In Him (in Christ Jesus only!) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to the good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him. In Him also we HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should BE TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY.”
In Him, Ephesian disciples, American followers, and you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, HAVING BELIEVED (HAVING TRUSTED, HAVING “RESTED” IN HIS FINISHED WORK AT THE CROSS AND THE EMPTY TOMB!!), you were SEALED with the Holy Spirit of promise, who IS THE GUARANTEE of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Have YOU been “filled with ALL the fullness of God”? Have YOU held onto the “unsearchable riches of Christ”? Are YOU “walking worthy of the calling with which you were called” or are YOU ‘drunk with the wines of self-indulgence’, OR do you “LIVE” “FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT”? Are YOU “self-motivated” OR are YOU “being ‘mastered’ by the Master?
Is your walk of faith ‘weak’ OR are YOU “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”? Are YOU a “devil entertainer” or do YOU live, clothed in the full armor of God, able to withstand the days’ evil, and having done all, to stand, yes, for the honor and praise of King Jesus? Do YOU pray in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, withstand the evil around you in the Spirit, overcoming worldly and fleshly ambitions to LIVE For The Glory of Christ Alone? Are YOU a disciple of ‘dead weight’ or a true warrior of faith living, walking, fighting, serving in “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ”?
In closing, a few words of mine, yes, inspired testimony by the “guiding Holy Spirit”:
“I once was ‘lost’, but now I’m found; I once was blind, but now I see; I once was dirty in the garment of ‘sin’, but now I’ve been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.
Darkness prevailed, and then came “The Light”; darkness distressed, and “The Light” offered “REST”; darkness ‘tired’, but the Spirit “inspired” LIFE IN THE LORD THAT NEVER RETIRES!
‘Darkness’ ease is a deadly disease, but the Great Physician brings “Heaven’s Release”! ‘Darkness’ author is the Satanic Liar, offering release to a ‘lesser lair’.
‘Darkness’ song is an off-key chord, eventually bringing a life that is bored; but Jesus comes to offer His Light to free you from ‘the cellar of devilish might’! Yes,
“Free from the Law, O happy condition; Christ Jesus bled, and there is “Remission”! Free to ‘rest’ in His resurrection, boldly declaring, “I’m His habitation”!! Amen?