An Enemy on the Inside

This morning, I came across this shocking news story about a Polish man who leads an institute investigating war crimes from World War II; evidenced has surfaced of him offering the Nazi salute, and making statements sympathetic to Nazi beliefs: https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium-head-of-polish-institute-researching-wwii-crimes-photographed-giving-nazi-salute-1.9559008

Right away, I thought of the irony of this man leading an organization designed to fight what he believes. My guess is that he’s a mole – intentionally placed there in order to thwart the work of that institute! How fitting an illustration this is of the internal battle we all have with sin. We can’t trust our own hearts to lead us in the right direction, because they are deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9, Genesis 6:5). There’s an enemy on the inside – our flesh! There’s a battle between the flesh and the Spirit within us (Romans 8:4, Galatians 5:16-18, 2 Peter 1:4). Paul himself shared openly about his internal struggle (Romans 7), but he reassured us that the same Jesus who forgave our sins will rescue us “from this body of death” when we trust in him (Romans 7:24).

An Illustration for our Sinful Nature

My wife just sent me this article about a man who committed a carjacking, only 20 minutes after being released from prison: https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-back-bars-carjacking-16-year-girl-20/story?id=75901321

It made me think of our sinful nature and its persistence (Psalm 51, Jeremiah 17, Romans 5, Ephesians 2), as well as Paul’s frustration in Romans 7 about frequently returning to the sin he hates. This story could also illustrate the ongoing battle of the flesh vs. Spirit in Galatians 5.

One thing I know that I would need to guard against in using this illustration is making it humorous. Although the story is definitely ironic, I wouldn’t want to encourage people to laugh at this man’s sin, to mock his situation, or to swell up with pride in our own hearts about how we think we aren’t like him. But for the grace of God, there go I.

Jekyll and Hyde

John Stott in The Cross of Christ:

“There is, therefore, a great need for discernment in our self-understanding.  Who am I?  What is my ‘self’?  The answer is that I am a Jekyll and Hyde, a mixed-up kid, having both dignity, because I was created and have been re-created in the image of God, and depravity, because I still have a fallen and rebellious nature.  I am both noble and ignoble, beautiful and ugly, good and bad, upright and twisted, image and child of God, and yet sometimes yielding obsequious homage to the devil from whose clutches Christ has rescued me.  My true self is what I am by creation, which Christ came to redeem, and by calling.  My false self is what I am by the Fall, which Christ came to destroy.  Only when we have discerned which is which within us, shall we know what attitude to adopt towards each.  We must be true to our true self and false to our false self.  We must be fearless in affirming all that we are by creation, redemption and calling, and ruthless in disowning all that we are by the Fall.  Moreover, the cross of Christ teaches us both attitudes.  On the one hand, the cross is the God-given measure of the value of our true self, since Christ loved us and died for us.  On the other hand, it is the God-given model for the denial of our false self, since we are to nail it to the cross and so put it to death.  Or, more simply, standing before the cross we see simultaneously our worth and our unworthiness, since we perceive both the greatness of His love in dying, and the greatness of our sin in causing Him to die” (285).

Several parts of this quote would be great for use in sermons on the battle between the Spirit and the flesh, as well as the image of God, or the new creation we are in Christ.  Or, you could take Stott’s use of the story of Jekyll and Hyde and run with that.

Tags: Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Jeremiah 31, Romans 6 (especially verse 4), Romans 7, Romans 13, Galatians 5, Ephesians 2, Ephesians 4, 2 Corinthians 5, Hebrews 8

D-Day and the Benefits of Jesus’ Victory

This past Sunday I preached on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness in Matthew 4.  The big idea of that sermon was that because of Jesus’ victory over temptation (using the same tools we have available to defeat sin), we can have victory over temptation, too.  My closing illustration went this way:

Almost 3 weeks from now, on June 6, is the 71^st anniversary of the D-Day Invasion. When American and other Allied soldiers came ashore on that day and spread throughout France, they weren’t just fighting to keep their own shores safe. They weren’t just fighting to defeat the crazed ambitions of Hitler and the Nazi regime. They were fighting on behalf of the millions of Jewish, and French, and Belgian, and Dutch, and Polish, and other peoples who had been held in bondage to Nazi rule for years. And when those soldiers won a hard-fought and costly victory, all of the millions of civilians who had been living under Nazi brutality received the benefits of that victory, as well. Those civilians shared in the relief and freedom and renewal, even though most of them had never fired a shot against the Nazis.

 At His birth, Jesus invaded in His own, far greater D-Day. He landed on the shores of a land that had been ruled for millennia by a usurper, through the crazed ambitions of Satan and those who followed him. And millions upon millions of people from every nation had been held in bondage to Satan’s rule and to their own powerlessness to resist temptation. But when Jesus won THE costliest victory ever, all of those throughout history who trust in Him received the benefits of that victory, as well.

We share in relief and freedom and renewal brought about by His victory over temptation, even though we didn’t fire a shot against Satan, even though we could do nothing to resist the power of sin. Trust in Jesus, and His victory will be your victory, as well – in eternal life in heaven, but also TODAY, as you face daily temptations.

C. S. Lewis also uses the invasion motif for the Incarnation on p. 46 of Mere Christianity, at the end of his chapter entitled “The Invasion.”  I focused more on the vicarious benefits of His victory (which was fully completed at the cross) for our ability to defeat sin.

This illustration could also be used for passages like Romans 7 that talk about struggling with sin, or with Hebrews passages about Jesus serving as our great High Priest and sympathizing with our struggles in temptation.  It could also work for Gethsemane or the crucifixion passages, especially Jesus’ “It is finished” statement.

 

Tags: Matthew 4, Matthew 26, Matthew 27, Mark 1, Mark 14, Mark 15, Luke 4, Luke 22, Luke 23, John 19, Romans 7, Hebrews 4, Hebrews 5

Living Like You’re at War

The twitter account @HistoricalPics posted this a while ago:

Amazing: Temporary rules posted at Britain's Richmond Golf Club after German bombs hit the course in 1940 http://t.co/7iDNBnbDlR—
Historical Pics (@HistoricalPics) February 02, 2014

Of course, this is a phenomenal example of the courage and resolve displayed by countless Brits to try to live normally, avoid panic, and fight on during the war.  It’s the whole “Keep Calm and Carry On” mindset. But even better, it’s a great illustration of Paul’s point in Ephesians 6.

The rules change when you’re living in a war zone.  For the British, it was undeniable: their golf courses were peppered with craters!  We have plenty of evidence of the spiritual war surrounding us, as well, although we are often fooled into ignoring it.  Since we are living in a spiritual war zone, we should live differently, too.  We put on the armor of God.  We pray at all times in the Spirit.  In Christ’s strength, we resist the devil, who is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5).  In World War II, it was a matter of life-and-death.  In our war, the stakes are far higher.

 

Tags: Romans 7, Romans 13, 1 Corinthians 16,  2 Corinthians 10, Ephesians 6, 2 Timothy 2, 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 5, Spiritual Warfare