Today we are looking at something that is very important for every one of us. Whether the person is a pastor or a church worker or a brother, a new convert, this message is meant for you. If you are even an unbeliever, this message is for you! And what the Holy Spirit wants to help us with is coming to us in the form of a question. There is a question that is being sent to us that we must find an answer to. The question is: How Far Can Satan Go With Your Body?
Listen To Podcast: HOW FAR CAN SATAN GO WITH YOUR BODY?
Jesus made a statement in the book of Matthew chapter 5:48 and that is where we are going to be starting with. How Far Can Satan Go With Your Body? The statement made by Jesus has actually created so much issue. In fact, it is like it created debate instead of us to receive with meekness. And I want us to examine that place, because I am sure if some people had their way, they would have removed that portion of the Bible because it seems to create a challenge for them that they seems not to have the capacity in the flesh to conquer. No degree in the university can get you what Jesus said in Matthew 5:58.
“Therefore (I am sure you know that before Jesus came to this point, He has been making a lot of statements and so, He just concluded His thoughts by saying “Therefore, and because of these things that I have said earlier) you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect”.
I am sure we saw the word “you”, He didn't say “Therefore, I your Lord shall be perfect”, He didn't say that! He put the challenge on us, and it does not exclude anyone of us. So, Jesus has likened our experience which must take place to what God experiences. How God is, Jesus is telling us we must be. Our Father is in heaven, and Jesus says as He is perfect in heaven, you and I must be perfect. So, there is a challenge for us and yet, that challenge comes with a lot of issues.
Some people have said; “It is impossible for a man to be perfect!”. Some people even say “Nobody in this flesh can be perfect. It is only God that is perfect” You remember when Jesus said it is only God that is good. He says, “no one is good but God”. So, many people will quote different verses just to claim that they cannot be perfect. Now, those who say they cannot be perfect, peradventure they are correct; then Jesus would be wrong. Now, if they are not correct, then Jesus has said something that we must take very seriously. You know, there are two issues. It is either they are correct or Jesus is correct. They say “nobody can be perfect in the flesh, no man can be perfect, and it is only God”. And Jesus said “just as your heavenly Father is perfect, you shall be perfect”.
But men say they cannot. And if we say that they are correct, then Jesus is wrong. If they say they are wrong, then Jesus is correct. And so, if we look at it again, it says Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect”. If it is not true, Jesus would have told us it was not possible to be perfect. Because when Jesus is making statement, He would also tell us the importance of the truth in what He is saying or has just said. Sometimes He would say “Verily verily” or “truly truly I say to you” to show you that it is not a lie. Jesus was not saying to flatter us or so that we can feel good. He was telling us what is possible. Of course a child could be born and then he turns one year old. Or maybe the child could even be six months; the child can walk, right? But the child is not walking. So, a father who is correct would say “my son, you shall walk just as I am walking”.
But really, is walking a current reality in the life of that child? No! But is it a possibility that is definite, Yes! Because it is a matter of growth! Do we see that? As long as the child grows, the child will no longer remain a toddler who cannot walk. The child will soon begin to walk. That is why the Bible says “you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect”. So, as it is for your Father, it shall be for you; “like father like sons”. So, if God is your Father, whatever is true for Him must be true for you. Perhaps it is not true for you now does not mean you are not a son. It could just mean that you are just a son who is still a child. It does not mean God is not your Father, it just means that you need to grow out of your childishness or your immaturity to the state of maturity so that you would be able to walk in the newness and the reality that God has for us.
You see, there are many things available for sons, but not yet accessible for sons simply because they have not yet grown to the level that they can begin to demand what the Father has prepared for them. It says eyes have not seen it, ears have not heard it, and it has not even come to the hearts of man the things that God has prepared for you. God has prepared them for you, but the truth is, “Are you already enjoying them?” If you are not enjoying them, it is not because God is not true or good, it is because you haven't grown enough yet to begin to enjoy them. We have given this example countless times, even though you could be a very rich father and you have many cars, and you have a child that is still very young, let say three years of age, you cannot give that car to the child and be driving. You may love the child but the child is too young to drive what you have.
So, if the child must begin to walk in the reality of his father, then he must take time to grow. What we are dealing with today has more to do with our growth than with the sincerity of God. God is sincere, God is true. The Bible says “Let God be true and every man a liar”. God is always true and He is always correct. So, if God says something and I am not seeing it, it is not because God is wrong or I am correct, but it is because I have not yet grown to the level where I can begin to see what God is doing or giving me.
So, the question we have before us is: How Far Can Satan Go With Your Body? But before we get there, we needed to start with that Matthew 5:48 and the issue is about people saying they can never become perfect because they are in the flesh. And what produces this kind of thoughts in people is what we are looking at today. Let us go to Genesis 17:1, the other statement was a statement made by Jesus in the New Testament. But let us see what God said in Genesis 17:1. The Bible says:
When Abram was Ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless”.
Another version will say “and be perfect” because another meaning for blamelessness is to be perfect. God said to him, walk before me, live a life that is in my presence, by my strength and by my grace and then experience perfection. So, we can see that both in Genesis and in Matthew, God has a will for our perfection. Abram was ninety-nine years old, meaning that he has seen so much in life, just like many of us. He has committed so much errors, made so many mistakes, he had sin several times, and now, at a moment in time, God appeared to him and said “from this moment, be walking in my presence, be walking in my footsteps, be walking by my life and principles, and if you can do that, then you would be blameless."
So, the blamelessness of Abram was not going to be simply because he was just a man who had big muscles; it was going to be because he was a man who was walking with or before God. So, can we see what Jesus said, “like father like son?” He said just like your Father in heaven is perfect, you too be perfect. The question is: do you really have a relation with that Father? God said to Abram, if you're walking with me and you can be blameless, then your perfection would no longer be in doubt. Now, Jesus also says your Father in heaven is perfect, you too be perfect. That brings us to the place of consciousness that we are not just orphans on the earth, we have a Father in heaven who wants to have a relationship with us that would produce our perfection.
We will not be perfect because we go to the supermarket and buy “perfect”, no! Perfection is not available in any store. There is no book that will make you perfect! It is your relationship with God that will produce that perfection in you. If God is your Father and He is perfect, then He has a kind of life that is called perfect, if you must have that kind of life, then it must be because you have stayed with Him, you have fellowship with Him, you have learned before Him, you have seen Him and then you are becoming like Him. There is a process in time here, and that process in time is a matter of your relationship, your fellowship with Him. That is why we read in the Bible that place that says “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
So, there is a beholding that precedes being changed because until you see an image, you cannot change into that image. A man who wants to become like God must continue to look at God till the point that his life continue to become like God, it is not automatic. If you must be like Father like son it must be because He is really your Father, and you are not a bastard or a stubborn and rebellious son, but a son who stays with the Father. Jesus called His disciples first to come be with Him. The question then is why did He have to call them first to come be with Him if He had the plans of sending them out? Why should they bother? They must bother to come be with Him first so that they can become changed to His nature.
There was a time John and James were angry with the Samarians and they asked Jesus “do you want us to call down fire from heaven just like Elisha did?” And Bible says Jesus rebuked them and He said “You do not know the manner of spirit that you are of”. So, they believe they had power to call down fire, which could be referred to as head knowledge. But their hearts have not yet changed into the hearts that God has given to them in Christ Jesus. So, it was because they had stayed with Jesus, that they even had opportunity to ask Him “Jesus, should we do this?” And Jesus that they asked said “you cannot do it” because that behavior is not correct and consistent with the character of the Spirit that is in you. So, Jesus tutored and mentored them via their presence with Him.
That is why it is expedient that if you must be like God your Father, then you must be with Him. If Abram must be blameless, then it must be because Abram must walk with God to the point that God would call Abram His friend. There were many people in Abraham's time but none of them became God's friend except Abraham. Why? Because Abram accepted the challenge when God said “Abram (just like God may be calling somebody today) walk before me and be perfect”. So, if the person decides from that day to start walking with God, such a person would become perfect.
If the person decided not to walk with God even though God has said it, perfection will never become a reality in his life. There is so much that God wants for us and has prepared for us, but those things are tied to relationship. There were many people in Israel, but Jesus called out just twelve disciples. There was a time He gave them power and they went out. They did so much and they were excited to report back to Jesus. But Jesus said to them “Do not rejoice yet that demons were cast out through you; rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven”. He exposed them to something they didn't know before. Up till that moment, manifestations and sign and wonders were a big deal for them. They did not know the importance of their perpetual sonship, which was the reason for this manifestation. They loved the power, but Jesus said that power is coming because you have a relationship with the Father. Rather cherish the relationship, don't cherish the manifestation. Because that was what the father of the prodigal son told the elder brother; he said, “all that I have are yours”. See the matter. The father in the story was not just a man; it was the Father that said. So, inheritances and access to the resources of the Father goes only to their sons. You cannot be a bastard or a stranger and want to claim rights in the house of sons.
Therefore, if you can't experience the life of God, don't say the life of God is not real, it is because you have not yet become a son indeed. If we want to use a practical example that we have heard about, many of us have seen pictures online, the children of Buhari flying in the presidential jet with their father. In fact, it got to a time recently that the PRO of Buhari said “the children of Buhari have the same right to the presidential jet just like their father”. Did you vote for the children? No! But why? Because they have a relationship with their father! Simple!
If their father should chase them away, they will never come near it. They won't even come near a bicycle. Since they have a relationship with their father, even to the private jet that belongs to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the sons have access to them. So, you cannot love Buhari now and say you want to fly in his private jet. How many people that love Buhari have ever had that rare opportunity? It is not about you loving him; you must have a relationship with him. Does he love you? Does he know you? Unlike Buhari, God is even different, bigger and larger. If you want to experience the things that God experience, other people have been saying it, but you never believe it. Start believing it, from today; cultivate a functional relationship with Him. It will culminate into an experience in your life that the things that you wish you have, you will start having them, the things that around your life that you hate, they will start leaving your life.
It is not just via mere wishes, it is via your relationship with the one who is the Almighty. Because that was God said to Abram in Genesis 17:1, He says “I Am the Almighty”. Almighty means the one who has all the might. So, instead of you trying to lobby a politician to become their god son, can't you just become a Son of God? All they have is only tied to a territory. So, those you are trying to submit to, how much access can they grant to you, even if they love you as much as you love them? Can't you rather go to the Almighty who has no limits, who has ability to give you everything? The only thing that stops you from getting anything from God is your maturity. I will be a foolish father to give my car to my son that is young, it would be foolishness. And I am not getting a drive that is a leader over him, because that is what happens in the Spirit.
When God gives you a car, He gives you a drive with it. When God has a purpose for you, He wants you to move from one destination to another, He gives you a man or a woman to guide you. It belongs to your Father, but it's been driven by another person that is submissive to your father. And so, by your submission to the driver, you both get to the same destination that the Father wants you to get to. But if you want to be the leader, you want to be the one that will be directly interacting with God; it must be because God can relate with you as a Father to a son. How much do we desire to tell our children, how much can we share with them? Jesus said “I have so much to share with you but you cannot receive it now because you are still babes”. You are still children. But when the Holy Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will be driver, He will lead you there. Revelations cannot be released to you now because they are just too much to bear.
A child of four years wants to eat, you have all the goodies that children love, you would make the day of such a child. But those things that appease children for instance, don't appease adults. You have to something substantial. So, as we grow, things that really gets us excited, they change with our growth. If small things, things that will perish and useless, that are fading in glory, if they are mattering to you, it just shows that you have not grown enough to the point where important things, maters of kingdom, matters of grace and power, they are not yet important to you. And a matter that is not important to you can never be accessible to you. If it is important to you, then you can demand for it.
That is why Jesus, who is our God, said “ask, up till now you have not asked. Ask until your joy is full”. In fact He said when you ask, the Father, I will give them to you. Until you are able to demand for it, you are not telling God you are ripe for it. So, your prayer is what activates the things of God, the power, and the glory of God all around you. So, when you are praying to God saying “Father thank you for giving me nations, for giving me opportunities to influence lives”, when you are doing this, what you are demanding is leadership, you are demanding glory and you are demanding authority for that day. So, when you do that, He will give it to you. Ask for nations, is that not what God said in Psalms? So, those who are asking for nations, God gives them. Those who are asking for chocolates, God gives them. If all you need are just two oranges, God will move someone right away to give it to you. There is nothing you ask God that He won't give you, except it is outside His will for your life. But you cannot ask for something you have not yet comprehended in your life. That is where the understanding and maturity comes in. Your asking shows God that you have faith in Him and that He has, those who come to Him must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He rewards!
At another occasion, God told Abraham, “I am your exceedingly great reward”. Genesis 15:1, the Bible says: “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ”Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward”. So, if you don't know He is your shield, then you can't use Him to protect yourself from the impacts of the harshness. When the world, and the earth begins to exact so much pressure on your life, how will you know you should use God to cover yourself if you don't know He can become a shield? So, can you see, God is saying “I am Your”. What happens to Abraham the moment when God says “I am Your?” Will he still remain ignorant of who God is? No! Understanding comes, and when understanding comes, maturity comes.
You would be surprise some twelve year olds, some thirteen year olds are more matured than some twenty two. It is not about age, it is about access to information, access to knowledge, access to understanding. Via understanding you grow. Growth in the spirit is not tied to your age. So, if you have access to revelation, you have understanding. Jesus said you will know the truth; the truth will set you free. The moment you are free, you cannot be in bondage again. We have said there must be a relationship between you and the Father. If you must have access to what He has, then you must be a son indeed. There was a time Jesus was somewhere and a woman said to Him “Do something for me”. Jesus said to her, “I have come only for the lost house of Israel”. My ministry is to the Israelites for now. The things that are meant for sons, you don't give them to dogs. The woman said to Him “sir, there are times when the children eat on the table; the crumbs that fall, the dogs too eat”. Now, Jesus considered that to be great faith. And Jesus attended to her.
So there are certain things that are only available for sons, she was an exemption. I am sure we note that as we are seated here, there are mobile telecommunication networks in this room. If you have a mobile device that is not having either MTN, or GLO, or 9Mobile, you will never know they are existing. Why? You do not have the Sim in the phone that can connect with it. That you cannot see the glory of God in your life, in your marriage, or in your ministry does not mean glory is not available. There is something that is not making you to connect with it. Glory is for the sons. Revelation 5:12 says worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory, power, riches, strength, receive honor, to receive wisdom. The lam was slain to receive these things. The question is: Who is the Lamb? The Lamb was Christ. Was He slain to receive them because He lacked them, No! He was slain to receive them so that we can have them as inheritances. Those are the inheritances of the saints. What are the things you inherit from Jesus from Him being your Father? These are the things. And yet, these inheritances are available, and yet accessible via growth. Luke 1:80 says, “And the child grew and wax strong in the Spirit, and He was in the wilderness till the time of His manifestation to Israel”.
It is growth that gives you access. And when you have access, what do you do with it? You manifest it. I don't know anybody so beautiful and says “all that I can do with my beauty is to just stay in my room”. When people know they are beautiful, all they want to do is to just show it. That is manifestation. Did they make themselves beautiful, no! They just come to enjoy that beauty that God has given them. There is so much that God has blessed you with, the moment you come to know that these things are really in your life, you showcase them. And how do you know? That knowing is what is called growth. Until you know, you don't grow. Until you grow, you don't know the things that have been made available for you.
I want us to go to 2 Corinthians 12 from verse 4, the Bible says:
4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words which man is not permitted to speak [words too sacred to tell]. 5 On behalf of such a man [and his experiences] I will boast; but in my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. 6 If I wish to boast, I will not be foolish, because I will be speaking the truth. But I abstain [from it], so that no one will credit me with more than [is justified by what] he sees in me or hears from me. 7 Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment and harass me—to keep me from exalting myself!
8 Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me; 9 but He has said to me, ”My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness”.
Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. 10 So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].
There is a verse that I want to emphasize. It says “Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me.”. The excuse that many believers and unbelievers give for their imperfection is that no man can be perfect in the flesh. Now, it says “a thorn in the flesh was given unto me”. It looks like a gift. A messenger of Satan. Another version says “an angel or angels of Satan” to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure. There is an issue that is on ground now. He began chapter 12 by showing how he has had access, he was not the only person, but he had access to visions and revelations. Those who didn't have the access may never say there was no possibility for a man to see to the heavens. They could only say they never saw. Could you see that access is different from eventual experience?
That something is available does not mean that you can partake of it. Your partaking in it is a function of your growth and your prayer! You grow and then you demand for it. If Paul didn't have desire or demand it, he would not have gotten the access. So, by the multitude of Paul's revelation, lest pride and arrogance be found in him, it says in verse 7;
“Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me…”
The question then is this: We began in Genesis 17:1, “walk before me and become blameless”. Please can a man who is exalted beyond measure, who is puffed up, can the man be blameless? Did we hear the question? And Jesus said as your Father in heaven is perfect, be perfect. So, there is something that is against perfection, which is pride and arrogance, and lest apostle Paul should become arrogant and proud, a messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh was given unto him to buffet him, lest he should become arrogant. So, you ask: Why was God so in love with Paul that He did everything to prevent Paul from getting into arrogance? Why? Let us go to Ezekiel, how arrogance and pride is the enemy of perfection. Ezekiel 28:12 and 15. It says:
12 ”Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.15You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
What do we see there? It says “you were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom. You were perfect in your ways walking before God. The more you fellowship with God and stayed around God, there was perfection in you. Anyone who was around you loved you. But you were perfect up to the point that iniquity was found in you. Now, if you go to Isaiah 14, you will now see how that iniquity that the Bible talks about is pride. Isaiah 14, Lucifer said he would exalt his throne above the throne of God, and because he said these things, he was deposed.
I am sure we remember when apostle John said “do not love the world, neither the things that are in the world”. When he was counting the things that are in the world, he summarized them as the lust of the flesh, the list of the eyes and the pride of life. These are the things that are in the world. So, anywhere in the world, what you see is pride, lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. And so, lest apostle Paul enters the trap of the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, Bible says a messenger of Satan was given to him. This is how we know that God didn't have the plans of taking that messenger away, and I am sure we have seen it already. He said concerning these things, I pleaded with the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. In verse 10 it says “and he said to me”. So, just as the man that set himself on the watch, to see what will be said; God said “my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in your weakness”.
As your Father in heaven is perfect, be perfect. “Like Father, like son”. My grace, your Father, is sufficient in your weakness. The question is again, why is God making His grace available in your weakness? Why is He not changing our weakness with our strength? We have seen that the reason why a messenger of Satan was given unto him, a thorn in his flesh to cause suffering for him was to keep him away from pride because your suffering is better than your pride. God resists the proud; He gives grace to the humble. Do we know that? That you suffer is not the issue. That you become arrogant and proud is a reason for God to destroy you, both your spirit and your soul. Proverbs said there are three things, four things that the Lord detests, and a proud look is one of them.
So, even in the Old Testament and the New Testament, it is clear to everybody that God hates arrogance. God said to Moses “Speak to the rock”, he struck the rock. And God said “because of this thing you just did, I will kill you”. Okay you ask: Why didn't God just live him and forgive him? If God should forgive him, God could even lose him forever. Because even Satan wanted to collect his body; therefore, it was better for him to be killed than for him to be left alone. You see, God will go any mile to prevent you from entering pride zone. Because if God can stop you from arrogant and pride, God can secure your destiny for you. Perfection does not mix with pride. You were perfect until iniquity, so the moment iniquity was found in you, your perfection seize. Your perfection is tied to your fellowship and relationship with the Father. The moment God could no longer call you His son, then you seize from having access to what produces perfection. So, when God says “be perfect”, He was not asking you to go and figure out how to be perfect. He was not telling you that you can be perfect alone, No! He was just saying just be perfect as He is perfect because you are going to be beholding Him, fellowshipping with Him and you are going to be learning from Him. Do we understand that now?
So, we raised another question and we said: Why didn't God just replace weakness with strength? Why is it that God who knows that there is a tendency for a man to go into error, and He knows that a man has weakness, why is it that He decides to make grace available in the midst of it? Now there is a place that I want to read. 2 Corinthians 4:5-7
“For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us”.
This life of God that we have in us, this grace of God that we have, this Holy Spirit that He has given to us, this eternal life that we have in Christ Jesus, the Bible says we have it in earthen vessels. If you keep water inside a bottle that is made of iron, and you seal it and throw it up, and it lands, there is a chance that you will find your tea. If the thing is made of plastic, and you throw it up, it would be a miracle. If it is made of sand or clay, and then you throw it up, it is almost definite that you will never find it. Why? The materials used to make each of the bottles are different. Stainless steel has strength and cam handle pressure and attack, and can survive. If you use rubber, it may likely expand, if you use clay, it would break into pieces.
Bible says we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power (the times of our manifestation, raising the dead and speaking in tongues, laying hands on the sick and they recover) may be of God and not of us”. So, when people see beauty in us, they do not think that we are just beautiful on our own. They know that the beauty is produced by God in us. If you examine that Ezekiel that we read, chapter 28, when the Bible described how Lucifer was made; with precious stones, how his body were made of gold, diamonds and every precious stones; is it not easy to be proud? Yet he forgot that there was someone who put it there. He didn't know how the beauty came about. But a man who understands that whatever God demonstrates through him has no origin in him but in God, is a man who gives glory to God and who is able to survive. That man is a man who will be humble and that is the man that God gives grace to.
And a man who thinks the glory he sees around his life, his marriage, his ministry is about him, and it is because of his knowledge, about his degree, is going to be a man who is going to be full of pride. So, what happens? The perfection will go because once iniquity comes, perfection ceases. Or maybe the reason why we haven't even been perfect since this long is because iniquity is found in us. Maybe! Before we know, we have entered arrogance zone, forgetting that we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence may be of God and not of us. Apostle Paul said “I labor more than them all”. That looks like excellence of power. He now said “yet not I, but the grace of God”. There was a grace that was given to him, because even Jesus told him when he was praying, he said “my grace is sufficient for you”.
Again God said, “I resist the proud but gives grace to the humble”. So, when God said my grace is sufficient for you is because there is something about you is about humility. So, each time God finds humility in us, God gives us grace. So, the weaknesses of the body do not overwhelm us but rather we have power by the grace to rule over the weaknesses of the body. You remember where apostle Paul said he disciplined his body? When he said he brings his body into subjection. A man who does this is a man that has been given grace to do it; these things cannot be done in the flesh. So, you require an external force in the Spirit to subject the body so that the weaknesses of the body do not rubbish your life and ministry.
As you remain humble, knowing that this holiness of your life and your hatred for sin has nothing to do with you, but all to do with God who is producing righteousness in you. The moment you remain in the consciousness of God being the basis of your righteousness; then you will continue in righteousness. Those who fall don't do so suddenly, it happens because iniquity was found in them in the place of arrogance. We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence may not be of us but of God. Romans 7 from verse 13, it says:
“Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me”.
Now, if you read it down, from verse 21, it says:
“I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 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 will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin”.
So much said there and what that tells us is that there is a possibility for a man to have desire to please God and obeys the word of God. Be he cannot explain why he is always doing the bad things. So, while the law of God has the capacity to produce what is good, there was another law called the law of sin who is producing another thing known as evil. So he said “who will deliver me from this body of death? But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ”. Now, when we hear Jesus, what summarizes the personality of Jesus is grace. John 1:14 talks about how He is full or grace and truth, talking about Jesus. It says for law came through Moses, but grace came through Jesus Christ.
And what is that grace? Paul said I be sought the Lord three times that this thorn be taken away from my flesh, and God said “my grace, in the person of Jesus is sufficient for you”. This your rising and falling that happens every week, Jesus is the solution. If you receive the grace of God into your life, since you are humble and submissive to God, then you have access to the grace of God. Jesus comes in to replace every weakness in your life with His strength so that in the areas where you used to be weak, you will be experiencing the strength of God. The Bible says if you faint in the days of adversity, it is because your strength is little.
Don't say adversity and temptation is too much. Jesus was tempted by the devil, yet, He did not sin. Matthew 4:8 and 11, devil came to tempt Jesus with bread, at a time he told Him to bow before him. Jesus was tempted by the devil. God did not excuse Jesus from the activities of Satan. How close or how far was Jesus from Satan we don't know, but Satan came when He was hungry and told Him what to do. What you do when Satan comes to tempt you would be determined by how much you have grown.
There is so much God has for us, our growth gives us access to them. If you don't have access to it yet, it does not mean that it is not available. Don't begin to say the Bible is a lie; you may just be the only reason. You are the reason why you haven' seen the Bible manifest in your life. What God has said He will do, he will do. It is possible to be perfect, but you can never be perfect in the flesh outside of Christ Jesus. For the strength of God (Christ Jesus) is made perfect in your weakness. And I pray that God will help us in Jesus' name!
Amen!
