Membley Baptist Church | Enemies of the Soul by Pst. Josephat Karanja – 6th February 2022
Our sermons this month comes from the teachings from the ENEMIES OF THE SOUL.
Who/what is the enemy and why the soul?
The enemies of the soul are our emotions that drive our actions. Could be anger, bitterness, fear, etc.
The enemy- actively opposes progress. The enemy attacks unexpectedly. The attack is on the soul.
Soul- inner being of a man; it encompasses the intellect, emotion and will.
In Genesis 2: 7, God created a whole person and put in him His Spirit.
Your body is the house of the soul. God wants us to keep the soul Holy (1 Thes 2: 23).
The enemy attacks the soul. We must protect it. Protect the spirit and body of man.
There are two spheres of war:
- Physical war- Flesh and sinful desires
- Spiritual war- Good and evil
The fight of flesh and spirit is continous.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want (Galatians 5:16-17 NIV)
The soul is influenced by whatever comes into it. Guard it.
In Proverbs 20: 27 the human spirit is the lamp of God. It tunes to the things of God. It is a receiver of God’s will. The soul thus aligns with God.
Guard your soul that it be not defiled.
BITTERNESS
Bitterness is an emotional response. It is a resentful response to a disturbance. Bitterness is reflected in words or actions.
Bitterness can be intentional or unintentional
In this life, we have to face hurts/pain/discouragement! Beauty is that God has given us what it takes to deal with it.
We can be able to control what we do and say. We are made in image of God. The character of God is in us.
– We have self control to overcome bitterness.
Will our circumstances make us bitter or better?
Matthew 13: 24-30 is about the Parable of the Weeds.
It depicts aspects of the enemy’s attack and Christian maturity.
The farmer had planted good seed. The enemy secretly sowed weeds in a good crop.
– The enemy comes in secret/unexpected.
– Similarly, some people who have caused us pain have slipped away yet we are still bitter about them!
– Bitterness has no expiry date, you can carry it to the grave. You may not know you are angry.
– We need to be told or to come to our own realisation that we are bitter. The Holy spirit needs to convict us to deal with it.
The farmer started with a good foundation to withstand presence of the weeds.
– Can you withstand presence of hurts? Do you have good seed (foundation) to overcome difficulty?
– Who will deal with your hurts?
The weeds were separated at maturity by the specialists- harvesters
– Level of our maturity helps us to deal with situations.
Accordibg to Col 1: 9- 10, we need the knowledge of God’s will, gained from wisdom and understanding that God’s Spirit gives, to deal with bitterness.
The more you know God the easier you overcome matters of the world.
– Do you have a good seed/foundation to withstand pain?
– Are you at a place of maturity to deal with the pain?
Call on God to grow you. To keep your soul pure till the end to overcome bitterness.
Prayer:
Lord, let my spirit connect with your Spirit that my soul may be guarded. Give me knowledge and wisdom to overcome bitterness.
Amen