The Flesh and the Spirit
Galatians 5 : 17
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
What I am about to share is going to hit every one of us if we will only admit it and confess it. Some of you might be thinking there are some things spiritually that you would like to do better. You might want to have a better prayer life. You might want to have a more fruitful personal Bible study. You might want to be a better witness or a better soul-winner, but you just cannot do the spiritual things you want. There seems to be a civil war going on in your soul. Have you been there?
IN Galatians, Paul tells us why we face those struggles. It is caused by the flesh warring against the Spirit and the Spirit warring against the flesh. TO understand what Paul is saying, you must understand what the flesh is.
The flesh is not your skin. The flesh is a principle. It is those things we inherited in the old nature from Adam. All the things of the flesh are of Adam, and all the things we have in Christ are of the Spirit. Paul says the two are at war. They are always feuding. We are going to look at the battle between the flesh and the spirit by looking at the Old Testament.
II. MOSES AND AMALEK
A. Who is Amalek?
Genesis 36 : 12
12 Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.
Amalek was Esau’s grandson. Do you remember what God said about Esau?
Malachi 1:2-4
2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; 3 but Esau I have hated and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness.” 4 Even though Edom has said, “We have been impoverished, But we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; they shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, and the people against whom the Lord will have indignation forever.
Esau in the Bible represents the flesh, those things which are against God or interfere with serving God. God and children of God are in a state of perpetual warfare against the flesh. It is a war that every Christian on this planet is to fight. We are to fight against the flesh.
The children of Israel, the children of God, are passing through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, and as they are doing so, they meet the wicked King Amalek, the grandson of Esau, who tells the descendants of Israel they can go no further. Amalek was not going to let them get to the Promised Land.
The Promised Land stands for fullness in Christ; the Promised Land is not Heaven. The Promised Land represents the victorious life that we should have through Jesus Christ by letting the indwelling Holy Spirit control body and soul. The flesh, represented by Amalek, Esau’s grandson, is trying to prevent God’s children from claiming their victory.
Look back at Galatians 5:17.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another
Exodus 17 : 8 – 15 8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner;
God said I am going to wipe Amalek completely out of my memory. God had said he hated Esau and there would be perpetual warfare. Dear friend, God hates the flesh, and the warfare between the flesh and spirit will go until the Lord returns.
John 3 : 6 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Dear friend, the war is going on within you. Why do you think you do not witness? Why do you think you do not pray? Why do you think you do not study? Because you and I let the flesh win sometimes instead of letting the Holy Spirit be within us who He is. The flesh is keeping you from victory.
B. As did Moses defeat Amalek, so can you defeat the flesh.
It is actually a funny way to fight a battle. Moses goes on top of a mountain, and he has in his hands the rod of God. It is a shepherd’s staff, and down in the valley, Joshua is fighting with Amalek and on the mountaintop is Moses, and when Moses holds up the rod of God, Israel prevails, but when he grows tired and his arms drop, Amalek prevails.
The battle was not being won in the valley; it was being won on the mountaintop. It was a spiritual battle and not a physical battle. Why is that important to you? If you are going to be victorious in your war against the flesh, it will be a God-given victory. You cannot fight flesh with flesh. Your intentions might be good, but you can never prevail until you let the Holy Spirit control you, when you let God be God in you. AMEN!!!!!
1. What is the significance of the rod?
If you remember, Moses had been in the wilderness for 40 years after being kicked out of Egypt for killing the Egyptian. Killing the Egyptian was Moses’s attempt to serve God in the flesh. Moses had gotten his degree from the schools of Pharaoh. He was educated. He got his BS, Be Something, degree from Pyramid State University.
He then got his BN, Be Nothing, degree in the desert. After he got his BN, God was ready to deal with him, so God met Moses in the desert. Moses is drawn to a burning bush (Exodus 3), and Moses has his rod, his staff with him.
God tells Moses what He wants Moses to do, and in Exodus 4 Moses responds with some doubt, and God says,” Moses what is that in your hand?” Now, God knew full well that it was MOSES’S rod or staff. God wanted Moses to own it, and Moses does as he says, “God, this is my ole trusty staff. I picked this thing up off the ground, Lord, and I whittled it and polished it, and Lord, it has seen me through thick and thin. It has been what I have trusted for 40 years. I have killed snakes, scorpions, and wild beasts with it. Lord, I trust it. Lord, it is like a good friend to me. My staff has never let me down.”
Do you see the principle of the flesh in play? DO we not say the same thing? We try to hold onto as much of the flesh as we can because we, like Moses, like to do things our way. AMEN!!!!
God says, “Moses, throw it on the ground! Get rid of it.”
“Why God? It has not done anything bad. It has been a good staff. It has served me well. Why do I need to throw it down?” How many of us have said the very same thing when it comes to things in our life that prevent us from winning the victory God wants us to win. God will not let you win the victory in the flesh.
“Do not argue with me, Moses! Throw it down!”
Moses throws it down, and it becomes a writhing, wiggling snake. It starts slithering its way toward Moses, and God tells Moses to pick it up.
“God, did you say pick it up? Is that what you said God? My hearing is not what it used to be.”
“Pick it up by the tail, Moses.”
“By the tail God? If I pick it up by the tail, Lord, that leaves the business end loose.”
“Pick it up Moses by the tail!”
“If you say so Lord.”
And I want you to know Moses was speaking from the heart because his heart was in his throat. Can you imagine picking up a cobra by the tail? Moses picked it up, and it became a staff again, but it is no longer Moses’ staff; it is now the rod of God. What is the lesson? How does that help you defeat the flesh?
You see that rod had a snake in it that Moses did not see, and the snake was not taken out of it until Moses handed it to God. Could you have something in your hand that is keeping you from victory?
Your intelligence? Your personality? Your talents and abilities? Your teaching ability? Your musical ability? Your bank account? Your career? Do you have something in your hand that you cherish? God is telling you to throw it down.
“Why God? It is nice, and it is not hurting anyone.” “Throw it down! It has a snake in it.”
Dear friend, all of your abilities, talents, intellect, pride, and everything you have has a snake in it, and until you can throw it down at the feet of Jesus, God can never use it. God has a perpetual warfare against the flesh, and we must throw it down if we want victory. God does not want us to serve him in the flesh. God does not want us to serve Him with our old nature; He wants us to serve Him supernaturally through the Holy Spirit, but we cannot until the snake is removed.
It was the Rod of God on the mountaintop that assured Joshua the victory in the valley. Dear friend, if we only understood that victory over the flesh is a spiritual victory. Most of us try to defeat the flesh with the flesh, and dear friend, can I be honest? That’s how a “little” sin becomes a great problem. Sin becomes a great problem because we try to handle it in the flesh instead of throwing it down. God said THROW IT DOWN MOSES! God is telling you to THROW IT DOWN!
We cannot be good in the flesh. We just cannot do it. TO be good, we must let the Spirit control our soul. We must let God be God in us.
Galatians 5 : 16 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Dear friend, I am here to tell you that you can beat the flesh if you walk in the Spirit. If you and I would only allow God to be God in us, and let Him control our body and soul, we can beat the flesh, the old nature. We cannot fight flesh with flesh. It was not the rod of Moses that defeated Amalek; it was the Rod of God.
Will you do that?