A worried brother recently wrote me and poured out his rapture fear. Egbon, do you think I can make heaven? He began. He launched into a long psycho-social and spiritual narratives of his Christian life in a way that moved me to tears. He was brought up by Christ-loving parents who lived, to their utmost abilities, the Christian life. This brother was taken to church on Sundays. He had baptism. Later he joined the choir group and became well-loved for his distinct voice. It is written in Proverbs 18: 16 that, “a man’s gift will make room for him and brings him before great men.” This brother was once the lead choir at the weeding of the governor of his state.
Line by line he evocatively recounted his Christian journey and his love for Christ. He has devoured the Holy Bible six times and fast regularly. He regularly gives offering and pays his tithes. But there is an immovable mountain that has been challenging his faith in his adult life. He does not live on the fast lane but he is about to be consumed by the desires that line the fast lane.
Simply put, our brethren has a problem with LUST. He is of average height, rosy cheeked, smart in appearance and averagely good looking. He loves the sight of women. He has cried to God like Paul to remove his affliction but the answer seems to be like Paul’s: carry on, my strength is made perfect in your weakness. He has made several spiritual mappings to determine where the demon of lust comes from, but all to no avail. He keeps pushing the boundary of prayer and even goes on regular and arduous Nighttime Unified Warfare Intercession (NUWI) prayer. The more he prayed, the more he could not resist women.
That aside. This is one brother among many brethren out there battling with one demonic weakness after the other. What is your own mountain? What is the lion sitting in the den for you? What is your Pharaoh? What is your red sea? What is the bulldozer menacingly lifting its sharp fork against you? Who is the Jezebel chasing you to the cave like Elijah? Who is the Haman standing between you and the freedom to enjoy the Christian life to the full as promised by Christ?
Why would a spirit-filled Christian be tormented by the power of earthly weaknesses? Why would a Christian be ravaged by lust, adultery, fornication, telling lies, stealing, cheating, gossip, hatred, unforgiveness, lack of self-control, wrath, dissension, laziness, jealousy, envy, desire for revenge and to even kill? The answer to this is hidden in John 16:33. When Jesus looked at the parlous state of humanity, he had to discharge a truth that has stood the test of time. “These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
This means that the true badge of honour for any practicing Christian must be a constant challenge and harassment from the demonic kingdom to test the purity of our faith. That is why Christians are variously called, warriors, army and soldiers. We have to chin up on a daily basis and wear our armour as a ready guard against the rain of fierce dart from the invisible enemy of our soul. The enemy might be in form of the work of the flesh as calibrated in Galatians 5:19-21.
The enemy may be the friend who dip his hand in the same pot of soup with you. The enemy may the woman who lay on your bosom and who you called wife or husband. The enemy may be your parents, brothers, sisters, uncles and nephews. The enemy may even be your very own trusted pastor. The enemy may be drunkenness. The enemy may be lust like the brother who wrote to me. So in a situation like the brother who have tried all spiritual exercises without success, what do you do? Where do we hide? Where do we run to? What are the principles of overcoming stubborn challenges?
If a Christian is overcome with lust what can he do? Lust is a sin. Yes, the obvious answer would be to take it to God in prayer? Remember that our brethren has prayed but the lust still persists. Why? The question is this: what is the purpose of prayer if a Christian will not live a righteous and holy life? The seed of our problem with most spiritual mountains that stand in our way is our wilful neglect of righteous and holy living. In a world of thousand distractions, the successful Christians will be the A-listers who have separated themselves from the temptations around them.
Simple and direct as the solution is, it is the hardest virtue among millennial Christians. They simply refuse to live the righteous and holy life. They simply refuse to separate themselves from all the materialism around them.
For us to overcome the sins of the flesh, grace is not enough. Mercy is not enough. Prayer is not enough. Fasting is not enough. Meditation is not enough. The righteous Christian will always win. The holy living Christian will always triumph. The mix has to be right. God cannot be mocked by our Christian exercises that remove the main ingredient: holy and righteous living. Above all, there is a promise that states that, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” This promise in Hebrew 4:15 should be a sure fastener for any Christian who is ready to separate from the world, live righteously and holy at all times.
The victorious Christian can at last say like Jesus Christ in John 14:30 that the devil has sift me and “has nothing in me.” Not tomorrow. Today is the day you have to decide to live righteously and in total holiness to the Father. Happy Sunday. Stay righteous.
. Deacon Oladeji writes from ridet@hotmail.co.uk.
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