Imagine if you will, a young high school graduate decides to enlist and join the Army, wanting to serve his country while also reaping some of the benefits that come with such an experience, including getting some college education paid for. So off to basic training he goes and passes. Six months later, he finds out he’s being deployed overseas because of some recent attacks on US interest and will most likely be called upon to take part some military action, as in ‘warfare’.

What might be the reaction of his CO (commanding officer) if this young soldier goes to him and informs him that he’s ‘really not up to fighting’ in a military conflict right. now…because it just is not a convenient time for him to be involved with such activity. He’s not really ‘in to guns’ and besides, he recently got engaged and has a wedding to help plan, so going off to war right now could not come at a worse time for him.

You have to wonder if this is the mentality of many professing ‘believers’ today who attend church regularly, and love all the ‘perks’ that come with being a part of such a close-knit community of other believers. You know what I’m talking about – they love the Sunday potlucks and monthly ‘singings’ the church has; and they are always the first ones to sign up for a good community project that will be a display of their ‘Christian charity’. They might even be a faithful tither/giver with their finances and have actually gone on a summer ‘mission trip’ to go help construct a new church building in a third-world country.

But when it comes to ‘spiritual warfare’, that calls for followers of Jesus to ‘take up their armor’ and to ‘fight the good fight of faith’ as they overcome sin while ‘resisting the enemy (devil)’…meh…not really their ‘thing’. (Eph. 6:10-18; James 4:7; 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 2:3-4; 2 Cor. 10:3-5). And then we wonder why God’s children suffer so (Hosea 4:6).

I fear there is a lot of ‘small print’ we fail to make known to new converts when we are recruiting new church members… promising them how ‘God has a wonderful plan for their life’, but then failing to inform them of the ‘cost’ involved and the call to ‘take up one’s cross’ if they intend to follow Jesus (Luke 14:25-33). It almost makes you wonder what those folks in Matt. 7:21-23 were told….the ones who were busy out doing ‘great things’ for the kingdom of God, only to be rejected in the end… being told they continued to practice sin. (Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5-6; 1 Cor. 6:9-11)

Now, about that ‘after care treatment’ I mentioned at the close of yesterday’s lesson, and what might be expected following the removal of a ‘spiritual tick’, which we used as an illustration to represent a ‘besetting sin’ in your life (Heb. 12:1)….let’s talk about that.

We were exploring the possibilities that the reason some ‘sins’ are more of a challenge to overcome in many people’s lives was due in fact that the root of their struggle was not so much faulty genes/DNA or bad body chemistry, rather it was ‘spiritual’ in nature. In other words, people can literally have a ‘spirit of rage’ or a ‘critical spirit’ or ‘demon of lust’ that actually inhabits and control and torment them; and yes…even those who might sing in a church choir or teach a Sunday School class.(Eph. 2:1-3; 1 John 5:19; 2 Tim. 2:24-26)

There are reasons as to how and why those ‘spirits’ got there…which we can touch on later; but for now, we are focused on how we manage after we have truly come to Jesus and prayed for the freedom He promised us (John 8:32-36; Luke 4:18). When true repentance takes place, especially for a particular sin or area of struggle one might be having, there is a supernatural and spiritual cleansing that takes place in that moment, where the blood of Jesus is ‘applied’ to that particular area in one’s heart, and that ‘spirit’ who has been working ‘in’ that afflicted person…has to go, as in leave and vacate the premises. It has no option. This is the promise and power that comes by faith, which we know lies in the blood of God’s atoning sacrifice when Jesus die for us all on the cross. (1 John 1:7).

But it is after this newly received ‘freedom’ that this ‘former captive’ has experienced…that another ‘battle’ looms on the horizon. And there is absolutely no reason to fear nor be anxious over what lies ahead. God’s word even tells us to expect it (John 16:33; Acts 14:22). So let’s talk about what that looks like.

Jesus shared a very short lesson in Matt. 12:43-45, describing what happens when an ‘unclean spirit goes out of a man’. You might take a quick read of that now. I truly believe that there have been on multiple occasions, where desperate prayers of sincere believers have seemingly gone unanswered, especially when it comes to overcoming reoccurring sin issues in people’s lives. And here’s why I believe that. God wants nothing more than for His people to walk in freedom…from ALL sin. But He wants them to remain free! The problem is due to poor or faulty teaching in many churches today. Why would God want to ‘remove’ a source of sin in your life, if you have failed to understand why you have it to begin with, and even more importantly…what action we are to take when that ‘spirit’ comes back and attempts to ‘re-enter’. Because that is exactly what happens to this man in this lesson Jesus shared, and in the end, what was his condition, and why? Please let this sink in and don’t rush through this.

Were you aware that after God does a work of healing, or ‘repair’ in a particular area in your life, that He is going to do what any good physician or car mechanic would do after repairing something- they are going to ‘test it’. Yes… God does indeed ‘test our hearts’ (Deut. 8:2; 1 Thess. 2:4). Do you know who God ‘allows’ …to test us? Who tested Jesus in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-2). And after Jesus passed that test…was He done having to contend with this ‘devil’? Nope! (vs. 13). Why do you suppose so much is included in scripture admonishing us to be ‘alert and sober minded’…due to this ‘enemy on the prowl, as Peter describes in 1 Pet. 5:8? Or what about Paul’s admonition to ‘give no place to the devil’ (Eph. 4:27) …”lest he take advantage of us since we are not ignorant of his schemes’ (2 Cor. 2:11). And is it really that important to ‘take into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ’…as we ‘resists the devil’? (2 Cor. 10:5; James 4:7).

Welcome to the ‘conflict’….or the ‘spiritual war’ you signed up for (Eph. 6:12). Meet me back here tomorrow?