My Worst Enemy and My Best Friend
By Nick Bibile
My worst enemy is sin. Most times sin does not look ugly, wicked and devilish but looks very beautiful, looks innocent and very pleasurable to the flesh. Sin comes to me not as my worst enemy but as a friend to give happiness, excitement and great pleasure to my flesh. The worst thing is this world has not exposed sin as a danger to our souls but daily promotes it as your friend. Even majority of the churches today will not expose the truth of sin as they may lose its members. Sin is compromised.
Oh! How we thank God for his truth in the word of God. There is power in God’s word God said in his word let there be light and there was light. By his spoken word, the earth and all the inhabitants were created. I was lost in sin, in darkness. I was under bondage to sin, chained like a slave to sin, sin ruled my life, but for me I did not know sin, it was just pleasure enjoyment and what ever that I would like to do was ok with me. I was without the Lord and without a Savior. I trusted in my own religion, my own good works. I was not aware that I was speeding towards hell, to the lake of fire.
It was the same spoken word of God in the Bible, which opened my heart. I was alive for sin but spiritually dead, oh yes I was religious in my flesh, I thought this was very spiritual, but that was an external spiritual religion that I had but inwardly I was dead spiritually. Then one day there was a spiritual birth.
Lu 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Christ came into this world to save sinners. I was a sinner, a chief of sinners, and the worst hypocrite; oh, how I praise Christ birth to this world as heaven came to earth.
God in his mercy sent his own Son to be the Savior for our sins. Jesus was born to die; he was born to take our sins upon him. He took the punishment for our sins and he imputed his righteousness to us. He never forgot his Covenant with Abraham, now we are called the children of God. He is my best friend as he took my place on the cross.
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Christ showed me through his word my previous best friend; the sin in this flesh was truly an enemy and my worst enemy. Oh, how I was deceived for so many years thinking this was a true friend but turned out to be the worst enemy.
As a Christian we are not perfect, still we are living in a fallen world and our flesh is still sinful. There is a war going on daily between my flesh and the spirit. The desires of the spirit is to grow in the Lord, to read study his word, to pray, to witness and to love the Lord with all my heart, soul and strength. However, these desires are against the Flesh. On the other hand the flesh entices me to enjoy the pleasures of this world, tempts me to sin. Temptations are all around me. The more I want to be like Christ the more I want to server God the more temptations come my way. This shows there is nothing good dwell in my flesh; it is evil to the core. If I fall into sin, it is not that I do but sin in my flesh that dwells in me. The flesh is an enemy that dwells within me. When we do sin, we feel so sorrowful and are exceedingly angry with this flesh. We say like apostle Paul, “Wretched man I am! Who will deliver from this body of death?”
The answer is, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” He conquered death and the sins of this flesh was crucified to the cross and on his resurrection it was the same Jesus but he did not have the flesh of this world but a heavenly body. This flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, this flesh need to die for good, it should perish for good but praise God one day the this perishable body in the grave will put on imperishable as we will raise with a heavenly body. The sting of death is sin but that sin was put to death on the cross by our beloved Savior.
Are you fighting with the enemy daily? Is there a war going on within you, the spirit and the flesh? Do not be discouraged fight on as God is with you, he is on your side, if he is on your side who can be against you. He that is in us is greater than he who is in the world.
Now if we do sin, there is great hurt in our soul. There is exceeding pain in our soul as we have sinned against my best friend who gave his life for me. There is mourning and sorrow. If a true Christian continues in sin, there is an uneasiness, sorrow and mourning.
Like the tax collector who sinned against God, we beat our chest with hands. The sin hurts deeply into our bones. We realize we are wounded by the enemy and we are in the emergency room with great wounds. The Lord Jesus hears our true confessions and he is out spiritual doctor, he himself will heal our wounds. The enemy will attack us with condemnation but we have an advocate with the Father, he hears of our true confessions, as he is Christ the righteous One. He will defend us to the end. Now I understand the difference between the false friend who wants to destroy my soul and the true friend the Lord Jesus Christ, the preserver of my soul.
I praise God as the Bible has exposed sin and the Holy Spirit has come to convict the true believers of their sin and when they see the true colors of sin, we realize the danger of sin. We realize that God will not wink at sins but punish the sins. The punishment is going to be severe, dreadful in the fiery lake of fire.
But on the other hand the god of this age has blinded the unbelievers as sin become their pleasurable friend. They believe there is no punishment or they can escape punishment by their good works. They are very secure as they live comfortably in this world with all the comforts. They live a cheerful, pleasurable life and many times a careless life, there is no fear of God, openly and secretly they practice sin.
Let me give you some warnings of sin. Sin always comes as a friend to the flesh. It is outwardly pleases the flesh, gives satisfaction to the flesh but inwardly it is like a secret disease, like a cancer inside of your body, it will make you spiritually weak, it is a danger for your spiritual growth. Sin will grieve the Holy Spirit. Sin will prevent God’s grace to flourish in you. Sin is a great obstacle, as it cannot fellowship with your Lord and Savior. Sin is an open door for Satan. It is a way for the enemy to get in. If you say you do not have a sweet communion with God, it is because God wants to hide his face from you because of your sins. If you say you do not have a thirst for God, it is because you have other gods who are in priority than the Lord Jesus; your thirst is for them. It could be your children, car, home, job, wealth, drugs, alcohol, worldly movies, pornography or anything you love more than the Lord Jesus.
If you are a friend of the world and of sin then God becomes your enemy, oh my friend what a danger to have God as your enemy. Pleasure seekers for the sake of the flesh, you will enjoy now but God’s wrath is getting heavier upon you and anytime it can fall on your head.
Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Jesus said, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” Joh 15:14
Yes, the commandment is believe in the Lord and live in the Lord what you believe. True friendship is based on faithfulness, trust and obedience. If you love your husband or wife but have another woman or a man you do not really love your spouse, it is only in words but not in action. Those who makes a profession of friendship and do not do what he commands are his worst enemies.
An officer told his soldiers at war, they are your enemy, kill them or they will kill you. Do not give enemy the time, do not have treaties with the enemy, do not compromise with the enemy, he is very clever, subtle, deceiving and tempting. Kill the sin not with sorrow like Lot’s wife but with gladness like Joseph who fled from Potipher’s wife. Although he was put in prison, he was glad that he ran away from sin.
Soldiers in the field always keep a watch on the enemy, as the enemy will come when you are not ready. Jesus said, watch and pray, pray that you will not fall into the trap of the enemy, pray for inner strength to fight the battle. Prayer is the watchword. Pray continuously, in public and in your spirit.
Enjoy the sweetness of his grace then walk closely with him, live closer to the cross, oh what a friend we have in Jesus!