Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me,
He must deny himself, and take us His cross and follow Me’ -Mt.16:24
Self is the supreme stumbling block in the spiritual life. Self, arch-traitor to yourself, is your deadliest foe. Self, that wanton whore lying in the bosom of every man, seduces that true self within. Self, the household idol enshrined within every heart, has incense burned before it daily by 7 billion souls.
2 Cor.5:15: “He died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” Rom.14:7,8: “For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord.”
Satan, tempter though he be, roaming about as a roaring lion, is tame by comparison. For a genuine Christian, though not for a fake one, the devil is chained as he prowls about seeking someone to devour.
It was so with Job in Job 1:12: “Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all he has in your power, only do not lay a hand upon his person.’” Raging and ransacking, yes: but chained. Satan’s leash was short for Peter as well.
Lk.22:31,32: “Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you all like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.” No, this tempting adversary has his limits under the Almighty’s jurisdiction. And not Peter alone.
1 Cor.10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, so that you will be able to endure it.”
No, Satan is not our greatest threat. Jesus Christ, “He who was Begotten of God, keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him” -1 Jn.5:18. Our first mother, Eve, stretched out an accusing finger at the Slayer Serpent: “The serpent deceived me and I did eat!” –Gen.3:13. But the Sovereign Lord, not deceived, pointed out His own true accusation against Self, saying, “What is this that you have done?” –Gen.3:13.
We often attempt to do the same: to lay the blame for misdeeds upon others or upon the devil. But Self is our dire and desperate enemy, not Satan. To see your strongest foe, your combatant who is opposed to you every moment, gaze into the mirror.
There Self will match your stare unflinchingly. Self is the arena of your fiercest battle. Your most intense combat is waged here in the realm of your own soul. 2 Cor.10:5: “Speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” must be “destroyed and every thought taken captive to the obedience of Christ.”
Do you see it? Speculations, imaginations, false arguments, lofty arrogant presumption, wayward corrupt thoughts: these all proceed from within, not from without. Self is the source and they must be torn down, cast out, demolished, and slain.
Gal.5:24: “Those that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.” Dear Listener, this is warfare; this is mortal combat. Every godly soul must take up sides with God against this usurping tyrant Self and slay it within his own heart.
Col.3:5:“Put to death, therefore, the members of your earthly body: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.” Do not spare in this conflict. Rom.13:14: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.”
The mystery of godliness is contained in this: We live to die and die to live. Mt.16:25: “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Self must be slain. You alone can do that. In the sovereign citadel of this thing called your heart, will be discovered either Self enshrined or the Saving Christ of God. You hold the key; you must choose.
And in this conflict, you are neither the victim of Satan’s assaults, nor will the Lord Jesus beat down the door of your heart. It is one of the most fearful of all realities that Self can resist and refuse even the Almighty. Stop and ponder that.
In the spiritual life, nothing is by force and nothing is automatic. Each person must choose to engage by the power of Christ to slay what is against God within his own heart. No one will do that or can do that for you. Jesus will enable, but He will not compel you.
Rom.8:13: “If you are living according to the flesh, you are certainly going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Life springs forth from death. Jn.12:24: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Death to Self alone will spring forth into a life of fruitfulness. Relying upon Self is destructive to all spiritual progress. It demotes and ignores the God of glory while promoting and advertising the corruption of man. That is boasting in our shame which will lead to everlasting ruin.
All things considered, we have nothing but one thing to boast of. We may boast in the cross alone; God forbid that we should boast in anything else. Gal.6:14: “May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Dear Listener, God has put to death by a final violent act all that you are in your self-centered flesh. Crucified: now there is something to boast in. Self is the arch-enemy to yourself, to God, and to man: and it has been executed. This is cause for rejoicing.
Crosses do not sanctify self-esteem. By the cross, rather, Self is exterminated. This flesh, which profits nothing [Jn.6:63] and in which dwells no good thing [Rom.7:18], is condemned. We may boast in it no longer [Gal.6:13].
God’s sentence on all our attainment and presumed worth is to crucify it. There is nothing else that justly could be done. All the refined, learned, and self-satisfied among men recoil in revulsion at such a notion. Self, their own flesh, has deceived them.
While reclining on plush sofas, mounting pulpits, or parading in the sanctuary, the infection of self-esteem thrives. The cross quickly exterminates this deadly disease of Self-worth. But religious men revolt at the idea.
Few wish to taste it, to die to Self-will with all of our cherished desires. To hang there on a cross with all pomp and pretension stripped does not flatter the flesh. But neither is there any other remedy for what we are.
From death sprouts life. From life flows fruit. From Self comes flesh. From flesh is death. Either from death to Self unto life in Christ, or life in Self to unending death in the lake of fire: This is the choice. Either way we must die; better to die to Self than for Self to slay you.
Paul said in Phil.1:21: “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” But dying is only gain if living is only Christ. Self must be slain or Self will slay you. Which will it be? You alone can choose.
Copyright Steve Phillips 2020