Our Greatest Enemy

The Apostle Paul called the place within us where evil dwells the flesh. Charles Haddon Spurgeon referred to it as the heart. I tend to go along with the Apostle Paul. God inspired him to pen a large portion of the Bible and he merely inspired Mr. Spurgeon to write some of the greatest devotionals in the history of Christianity. According to the Bible God purifies our hearts when we trust Christ but he won*t purify our flesh until he takes us to glory. Mr. Spurgeon may not have used the right terminology but he certainly nailed it when he said there was an enemy within.

Romans 7:18: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Acts 15:8-9: And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them (the Gentiles) witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; (the Jews) 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44: So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Spurgeon Devotional on Jeremiah 17:9-10: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

A garrison is not free from danger while it hath an enemy lodged within. You may bolt all your doors, and fasten all your windows, but if the thieves have placed even a little child within doors, who can draw the bolts for them, the house is still unprotected. All the sea outside a ship cannot do it damage till the water enters within and fills the hold. Hence, it is clear, our greatest danger is from within. All the devils in hell and tempters on earth could do us no injury if there were no corruption in our nature. The sparks will fall harmlessly if there is no tinder. Alas, our heart is our greatest enemy; this is the little home-born thief.

Care to discuss Our Greatest Enemy with Ron?

He'd also like to hear your prayer requests