Seeing that our Flesh is an Enemy of God’s Authority and is in Rebellion against God

With Amalek there is a hand against the throne of the Lord; the flesh is an enemy of God’s authority, trying to overthrow the throne of God, and is versus the kingship, so the flesh needs to be thoroughly dealt with before the kingdom of God can come in. Wow!

In each one of us, there is something called, the flesh, which is not just the fallen body but even more, the totality of our fallen being, everything that comes out of our old man.

Through regeneration, we have received the life of God and now we have a new man – the regenerated being, which is one with the Lord.

However, by default, we live in the old man and we do this and that, we express ourselves, we do good and bad things, and we just live in the flesh.

As believers in Christ, we need to realize that the old man has been crucified with Christ – he was put on the cross and he died with Christ (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20).

However, the flesh is still here as the living out of the old man; we need to allow the Lord to expose the flesh with all of its activities and initiatives, and we need to cooperate with Him to deal with the flesh in a thorough way.

In 1 Sam. 15 the flesh is typified by Saul who, though he had a great victory in his conquest over the Amalekites, he disobeyed God and compromised by saving the best of the Amalekites cattle, oxen, etc.

In ourselves, we treasure the good parts of our flesh, for we think that we want what is good and not what is not good.

However, God hates both the good and the evil aspects of the flesh, for the enemy of God in this universe in a practical way is the flesh.

Yes, it is Satan who is God’s enemy, but Satan hides behind and even is embodied in the flesh.

For example, when Peter expressed his good flesh, his care and concern for the Lord, and said that the Lord shouldn’t go to die, this was Satan expressing himself through Peter.

If you think about it, Peter was just being “human” and cared for the Lord in his heart, but Satan took this opportunity and expressed himself through Peter. Oh, Lord!

The Lord turned to Peter and said, Get behind Me, Satan; He didn’t say, Get behind Me, Peter, but He called Satan out.

In the church life we don’t call one another out in this way, but we allow the Lord’s light to shine in our fellowship and coordination to expose our flesh.

The more we fellowship with the Lord and with the saints, the more we coordinate with the saints the Lord put us with for His move, the more the Lord has a way to expose the flesh in all its aspects, and the more we can cooperate with Him to deal with the flesh in a thorough way.

The Flesh is the First among our Enemies, and God Hates the Flesh and wants to Destroy it!

God loves man, and His heart is full of love toward all men; however, He hates the flesh, for the flesh is the practical enemy of God.

The flesh is the first among our enemies, taking the lead over sin, the world, and Satan to fight against us (Rom. 8:3).

As soon as we want to do something good or do something for the Lord, the flesh rises up to hinder us and frustrate us.

When we want to go to the meeting, the flesh rises up to make us feel tired, empty, and sad, and many times we may not even turn on the zoom meeting because the flesh is so strong.

We may not have the appetite to spend ten minutes with the Lord in His word because it is so late at night, but the flesh delights to watch something online for many hours even in the early hours of the morning.

The flesh is our enemy, even the first among our enemies; the flesh takes the lead to fight against us.

The flesh, sin, the world, and Satan are all related to one another; they are interwoven.

The most prominent among them in fighting against us, the believers in Christ, is the flesh.

It’s almost as if Satan, sin, and the world are all subordinate to the flesh.

If we cooperate with the Lord in our daily Christian experience to put the flesh to death, the world cannot hold us, sin cannot operate in us, and Satan is powerless to work upon us.

But if we don’t deal with the flesh in a thorough way, if we still make compromises and indulge in the flesh, the world is prevailing, sin is strong, and Satan is active, for we are still in the flesh.

The flesh is our foremost enemy, and when we deal with the flesh in a thorough way, Satan, sin, and the world lose their power on us.

Because the flesh is our enemy and God’s enemy, God hates the flesh in the same way that He hates Satan; God wants to destroy the flesh in the same manner that He wants to destroy Satan (Exo. 17:16; Deut. 25:17-19; 1 Sam. 15:2-3).

Though the old man was crucified by Christ on the cross, the flesh is still so active and living. In our daily life as believers in Christ, the flesh has to be crucified by us.

Satan’s destiny is to be destroyed; he will be thrown into the lake of fire, and so will our flesh.

In Exo. 17:16 we see that Jehovah declares He will have war with the Amalekites from generation to generation; in v. 14 He told Moses to write it down as a memorial and recite it to Joshua.

God wants to utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven, and He wants this to be a memorial; He does not even want to hear the name of the flesh – even the memory of the flesh has to be blotted out.

In Deut. 25:19, as Moses was reviewing the law with the children of Israel, he mentioned again that God’s people need to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

God even says, do not forget! God hates the flesh so much that He wants to destroy it even as He wants to destroy Satan.

God loves man, the human being, but He hates the flesh and will eventually destroy it.

May we allow Him to shine on us in this matter and infuse into us the feeling He has toward the flesh so that we may cooperate with Him in dealing with the flesh.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to pursue You to enjoy You and experience You for the building up of the church. Shine on us, Lord, and keep us under Your divine light. Cause us to see how much the flesh takes the lead to fight against us. We want to be one with You in dealing with the flesh in a thorough way so that the world cannot hold us, sin cannot operate in us, and Satan is powerless to work upon us. Save us from living in the flesh today. Keep us turning to our spirit, contacting You, and loving You. May we be persons in spirit and not persons in the flesh.

Our Flesh is an Enemy of God’s Authority and is in Rebellion against His Governmental Administration

Exo. 17:16, in speaking concerning Amalek, says, For there is a hand against the throne of Jah! Jehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Wow.

With Amalek there is a hand against the throne of the Lord; with the flesh, there is a hand against the throne of God.

Amalek didn’t just attack Israel, and that’s it; this was not just a little offense, just a little wrongdoing, but with Amalek, there was a hand against the throne of Jehovah.

Amalek tried to overthrow God’s throne, just as Satan once tried to do (Exo. 17:8, 16).

Like Satan himself, the flesh is against God’s authority – the flesh is an enemy of God’s authority (Isa. 14:12-14).

In Isa. 14 we see a description of the bright cherub who rebelled against God, five times he said, I will: I will ascend to the heavens; I will sit on my throne; I will ascend above the height; I will sit among the assembly; I will make myself like the Most High.

This is Satan, and this is the flesh also; the flesh is an enemy against God’s authority.

The flesh is in rebellion against God and against His throne; whatever God does governmentally, the flesh opposes it.

May the Lord have mercy on us and unveil us to see that our flesh is an enemy of God’s authority and is in rebellion against God’s governmental administration.

The flesh is most ugly because it is against the throne of God, the administration of God, and the plan of God (Rev. 4:2; 5:6; Eph. 3:11).

Every aspect of our flesh – whether it is good or evil – is an enemy of God’s authority.

When we live in the flesh, no matter what we do, we are rebellious against God and His throne, and we are an enemy of God’s throne.

Whatever is of the flesh is against God’s throne; it will be used by Satan, the subtle one, the enemy of God, to hinder God’s purpose (2 Cor. 2:11).

When we speak of the flesh, we are referring not only to all the ugly things such as the lusts of the flesh, the passions, the sins, the corruption, the rottenness, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, sorcery, divisions, sects, envying, and things like these (Gal. 5:19-21).

The flesh also includes the good part with things such as our humility, our kindness, our righteousness, our love, and our patience.

This is why Paul was so strong in the New Testament regarding the flesh and its efforts to keep the law, for promoting the keeping of the law actually promotes the flesh.

The Judaizers wanted to be perfected by the flesh to keep the law, but we need to be perfected by the Spirit; the flesh needs to be repudiated.

The flesh is an enemy to God’s throne, and anything that comes out of the flesh is in rebellion against God.

In 2 Cor. 2:11 Paul didn’t just forgive a brother but was one with the Lord, even in the person of the Lord, to forgive him.

May we not be ignorant of Satan’s devices and schemes; even in the exercise of our so-called Christian virtues, there may be something of the flesh lying there, hidden there.

In the matter of forgiving or not forgiving, if we are not in the person of Christ and are not before His face, Satan may take advantage of us and the flesh may be expressed.

Satan is working out the base of the flesh to express himself even in the living out of our virtues.

Whenever we live in the flesh, we regard ourselves as individuals who are not obligated to submit to God’s throne; we think we have a position and right of our own.

Satan is the source of such an attitude, and he is one with our flesh. Satan never comes to us directly but he comes through others or through things around us.

He came to Even as a serpent, and he was expressed through Peter’s good opinion.

Many times our flesh serves as a cloak for Satan; when we exercise our flesh, Satan is hidden within us.

The flesh is an enemy of God’s throne, and the flesh is versus kingship, for where there is the flesh, there cannot be the kingdom of God.

We must therefore thoroughly deal with the flesh before the kingdom of God can come.

May we bring all these matters to the Lord and pray over God’s word which exposes our flesh, and may we be deeply impressed by the significance of the flesh and how much God hates the flesh.

May we be before the Lord and converse with Him moment-by-moment to tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we love You and we open our whole being to You. May there be no rebellion in us. Expose the rebellion in our flesh and have a way to deal with it – we just want to cooperate with You! Save us from living in the flesh or expressing the flesh; save us from being an enemy of God’s throne! Oh Lord, may Your light shine not only on the ugly aspects of the flesh but also on the flesh being expressed in our humility, kindness, and goodness. Save us from the flesh in all of its expressions and forms. May we not be ignorant of Satan and his scheme. May we see what the flesh is and may we turn to our spirit again and again! Amen, Lord, make us persons who live in spirit and walk according to the spirit!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother James Lee, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus (msgs. 46-47), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 5, entitled, War with the Amalekites.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I hardly know myself; / Deceived so much by pride, / I often think I’m right / And am self-satisfied. / I know Thee even less; / In doctrine, shallowly; / True revelation lack / Of Thy reality. (Hymns #426)
  – Oh, save me from self-will, dear Lord, / Which claims Thy sacred throne; / Oh! let my will be lost in Thine, / And let Thy will be done. / Oh, keep me from self-confidence, / And self-sufficiency; / Let me exchange my strength for Thine, / And lean alone on Thee. (Hymns #415)
  – In the flesh I need no effort to express / Marks of Adam’s nature and its sinfulness; / In the spirit I need not to strive or strain, / I can live as He is and in spirit reign. / Thru my death with Christ, from Adam I am free, / Thru my life with Christ, new life is given me! / Minding not the flesh, old Adam cannot move, / Minding just the spirit, life divine I prove. (Hymns #593)