14 Dec Shut the Front Door! (Learning to shut the door to the enemy in your life) PART 1

Many years ago, Anne and I were ministering in another church and we were praying for the sick.  There was a teenage girl there who requested prayer for her kneecap.  She had a floating kneecap that was detached from the bone.  There was a doctor in the audience who happened to be an orthopedic surgeon.  I asked him to come up and examine the kneecap before we prayed.  He did and found that he could get all four fingers underneath her kneecap.  

We then prayed for her and I asked the doctor to now re-examine her.  To his amazement, he found that God had supernaturally attached the kneecap and she was completely healed!  The news of her miraculous healing soon spread throughout that church.  The next Sunday, the pastor had the young lady come up and testify before his entire church of her miraculous healing.  Prior to the miracle, this teenage girl had walked away from Jesus and was partying and sleeping around with young men.  As a result of God’s goodness, she turned to Him and for about a month lived whole-heartedly for Christ.

Unfortunately after the newness of this miracle wore off she went right back into her old lifestyle of sex and partying.  Shortly thereafter she was in a very bad car wreck.  Her car was a mess but she was fine…except for one small area.  You see, her knee had smacked up against the front of the car and her kneecap was once again detached exactly as it was from the beginning.  

What happened?  She did not shut the front door to the enemy in her life!

Please let me give you some supporting scriptures:

      1. John 5:14 “Afterward Jesus finds him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you.”

This is the story of the man who was crippled for 38 years and Jesus found him at the Pool of Bethesda, and there healed him.  Later, he found this man in the temple and clearly warned him to “shut the front door” to sin in his life “lest a worse thing come upon you.”

      2. I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.”

The Greek word translated “sober” is “nepho,” which means “don’t be drunk.”  Before I knew Christ I was an alcoholic and I can personally attest that many times when I got drunk, things would be completely blown out of proportion.  Peter is using this word figuratively and telling us not to allow things to be spiritually blown out of proportion.  The Greek word translated “vigilant” is the word “gregoreo.”  This word means “watchful or spiritually alert.”  In essence, this verse is telling us that we don’t need to let life blow things out of proportion.  We need to be spiritually alert as we have an enemy who is seeking to devour us.  In everyday language, we need to shut the front door!

      3. John 14:30 “Hereafter I will not talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.”

Clearly from this verse we can see that Jesus had all His doors shut to the enemy.  Now you might be saying, “Well that was Jesus!”  However, the next verse gives us all hope.

      4. I John 5:18 “We know that whosoever is born of God sins not; but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one touches him not.”

Please allow me to give you a little practical perspective from this verse.  In the first phrase it sounds like if we are born again that we should never sin again.  Well, if I could have a show of hands (mine are up first) of all of you believers who have sinned since you were saved…every hand would be up.  If you did not raise your hand…that is your first sin!  

Here John, by the Holy Spirit, is telling you and me that as believers we no longer sin from our spirit or nature.  As believers, of course we sin (that’s why I John 1:9 is so important).  But we no longer sin from our spirit/nature!  We are now new creations in Christ Jesus (see II Cor. 5:17).  

John goes on to say that if we would “keep ourselves” the wicked one would “touch us not.”  In other words, like MC Hammer once said, “Can’t touch this!”  In my words…shut the front door!

Join us next week as we continue this series…