Written by,
Robert Johnson
As a leader within God’s church I’m concerned about those believers who take the enemy for granted. Yes, we attend the physical church give in the offering, even dance on Sundays but most are completely unaware that there is a war which is taking place. Men and women of God who are carriers of the gospel like Christ are under major attack. The sad thing, the hand of the enemy is not known – I’m truly concerned! “Just give it up!” Don’t be a part of friendly Fire because you don’t know God’s voice from Satan’s voice – Allow me to express the root of war –
Competition is the root cause of war, business takeovers, and marital discord. We must learn and understand, war is nothing more than politics brought to the battlefield. Evolution has glorified competition, enshrining the survival of the fittest. Historically, the competitive nature has its roots in the mind of Satan, who had the audacity to take on the leadership of Almighty God. Man’s rivalry with one another has been described by Solomon as a striving after wind.
Abraham literally “took the high ground,” separating himself from strife with his ambitious nephew who wanted to seek gain on the plains of Sodom. The apostle Paul showed willingness to forgo his well-deserved wages, willing to work privately, avoiding conflict and strife. Christianity should be service-oriented rather than profit-oriented, should reward the worker for his labor, and should replace competition with cooperation. Biblical history records the tortured chronicle of people striving against God. The Gentiles cut themselves off from God by rejecting God’s teachings through the patriarchs. We must replace the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit, willing to yield and submit rather than to strive, quarrel, and compete.
Satan has successfully deceived the entire world by mixing a little truth with much error, appealing to our pride and tissue needs. On the Day of Atonement, we (as God’s called-out remnant) are commanded to afflict our souls, putting down the striving competitive, pride-filled drives of human nature, with its intense appetites, mortifying our flesh, controlling ourselves by submitting to God in humility. He can no longer complete with Christ and because you are the offspring of the savior born again into His image by the Holy Spirit – We Satan’s lies and deceit in Revelations 12 where he deceived 1/3rd of heavens host – “I hate the devil!!!”
I do not know whether it is the most dominating character trait of human nature’s self-centeredness, but I am pretty sure that competitiveness is very high on the list, and by this drive very much of the level of the peaceful and harmonious quality and activities of life is disturbed. There is no peace or rest for those that operate in this demonic pleasure of Pride! “Just give it up!”
The American Heritage Dictionary states that to compete is “to strive with another or others to obtain a goal.” The American Webster Online Dictionary defines “competitive” (the adjective form) as “inclined, desiring, or suited to compete.”
I think Wikipedia gives the best one. It defines competition (the noun form) as “a contest between individuals, groups, nations, animals, etc., for territory, a niche, or a location of resources; it arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared.” A clear example of this last one is that not everybody can get first prize. It is one of those things that cannot be shared.
Because we live in a badly divided world, Jesus gives us a head-up in Matthew 24’s prophecy, warning us that as His return nears we would hear of wars and rumors of wars. And He thus indicates that as wars and rumors of wars have continued throughout time, there will be a noticeable increase of them as the time nears for His return. This is somewhat important to this sermon, because competition produces war. That is not the only thing it produces. It produces winners, but very often what happens is war is a result.
[WAKE UP PEOPLE OF GOD LEADERS ARE BEING PICKED OFF LEFT AND RIGHT!]
In the Israelitish nation, the dominant economic model is capitalism, and the dominant motivation of capitalism is competition to create wealth. In capitalism, competition is perceived as good; without it the experts claim there would be no advancement in quality of life. In fact, the central theme of the theory of evolution is survival of the fittest, which is simply a euphemism for the continuation of life through competition; and therefore the species survive and is better because of the competition.
There is no doubt from whom the fire’s competition is derived. The source is the spirit of Satan who is so competitive that he took on the Creator God to wrest rulership from Him. Competitiveness ultimately separates people from each other.
Turn with me to Ecclesiastes 4:4-5, a very interesting couple of scriptures.
Ecclesiastes 4:4-5 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.
Verse 4, here, is poorly translated in both the KJV and in the NKJV because the translators chose to translate two words literally rather than follow the imagery that rightly depicts how the words were used in actual practice by Hebrew-speaking people. The two words are “skillful” and “envy.”
One translation reads this way – “Again, I considered all labor and all excelling in works, that it is a man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”
Now here is how the Revised English Bible translates that verse: “I considered all toil and all achievement, and saw that it springs from rivalry between one person and another. This too is futility and a chasing after wind.”
Solomon wrote this book late in his life, and thus his comments, which come so very close to absolute truth, are somewhat cynical. He had observed a great deal about life, and his observation is that the incentive to work is not the accomplishment of something truly worthwhile; it is in short a bad motivation, and life thus becomes rivalry-based rather than mutual cooperation-based, and the potential for producing bad fruit rises exceedingly with the rivalry. That is why God judges it as a vanity—something that is futile, there is no reality – the reality most are blind to this state of understanding –
On the other end of the scale, as the Hebrew people often did, is verse 5, which says, “The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.” It is telling us there that the indolent fool who does not appreciate the necessity to work hard at a livelihood is the same thing as folding his hands in lazy idleness when he should be up and about doing things, but instead he wastes his life away.
Brethren, somewhere there is a balance between these two, because God reconciles things, and the observation Solomon made there was essentially correct, because man’s rivalry and competiveness with one another is unchecked. It is free to do just about anything, and when it does, all kinds of imbalances begin to occur within a society.
From here we are going to go to something that happened between Abraham and Lot recorded in Genesis 13, and it shows what a truly balanced Christian God-fearing man does in such a case.
Genesis 13:5-6 But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to nourish and support them so they could dwell together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together.
We see that both wanted the same land. “Not everybody can finish in first place,” is the situation here.
Genesis 13:7-8 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land [making fodder more difficult to obtain]. So Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I beg of you, between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are relatives.
You might remember in I Corinthians 6 Paul said, “Why not just give it up? Instead of fighting, competing for whatever it is, why don’t you just give it up?” Where do you think he got that idea? He got it out of Genesis 13, because that is what the “father of the faithful” did. So we have this episode here resulting from competition for the same grazing area – most are so void of God’s word – Abraham was smart, just give it up – God was not in the land, He was in the promise – Satan wants your life!!!
I feel a praise right here – “Just give it up” Job gave it all up he sat there until God moored!!!
Note that there will always be two classes of men, and regarding them, every man needs to consider which one he is tending to belong to—the men like Lot or the men like Abraham. It is a distinction that every young man who first surveys his will and determines what kind of success he will aim at; it confronts every mature person in the return decisions where conscience would go one way, and the temptation to experiment in Sodom points the other.
This incident in Genesis 13 is a very small incident in terms of all of the world’s activities, and certainly small in terms of time. It gives insight though into a truism. It is the competitive struggle for gain that is at the heart of most of the conflicts of our time as well as it was in the time of Abraham and Lot.
Now man is acquisitive, and that acquisitive impulse seems to be insatiable in many. It demands more and more, and it seemingly is never satisfied. The unconverted man, for the sake of his ego, desires to win, and if men do not compete for profit, they will compete for power or for prestige or for pleasure.
Isaiah 59:1-8 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, [Think about a million babies being murdered every year through abortion.] and your fingers with iniquity; [Think of all the thievery going on.] your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. Their webs will not become garments, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
In Closing, Now sin, regardless of the intensity, always produces separation. The ultimate in separation is death, of which result Adam and Eve were warned. Sin separates one from God and fellowman. It is impossible for sin to create unity, except briefly, and in most cases that unity is made for further opportunities to sin together. The ways to sin and create division are not limited to those listed in Galatians 5:19. What Paul gave there is almost like a stock list of evil conduct which quickly came to Paul’s mind as he was writing in order to show a measure of contrast with the fruits of the spirit which follow.
James 3:13-18 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
The spirit of demonic competition is a direct spirit from the enemy, be careful your life depends on your word relationship – the words the enemy uses are your warning – 1 Peter 5:8 is real – No one in the word of God we’re ever destroyed from without, it always came from within!
