How Can We Overcome Evil Influences?

"Be not deceived", Paul wrote to the saints, "evil communications corrupt good manners" (1Cor.15:33). By the same token, "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise" (Prov.13:20). Just as certainly as a plant is affected by the sun and rain, or the lack thereof, our spirits are affected by the spirits which are around us, either toward the good or toward the evil. There is no way to avoid it. There is a way, however, to overcome the evil influence, and use the good.

This is the way Jesus lived his life. "I am for peace", was the prophecy, "but when I speak, they are for war." As holy and loved by God as he was, "we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" (Isa.53:4). And so certain were we that he was under some strange curse from God, we murdered him, thinking that we were doing God service. His every move and word were interpreted wrongly by those who "just knew" they were right. His was a lonely life, the loneliest which can be imagined. Even his disciples misinterpreted his work and his wisdom. "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isa.53:3). Jesus was constantly being scrutinized by the opinions of men; his every word and action taken as more proof that he was what they thought he was. Had it not been for the hand of God upholding him, Jesus would have begun to think of himself as others thought of him, and would have given up on the noblest work ever given to a man by God: the redemption of our race from sin.

The human spirit is not strong enough to withstand the pressure of other human spirits. Without the power of God, you will be influenced (wrongly) by the wrong spirits around you every time. We shape one another's lives. And it being true, as the Apostle John wrote, that "the whole world lieth in wickedness", the pressure of the spirits around us is always away from God, not toward him. That is human nature. Without even trying, even the best of human loves, the love of a mother, will lead the child into worldliness rather than godliness. This is the very reason Jesus came and died: to make available to us a Spirit that is not a part of this wicked world, and that will enable us to resist and overcome the constant pressure in this world to lie, to lust, and to doubt God's word. That Spirit is not overcome by the spirits of this age, nor can it be, for it is the Spirit of the Creator of all things. That Holy Spirit never has self-doubt, is never pressured into a wrong decision, is never confused by the cacophony of voices on this mad planet, all of them demanding attention and trust.

When we lived in the world, we lived according to the will of men, every one of us - even the ones who boast themselves on always having been their own person, having their own mind, not pushed and pulled by the crowds - and maybe especially them. Without the power of the holy Ghost we are all frightened little people, carried about by lust and pride, whipped into submission by spirits of sloth and foolishness. If you are not living in the power of the Holy Spirit, you are most certainly living under the influence of an unholy spirit. If you think not, it is because you refuse to see the evidence for what it really is. You have your darkened mind made up, as I once did, and everything is interpreted only to mean what you want it to mean. You are a fool. Even as you puff yourself up in your own conceit.

The Spirit which Jesus followed kept him from believing the lies which men told and believed concerning him. And Jesus warned those who would follow him that men would no more understand them than they understood him. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake....for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you....If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you....They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." If we stay close to Jesus, we will never be overcome by the unbelief that is in the world concerning us. But if we are drawn away from his side, we are very likely to be confused by the lies which the world believes concerning us, and behave accordingly. Sadly, that is the condition of nearly every Spirit- baptized believer today: they behave as the disobedient spirits in Christianity expect them to - primarily to resist the persecution which follows the obedient in every case.

It is because we are not yielding to the Spirit, that we will stay in the midst of our "denominations" which quench the Spirit we love through it's doctrines and ceremonies. It is because of the "pressure" we feel to "do something religious", that we will not forsake the evil and carnal ways of Christianity. It is the "fear of men" and not God, that causes us NOT to reprove the evils of the Catholics, the Assemblies of God, the Lutherans, the Pentecostal Holiness, the Apostolics, and a myriad of other denominations whose confusion and lies have divided the true body of Christ. It is the influence of religion that "looks good" which is killing you! And what will it take to get free from such influences? Only the power of God can do it.

Dear friend, if we do not stay filled with the Spirit, we will be unable to resist and overcome the opinions of men concerning us. We will begin to behave in ways which help us avoid the persecution and misunderstanding which Jesus said must come. The approval of men will become our goal, when we take our eyes from the Guide which Jesus sent (the holy Ghost). By his mercy, God has allowed us to break free from these influences. He has called us "out" of "Christianity". And that is his calling unto you, Spirit-baptized child of God: Come out of every place where you are pressured to accept anything less than God; anything less than the truth; anything less than absolute perfection and holiness. If you are attending a place where there is ANYTHING which is "not right" in Spirit or in deed, the reason you are staying there is because you have been "influenced" to accept something less than God.

We want to encourage you, sisters and brothers, not to be discouraged, even if you stumble along the way. The world will use your errors and mistakes against you, saying "if it was real, he wouldn't have done that." But God will use your mistakes for you, to teach you how better to please Him in the coming years. In other words, if you will obey God now, he will graciously forgive you for your past "religious" errors committed in ignorance. The world (and the disobedient children of God) will always see in you only what it wants to see. May God always give us the grace to see, to believe, and to obey the truth, for that will set us free from such "influences". And though it may mean our being "alone" or suffering to have God's will done in our lives, freedom from evil "influence" is certainly worth it.

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