The Law of the Jungle

 The Law of the Jungle

Genesis 3:15-18:  Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

·        Because of sin, Adam was forced out of the Garden and into the fields, there he would eat from the ground through hard work, sweat, and strife. If a farmer relaxes from his labors for just a short time, the wilderness will take over his fields again in such a way that it will be hard to tell if the farmer was there at all.

·        Every farmer knows the hunger of the wilderness. No new machinery, or new weed killers or sprays, can ever quite kill or destroy the encroaching wilderness. No matter how well the soil is prepared and how well kept are the fences, the wild just keeps coming until once again the field is swallowed up by the wilderness.

Ø Here’s a truth: Nature always moves and desires the wilderness, it is against fruitful field. Every farmer knows this.

·        Everything in this world is in a constant state of degradation not graduation; devolution not evolution; everything is going downhill.

·        It’s a natural law. Things aren’t always getting better and evolving in wonderful ways. We are not progressing towards utopia, we are heading towards Armageddon.

·        As Christians, we cannot ignore the natural law that would cause all things to return to a wild state after its careful cultivation. These laws run through the whole region of our fallen world affecting natural things and spiritual things.

·        So what is true of the field is also true of us if we are wise enough to see it. The direction of this fallen world is not towards godliness, but definitely away from it.

Matthew 21:12-13: Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

·        This is the second cleansing of the temple occurred just after Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem the last week of His life on Palm Sunday.

·        Jesus’ first temple cleansing happened in the beginning of His ministry, and now nearly three years later the same problems that were present earlier were creeping back into the temple again.

·        The New Covenant tells us we are the “temple” of the Living God. It is Jesus’ job to cleanse our “temple” and fill us with the Holy Spirit. But we have a responsibility to stay aware that the unclean things will attempt to creep back into the clean again.

Matthew 12:43-45: “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

·        I believe Jesus makes it clear that it is the intention of the enemy to make that which has been cleansed…unclean again.

·        For the new Christian or even in the mature Christian, there is a constant pressure for the “unclean” things to reenter that which has been cleansed, therefore, we be aware of the nature of these things.

·        First we must know that it is impossible for a Christian to be possessed by a demon. The believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God who comes to reside in our hearts when we give our lives to Christ.

Ø However, while Christians cannot be possessed by a demon, we can be influenced by one. We are not above the Law of the Jungle.

·        We sometimes think that we have had a spiritual experience, or a situation where we have experienced victory…and it leads us to believe that we will always have “victorious living” for all of our days. This is error.

·        The truth is that no spiritual experience, no matter how wonderful, can ever keep us from temptation. And temptation is nothing more than the wilderness trying to enter our fields.

·        There’s nothing more upsetting to the devil than a heart that has been purified by the Holy Spirit. It is a newly cleared field, and it will be soon challenged by the enemy. It starts in little ways around the edges of the field that are closest to the wilderness.

Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Ø If neglected… the human heart will soon be overrun with worldly thoughts and temptations, which will soon lead to immoral behaviors.

·        The church tries to combat this with more Bible study, church programs, short term mission trips, and organized church activities.

·        But the Law of the Jungle operates throughout our fallen world, whether it’s in the classroom or in the mission field.

·        In our efforts to spread the gospel, we often run head-on into the Law of the Jungle. Bible studies and organized activities are all good things, but unfortunately after we make a few converts its not long before they are left to their own devices again and the Law of the Jungle prevails.

·        It’s like letting a flock of newborn lambs run freely in the wilderness, how long until the wolves or thieves show up? Our efforts should keep the Law of the Jungle in mind so that the new lambs are put under the authority of shepherds who will love the sheep and raise them into maturity.

Luke 8:5-8: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

·        Jesus compares our hearts to soil and the seeds to the word of God. The different kinds of soil determine the fruitfulness of the man’s spiritual life. We cannot escape our own “spiritual maturity” level. We cannot rise above our inward spiritual life.

Ø Our crop is determined by the condition of the soil in our heart.

·        I have seen many men practice preaching and teaching in their own strengths; learning, word study, and emotional conjuring… but they lack the fire of the Spirit.

·        You see we cannot escape what we are on Monday because we preach or teach on Sunday. In other words, if we’re not walking in the Spirit on Monday, how can we expect the Spirit on Sunday?

Luke 8:11-15: “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

·        The Law of the Jungle is always coming against our hearts because that is where our issues of life are formed. That is where the battle is.

·        Jesus calls it a battle against the enemy, temptations of our hearts, the culture, and its cares. He is really calling on us to be good farmers and cultivate the word of God, and value the condition of your heart.

Matthew 7:16-19: You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

·        Men do not get grapes from thorns nor figs from thistles. The fruit of the tree is determined by kind of tree that it is, and the fruit of life by the kind of life that it is.

Ø There is another “law of nature,” a man’s soul will reflect that which he is focused on. What a man is interested in, will determine what kind of fruit he will produce.

·        We must realize the powerful effect that our affections have on the attractions of our hearts. It’s kind of like a compass, where it will always point to the North Pole. The pole may be very far away, but the heart keeps true to its secret loves and desires.

·        What will do we think about in our free time? Where does our imagination go when it is free to roam? When we answer this honestly, we will know where we are and what kind of fruit we will bear.

·        We cannot fake it; that which is concealed will be revealed.

·        When the first robin shows up, it doesn’t mean its spring, nor does one hot day mean its summer. Our hearts are the same way; one frantic prayer doesn’t make a field flower or produce fruit.

·        The field must be soaked in sunshine over long periods of time, and the rains must come to water the field and the seed for the field to produce. The same is true with our hearts; we cannot rise above our water level. We cannot make up for neglect of our relationship with god and spiritual things in a short time.

·        We cannot let our hearts determine and establish its affections; we must set our hearts on the things above.

Colossians 3:1-3: If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

·        One of the things we can do to remain vigilant over our hearts is to focus on things above.

Ø There is a spiritual cleansing that takes place as we focus on the above with praise and worship.

·        We must take direction from “above,” not from the culture around us. Although physically in the world, we are not to believe the same things as the culture around us. That would be taking their cues from “below.”

·        How are we to cultivate the values that are from above while living below? It takes a concentrated effort. We must “set our minds” to it. We are inundated with messages that promote the “below” behavior.

·        Even if the messages we receive from below are not completely immoral, their perspective is one that excludes God and prioritizes things as though life on earth is all that matters—our happiness and fulfillment (the “right” to be happy) are top priority.

·        If we want to be directed “from above,” we must make an effort to counteract the messages that are present in our culture.

Ephesians 4:20-24: But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

·        The old man and the new man are as different today as when Paul wrote this long ago.

·        Our old nature, the old man… is like the wilderness or jungle trying to creep back into our lives. It begins with deceitful lusts as the affections of the heart wander away if not closely guarded.

·        The only way that a person can live according to the above… is if he or she is taking directions from somewhere other than the ‘below.”

·        As we believe the truth “from above” more than the lies “from below,” we will start to act like creatures born from above, who have been raised with Christ.

Romans 8:5-6:  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

·        We are created with desires, we couldn’t live this life without the desire for food, we couldn’t perpetuate our species without the desire for a mate. These things are true in the Law of the Jungle and they are also true in the things of God.

·        When our whole desires are bad, the whole life ends up degrading into something bad. But if our desires are good, our life will come up to the level of our desire…if we have the enabling of the Spirit.

·        If our desire is after God and holiness, then that desire will become dominant. We were made in the image of God and to become like Him is a desire that is within each of us; we are God-hungry and Spirit-thirsty. As we sanctify our desires, this hunger will lead us into grace and godliness.

·        It’s our unsanctified hearts’ desires that lead us back to the jungle. We hear people say, “But I love her, how can that be wrong?” Or they say, “Just trust your heart.” The truth is that we must totally surrender our hearts to the Lord and deny many of the desires of our hearts.

·        I am so grateful that we have the word to lead us when our hearts are screaming louder than the Spirit. To bring our desires to the cross and allow them to be crucified there is a good and beautiful thing, and it is pleasing to God.

·        The blood of Christ will not only cleanse us from sins we have committed but will also cleanse us of those inward desires to sin. We are to keep our minds on the things above, and our desires will follow.