The Enemy within by Pastor Alph LUKAU
This is the title of a little presentation I have received from God for you, The Enemy Within. I read with you from the book of Mark 5, verse 36. “As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the Synagogue, do not be afraid, only believe.” Now, I want to break this down in a way that it is easy to understand. God is preparing somebody under the sound of my voice for victory. I do not know what you’re going through right now. I do not know what is stealing your peace. There might be a thing or two, on your left or your right that, in your mind, is missing. God, this morning, has a word for you. You are being prepared for victory. Before this season is over, you will understand and declare the Will of God in your life.
God is preparing somebody to win. I am seeing a trophy being delivered to a son of God, to a daughter of the Lord right here. I hear the voice of God say what they meant for evil, I will make for your good. Those who walk with God believing that the Lord is God and deciding there is no other God will grow with the assurance that come winds or high water, He who made the promise is not a man, He will fulfill what He said. I am here to prepare you for victory. I am here to prepare you for victory. The book of Mark Chapter 5 is rich with stories of Jesus Christ. Chapter 5, verse one begins with the story of a mad man possessed by demons. We see how Jesus Christ stepped in and delivered this man. From verse 21 or so down, the Bible introduced another story of a man who was a leader of the Synagogue. He was not just a nobody, he was a recognized person. This man had a position that was undisputable, Jairus. The Bible says, in his house, he had an impediment, he had a situation. You see Jairus, had a daughter and the daughter became sick. They tried all they could do, but there was no way to help the child. The child was sick. And every day that passed the sickness of the child grew worse.
And so Jairus said, “I will swallow my pride. I will go to seek help from Jesus.” You must understand his position, as a Chief of the Synagogue, it was not proper for him to align with Jesus. Society would have never applauded the relationship between the Chief of the Synagogue and Jesus. But because of the event in his house, because of this situation in his house, Jairus said, “I will go beyond the norms. I will break tradition.” Oftentimes, you must know the greatest enemy of the move of God is called tradition. The greatest enemy of the move of God is not the devil. It is the routine that we have built around us that excludes the Will of God; the routine that feeds from the will and the comfort of man. So, he said himself, “I will break tradition and I will go to seek help from Jesus.” I prayed for somebody one day who came and said to me, “I want you to pray for me. But before you pray, I want you to know who I am.” And he began to tell me who he was, an impressive CV. I was listening to him carefully because I could read beyond what he was saying, he was trying to justify why he, being so great, he came to such a little boy to pray for him. He wanted me to understand that it is not because he has no access anywhere else, almost making me feel like “You should be honored that I’m coming to you to get help from you.”
Tradition. Jairus was big in his mind. He was big in society. He had access. He had the approval. Everyone was fine with him. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, was controversial. He was not part of the system. Everything about Jesus Christ in His time was controversial. He was a very controversial man. In a society where men and women could not come together, but Him being a young 30 year old man seated among the great allowed a prostitute, a woman who sells her body for favor to come and do pedicure on him. Now, you read this story, it seems to be easy, but if you put yourself in the shoes of yesterday, it was a scandal. Men and women could not even touch each other. There was a clear separation. But now, it’s not just a woman, it’s a prostitute that is coming to an unmarried man. And this woman comes and cries on the feet of the Lord. You don’t just cry, it was not a sin to see. But you see, Jesus was seing beyond the norm and the conventional system and allowed that to happen. Let me tell you, if you really follow God correctly and move in the Holy Ghost, you’ll be controversial in many fronts because the system has its own way of operating. Are you hearing me? Jesus Christ, the Bible says, as He was passing by, He saw this man coming, begging, that He may come and help the daughter who was sick. We know the story of how Jesus Christ decided to go but before I go there, I want to prepare you for what God is doing by opening a bracket. The little girl was sick. She was only 12 years old and she was sick.
Family, sickness is a reality. Sickness is a reality. But there is a provision in God that when you are sick, you can go to the well of health and drink from it. There are three sources of sickness in a person. The first one is sin. When I speak about sin here I speak of the first sin that has introduced us to all kind of evil. And also, when I speak about sin, I also speak of the misbehavior though the Word of God gives us a clear direction. You must understand that in the word of God, every commandment of God is meant to favor you, not God. As far as God is concerned, sin has been dealt with. Sin is no longer your problem. Sin does not affect God, it affects you. When God says keep your body, it is not because of Him it’s because He knows if you keep your body, you will be better off. If you carry on sleeping around, you will attract diseases and sicknesses that are not yours. Do you understand? The second thing that brings sickness is evil forces. Throughout the scriptures we have seen both in the Old and in the New Testament, that the enemy can oppress somebody through sickness. There are times where Jesus Christ had to cast out the devil before the person receives healing.
And the third source of sickness in people’s lives is the fragility of our bodies. This body is fragile. The devil does not need to push you. The older you get, it is required of you to do things a certain way. Don’t eat like everybody eats, sleep this way, drink this way. Why? Because this body requires you to take care of it. Are you hearing me?
This young girl was sick, but the doctors could not help her. The father said, “I will go to Jesus.” I don’t know what trial you have. I don’t know the trouble you have. If today you say I am coming to church, I am coming to Jesus, He will meet you at a point of your need. What I love with God is the practicality of what He says. Every Word of God can be experienced. Jairus came and said to Jesus, “My little one is sick, will you come?” And Jesus agreed and said, “I will come and I will heal.” But the Bible says along the way, there was another woman with an issue for 12 years, she was bleeding. Jairus daughter was 12 years old, she was sick. But there was somebody else with a 12 year old problem. She was bleeding for 12 years and she said to herself, “If I can only touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made well.” Determination of your heart is often the key of your miracle. This woman said if I can only touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made well.
We had a testimony of somebody who came from overseas, this person struggled to find means to come to South Africa, but she fought her way to South Africa. In her heart, she said, “If I can only step in the premises of AMI, my problems are sorted.” That was her faith and true to her faith, when she came as soon as he stepped over the gate, she fell under the power of God. She stood up with a testimony, but amazingly, the same gate so many people came in and out. She believed that if I will step in there, my battles are over. Determination. What is it that brings you here? What is it that you are seeking and trusting God for, today? If you will be determined, you will receive your miracle. May I announce to you that there are miracles waiting for somebody to grab right here. “If I can only touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made well.” And here this, the Bible says this woman went to touch Jesus Christ and got healed and Jesus looked around and said, “Who touched me?” You know the story. While this was happening, Jesus Christ was on his way to Jairus’ house. To Jairus, the miracle of this woman was a disturbance to his own miracle. The woman was not on the agenda of the day. It was not planned for her to get the miracle that day. But she said today, I am improvising myself. I am taking it by fire, by force.
