Participants: Jim Reinking
Series Code: LDS
Program Code: LDS000017
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00:33 I think we're going to go straight
00:36 to a very vital text, it's in Ephesians 6:12, 00:41 where Paul says, "For our struggle 00:43 is not against flesh and blood, 00:45 but against the rulers, against the powers, 00:49 against the world forces of this darkness, 00:51 against the spiritual forces of wickedness." 00:55 And we certainly 00:56 have been studying this during the course 00:57 of our series of meetings together, 00:59 haven't we? 01:00 We are, certainly we discovered 01:02 in our study of God's word 01:03 that we are involved in a conflict 01:06 between the forces of good and evil, 01:08 as real as any conflict 01:11 that has ever been fought on a field of battle. 01:14 This earth has become the battlefield 01:17 between the forces of good and evil. 01:19 That has become clear, hasn't it in our study? 01:23 And the issues however, 01:25 the issues are spiritual in nature 01:29 and the struggle is actually over control of the human heart. 01:33 Now I'm here to tell you 01:34 that God has not left us 01:35 as helpless victims in the hands of the enemy. 01:38 He has provided the means by which we can be victorious. 01:43 Yes, victorious. 01:44 The victory that Jesus gained at the cross of Calvary 01:49 is ours true faith in Him. 01:52 It's His victory, not our victory, 01:54 it's His victory, isn't it? 01:56 It's always His victory. 01:58 But it's essential, absolutely essential 02:00 if we have to be overcomers 02:02 in the conflict that we understand something 02:05 about the nature of sin. 02:07 For you see it's through sin 02:08 that sin seeks to control and to dominate our lives. 02:13 So we must begin by understanding 02:14 something of how again sin operates within our lives, 02:17 so that we can better understand 02:19 how to successfully deal with it, 02:22 and understand how deeply sin 02:25 has affected the lives of each one of us. 02:29 And to begin with, 02:31 we understand that sin in a general sense is whenever 02:35 we stray from the expressed will of God, 02:38 particularly as expressed in His word. 02:41 But there is a more definite definition 02:44 that many of us will be acquainted with 02:46 of sin in 1 John 3:4, 02:49 where it say "Whosoever committeth sin 02:51 transgresseth also the law: 02:53 for sin is the transgression of the law." 02:56 And so we understand the law is the righteous standard 03:01 by which we will be in the end judged. 03:04 But again, you know, there's a lot things 03:06 that draw into that, we draw into that 03:08 the grace of Jesus, the wonderful plan of salvation, 03:11 the fact is we have studied in our revival series 03:14 that it is Jesus who provides us with that righteousness 03:18 by which we meet the righteous demands of the law, 03:21 I mean all of that need to be considered 03:23 as we talk about these issues, 03:24 but again let's look at 03:26 how sin operates within our lives 03:30 as we turn to Romans 7, 03:32 is the New Testament page 126, 03:36 Romans 7 and we're gonna be looking 03:37 at verses 14 through 18. 03:40 This study this morning is gonna be very practical. 03:44 All right, I think, 03:45 you know, the spiritual life ought to be practical. 03:47 The world of the theology ought to be practical. 03:51 You know it just can't be the world of ideas 03:54 as important as ideas really are, 03:56 I mean it is true that we're interested 03:59 and that is intellectual, but it's also experiential. 04:03 Romans 7 and beginning with verse 14, 04:06 where it says. 04:07 "For we know, that the law is spiritual." 04:11 And my friend it is deeply spiritual. 04:14 Romans 13:10 tells us 04:16 "love is the fulfilling of the law". 04:18 And if love is not spiritual, 04:21 then I guess I don't understand spirituality. 04:25 But it is spiritual, the law is spiritual, 04:27 but Paul says "I am a flesh sold in the bondage to sin." 04:34 And my friend that is why 04:35 we often find in light a conflict, 04:39 a conflict between that which is very spiritual, 04:41 and that which is unspiritual, and that is we by nature, 04:46 in our falling condition are not spiritual. 04:49 We actually are in a state of bondage. 04:53 We are in a state of slavery. 04:55 And a slave, state of slavery to what? 04:58 To what? To sin. 05:00 That's what the knowledge of evil has done. 05:03 And you don't have to be a drunkard, 05:05 you don't have to be particularly immoral person 05:08 to really understand that there are certain aspects of life 05:13 that we are out our control of. 05:16 It could be appetite, it could be whole host of things 05:20 that bear witness to what the Bible talks about here. 05:22 So we have this conflict, and verse 15, 05:25 Paul says, "For what I am doing, I do not understand." 05:30 And I think all of us 05:31 on some level can relate to that. 05:33 There are just some things that sometimes happen in our lives 05:35 even in our thinking, in our imagination 05:38 that we just shake our heads, how in the world 05:40 you know what in the world is going on? 05:44 For what I am doing I do not understand 05:46 for I am not practicing what I would like to do. 05:51 But I am doing the very thing I hate. 05:56 And now that is frustration, isn't it? 05:59 Absolute frustration, but let me assure you 06:01 there's a way out of all of this, 06:03 and of course you know, 06:04 it's all centered in Jesus Christ 06:06 and experiencing His salvation, 06:08 but also experiencing the power of Jesus in our lives. 06:13 Verse 16,"But if do the very thing 06:15 I do not want to do, I agree with the law 06:18 professing that the law is good. 06:20 So now, now notice. 06:21 So now no longer am I the one doing it." 06:26 I'm out of control, I'm not really the one 06:29 that's doing it Paul says, but what's doing it? 06:32 But sin. 06:34 Which what? Indwells me. 06:39 See we are under the control, 06:43 under the mastery of sin. 06:45 Now I'm talking about 06:47 in our on regenerated pre-conversion experience. 06:53 And yet there is this aspect of our lives 06:56 that is still present, is still present. 07:03 And then it goes on in verse 18 to say, 07:04 "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, 07:06 that is, in my flesh for the willingness is present 07:11 in me but the doing of the good is not." 07:16 I may have the desire 07:20 but the ability to fulfill 07:23 what I would like to do or what I would like to be. 07:29 And I would, you know, to bear my own testimony 07:32 I want to be more and more like Jesus, 07:34 I pray for that everyday 07:36 as so many of you do. 07:38 I want more of His tenderness, 07:40 I want more of His gentleness, His patience, 07:42 and His kindness and it's a process. 07:44 I know that, I know that from my own experience, 07:47 you know from your experience, don't you? 07:49 We don't just arrive there suddenly like a bolt 07:53 out of the blue, it's as we're living life 07:56 as we live it out there beyond these walls 07:58 in the nitty-gritty of life 08:01 that in faith as we meet these challenges 08:04 without and within us that by the grace of Jesus 08:08 over the process of time 08:10 we are becoming more and more like Him. 08:14 To me, you know, it ought to be just, 08:16 okay, Lord, two or three years, 08:18 you know, let's get this done with. 08:20 But it actually extends 08:21 over the totality of the period of-- 08:24 how long we live. 08:27 It does, ever growing 08:29 and yet knowing that there is security 08:32 at every point in our experience 08:34 with the very beginning of the one 08:35 when we come to Christ 08:37 and we're just babies to each step of the way 08:41 we have great assurance in Jesus. 08:44 And His acceptance of us, 08:46 so I want to get this straight out 08:48 at the very beginning, His acceptance of us 08:50 is not predicated upon our, 08:53 you know, just measuring up 08:55 our performance being a 100 percent. 08:57 We have this great assurance in God 08:59 even in times of failure, 09:02 unless confess it and acknowledge it here and now. 09:05 We all have failures. 09:10 We in ministry have failures. 09:12 And usually we kind of like to keep that on, 09:14 you know, on the background but we have our failures. 09:18 But there's such great assurance 09:20 in God's love in Jesus Christ, 09:23 and I hope and pray by the grace of Jesus 09:25 you are experiencing that, 09:29 that kind of assurance in your life. 09:31 So I may know Paul says here, what is right? 09:35 But out of myself, I can do nothing. 09:39 You see this conflict between good and evil 09:41 that we're talking about this morning 09:43 is not simply an intangible theological concept. 09:47 It is a reality of life. 09:50 We see it all around us 09:52 and most off all we see it within us. 09:54 Good struggling with evil. 09:56 Our consciences convicting us of what is right 09:59 that longing within our heart 10:00 to be something better than we are, 10:03 and on the other hand, those unholy desires 10:07 represented by sin within us demanding expression. 10:12 And my friend it is here in the human heart 10:15 that the conflict is going to be settled. 10:19 And it's a process, 10:21 I keep wanting to come back to the process. 10:23 Look at James 1, the New Testament, page 177. 10:28 James 1 and verses 14 and 15 10:31 talking about the operation of sin within our lives. 10:35 And here it says, "But each one is tempted." 10:39 It's talking about the individuality 10:41 of our own temptations. 10:43 And you know what maybe a temptation 10:45 do you may not be a temptation to me. 10:48 You know I will never, 10:49 I don't think I'll ever be tempted 10:50 with cigarettes or alcohol 10:53 or some of those other kinds of things 10:55 but believe me I have my own set of temptations 10:58 that are uniquely mine, 11:00 because my experience in sin is unique. 11:05 I mean, you know, there's commonalities 11:07 between us and your experience in sin is unique. 11:12 So it says but each one is tempted 11:15 when he is carried away. 11:17 By the way is it a sin to be tempted? 11:21 Is it a sin to be tempted? No. 11:24 Because Jesus was tempted, we are reminded, 11:26 is what we do with the temptation, 11:29 and temptation always brings a decision. 11:32 It's another one of those tree, 11:34 trees of the knowledge of good and evil 11:36 kind of experiences every time we are tempted, 11:39 his way or my way. 11:41 And I know what my ways about 11:43 because I know something about what sin's done in my life, 11:46 but each one is tempted when he is carried away 11:50 and this word really says it. 11:52 And is enticed by his own lust. 11:56 Now I know when typically we think of lust 11:58 we're thinking of sexual-- 12:00 impure thoughts or sexual immorality. 12:04 It is inclusive, the word Lust here is inclusive of that 12:08 but is not limited to that. 12:11 It is lust in the broader sense, 12:13 it is any unholy desire, 12:16 and when we give into that unholy desire 12:19 there is all the sin. 12:20 So think of it broader, it could be a lust for appetite, 12:24 you know, it could be a lust for my neighbor's Cadillac, 12:28 it could be a whole host of things 12:31 that we could, you know, 12:33 be lusting after in the world. 12:35 But enticement, you know, there are those sets of sins, 12:40 you know, I think we all have them 12:42 that we just absolutely hate. 12:44 Can't you take up things in your own life, 12:46 you just wish, maybe you inherited, 12:48 may be you inherited 12:49 or you developed an awful temper. 12:53 Anger is an awful thing. 12:55 You know, my father had this explosive, volcanic temper. 13:00 And I found out, I didn't realize 13:03 it until I became a young adult 13:04 and I'm in the ministry 13:05 I discovered that, you know I had on occasion 13:09 it didn't happen often but if I got really upset 13:12 I was volcanic, then it was over. 13:17 And then I know some people have a different kind of temper, 13:21 it's kind of brooding underneath 13:24 and I've seen people with that kind of temper, 13:27 it's not volcanic, it's not explosive 13:29 but on the other hand it is something 13:31 I see some people they've carried anger underneath 13:34 the surface for years. 13:37 They are living in the past 13:39 with things have happened in the past and they're angry. 13:42 They're very unhappy people. 13:45 So you know can be a whole host of things, 13:47 you know, we can plug in here, 13:49 and it's not my purpose here, 13:51 to be talking about, you know make it a list here. 13:54 So there are those, those sins, 13:56 those temptations that we hate. 13:59 When I get impatient, and by God's grace 14:02 I have made the Lord has helped me 14:03 a lot in this area, 14:05 I can't say I cannot however say 14:07 that it just will never happen again. 14:11 I can't presume that. 14:13 But I do pray about it everyday. 14:15 So we have this the sins we hate. 14:17 On the other hand we have those sins 14:19 that we just absolutely love, 14:23 that we're enticed with. 14:25 And when I think of the word enticement, for me 14:29 this is what I think of, if you can see it, 14:32 it is a German chocolate cake. 14:35 When I think of enticement this is what I think of, 14:38 if the, and please I must ask, 14:41 my last series somebody just had to bring me 14:44 a two or three times German chocolate cake. 14:47 Fortunately it wasn't the whole cake 14:49 but you know if it's around, 14:51 you now, it is not enough 14:53 you know to take just one slice of temptation is, 14:57 it is so good to take another slice 15:00 and if it is in the cupboard in the house 15:02 it's like it's whispering it's playing on my subconscious 15:05 and all my conscious level, 15:07 you know, just calling out to me. 15:09 Come, you know the rich, chocolate frosting, 15:13 and it is moist and I shared this, 15:17 this illustration when I was in Russia, 15:19 one time in Magadan 15:21 and I should have made this disclaimer 15:24 as I did now please don't bring it. 15:26 It is a temptation to me 15:28 and I ended up with seven Russian chocolate cakes, 15:33 and there were 90 Americans 15:35 who were building a church at Magadan 15:37 and I invited them all in 15:40 because even though it wasn't as good as German, 15:42 I don't know, how German it really is 15:45 but we call it German chocolate cake. 15:47 I wanted it out of my room 15:50 and so I invited everybody in, 15:52 because I knew this was temptation 15:54 and I knew, I knew I had to do with it, 15:56 else I would be through the whole three weeks, 15:58 I would be eating through that chocolate. 16:01 That's what I think of enticement, enticement. 16:07 So how do we deal with these things 16:08 when we are facing enticement? 16:11 Well, the promise of Matthew 1:21 is this 16:14 "And she will bear a Son, 16:16 and you shall call his name Jesus, 16:18 for it is He who will save His people from their sins." 16:22 Is that not a wonderful precious promise? 16:27 Where would we be without Jesus? 16:29 We'll be hopelessly lost. 16:31 We would be in the grasp of sin 16:34 and my friend the tendency of sin 16:36 is to take us down deeper and deeper overtime. 16:41 That's what sin does. 16:43 Unless somebody steps in and one has stepped in 16:46 but we have to respond to it, right? 16:48 And that someone is Jesus who has stepped in 16:50 to, to, you know stop that downward fall that sin, 16:56 that sin brings about in our lives. 16:59 And so he, you know, 17:01 you could, shall call His name Jesus 17:02 for He will save His people from their sins. 17:05 First of all that brings with it 17:07 the wonderful promise that forgiveness 17:11 is freely offered to every one of us 17:14 and isn't forgiveness a wonderful thing? 17:17 My friend, we don't have to live 17:18 with the sins and failures of the past, 17:22 I mean he says, you know, 17:23 I will separate them from you 17:24 as far as the east is from the west. 17:27 And the Bible says they are gonna be cast 17:29 into depths of the sea which in some places 17:31 it's several miles down there, they're out of sight. 17:33 And my friend by the grace of Jesus we can move on. 17:37 We don't have to live with the past, 17:40 we can move on in Jesus. 17:42 But we do have to deal 17:43 with the past at some point, right? 17:45 We do have to deal with it, and that's why forgiveness 17:48 is so vitally important, 17:49 but furthermore it also carries 17:51 with it this promise 17:53 to break the power of sin in our lives. 17:57 And again I point out, this is a process, 18:00 it is not overnight. 18:01 I wish it was like that. 18:04 And done and we were free. 18:07 But no, that's not the way 18:08 the love and grace of Jesus works, 18:10 it works overtime, 18:12 it's that process by which we are becoming, 18:14 we are saved by grace 18:16 but we are becoming like Him 18:20 is what it truly is all about. 18:22 A few texts about how, 18:24 how sin operates within our lives. 18:26 So let me take you through the seven practical 18:29 and powerful principles in God's word 18:33 that will help us to overcome Satan's mastery 18:37 over us through the operation of sin in our lives. 18:42 And my friend he knows us 18:44 and he's been tracking us from the moment 18:45 we entered in the life. 18:46 He knows our weaknesses 18:49 he knows our evil tendencies, doesn't he? 18:51 He knows the buttons to push. 18:55 But you know we really ought to spend our time 18:58 knowing something about the evil one 18:59 spending our time focusing on the one that loves us, 19:03 and who is all powerful. 19:07 Whenever we talk about the power of the evil one 19:11 we must always, we never should talk, 19:13 I don't believe talk about the power of the evil one, 19:16 without in the same breadth 19:18 but saying there is one that is far more powerful 19:22 and is victorious and has guaranteed our victory as well. 19:27 So let me take you to the seven practical principles, 19:30 John 15 the New Testament, page 85, 19:34 John 15 and we'll be looking at verse 5, 19:41 John 15:5 where Jesus said "I am the vine." 19:46 You want to know the secret of spiritual growth? 19:48 Here it is," I am the vine, you are the branches." 19:51 it's all about the connections, 19:53 I think there is a class here called the connections. 19:56 Okay, I think that's part of what they're talking about. 20:00 "I am the vine, you are the branches, 20:01 he who abides in Me and I in him," 20:06 he bears what? Much fruit. 20:10 Our lives become fruitful in Jesus. 20:13 It's like the sap that is flowing 20:15 through the trunk of a tree 20:17 and stretches out to the branches and fruit. 20:21 And we're coming up here on spring 20:23 and we're gonna see that process, won't we? 20:25 You do have fruit around you, don't you? 20:27 And fruit begins to grow, 20:30 it isn't whole it's not complete 20:33 but through the growing season, 20:35 it's growing, getting larger 20:38 and in process ripening until it's whole 20:41 and is ready to be harvested 20:43 and so it is in the spiritual life, isn't it? 20:47 That's how we become fruitful 20:49 and then it says, but apart from me, 20:51 you can do how much? Nothing. 20:55 My friend we're seeking 20:56 to do the impossibility apart from Jesus. 20:58 We can have the desire, 21:00 but my friend we really will not deal, 21:03 be able to effectively deal 21:04 with the fundamental issue within our lives. 21:07 And so my first principle 21:08 that I want to share with you 21:10 is that number one we must understand, 21:13 we must sense our helplessness of ourselves. 21:21 Let's talk about the strong willed 21:22 individual right now. 21:26 How many of us are strong willed by nature? 21:28 Let's be honest, okay? 21:31 I'm strong willed. 21:33 Those of us are strong willed 21:35 have a disadvantage at all of this 21:36 because on some level we believe 21:38 that we can somehow do it, 21:40 but somehow we are in control. 21:43 And sometimes that-- 21:44 you know, I think the Pharisees tend 21:45 to be strong willed people, don't you think? 21:48 The Pharisees strong willed people. 21:51 You know, and they were depending 21:52 and we can depend upon what we can do. 21:55 I won't ask those, well, 21:56 of course who are the weak willed individuals 21:58 the ones you didn't lift their hands, 22:00 I'm not gonna go. 22:02 Okay, so we won't go to the process. 22:04 But those of you who are weak willed 22:07 you have an advantage over a strong willed people 22:11 because you already are so close, 22:13 you know you know that you can't do it. 22:16 So you have a leg up in all of this actually. 22:19 And think of it is a blessing 22:22 because you're not caught up with a strong willed people 22:25 trying to do it and thinking we can do it is self-deception. 22:30 You already know that you can't. 22:32 So you're already there. 22:35 So look at it as I said as a blessing, 22:39 a blessing in disguise, I do understand that. 22:42 But nevertheless it is a blessing. 22:44 So we know it's impossible for ourselves to overcome, 22:47 the desire may be present within us 22:50 as Paul said but the doing is non present within us. 22:54 But the second step is we must realize 22:56 where the source of the power comes from. 22:59 And my friend, the source of the power comes from whom? 23:02 Yes, it's Jesus. 23:04 Because Jesus declared all power has been given 23:09 to Me in heaven and on earth. 23:12 We ought not to forget 23:13 what that's really talk about, 23:15 it's not just heaven, 23:16 all powers has been given been to Him on earth. 23:21 So it kills, all powers has been given to Him, 23:26 we have an advantage. 23:29 John 1:12 says, "But as many as received Him, 23:33 to them gave He power to become the sons of God, 23:37 even to them that believe on His name." 23:40 And my friend, if you have entered 23:41 into a committed relationship by faith, 23:44 if you're in a faith relationship 23:45 with Jesus Christ you have received 23:47 Him as your Lord and Savior. 23:49 In receiving Him you have received power. 23:55 Power to become the sons and daughters of God. 23:59 It is a wonderful thing, isn't it? 24:01 And it's so deeply spiritual, 24:03 I like spiritual things 24:05 and this is spiritual, talking about the power. 24:09 You see the tendency 24:10 for us as human beings is to focus in on ourselves, 24:14 our feelings and how impossible this is 24:17 and it's absolutely true. 24:19 If we really know our hearts, 24:21 it is absolutely impossible to change what we are. 24:24 Some people never get beyond themselves. 24:28 Now that's where receiving Jesus gets us beyond 24:33 the reality of who we are. 24:35 As we discovered the reality of who Jesus is 24:39 and what means to us as by faith we're connected to Him. 24:43 And a part of that reality that is ours and Jesus 24:47 is that we have this power 24:51 that is ours in Jesus. 24:55 Not apart, okay? 24:58 And so, since he's got the power 25:01 the second step is we must make a decision for Jesus Christ. 25:06 We must be in as I said a committed relationship, 25:09 a decidedly committed relationship, 25:12 not a vacillating relationship. 25:15 And some people are in a vacillating relationship. 25:18 You know, they're drawn on one hand 25:20 and yet they're whirled in their simple tendencies 25:24 draw them into another, 25:25 they're just kind of waffling in their walk. 25:29 My friend, we must settle it, 25:31 we must settle our commitment 25:33 in our relationship with Jesus Christ 25:35 and He's the one that will reassure us in all of this. 25:42 So we must make a decided commitment. 25:44 It was the Civil War. 25:47 As you'll remember at one point the Civil War, 25:49 the union forces were outside 25:52 of the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia 25:54 threatening this beautiful city of the south. 25:58 And every able body person 26:01 was without the city seeking to defend it. 26:05 A young woman in the interior of the city 26:07 could hear those guns booming 26:09 and you know, it wasn't that far away as I already noted. 26:13 She had been hearing this going on for some time 26:15 and finally couldn't stand it any longer. 26:17 She went over to the stove 26:19 and she grabbed a stove poker and went out of the house 26:22 and head it down the street, she was headed to the front. 26:25 Somebody was coming back into the city 26:26 and saw the look of determination, 26:28 saw that poker and how she was holding it. 26:31 And stopped her and asked her, 26:34 "Where are you going, young lady?" 26:36 And she said with that glint in her eye 26:39 that she was headed to the front. 26:41 And he said to her, "What in the world 26:43 do you expect to do at the front with a stove poker?" 26:47 And she said, "May be not much 26:48 but at least they are gonna know on who side I'm on." 26:52 See, I like that. 26:54 because we often are in a state of indecisions. 26:56 Sometimes we can desolating. 26:59 We have to, some people, 27:01 you know, some people go through a lifetime like this indecisive. 27:05 But at some point we have to come to a decision in Jesus. 27:11 And that's often where the enemy has an advantage over us, 27:15 when we are indecisive, in a state of indecision. 27:19 And my friend, this is something, 27:20 you know, we make a decision in Christ 27:22 but we're giving ourselves to Jesus day by day, 27:26 moment by moment on some level consciously or unconsciously. 27:31 That's what it means to be a Christian, it is opening up. 27:35 It is giving, yielding ourselves to Him. 27:41 And receiving impart His life, 27:44 His love, His grace, His power. 27:48 It's a beautiful thing. 27:51 The spiritual life is a beautiful thing. 27:54 Let's move on to Matthew 8, the New Testament, page 6. 27:58 Page 6, Matthew 8. 28:00 And we're gonna be looking at verse 13 28:02 as we come to our next principle. 28:07 Matthew 8 is the story of the centurion. 28:10 Remember he had this valued servant 28:13 who was deathly ill. 28:15 I mean he was gonna die, 28:16 obviously unless something miraculously happened. 28:19 And this centurion had heard about Jesus 28:21 and he came seeking for Jesus. 28:24 And there's always some encouragement in these stories 28:28 and the gospels particularly, aren't they for us? 28:30 We can relate to this. 28:32 And so he came to Jesus asking for Jesus to step in, 28:37 to intervene in the life of his servant. 28:41 And again there's such deep spiritual lessons in this 28:43 because in fact that's what we've done 28:45 when we come to Jesus Christ. 28:46 We have in our desperation knowing 28:48 that we are dying in our sins. 28:50 We are asking Jesus to step in and to intervene. 28:55 And my friend, we don't have to beg Him. 28:57 He's right there, the moment that we respond 28:59 to His love and grace, He will step in 29:03 and He will put everything right. 29:05 And here it is verse 13, 29:07 "And Jesus said to the centurion. 29:08 'Go, it shall be done for you as you have believed.' 29:13 ' And the servant was healed that very moment 29:15 because you see he did believe in Jesus. 29:19 And when Jesus said "He is healed." 29:21 He took Jesus at his word. 29:24 The next principle is we must have faith, 29:29 we must believe that we will overcome, 29:34 not ourselves, we've already settled that, 29:36 we can do nothing but through His power. 29:39 If we do not believe that by His grace 29:42 and through His power 29:43 and through the power of His indwelling life in us 29:46 that we can overcome. 29:48 If we don't believe we will not overcome. 29:52 And I've seen this over and over again as I worked, 29:55 you know, the years-- through the years 29:57 helping people in stop smoking clinics. 29:59 This is the crucial issue I found, find most often, 30:03 most smokers feel defeated. 30:06 They've tried, they fell. 30:07 The average smoker try six times, 30:09 we know statically before they succeed 30:12 in breaking the habit. 30:13 But I find in most smokers 30:15 there's a sense of defeat up to that point in their lives. 30:19 I remember woman that was attending a series of meeting 30:21 I had in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 30:23 It's the only place where we had back to back series 30:26 separated by three weeks. 30:27 We just had so much interest 30:29 that it was decided we're going to continue on 30:32 and so I did another six weeks. 30:34 This is when I was doing five nights a week so. 30:38 Also it was much-- it's a little bit easer program 30:41 today on people. 30:42 But she had not made a decision the first time 30:46 and I could never put it, 30:47 put my hands on what was holding her back. 30:50 But she did come to the second series 30:53 to hear it all over again, 30:54 which is something to think about. 30:56 And finally it came out, 30:57 I mean she was a Christian. 31:00 And it was this thing, it was cigarettes. 31:03 She finally told me, she said, "You know, 31:05 I had bowed down to the altar over this matter." 31:08 And she felt so defeated, so defeated by this thing. 31:14 She felt shame because she believed that 31:18 as a Christian that she ought, you know, 31:20 she ought to be able to break-free from this habit. 31:22 And she hadn't been able to do it. 31:24 And I tell you this was the central issue 31:26 in helping her. 31:27 And I'm sure it's a practical things with her, 31:29 you know, takes three to five days 31:31 to break the physical addiction once you stop. 31:34 You know, nicotine is very addictive 31:36 but it doesn't take long to get it depleted 31:39 out of your body tissues, three to five days typically. 31:43 But there is of course 31:44 that psychological dependency beyond that, 31:46 so I was sharing all of this practical things with her 31:50 and--but I stopped every day, 31:54 I stopped at her house, I didn't go in. 31:57 I stopped for just a moment, I never asked her, 31:59 "How's it going today? 32:02 What victories have you gained today? 32:03 And did you any defeats today?" 32:07 And so, you know, 32:08 we have developed this open relationship. 32:10 She knew that I wasn't going to give her a bad time 32:13 and she failed, I was there to support her. 32:14 And then I would share a promise. 32:17 And then I would tell her, "I know, 32:20 I know that with God's help, you can overcome this." 32:25 And over the next few days 32:27 I began to see faith taking hold in her. 32:31 I began to see that she was coming to believe 32:34 that with God's help she could overcome. 32:38 And you know what, she did. 32:42 And it was all by God's grace. 32:44 Amen. 32:45 So we must believe if we don't believe it, 32:49 it's just not going to happen, right? 32:53 So it's always a thing, Mark 11, 32:55 the New Testament page 37 32:57 as we go through the next principle of faith. 32:59 Mark 11 and looking at verse 24. 33:05 Where Jesus said, "Therefore I say to you, 33:07 all things for which you pray and ask, 33:10 believe that you have received--" 33:12 and there's that faith factor again. 33:14 "And they would be granted to you." 33:16 And of course, prayer will be an essential part 33:20 of the seven steps of overcoming. 33:24 We must pray, so we must ask in prayer. 33:29 And by the way we must always ask in accordance 33:32 with God's will, right? 33:35 If it is your will, however, 33:37 we must ask the question 33:39 is it God's will that we overcome? 33:43 Is it? Is it His will? 33:46 So we need not attach to that prayer, God help me. 33:51 Help me in this desperate situation 33:53 whatever might be in this wicked temper mind. 33:55 My appetite that's out of control. 33:57 My wicked tongue I just, I just, you know, 34:00 it's out of my mouth before I know it. 34:02 Whatever it may be, we know that it's God will. 34:07 So we ought to be praying about it. 34:09 The Bible says, "You have not, because you ask not." 34:12 2 Peter 1, 34:14 in the New Testament, page 183, 183. 34:17 2 Peter 1:4. 34:20 There is something that we can bring to God in prayer. 34:26 2 Peter and it's Chapter 1 34:34 and find verse 4 there. 34:36 Well, another page here. 34:39 Where it said, "By these He has granted to us, 34:41 His precious and magnificent promises, 34:44 so that by then you may become 34:47 partakers of the divine nature," 34:49 just think of what this is saying. 34:52 By these precious and magnificent promises 34:54 we become partakers of the divine nature." 34:56 That is not saying that we become God. 35:00 But it's talking about the character of God, 35:01 the divine nature. 35:03 "Having escaped the corruption 35:06 that is in the world by lust." 35:09 There is a way out. 35:10 I'm sharing with you the seven principles 35:12 by which we can break that vicious cycle 35:14 that many of us have been on and for decades even. 35:18 This vicious cycle of sin and failure, you know, 35:21 we fall and then we were praying, 35:24 we ask for God's help, 35:25 we get up and we start again 35:26 and before we know it, 35:28 we're just in this cycle, down, up and up and down. 35:33 You know, I'm trying to share something practical 35:35 that will help us to break that cycle inner wise. 35:39 You, if you had that wicked temper, 35:41 as I had to deal within my life. 35:44 My friend, there is a way out. 35:48 You are not doomed. 35:50 To be in a state of frustration, 35:54 trying to deal with a temper 35:56 and dealing with the awful aftermath 35:58 when you blew it. 36:02 You can by God's grace overcome, 36:04 I'm not gonna say it's gonna happen overnight. 36:07 In my experience it was overtime. 36:10 Time's the factor, 36:11 you notice I keep coming back 36:12 to the process, have you picked that up? 36:15 Over time and the assurance, 36:18 remember, the assurance that we have 36:20 at every point as we are growing. 36:24 We hear this. 36:26 If we should die that moment, 36:27 our salvation is secure. 36:30 So we have deep, we have deep assurance. 36:33 Our assurance is not based upon, 36:35 well, if you overcome, 36:38 welcome. It's not that at all. 36:41 But you know when we come to Jesus 36:43 there is this deep heart desire 36:46 that develops to become like Jesus. 36:49 And sin comes to be seen as the hateful 36:52 and hurtful thing that it really is. 36:55 And we realize it was sin that nailed Him to the cross. 36:59 It was sin that brought 37:01 such grief to the heart of Jesus. 37:05 And so we have a longing to be free so that 37:08 we can become more and more like Him. 37:12 That's what we're really talking about. 37:14 So assurance at every step of the way. 37:17 Yes, be assured of that. 37:18 By the way the next point is we must claim the promises. 37:23 The ABC's remember the ABC's, 37:25 ask, believe and claim. Okay. 37:28 And the one that I for years, almost every day 37:32 I incorporate this in my prayer life, 37:34 where it says, "I can do all things--" 37:36 Philippians 4:13, 37:37 "I can do all things through Christ--" 37:40 Christ who what? What does He do? 37:42 "Who strengthens me." 37:43 I'm weak but He is strong. 37:47 I can do all things through Him 37:48 who strengthens me. 37:50 Yes, I know apart from Him I can't do nothing, 37:52 but I can do all things through Him 37:53 who strengthens me. 37:56 And so as I pray 38:00 daily, as I come to Jesus 38:02 and as I acknowledge my failures 38:04 and as I acknowledge my weaknesses 38:06 and I do. 38:08 There are several things that I'm very specific about 38:10 that I'm praying about in my own spiritual walk, 38:13 in my own spiritual life, weaknesses and failures 38:16 and sins in my own life, those simple tendencies, 38:18 I'm praying about. 38:19 And as I come this is one of the promises, 38:22 "Well, Jesus I know that without You, 38:24 I can do nothing. 38:26 But You have promised that I can do all things 38:29 through You who strengthens me." 38:31 And I claim that. That's how I pray. 38:34 I confess, I can't do it but I also confess that He can. 38:40 He can do for me what I cannot do for myself. 38:43 It is a relationship of total reliance. 38:48 It's a beautiful thing. 38:49 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10, it's another one 38:52 that I often reclaim, 38:53 where Jesus is speaking to Paul. 38:56 He says, "And He said to me, 38:58 'My grace is sufficient for you," 39:01 you may think that, 39:02 you know, there's just no way out, 39:04 you know, nobody has ever been through 39:05 what I have been through, or had to dealt with, 39:07 what I've dealt with, 39:08 nobody had the background I did growing up. 39:11 But Jesus said no matter what our life situation or condition, 39:14 He says My grace is sufficient. 39:18 He says in Romans where sin abounds, 39:22 grace does much more abound. 39:25 Those were all promises we ought to know, 39:28 text we've to have in our mind. 39:29 "My grace is sufficient for you, 39:31 for power is perfected in weakness." 39:34 There is this aspect of grace 39:36 that we talked little of that is spoken of here. 39:39 Grace is not only God's unmerited favor, 39:44 unmerited, it is. 39:46 But grace in Jesus also carries with it the power of Jesus. 39:52 There is powering grace. 39:55 "For power is perfected in weakness." 39:58 Think about that. 40:00 It's something about it 40:01 when we come to Jesus in our weaknesses 40:03 and reliance that Jesus will reveal Himself in power. 40:10 So my friend we can put aside the mask, 40:14 we don't need to be pretentious. 40:16 We come to Him as we are. 40:19 In our weaknesses, we acknowledge it before Him 40:23 and by faith we reach out to Him and through faith 40:27 He will again rebuilt Himself in power. 40:32 He says, "Most gladly, therefore, 40:33 I will rather boast about my weaknesses, 40:35 that the power of Christ may dwell in me." 40:38 When we understand and appreciate our weaknesses, 40:41 it is then that the power of God will rest upon us. 40:44 But if we are this self willed, 40:46 strong willed individuals and we think, 40:48 I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna do it. 40:51 Not appreciate in our weaknesses 40:53 we will not experience His power, 40:56 until at some point we are on our knees 40:58 and confessing it, "I thought, Lord, I could do it 41:01 but now I realize I could not. 41:04 Unless You help me, there's no way our of this." 41:08 It's, when we acknowledge and understand our weaknesses 41:11 that His power is revealed to us. 41:15 And so all the glory belongs to Jesus. 41:21 The glory does not belong to us. 41:24 It never belongs to us, the glory is all His. 41:27 And he goes on to say, 41:28 "For when I am weak, then I am strong." 41:30 Then another promise, Ephesians 3:20, 41:33 where it says, "Now to Him," 41:35 speaking of Jesus, "Who is able," 41:38 and my friend be assured that He is able. 41:41 You know that song from long ago. 41:43 He's able He's able I know He's able 41:49 I know my Lord is able to carry me 41:53 through Anyway, He's able. 41:57 And take, takes hold of it. 41:59 His sufficiency that He is able. 42:02 That's my word, listen, He is able to do. 42:05 Now this is active, not passive. 42:07 "He is able to do exceeding abundantly 42:12 beyond all that we ask or even can comprehend, think, 42:18 according to the power that works," where? 42:23 "The power that works within us." 42:25 And who is that power and the source of that power? 42:29 Jesus. It is Jesus, you got it. 42:31 He can do exceeding abundantly 42:33 beyond all that we ask or think. 42:35 My friend, our expectations always come at short 42:38 of what He actually can do for us. 42:41 He actually-- He can do far more for us 42:43 than we can comprehend, 42:45 but we just need to believe it. 42:47 And then the last promise I share with you 42:49 and again it's another one I claim every day. 42:52 Philippians 2:13, 42:53 "For it is God who is at work." 42:56 Who is behind the works? 42:58 Who is actually working? God. 43:01 Is God, now the connections by faith. 43:04 "It is God who is at work in you, 43:06 both to will and to work for His good pleasure." 43:13 And so as I'm praying every morning. 43:17 I say, "Lord Jesus, I give my life to you, 43:20 I commit myself to you. 43:22 And I believe that you are, 43:26 I'm not even asking Him to do 43:28 what He's already doing. 43:31 And I believe that You are at working me to will 43:35 and to do of your good pleasure." 43:39 Because I know, we're helpless. 43:41 My friend, we're helpless. 43:44 And we are in a dependant relationship. 43:47 We're in a dependant relationship, 43:48 you know that, don't you? 43:49 So it's Him that got the will. 43:51 I don't always had the desire 43:53 but you can pray, 43:54 "Lord, give me the desire even." 43:57 Be at work to and me to will 44:00 and to do of your good pleasure. 44:01 And so let's go to James 1, 44:03 the New Testament, page 177, 177. 44:07 James 1:2, 3. 44:11 Where it says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, 44:14 when you encounter various trials." 44:17 Let me see how many of you 44:19 really are jumping up and down 44:20 when you are faced with trials. 44:24 You know just overjoyed, Thank You, 44:25 Lord for this trial in my life. 44:28 Just lost my job, thank You, Lord." 44:33 Now that's not us, is it? 44:35 Now we're in prayer, 44:37 we're in deep darkness and Lord, 44:39 save me, help me. 44:42 But He says, "Consider all joy, my brethren, 44:44 when you encounter various trials knowing 44:46 that the testing of your faith produces endurance." 44:50 And that's why we rejoiced at 44:52 because we know that as we are tested 44:56 and by faith we persevere the result is 45:00 we develop this wonderful quality, 45:03 spiritually quality of endurance. 45:07 And my, friend, we're never, 45:08 we're never going to get through to the other end 45:11 without developing this 45:12 wonderful spiritually quality of endurance. 45:15 And so next we must learn to endure through faith. 45:21 Endurance is something that He will develop within us 45:25 and comes through the experience of time, 45:30 through time. 45:32 I have this theory, 45:34 you know, weakness is often we are born with 45:36 but weaknesses come as we get into temptation. 45:40 And we're given the temptation here 45:42 and the temptation again here and there. 45:44 And in time we become addicted, 45:48 we're in the grasp of sin. 45:50 Correspondently by the grace of Jesus 45:52 putting into practice these steps 45:54 of these principles of faith. 45:58 We meet temptation, by His grace 46:01 we overcome that temptation once. 46:03 You know, what you do once by His grace 46:06 can be replicated a second time. 46:10 And thus a third time and may be we'll slip here 46:13 and may be on occasion we'll slip there. 46:15 But if we keep on this track 46:17 overtime each time by His grace 46:20 when we gain victory we are strengthened 46:24 just a little, a little. 46:27 Next time we meet it and by God's grace 46:30 we overcome it that temptation. 46:33 We're strengthened a little more. 46:35 Overtime that which was a weakness in us will in time 46:41 become a point of strength. 46:45 Okay. It will, I believe that's true. 46:49 Let me take you to Hebrews 12:1 and 2, 46:52 the last one I'm gonna share with you, 46:53 the New Testament, page 175. 46:56 So we must endure through faith. 46:59 But Hebrews 12 47:01 and I share this in every stop smoking clinic 47:03 that I ever conducted. 47:05 Hebrews 12, and beginning with verse 1, 47:07 "Therefore, since we have so great 47:10 a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, 47:13 let us also lay aside every encumbrance, 47:14 and the sin which so easily entangles us." 47:19 And oh, we have our own stories 47:21 that we can relate about. 47:23 How easily we get entangled in our sins. 47:25 "Let us run with--" there's the word again. 47:28 "Endurance the race that is set before us." 47:30 My, friend, this is no sprint, 47:31 this is no one hundred yard dash. 47:33 This is a long distance race that we're in. 47:37 It encompasses the totality of our lives. 47:43 We're in this race. 47:45 And everyone one of us can be victors in this race. 47:50 But you got to learn to run it well. 47:52 And by the way He's the one that ran it, 47:55 the first to run it well, to run it successfully. 48:00 And because He was victorious as I said earlier, 48:03 He too, He's gonna help us to learn. 48:04 He's gonna condition us, He is our trainer, 48:07 He is our divine counselor. 48:08 He is there every step of the way, 48:10 helping us, teaching us. 48:14 And we're learning to learn how to run well by faith. 48:19 Does that make any sense. 48:21 And those of us are running, 48:22 verse 2 says, we have our eyes fixed on Jesus, 48:26 fixing our eyes on Jesus. 48:29 So there's a focus in life. 48:33 You have your eyes fixed on the things of this world. 48:35 But you have your eyes fixed on Jesus. 48:38 It goes on to say, "The author and perfecter of faith, 48:40 who for the joy set before Him endured the cross." 48:45 There's that word endurance again. 48:47 Now think about what Jesus went through 48:49 when He hung there on the cross of Calvary, 48:50 the weight of our sins, of all of us pressing upon Him, 48:54 and that sense of being separated from God. 48:56 That sense of abandonment. 48:59 My, friend, that is what crushed the life out of Him. 49:02 Sin, it's our sins that crushed the life out of Jesus. 49:06 And He said, He set the joy, who for the joy set 49:09 before Him endured the cross. 49:11 What was that joy? 49:14 My, friend, it was the joy of our salvation 49:18 that He will save us 49:21 and that we would be with Him in this glorious future. 49:25 And in a similar way we must endure the things that we face, 49:29 setting the joy that is before us. 49:31 So the last one is we must focus on Him 49:34 and the joy, they'll lose the battle. 49:36 You're focusing on your sins, 49:38 you're focusing on your failures and your weaknesses. 49:41 My, friend, it will keep you down. 49:43 So we need to understand and confess, 49:46 acknowledge our weaknesses 49:47 but we must keep our focus on the joy. 49:49 The joy that would be ours when we gain the victory. 49:53 The joy that will be ours when we stand around 49:55 the throne of God with those crowns 49:58 and hats in hands and we're shouting hallelujah. 50:02 I tell you, that's what keeps me going. 50:05 I know there's a future and I want it. 50:09 I want to be part of it. 50:11 I want to experience what life was really meant to be, 50:14 not the life as it came to be. 50:16 1986, moved to Spokane Washington 50:20 to begin my ministry, 50:21 it's basically eastern Washington, 50:23 the northern panhandle of Idaho. 50:25 So I started there working January 1986. 50:29 And I had heard about Bloomsday, 50:31 ever heard of Bloomsday. 50:32 It is a 10k race approximately seven and half miles. 50:36 I have been running since I was 27, 50:38 but not competitively 50:40 but I determine, I'm gonna run this. 50:42 So I got my training so that several weeks in 50:45 I was at the seven and half mile mark. 50:48 So I was pretty fit and-- but I drove around the course, 50:54 I want to see it. 50:56 And I knew because I've heard about this, 50:58 everybody knows about this. 50:59 It's about 4, 5 miles in, 51:01 it's what they call Doomsday Hill. 51:05 And I knew this is where it was drawing you either, 51:08 we are going to be successful or not. 51:11 And I set this one goal, 51:12 I wanted to run the whole distance. 51:15 I wasn't concerned about time necessarily 51:17 but I wanted to run the whole distance. 51:20 And with excitement, 51:22 some 40,000 people this first Sunday in May. 51:26 That gun went off and the adrenaline was flowing 51:29 and I went out way too fast. 51:32 And part of this is you want to get away from the main crowd 51:34 so you're not getting tripped up. 51:36 So we work away through the crowd, 51:38 the walkers and those who didn't really train but are there. 51:41 But anyway, I went out too fast, 51:43 so by the time I got to Doomsday Hill, 51:46 I was so tired. 51:48 It's about an eighth of a mile steep hill. 51:51 And I felt like my legs were made out of concrete. 51:54 I can barely get one, 51:56 you know, they were begging me to rest, 51:58 they were hurting, they were aching. 52:00 I was so tired, I was so tempted, just to walk, 52:03 I wasn't running fast at all. 52:06 But I was still just barely running. 52:09 But I had this goal, I wanted to run 52:12 the whole thing and I got to the top. 52:15 And I got through the finish line and I've run it. 52:20 Now I ran it again the next year, 52:23 what do you think that did for me? 52:26 I want to tell you I didn't worry near 52:28 as much about that hill because I had overcome it once 52:32 and I knew that I could do it again. 52:36 And my friend that's the way the spiritual life can be 52:39 as we advance in our faith in Jesus. 52:43 I take you again to these seven powerful points 52:45 and I end with one text after this. 52:47 Again, number one, we must sense our helplessness. 52:50 Number two, we must make a decision for Jesus. 52:53 Number three, well, we must believe that we can overcome. 52:57 Number four, we need to be praying and ask Him in prayer, 53:01 claiming those beautiful promises that God has given us. 53:04 And number seven, we must learn to endure through faith 53:08 as we focus in on the joy that is ours in Jesus Christ. 53:12 Take a look at Romans 8 as we conclude. 53:15 Romans 8 is the New Testament, page 124. 53:22 Romans 8, I conclude with these words. 53:25 They just resound. 53:28 Romans 8:31, 53:31 "What then shall we say to these things? 53:33 If God is for us, who is against us? 53:36 He who did not spare His own Son, 53:38 but delivered Him over for us all, 53:40 how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 53:44 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? 53:47 God is the one who justifies. 53:49 Who is the one who condemns? 53:51 Christ Jesus is He who died, 53:53 yes, rather who was raised, who is all, 53:56 who is at the right hand of God, 53:58 who also intercedes for us. 54:01 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? 54:03 Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, 54:07 or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" 54:10 Verse 37, "But in all these things 54:13 we overwhelmingly conquer" How? 54:18 "Through Him who loved us. 54:21 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, 54:25 nor angels nor principalities nor things present 54:28 nor things to come, nor powers, 54:30 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing." 54:34 And can you imagine anything beyond that? 54:37 "Will be able to separate us from the love of God 54:42 which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 54:46 My friend, the deck has been stacked in our favor. 54:50 Go out there and fight the good fight of faith. 54:55 And by God's grace you will be an overcomer. 54:58 Let's pray. 55:00 Father in heaven, we just stirred 55:03 this morning to again to declare, 55:07 to express our gratitude for the debts of Your love. 55:12 And the power of that love as it is that work within us. 55:16 What we hear, we'll confess it. 55:18 We know that without You we can do nothing. 55:20 But Lord, we have made this decision, 55:23 we have entered into a faith relationship with You. 55:25 And we do believe that You have the power. 55:28 And we are in prayer in this moment and we are asking for 55:32 You to fulfill that which You have promised. 55:34 We can do nothing, we confess it. 55:37 But we claim the promise that we can do all things 55:40 through You who strengthens us, 55:41 strengthen us individually, Lord. 55:44 For that individual battles that we are fighting 55:48 and we claim that promise 55:49 that You will continue to be at work in us 55:52 to will and to do of Your good pleasure. 55:56 Keep us by Your grace is my prayer in Jesus name. 55:59 Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17