Participants: Dennis Smith (Host)
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000297
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00:30 Welcome to Faith Chapel.
00:32 I'm Dennis Smith, pastor of the New Haven, 00:35 Connecticut, Seventh day Adventist Church, 00:38 those ready to meet Jesus will be 00:41 victorious over every temptation 00:43 and sin in their life. Do you have 00:46 temptations that seem to overcome 00:48 you continuously? Do you wish and 00:51 desire that you would have 00:53 greater victorious in your life? 00:57 Today's message we've obtained a look 01:00 and see how you're gonna have that kind 01:02 of victorious life in Jesus. Now, let's pray. 01:08 Our Father in Heaven, I thank you that 01:11 through Jesus Christ you paid the price for 01:15 our sin, and that through him we can 01:18 be forgiven and have the assurance of 01:21 eternal life. I thank you also Father 01:24 that on the cross, Jesus broke the power of sin. 01:29 I pray Lord, that as we study your word, 01:33 that you will open our understanding. 01:36 May we hear your word speak to our 01:38 heart, may we receive hope that we too can 01:42 be victorious over every temptation that 01:45 Satan brings our way, in Jesus name, amen. 01:54 The Bible is very clear on the kind of 01:57 life that the Christian is to live. 02:01 When we turn to Hebrews chapter 12 02:03 verse 1 we read: "let us lay aside every 02:07 weight, and the sin which has so easily 02:10 beset us, and let us run with patience the 02:13 race that is set before us." 02:16 Here we find that we are instructed to lay 02:19 aside every weight. And the context here 02:21 of weight is talking about every sin that so 02:25 easily besets us. So, the Bible is clear 02:28 that we are to lay aside the sins that we 02:31 are attempted to commit that we are 02:34 to be victorious. Paul instructs us in 02:37 another place in Romans chapter 6 02:39 verse 11 to 12 along these same lines. 02:42 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be 02:46 dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God 02:50 through Jesus Christ our Lord. 02:53 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, 02:57 that ye should obey it in the lust thereof." 03:03 Now, God would not ask us to do 03:05 something if it was impossible to do, 03:09 but I know many times when we read 03:11 these scriptures it might be a bit 03:14 discouraging you when we look at the 03:15 reality in our life. We also read in the 03:20 Bible concerning those who are ready 03:24 to meet Jesus, you see we're told in First 03:27 John chapter 3 verse 2. "Beloved, now are we 03:31 the sons of God, and it does not yet appear 03:33 what we shall be, but we know that when 03:36 he comes we shall be like him, 03:39 for we shall see him as he is." 03:44 The Bible is very clear on the fact when Jesus 03:48 comes back those who are ready to meet 03:50 Jesus will be just like him. 03:53 And if they are just like Jesus, they will 03:55 not be living a life of well for known 03:58 continues sin. That is really what 04:02 the gospel's all about; Jesus on the cross 04:06 paid the price for our sins. 04:09 The price for our sin was death and so by 04:12 faith in Jesus, we can be free from the guilt 04:15 and penalty of sin that's called justification. 04:19 Also on the cross Jesus broke the power 04:23 of sin and so if we accept Jesus as our 04:27 savior and if we accept what Jesus has 04:30 done for us on the cross. Then the power of sin 04:34 can be broken in our life, 04:38 we read also in Christ Object Lessons, 04:41 page 69 Ellen White says: "Christ is waiting with 04:45 longing desire for the manifestation of 04:48 Himself and His church. When the character of 04:51 Christ shall be perfectly reproduced 04:52 in His people, then He will come to claim 04:56 them as His own." That statement also 05:00 makes it very clear; those who are ready 05:03 to meet Jesus will be perfectly reflecting 05:06 the character of Jesus. And so it indicates 05:10 that those who are ready to meet Jesus 05:12 will have been experiencing the 05:14 victory that God offers to them. 05:17 Now, I don't want you to get discouraged in 05:18 this message today, it is a process but I want 05:22 you to realize today is that there is hope. 05:25 I do not want you to look at your life the 05:27 way it is now and say well I give up I just 05:30 got to wait till the Lord comes to 05:31 overcome that temptation. If you're living when 05:34 Jesus comes and you've come to that 05:37 conclusion you will not be ready. 05:40 That's why this message today is a 05:42 message of mercy; God's judgments 05:44 are coming, but before judgment comes mercy. 05:48 And God is giving a call to his people 05:49 today to come out of their Laodicea 05:51 condition, come out of this sinful 05:53 condition that they keep being overcome 05:55 with, those sins that so easily beset them 05:58 and avail themselves with the power of the 06:00 gospel and be victorious over every 06:02 temptation and sin that, that Satan brings our way. 06:06 Another statement by Ellen White, in manuscript 06:09 161 written in 1887: "He who has not 06:13 sufficient faith in Christ to believe that 06:16 He can keep him from sinning, has not the 06:19 faith that will give him an entrance into 06:22 the kingdom of God." I'm sure that such 06:27 statements can cause us to get a bit 06:29 discouraged, so often in preaching, 06:34 the preacher will tell you, do this, don't do 06:37 that, there will be councils to overcome 06:40 this and overcome that. We try and we fail, 06:46 what I wanna focus on today is how, 06:50 how you can be victorious? 06:52 How you can overcome every 06:53 temptation and sin that comes your way? 06:57 What God is offering to us, is that we can 07:01 live a life where we are not committing 07:03 any known acts of sin, if we know it's wrong 07:06 we don't have to do it. I'm not getting in 07:08 perfectionism, there's been a lot of controversy 07:10 in perfectionism through the centuries, 07:13 but I want you to realize today is this 07:15 plain and simple, if you know it's a sin 07:17 you don't have to do it. That's what God is 07:19 offering to us, so that we can be pure and 07:23 Holy like God says be you Holy for I am Holy. 07:28 God calls us to be a Holy people and so 07:31 we can be Holy and thought in word and in deed. 07:37 David had that prayer in the Psalms, Lord: 07:40 May the words of my mouth, the meditation 07:43 of my heart, be acceptable in your 07:45 sight O Lord, that is what God is offering 07:48 to us through what was made available 07:51 to us on the cross. How can that happen, 07:54 how can we have that kind of experience? 07:57 Well, John chapter 10 verse 10 Jesus gave us 07:59 an insight: "The thief comes not but to steal, 08:04 and to kill, and to destroy, but I've come 08:07 that they might have life, and that you 08:10 might have it more abundantly." 08:13 Satan has one goal for you, Satan wants to 08:15 take you down, he wants to take your 08:18 happiness, he wants to destroy everything 08:22 that's in your life that he can and 08:25 he wants to kill you. Jesus came for the 08:28 opposite, that you might have life and 08:31 that you might have it more abundantly. 08:34 Now, it's hard to have the abundant life, 08:36 if you're continually being overcome by 08:38 this temptation and that temptation, 08:39 this discouragement and that discouragement. 08:42 That's why we must realize the power of 08:44 the gospel that's available to be 08:46 victorious and we must realize what the 08:49 weapons of our warfare are and how 08:51 we can be victorious over the temptations 08:53 that come our way. Let's look exactly 08:59 how temptation works, let's turn to 09:02 James chapter 1 verse 14 and 15: 09:08 "But every man is tempted, when he is 09:11 drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 09:14 Then when lust hath conceived, it brings 09:16 forth sin: and sin, when it's finished, 09:20 brings forth death." This scripture gives 09:23 us a very clear description of how 09:25 temptation works. All of us have a sinful 09:29 nature we are born with it, and there is 09:32 within us an inclination and infinity to sin. 09:37 So, the Bible tells us that when we're 09:40 tempted we are drawn away of our 09:43 own lust and enticed. Another word lust can 09:44 apply in many things, as we often think lust 09:46 is a sexual sin, but it could be lust for 09:49 power, lust for money, a lot of different things. 09:52 And so what he's saying there is that 09:54 when there's a temptation our here, 09:57 there is an affinity in me, there is an 09:59 attraction in me to be attracted to that 10:02 temptation, that's the enticement. 10:06 Every Christian has that. Now there is no sin to 10:09 be tempted but what happens when the sin 10:12 takes place, he says, there is the temptation 10:16 out here, we're drawn away of our own lust, 10:18 our sinful nature, and our own 10:20 sinful desire and enticed. And then it says then 10:27 when it is conceived. Now, when you think 10:29 about conception what happens in the 10:31 natural realm of conception. 10:33 Well, nine months later a birth takes place, 10:37 same thing with temptation here's the temptation, 10:41 here's within me the affinity to it and so 10:46 I'm enticed, you're enticed, whatever the 10:48 temptation is, and if you allow the 10:52 enticement within you, the iffinity 10:54 within you toward that temptation. 10:57 If you allow yourself to go there in your 10:59 mind, conception takes place with that 11:03 temptation and then the scripture says 11:06 when conception takes place then it 11:09 gives birth to the sin for act and then death 11:14 follows that. Temptation begins 11:18 in the mind then, it begins with the sinful 11:22 desire when there's something out here to 11:24 entice, how can I be victorious then 11:30 over the sinful nature that's within me? 11:33 Well, Jesus is our example in all things, 11:36 let's look at the life of Jesus. 11:38 When we go to Luke chapter 3 verse 21 and 22:" 11:44 Now when all the people were baptized, 11:46 it came to pass that Jesus also being 11:48 baptized and praying, the heaven was opened. 11:51 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily 11:53 shape like a dove upon him, and a voice 11:58 came from heaven, which said, Thou art 12:00 my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 12:04 At the water baptism of Jesus, he prayed to 12:06 be filled with the Holy Spirit and to 12:08 answer to that prayer he received the 12:10 baptism of the Holy Spirit. 12:13 That was important when it came to Jesus 12:15 being victorious over temptation, 12:17 because we read in the next chapter of 12:20 Luke chapter 4 and this time in verse 1: 12:25 "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, 12:27 returned from Jordan, and was led by the 12:30 Spirit into the wilderness." 12:33 When we read that section of scripture 12:35 we find that Jesus was led into the 12:39 wilderness to be tempted. Now, he was ready 12:43 for his greatest temptations he was 12:45 fill with the Holy Spirit, the same for us, 12:49 you and I are not ready for the greatest 12:51 temptation to be victorious over them 12:54 until we too are filled with the Holy Spirit. 12:57 It's number one, next let's look how Jesus 13:01 dealt with the temptations as we go to verse 4, 13:06 Jesus was tempted and said: 13:07 "And Jesus answered him, saying, 13:09 It is written, man shall not live by bread 13:12 alone but by every word of God." 13:17 This scripture tells us that when Jesus was 13:19 tempted to turn the stones into bread, 13:22 now you wonder what kind of temptation is that? 13:26 I thought Jesus was tempted like we are, 13:28 every temptation in essence is a matter, 13:31 are we gonna trust God and obey him. 13:34 Jesus came to this world to live like you 13:37 and I live, Jesus laid aside his divinity and 13:41 if he was to be victorious as we're 13:44 to be victorious. He could not use his 13:46 own divine power in his own behalf. 13:49 Now, he had the power to turn those 13:51 stones into bread if he so choose, 13:54 but the temptation then was to exercise, 13:58 to just trust his Heavenly Father and 14:01 kind of take things into his own hands 14:03 same with us isn't it? We maybe tempted to 14:05 disobey God in some way in order to avoid 14:09 some necessity in our life. We may choose to 14:13 disregard God's Holy Sabbath day, 14:15 in order to work as we have to provide for 14:17 our family same essence of temptation. 14:20 We maybe choose not to return any of our 14:23 means to God through tithes and offerings as 14:25 we have to provide for our self same 14:27 thing, take things into our own hands and 14:30 disobedience to God that was the essences 14:32 of that temptation. But I want you to 14:35 notice how Jesus met that temptation, 14:38 he did not argue with the devil, he simply 14:41 spoke the word of God, he spoke the 14:45 word of God that said man shall not live by 14:47 bread alone, but by every word that 14:49 persuades from the mouth of God. 14:51 Very significant point in overcoming temptation 14:54 then we find in other temptation here when 14:57 we go to verse 12: "And Jesus answering, 15:02 said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not 15:05 tempt the Lord thy God." 15:07 Again when Jesus was tempted he did 15:10 not argue with the devil, he did not go 15:12 though things in his mind well should I, 15:14 should I not, whatever, he simply 15:16 spoke the word of God. Now, that is a very, 15:20 very powerful truth in God's word of how 15:24 you and I are to be victorious over temptation. 15:28 Jesus gave us the example, 15:31 when we turn to the writings of Paul, 15:33 we see this very same thing illustrated. 15:36 In Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10 and 11: 15:42 "Finally brethren, be strong in the Lord, 15:46 and the power of his might. 15:49 Put on the whole armor of God, 15:50 that ye maybe able to stand against the 15:52 wiles of the devil." Here we see Paul 15:57 counseling us to depend on God's 16:00 might and God's power again, 16:03 we give our will to God, we make the 16:05 choice to obey God. He provides the 16:08 power, that's significant and then 16:11 he goes on when he's talking about the 16:12 armor of God and when you look at the, 16:15 armor of God, here every part of the 16:18 armor of God is defensive except one weapon. 16:22 And we find what that weapon in when we 16:24 look here at verse 17: "And take the helmet 16:28 of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, 16:31 which is the word of God." 16:33 The one offensive weapon that we have 16:37 is the sword; Paul said, the sword 16:43 is the word of God. Now, in the Greek 16:47 there is a couple terms that are translated 16:51 word one is Logos, which is many times 16:54 translated the written word, 16:56 that's not the word used here. 16:58 The word used here that's translated word 17:00 from the Greek is Rhema and the word, 17:04 the Greek word Rhema carries with it 17:07 the meaning of spoken word. 17:11 So, what Paul is telling us here that 17:13 when we are fighting against Satan and he 17:15 says you know we don't wrestle against 17:17 flesh and blood, now we have an up close 17:19 and personal battle? He says we wrestle 17:22 with the enemy, now I wrestled in high 17:24 school and I can tell you when you're in a 17:25 wrestling match it is up close and personal. 17:28 And you let up for a moment, you're gonna 17:29 end up on your back, it's the same with 17:31 Satan we must be confronting him. 17:34 We must not be afraid of him and we must 17:37 use the weapons that God's given us 17:40 to overcome him and overcome the 17:41 temptations that he sends our way. 17:44 And the offensive weapon that we have 17:46 is the sword of the spirit which is 17:49 according to the Greek the spoken 17:52 word of God. And we see that is 17:54 exactly what Jesus did, when Satan came 17:57 to him and tempted him in the wilderness. 17:59 Every temptation you read it says Jesus said, 18:02 Jesus said, Jesus said in every case, 18:07 he didn't rationalize in his mind, 18:08 he didn't think about it. He didn't discuss it 18:11 with the devil not at all, he went against 18:14 that temptation with the spoken word of God. 18:18 Now, what this is talking about is when 18:22 you speak the word of God in faith, 18:27 what you speak will become a reality in your life. 18:34 This earth was created on that principle, 18:39 when you read the creation in Genesis 1, 18:43 every act of creation began with God said, 18:49 God said, God said. Even the creation of 18:53 man he said, God said let us make man, 18:57 and every act of creation is founded on 19:00 the spoken word of God. So, when God spoke 19:03 the word, he spoke his will of course 'cause 19:09 it's God's speaking and when he spoke 19:11 the will of God he had faith and what he said 19:15 would come to pass and it came to pass. 19:21 That's the exact same principle when it 19:23 comes to overcoming temptation, 19:28 when Jesus spoke the word of God against 19:30 Satan he had faith that word would be 19:32 fulfilled in his life. And so whenever 19:36 temptation comes and I don't care how big it is. 19:39 Mark over and, shared with us the word of 19:43 Jesus where he said, you know if you have 19:45 faith, you can say to this mountain be thou 19:47 cast into the sea. I don't care how big 19:49 that mountain of the temptation is, 19:53 if you have faith he says you can say to 19:56 that mountain, I want notice that, then 19:57 you can say to that mountain be thou cast 19:58 into the sea. And he says, don't doubt 20:01 because if you believe those things you say 20:03 you will have what you say that's written 20:05 in Mark chapter 11. And so the principles 20:09 there again and that was Jesus own words. 20:12 And so when we're tempted and Satan's 20:14 trying to take us down instead of depending 20:17 on our own strength, and on our own 20:18 toughening it out, and our own will power 20:20 depending on God. Speak the word of 20:23 God against that temptation, 20:27 how does that work, lets say Satan comes 20:30 along and you know you've asked God to 20:32 forgive you for some sin. Now, how often do 20:35 you have to ask for forgiveness once for 20:38 any particular sin, but sometimes you do 20:40 something so terrible you may find yourself 20:42 going back again and again for asking God 20:44 to forgive you and Satan's coming along 20:46 and tempting you and saying you're not 20:48 forgiven, you're not really sincere in that. 20:50 And you might get in an little argument 20:52 with them or whatever, never do that. 20:55 Well, scripture could be used to speak 20:56 against that temptation well you could quote 21:00 John 1, First John 1 verse 9:" 21:05 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just 21:07 to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from 21:10 all unrighteousness." So, whenever you're 21:12 tempted to doubt that you're forgiven you 21:19 simply speak the word of God against it 21:21 and you simply say and you can 21:22 personalize it. If I confess my sins, 21:26 he is faithful and just to forgive me my sins, 21:28 and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. 21:30 And when you say it, believe it, that is true 21:34 and what will happen when you speak it in 21:36 faith, it will work back on you and 21:39 become a reality in your life. 21:41 And so your conviction of your 21:43 forgiveness becomes solid. 21:46 Now it, like I say it's a process, it may take 21:50 time in exercising that weapon 21:52 in that area of life. But if you continue to 21:55 exercise the weapons of your warfare to be 21:58 victorious over whatever temptation 22:00 you will become stronger and stronger 22:01 in the victory in that area of your life. 22:05 Lets say Satan comes along and he says 22:08 God's not gonna provide for you, 22:09 you've just lost your job, you got this problem, 22:11 you got that problem. And you're tempted to 22:13 start disobeying God in certain areas of 22:14 your life in order to survive, again you can 22:18 look at your situation, you could argue a bit 22:21 with the devil whatever but what 22:23 could be a scripture you could use, 22:24 you could use something like 22:26 Philippians chapter 4 verse 19: 22:31 "But my God shall supply all your need 22:33 according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus." 22:38 Again we see the scripture Satan tempts 22:40 you to doubt that God will provide for you. 22:43 Go immediately to the word of God, 22:45 take out your sword and go against that 22:47 temptation with the word of God and you 22:49 can even say, I suggest folks, 22:51 say it out loud if you can. 22:52 Now, if you're in a crowd of people you 22:53 may not be able to do that, you can say at 22:55 yourself. But if you're able to speak it 22:57 out loud there's power in the spoken word. 23:00 And when you say it out loud my God shall 23:03 supply all of my needs and you say 23:05 that in faith believing it, it will work back 23:08 on you and it will become a reality in your life. 23:11 That's the principle, that's how it works, 23:15 now Satan comes along to you with, 23:17 with some other temptation of sin 23:19 whatever it might be there is kind of like so 23:21 you can take a general text like over here in 23:24 Romans 6:14: "For sin shall not 23:28 have dominion over you, for you're not 23:30 under the law, but under grace." 23:33 So, Satan comes at you with that 23:35 besetting sin, the sin that you've been 23:39 struggling with and struggling with. 23:41 Instead of looking at your weakness and 23:44 the history of how many times you've 23:45 been overcome with that temptation? 23:47 Again immediately turn to the word of 23:49 God and you can say and you can 23:52 personalize it again, sin shall not have 23:55 dominion over me, for I'm not under the law, 23:57 I'm under the grace of God. 23:59 When you say that you must believe that, 24:03 when you say the word of God you 24:05 must believe what you've just said, 24:08 that what you've just said will become a 24:10 reality in your life. That's biblical, 24:15 that's the sword of the Spirit, that's how you 24:17 use the sword of the Spirit. 24:21 And you may find that, that Satan has 24:23 certain strongholds in your life in Second 24:25 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4 and 5, 24:27 a wonderful promise: "For the weapons of 24:30 our warfare are not carnal, but mighty 24:32 through God to the pulling down of 24:33 strongholds. Casting down imaginations, 24:36 and every high thing that exalts itself 24:39 against the knowledge of God, and bring into 24:41 captivity every thought to the 24:43 obedience of Christ." Wonderful promise, 24:47 you may find in yourself certain 24:48 strongholds, strongholds of, 24:51 of lust, strongholds of addictions 24:55 whatever it might be. You cannot fight 24:58 those strongholds in and of yourself, 24:59 you don't know how to do it, but you can 25:01 turn to God and this scripture that we just 25:05 read tells us that God will pull down the 25:08 strongholds in your life. So, you can turn to 25:11 God believing and you can say that, 25:15 that my God will cast down the stronghold 25:18 of whatever it is, alcohol in my life and 25:23 you can say it believing it. 25:26 I got to cooperate with God, if you got 25:28 to struggle with alcohol, you're not 25:30 gonna start thinking about how good beer 25:31 tastes or whatever it is you like to drink. 25:35 And you're not gonna look at those 25:36 advertisements in a magazine or in the bill 25:39 board wherever it might be to start 25:40 thinking about the alcohol. 25:42 Remember that temptation begins in 25:43 the mind, that's why Paul says in 25:45 Philippians: "Whatever is lovely, pure, just, 25:48 good, think on these things. 25:49 So, we have a part to do to cooperate." 25:52 But as you cooperate with God and not let 25:54 your mind go there, but fill your mind 25:56 with the word of God. Stay close to God in 25:59 prayer and that's an important part of this, 26:00 because Paul said pray without ceasing, 26:03 stay connected every moment of every day 26:07 and when the temptation comes 26:08 God will bring your mind to scripture and 26:11 speak the word of God against that temptation. 26:14 Believing what the word says will be a 26:16 reality in your life, you see if you're 26:21 tempted to do anything you know 26:24 it's not God's will. The good news is you 26:28 do not have to yield to that, the good news is, 26:31 is that you can become just like Jesus. 26:35 And victorious over any and all 26:37 temptations that are seeking to come into 26:40 your life and again I want you to know it's 26:43 not a matter of will power. 26:47 Remember Paul was tempted and he was 26:49 having some struggles and God told him, 26:52 my strength is made perfect in weakness. 26:54 I can tell you the truth, the weaker you 26:56 know yourself to be the stronger the power 26:58 of God can be in you. And so God is calling 27:02 you and me and all of his children to come 27:05 out of Laodicea condition, to be filled 27:07 with the Holy Spirit. To let Jesus live in us 27:12 fully, to become just like Jesus in 27:15 character, in life, in ministry, 27:18 in victory over temptation. 27:20 And to use the weapons of our 27:22 warfare that God is giving us, 27:25 he is calling us to come out of that 27:28 condition, to become filled with the Spirit, 27:30 because he is preparing a people 27:33 for the second coming of Jesus. 27:36 This message to receive the baptism 27:38 of the Holy Spirit and to exercise the 27:41 weapons of our warfare, are not 27:43 simply, it's not just simply an interesting 27:46 message to hear, it's a vital message to accept. 27:49 And I pray by God's grace you'll heed 27:51 God's call, become just like Jesus in your life. |
Revised 2014-12-17