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How to Overcome Sin in our Lives. Step #3: In a time of testing – Keep your mind focused on God’s Truth

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 14, 2010|

[rewritten]

Last week we began looking at five specific steps that we can take to overcome sin in our lives.

The first two steps have to do with getting ready for testing. First, we need to understand what God’s will is, and acknowledge our weakness to do what God says. Second, we need to remain alert in prayer for times of testing and trial. We have to be vigilant and ask God to spare us testing lest we fail him.

In a test –

Satan will attack our thinking

He seeks to deceive and confuse us; to twist up our thinking so that we will fall into sin. As Jesus said, he “has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him” – John 8:44.  Revelation tells us that he is “the deceiver of the whole world” – Revelation 12:9.

He will try anything and everything to make us doubtful about God’s path. He will put thoughts in our head, speak to us through other people, and he will even quote Scripture, in a distorted way, as he did with Jesus in the wilderness – Matthew 4. Whatever it takes.

He wants to get us to think that it’s alright to sin. You know how we often rationalize our wrong choices. We offer up “reasons” to justify why we are doing what it wrong. We might ask, ‘it isn’t really a sin, is it?’ Or we might say, ‘certainly under these circumstances it’s OK.’ Or, ‘so and so does it and they are Christian.’ He will do whatever it takes to get our thinking distorted. He uses the influence of the world to deliver these messages.

It’s a battle that goes on in the mind. And let’s face it, when we are in a test; when we are in a difficult situation that is putting pressure on us – we want to find a way out. Our flesh is weak and this is the kind of thing we do all the time.

Here are some examples of this:

  • Drug/alcohol abuse. You have just had a bad family fight, and you think, ‘It’ll just be this one time to get me through. Then I’ll stop again.’
  • Sexual temptation. You know pornography is wrong but you innocently stumble onto some online. You think, ‘I wasn’t looking for it.’ And then you linger for a while and enter into lust.
  • Anger. You struggle with outbursts that hurt others and damage your relationships and you have committed to stop. But then, you are in a situation where feel someone has really falsely accused you. You think, ‘God will understand. I’m just correcting an injustice. This is different.’ And then you blow up.
  • Gossip. A friend entrusts you with their private information. You know gossip is wrong, but when you are with some other friends and they start to ask you about this person, pushing you for something juicy, you think, ‘The information isn’t really that bad and besides, these people can pray for my friend.’

In each of these cases, we know what is right. But we allow our thinking to become distorted, and in this way we excuse our sinful choices.

Learning from Jesus

Jesus faced this battle of the mind throughout his ministry. Satan sought to get him to put aside God’s will for his life. We learn from Jesus’ responses, how to respond ourselves. Two things stand out:

1. Counter Satan’s deception with the truth. In Matthew 4:4-10 Satan was trying to cause Jesus to stumble away from the path of the cross. For instance, in the third test he basically says, ‘If you worship me, I will give you the power and authority of the nations.’ In other words, you don’t have to die to get it.

Well, each time Satan came at him, Jesus responded, “It is written . . ..” He countered Satan’s suggestion with the truth of the Scriptures; by quoting Scripture.

In the same way, we can quote or read aloud or meditate on Scriptures that pertain to what we are  struggling with. To use our previous examples:

  • Drug/ alcohol abuse – Galatians 5:19-21. It is written about drunkenness, “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” This lays out God’s will in quite black and white terms. It is not God’s will for me to abuse drugs.
  • Sexual temptation – Matthew 5:28. It is written, “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This is not God’s will for me.
  • Anger – James 1:20. It is written, “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.” There is another way than angry outbursts.
  • Gossip – Romans 1:29-32. It is written of those who gossip, “those who practice such things deserve to die.” It is serious and it goes against God’s will.

By repeating the truth of God is this way, we keep our minds thinking God’s thoughts and dispel the deceptions of Satan.

We also learn from Jesus to 2. Tell Satan to stop and go away. In Mark 8:31-33 when Jesus told his disciples that he must die on the cross, Peter came to him and rebuked him, saying that this must never happen. Jesus heard the voice of Satan as Peter spoke to him.

So he rebuked Peter and Satan as well. He said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” – v. 33. He is saying to Satan, “No!” “You are wrong!” And he tells him to “get behind me,” that is, to go away. We also see this in the wilderness testing of Jesus, where he said to Satan, “be gone” – Matthew 4:10.

In the same way, we can also tell Satan to stop and go away when he tries to confuse and deceive us. We have the authority to do this in Jesus. As he said in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” We can simply say, “Depart from me in the name of Jesus!”

A note: Often when people talk about speaking to or rebuking Satan, things can get kind of crazy. You often hear Satan ridiculed, made fun of, or put down in various ways. I just want to be clear – we are never to do this. It’s not our place. It is God’s place to do this.

We should learn from Jude 1:9 which says, “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (NIV). If Michael is careful how he speaks to Satan, so should we be. The proper response is simply to rebuke Satan. That’s all that’s needed.

I want to continue to illustrate each step that we look at with –

Peter and Jesus

 First we look at Peter’s failure. Peter was not focused on God’s truth. In fact, he didn’t even think that it was God’s will for Jesus to die on the cross. Earlier, when Jesus first told his disciples that he had to die, Peter responded -”Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you” – Matthew 16:22. At Jesus’ arrest he still believed this. . Thinking that Jesus was about to start a war, he acted in the flesh to cut off the man’s ear, who had come with those who sought to arrest Jesus – Mark 14:47. He entered the test confused, and so he had no chance. He had already lost the battle of the mind.

 Jesus’ example. Jesus, however, stayed focused on God’s truth. After he prayed three times to see if God would change his mind, and God did not, Jesus went forward to do God’s will.

As the soldiers arrested him he said, “let the Scriptures be fulfilled” – Mark 14:49. And he carried this attitude all the way through to his death on the cross.

Not that he wasn’t tempted further to rationalize a way out:

  • Jesus certainly would have heard the voice of Satan when the Jewish and Roman authorities asked him to defend himself at trial. ‘You don’t have to die! Just say the right words and you can live.’ And he probably could have.
  • And he certainly heard the voice of Satan when he was on the cross and various ones said to him, “Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” – Mark 15:32. They were mocking him, but what if he had come down? He could show them the truth once for all.

But Jesus didn’t listen to Satan. He didn’t listen to the world. He kept his mind focused on God’s truth and he walked the path of the cross.

Let me end by asking –

Are you focused on God’s truth?

When Satan tries to get you to rationalize choosing to sin:

1. Do you counter with the truth of Scripture? Do you know what the Scriptures say in your area of struggle? When you are in a test do you bring these Scriptures to mind?

2. Do you tell Satan to stop and go away? Do you follow the example of Jesus? And do you stand in the authority of his name to tell Satan to leave?

I encourage you to put this step into practice this week.

William Higgins

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How to overcome sin in our lives. Getting ready for testing – Steps #1 & #2

Posted in Mark 14, tagged , , , , , on February 7, 2010|

[rewritten]

Let me begin with a question – What sins are you struggling with? You know, things you know are wrong, but continue to choose to do. Is there one in particular?

Perhaps you feel like you don’t even have control over it anymore; that you are a slave to your sin. Like Paul says in Romans 7:19 – “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want, is what I keep on doing.”

In the next few weeks, I want us to look at five specific steps that you can take to be free; to overcome your sin. These steps come from looking at Jesus as he faced the cross -primarily from Mark 14:26-72. Here he was tested as to whether he would stay true to God and go to the cross. And we learn from his example, how to overcome in our own areas of struggle.

We will also look at Peter as a contrast case. He was tested to see whether he would stay true to God by standing with Jesus, even if it got him killed. He did not overcome. We can also learn from, and identify with him.

I encourage you to keep in mind the area of weakness you have identified and as we go through this, apply it to your situation.

We begin with –

Step #1. Understanding what God’s will is, acknowledge your weakness to do what God says

We learn what God’s will is primarily through studying the Scriptures. As Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” We especially need to learn from Jesus and the New Testament, since Jesus gives us the complete and final revelation of God’s will for us.

Once we begin to understand God’s will, it will become apparent that we don’t measure up.

It’s just like Jesus said, “The flesh is weak” – Mark 14:38. Weak that is, in terms of doing God’s will. We sin very easily, especially in a time of testing when we are put under pressure.

In humility we need to recognize this. As Paul said, “let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” – 1 Corinthians 10:12. As Proverbs says, “Pride goes before a fall” – Proverbs 16:18. Our pride will kill us.

But if in humility we are rigorously honest with ourselves – God can help us.

Peter’s failure. He was confused about God’s will. Before he got to Gethsemane, he didn’t think Jesus had to die on a cross. In fact, he rebuked Jesus when he said he had to die – Mark 8:33. Despite hearing Jesus’ repeated teaching, he thought Jesus would be a warrior Messiah and he would fight alongside him.

But not only is he confused, he was overconfident. He saw himself as strong. He said to Jesus, “Even though they all fall away (the other disciples), I will not.” – Mark 14:29. And he said, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you” – Mark 14:31. Peter doesn’t acknowledge his weakness.

Jesus’ example. He knew God’s will for his life. Before he ever got to Jerusalem he told his disciples, “The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him.” – Mark 10:33-34. (In our story Jesus quotes Zechariah 13:7 – Mark 14:27)

And Jesus was upfront that this would be hard. Just as he said to Peter and the others, “The flesh is weak” – Mark 14:28. Jesus didn’t want to die the shameful death of a criminal on the cross. He didn’t want to be abandoned by God. He didn’t want to come under the judgment of death. Mark tells us that he “began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.’” – 14:33-34. He knew it would be hard.

Step #2. Remain alert in prayer for times of testing and temptation

At Gethsemane Jesus told the disciples “keep alert and pray that you might not enter into testing” – Mark 14:38.

As we saw last week, Satan comes before God requesting permission to test us. He wants to test us in order to cause us to sin, so that he can condemn us before God. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that he “prowls around like a lion, seeking someone to devour.”

So, since we know that we are weak and the enemy is trying to destroy us, we should look to God in prayer (Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 4:2) and specifically we should ask to be spared testing and temptation. We need to counter Satan, by asking God, “do not lead us into testing but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13), as Jesus teaches in the Lord’s prayer, and as he told the disciples in our story. We are saying, ‘God, the enemy is powerful and I am weak. Have mercy on me. Don’t let me be tested, lest I sin against you.’

Now sometimes in mercy God will answer our prayers and we will be spared. And who doesn’t want to be spared going through difficult situations? Why wouldn’t we be praying this all the time?

But even if God allows us to go through testing, because he knows we can handle it, and he wants us to grow in character and godliness – we will be ready, being alert and prayerful. We will recognize what is going on when it confronts us.

Peter’s failure. He was not spiritually alert to what might come his way. In fact, he was literally asleep – Mark 14:37. Jesus found him asleep three times.

Although Satan had obtained permission to test him, as Jesus said in Luke 22:31, he didn’t ask God to spare him testing, asking for God’s mercy.

The final time that Jesus woke Peter up he said, “The hour has come” – Mark 14:41. It was too late to get ready. There Peter was in the test of his life – confused and unprepared.

Jesus’ example. Jesus was alert and knew what was coming. And so he prayed to be spared. He prayed that “the hour might pass from him” – Mark 14:35. He prayed fervently, three times, “remove this cup from me” – Mark 14:36, which is another form of the prayer “do not lead (me) into testing.” He asked for God’s mercy.

And when God didn’t intervene to offer up another way, he was ready and accepted the test.

Now sometimes in mercy God will hear us and answer our prayers. But God will not always spare us testing, as in the case of Peter and Jesus. They were both tested. When this happens, if we have watched and prayed ahead of time, at least the test will not catch us off guard. We will be alert and prayerful as we enter into it.

Let me end by asking –

Are you ready for a time of testing?

Are you acting ahead of time knowing that there will be tests and struggles ahead? So many times the battle is lost before we even get to the test, because we haven’t done what we could have done ahead of time.

  • Do you understand what God’s will is?
  • Are you aware of your areas of weaknesses in doing God’s will?
  • Are you alert in prayer?

These are specific things that you can do before a test, before Satan pressures you and entices you to give in to the weakness of your flesh. I encourage you to put them into practice this week.

William Higgins

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How Satan and Testing Work

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on January 31, 2010|

[re-written]

We are continuing on in our series – How to Overcome Sin in Our Lives, or how to get rid of sinful behaviors and habits that have taken root in our lives. We have heard the call to stop sinning – to put away those sins that we know about and yet choose to do anyway. And then, what we are doing, both last week and today, is laying some groundwork for understanding how to be free.

Last week the topic was, ‘How sin works.’ We talked about where sin comes from and why we sin. Today our focus is on, ‘How Satan and testing work.’ I want us to see, not just what goes on in our hearts with regard to sin, but what happens outside of us that can influence us to sin.

We have to recognize the reality and power of evil that is around us, that goes beyond just human evil; that is much deeper and darker. We can’t see it with our eyes directly, but it is real nonetheless.

There is a war going on in the spirit realm. And we are a part of it whether we know it or not; whether we act to defend ourselves or simply get swept away by it. Paul says in Ephesians 6:11-12, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

But first a brief word about –

God and testing

Even as Christians, who seek to do God’s will, we have to confess that without God’s help we are mere flesh – weak and given to self-centeredness and pride.

But God wants us to grow and to come to a place where we humbly rely on him in our weakness, and to be transformed so that we find our true fulfillment in doing his will. And this is why he allows us to be tested – that is, to go through hard times and difficult struggles. He does this for our own good. As Hebrews 12:10 says, he tests us “for our good, that we may share his holiness.” Even Jesus was tested as Hebrews 5:8 tells us.

Satan and testing

Satan, however, the one who actually tests us, has a different agenda. Being aware of our weakness and pride – he uses testing to lead us to sin, judgment and destruction.

In God’s order of thins, Satan is a prosecutor. His job is to find evil, bring it to God’s attention and then punish it. This is what we see him doing in Job 1-2, seeking to test Job.

Although Satan has a role to play in God’s scheme of things, Scripture is clear that he is evil.

  • Jesus calls him the “evil one” – John 17:15.
  • Jesus tells us that he was “a murderer from the beginning” – John 8:44.
  • And Scripture tells us that he has been “sinning from the beginning.” – 1 John 3:8.

God may use him, but he has his own agenda which is opposed to God – and us. This is how he works:

1. He asks God’ permission to test us. We see this happening with Job in Job 1:9-11. Job is a good man, but Satan thinks that if his life is made hard, that he will show himself to be bad. This is also the case with Peter and the other apostles when Jesus was arrested. Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat” – Luke 22:31. He sought permission to test them.

2. He tries to catch us unprepared for testing. Peter says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” – 1 Peter 5:8. Satan is like a lion, who picks off the weak and the unprepared. He tries to catch us unaware, off guard, complacent, ignorant, proud or weak, so that he can devour us.

This is why Peter says that we are to be sober-minded and watchful. If you knew a hungry lion was in the area looking for food, would you not be alert? Well, spiritually speaking, there is one.

3. He tests us. This is when we are put in a difficult situation that puts pressure on us to sin; where the desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit come into clear conflict – and we have to choose. We will either look to God for help or give in to sin. We will either move forward with God or backward with Satan. And he banks on the latter being the more common response.

This might be persecution as in Revelation 2:10, which says, “Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested . . ..”  It might be difficult life circumstances as in Matthew 4:1-11, when Jesus was tested in the wilderness.

4. He distorts the truth. He lies, deceives and in general seeks to confuse us with regard to God’s truth and God’s will for our lives. He can even quote Scripture, but with the wrong sense, to lead us astray, as he tried when he encountered Jesus in the wilderness.

Jesus tells us that he “has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” – John 8:44. Paul tells us that he “has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ”  – 2 Corinthians 4:4. We are also told that he is “the deceiver of the whole world” – Revelation 12:9.

He does all this to lead us to sin. He doesn’t want us to know God’s will, lest we choose to do God’s will; lest we come to understand the gospel and God’s plan for our lives. And if we know God’s will he wants to confuse and deceive us.

5. He entices us to sin. As we struggle during a test, he tells us, ‘It’s OK, it won’t hurt you,” or, “everyone else is doing it.’ He will tell us anything to get us to sin. For instance, he spoke through Peter to Jesus – ‘you don’t have to go to the cross’ – Mark 8:32-33. 

6. Satan uses “the world” as he tries to lull us into complacency, as he distorts the truth and as he tests us.

The world, in the New Testament, often refers to all the people, values and ideas in the world that are not submitted to God, indeed that oppose God and God’s will and walk in their own way.

Satan is closely connected to the world. He is called:

  • the “god of this world” – 2 Corinthians 4:4.
  • the “ruler of this world” – John 16:11.
  • we are told that he rules over the nations of the world  – Luke 4:5-6.
  • And we are told that “the whole world lies under the power of the evil one” – 1 John 5:19.

And the world is all about pressuring us to sin. As Jesus said in Matthew 18:7, “Woe to the world for temptations to sin!” That’s what the world does.

So as it ruler, Satan uses the world as his instrument, to put further pressure on us to sin. The world teaches us that sin is normal and OK. And if we try to live according to God’s will, the world pressures us to conform to it. This is peer pressure to fit in; to go along with the crowd; not to be made fun of, or ostracized.

If we do give in to the desires of our flesh and sin, under pressure from a test and the influence of the world –

7. Satan turns on us and accuses us before God

Zechariah 3:1 tells us about how Satan stood before God and accused Joshua the high priest of sin. Revelation 12:10 calls Satan the “accuser of the brothers” and tells us that he accuses us “day and night before our God.” Again, he is like a prosecutor seeking our condemnation for our sins.

And once this condemnation is secured –

8. Satan becomes an agent of God’s judgment

Paul says that when we sin, “we give opportunity to the devil” – Ephesians 4:27; we open the door to let the destroyer come into our lives. He, then, holds us under his power. Paul talks about those who are snared by the devil; “captured by him to do his will” – 2 Timothy 2:26. Finally, he has been given the power of death to punish us – Hebrew 2:14. In this verse he is described as “the one who has the power of death.” He works in our lives to bring us to the final destruction of eternal death; the final judgment.

Conclusion

In 2 Corinthians 2:11 Paul talks about not being “outwitted by Satan.” He goes on to say that he is not “ignorant of his designs.” I have shared this with you today because I don’t want you to be outwitted or overcome by his designs and schemes.

Yes, we have a powerful enemy; one who seeks our destruction. But the good news is that although Satan is powerful – Jesus overcame him by the authority he has and the truth of God so that he did God’s will. And Jesus shows us how to follow in his path to be overcomers as well. And this is what we will look at next time.

William Higgins

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