Passions of the Heart - Part 6

All right. Good morning.

We don't have the full group,

and actually a number of our teens are gone

! because of the spring retreat.

So we'll have a smaller crowd anyway,

!

What the cover says, this is not week five, it's week six.

And it's not hope for the heart, it's purity in the heart.

So you can ignore that,

and the rest of the content is in place.

All right?

Let me pray for us, and we will get started.

All right?

Father, thank you for the word that you've given to us,

that living and powerful word of God

that is active, it is effective,

it is working, it accomplishes its purposes.

Lord, I pray that you would help us,

as we seek to kind of wrap up this study this morning,

that you will allow all the pieces

to really begin to come together

as we look at this subject one more time,

and we see how to apply your word

to the truths and to the difficulties

that we experience in this life.

God, I pray in all things,

not only that you would be glorified,

but that your people would be transformed.

Transformed from one degree of glory to the other

because we are moving in the direction of Jesus Christ.

You are imprinting your pattern into our life.

You are making us look more and more like Jesus.

And you are strengthening our testimony

so that we can be the light,

the city that's set on a hill that cannot be hidden.

Help our light to shine brightly for you.

In Jesus' name, amen.

All right.

So this is the last week that we're together,

and I'm grateful for your perseverance

and kind of working through this with me

as we have been kind of making our way

through the last, well, these pathways,

the roadmap that I showed you last week

and these stops that we've taken

to address this significant issue.

It's an issue that all of us struggle with.

We all struggle with sin.

And my guess is that all of us,

at one point or the other,

not have just struggled with sin,

but there have been times

where we've felt like sin has had the upper hand

in our life.

And maybe you felt like,

I want to do what God wants me to do,

but I just can't seem to find a way.

And God wants to not only inform us

to know that he has a solution,

but he wants us to enjoy the reality

of that new identity that we saw

in Colossians 1, verse 13.

Colossians 1:13

You have been delivered from the domain of darkness.

You have been transferred into the kingdom

of his beloved son.

That's the reality for everyone

who has trusted in Jesus as their savior.

And so to live in that reality,

that's really what this has been about.

That's the goal.

That's what we all want to enjoy.

We want to enjoy the benefits

of what he has purchased for us

by his son, Jesus on the cross.

Okay?

Now, this last lesson is full.

I mean, it is packed full.

You may or may not be able to tell

just by looking at the notes there.

But what I've tried to do

is I've tried to have given you

as much of the information

in summary form as I can

because we're not going to be able

to cover it all,

at least not thoroughly in our time today.

But I want you to have it

so you can see it for yourself.

And you have some verses there.

You have some quotes there.

And in each of the main landing points

that we've come to,

there are going to be five strategies

this morning that we're going to cover,

five strategies for helping you

be able to experience

and enjoy the reality

of what Christ has purchased for you

in the freedom

over the bondage of sin,

over the control of sin.

So there's five strategies

that we're going to cover.

And each strategy has little sub points

that you're going to see.

And so I've included

at least four,

or excuse me,

at least two,

but most of the time

four truth-centering points

for each strategy

to kind of anchor your mind

into what does this point mean

and what am I supposed to make of this?

But I want to begin

with this question.

What can change a heart?

What can change a heart?

What does it take

to change a heart?

And maybe the companion question is,

do I need to change my heart?

Fundamentally,

we need to believe

that something has to change

in our heart

in order for anything

to change in our life.

And we said,

going back several weeks now,

that the heart

is the control center.

The heart is kind of

the operating bank.

It is the place

where your desires

give flame

and direction

to your actions.

Because we said,

what we desire,

what we want,

inevitably leads

to what we do.

And so,

we care about our heart.

We need to change our heart.

So what do we do

to fix our heart?

You see over on the left-hand panel,

kind of a cloud of words there.

Okay?

And my guess is that

all of us,

at one point or the other,

have tried to address

or counsel

or encourage others

in their struggle with sin.

Or we have tried

to get help

for the struggles

that we have with sin.

And so,

what we encounter

in that process

are these kinds of words.

Psychology,

understanding identity,

having the right kind

of treatment,

the right kind

of techniques,

this behavior management,

this coping skills.

We often hear

that what we're struggling

with is a disease.

This is behavior modification.

We need some training.

We need to understand ethics.

All of these kinds of words

that help

in the culture

that we're in,

in the places

where you are,

not only to identify

what they think

the problem is,

but also to try

to help provide solutions

to those problems.

Okay?

Now,

I know that

this is early

on Sunday morning.

Okay?

And maybe you haven't

had time

for your juices

to warm up yet.

But,

when you think about

these kinds

of approaches,

what is fundamentally

wrong

with these kinds

of approaches?

And maybe

before we get

to that root problem,

what are some

of the things

that you hear

or even have said

to one another,

here's how you can

find victory

over that issue?

What are some

of the solutions

that we give?

With your phone?

With your TV?

With your,

right?

What are some

solutions that we give?

Okay?

Sometimes we hear

the importance

of therapy.

You need to go

to somebody

who can really

help you with this.

Somebody who really

understands your problem.

Somebody who can

really address

the issues.

Okay, good.

What else?

Hey, yeah,

set time limits

on your phone.

Right?

This is,

obviously,

your phone

is the problem

and what you're

looking on your

phone is the issue

so just eliminate

the problem

and you'll be okay.

Right?

Now, is there

wisdom in that?

Of course there

is some wisdom

in that.

Of course there is.

I don't want to

dismiss that there

are certain helps

that we can use

to help ourselves

create patterns

of obedience.

Anything else

you might have

heard?

Yeah.

Let's find the

right filters.

Let's find the

right blockers.

Let's find the

right app that

can help you

address this

problem and,

you know,

all of you who

have an Apple

iPhone,

you're getting

that weekly report,

you know,

your screen time

and now even

if you have an

Android,

you're getting

what is the

screen time?

What are the,

where do you

find yourself?

What apps are you

on?

How long

you've been

on YouTube?

What's the

social media

usage?

All of these

things that we

do so that we

can find a

solution and so

that we can build

discipline and so

that we can fix

this problem of

sin.

Now we've

recognized,

one good thing,

we've recognized

that sin is a

problem,

okay?

And we're trying

to find reasonable,

practical ways,

solutions to address

the problem.

Those are,

that's good.

But what is the

fundamental issue

with that?

You know,

I couldn't,

I couldn't have

put it any

better.

John,

you hit the

nail on the

head.

We address the

symptoms instead

of the root

causes.

We're trying to

fix the things

we do instead

of addressing the

heart from which

those things

spring,

right?

So if we can

just,

we can just

solve my,

my action

problem,

if I can solve

the sin problem

by the things I

do,

my doing issue,

then we think

we've arrived.

The problem is

that our heart

will find a

workaround.

Our heart will

always find a

way to express

itself to find

satisfaction that

is more

presentable.

That maybe you

don't do those

sins that people

will say,

that's really bad.

What are you

thinking about?

And we even

know in our

heart how guilty

those things make

us feel.

But fundamentally,

what we end up

doing is we

then replace

those offensive

sins with those

respectable sins.

we find another

path.

And, you

know,

I was thinking

about giving an

example.

I think I

probably will.

So,

I won't tell you

who.

Sorry, I'm

trying to think

on the fly here.

For example,

somebody who has

an issue with

alcoholism.

Somebody who

is a drunkard

and knows that

that's a problem.

And it's been

identified as a

problem.

And even

confronted as an

issue.

Well, so,

then I'll go to

a 12-step

program.

I'll fix my

alcoholism.

And that's what

everyone knows

is an issue.

But then it

produces itself

then in

different addictions.

Addiction for

video games.

Addiction for

movies.

Addiction as it

relates to

leisure and

spending time.

But, see,

those are so

much more

presentable.

And so,

those are okay,

at least from

a worldly

standpoint.

But it never

addresses the

heart issue,

as John said.

It doesn't

address the

heart issue.

So, we then

give ourselves

a pass because

we're like,

well, that's not

the bad thing.

I'm just doing

the better thing.

It's the okay

thing.

It's the thing

that everyone

struggles with.

So, you

know, if I'm

just doing the

things that

everyone struggles

with, then I'm

not so bad as

so-and-so.

You understand?

Now, remember,

just for review,

what are those

presentable sins

that we talked

about, those

gateway sins,

those things that

start you on the

path that everyone

excuses, but then

it leads down the

road to these

things that everyone

understands now

is bondage.

Remember?

What were some

of those?

Anger.

Perfect example.

You know, of

course I fly off

the handle.

Everyone flies off

the handle.

Everyone loses

control once in a

while.

It's okay.

That's what people

do.

Just give me a

break already.

What else?

Comfort.

I deserve a

little bit of

satisfaction.

My life is

hard.

Do you

understand how

hard my life

is?

I deserve a

break.

I need some

comfort.

And so we

pacify ourselves.

We give

ourselves a

pass.

And so we

run to comfort

instead of running

to God when

things are hard.

We want to

create escapes.

We want to

pacify ourselves

instead of

anchoring ourselves

in the,

God, this is

really hard and

I know you

can help me.

I know that

you're bigger

than this.

What else?

Remember?

Anything else?

Fear.

Fear is one

and I think we

actually talked

about that as

kind of a

heart motivation

and a lot of

these things are

kind of blurred

together and we

want control.

We are afraid and

so we want to,

again, as it

relates to control,

we want to remove

the potential fear

issues away from

us and so we'll

do what we need

to do to ease

our hearts.

And our hearts

drive us to

sin that we

then excuse

because it's not

so bad as this

other sin over

here.

And so we're

building patterns,

aren't we?

We're building

pathways, aren't

we?

We're teaching

ourselves that

sin is okay.

That certain sins

might be really

bad but other

sins, eh, you

know what?

God understands.

God will forgive

and of course he

does.

God's grace will

forgive.

But as soon as we

come to a place

of saying, you

know what?

I'm okay.

Then we remove

the opportunity for

real change to

actually happen.

And so there's no

wonder why we

continue to struggle

with sin because

we have all these

other sins that

we're just okay

with.

We've just

learned to say,

well, it's fine.

You know, I'll

work on this

eventually but,

eh, you know,

everyone is

struggling with

this so I will

too.

And that's the

problem.

The problem is we

give ourself a

pass.

So what are the

strategies that we

need to put in

place?

And I've already

taken up too much

time so I want to

try to knock these

out a little bit

faster.

First is you need

to become a

disciple of the

gospel of grace.

Become a disciple

of the gospel of

grace.

Now, I know that's

kind of ambiguous a

little bit.

In real practical

terms is learn that

Jesus has answers for

your sin.

And learn that his

solutions are found

in his word.

word.

And it's found in the

gospel.

Okay?

That as we come to

know who Jesus is,

we come to know what

Jesus did, we come to

understand our identity

because of what Christ

accomplished for us,

then we can begin to

enjoy the benefits of

that as we say, no,

wait a second.

God has done this for

me.

God has called me to

this.

God has delivered me

from this sin.

This is the new,

should be the new

posture of my heart.

So, Lord, help this to

now be the expression,

the consistent expression

of my life.

Well, we talked about

the importance of

confession and

repentance.

And again, each of

these are going to have

some truth statements.

I'm not going to be able

to cover them all.

But this first true

statement here is

confession brings sin

into the light where

grace can work.

Hidden sin thrives in

secrecy.

I want us to pause for a

moment.

I think we all would

acknowledge this is true.

We would all say, yeah,

confession is really

important.

So why is confession

hard?

If you're honest, why is

confession hard?

We don't want to see

the truth because it's

stinking bright.

Okay.

I'll get to that in a

second.

What did you say?

Often we don't want to

see the truth, but we

don't want to.

Okay.

So we don't want to face

the reality of what

we're confessing.

We get this impression

that if we push this

down, if we bury it,

that maybe no one will

really know who we are.

No one will really

come to appreciate or

see what we know to be

true of ourselves.

And somehow we feel

like if we don't push

it out in the open,

then maybe we can also

bury that truth.

And it's not really

going to be very real

for us too.

Okay.

So we don't confess

because we really don't

want to admit how bad

things are.

Okay.

Pastor, you said it

was an issue of pride.

Okay.

What about pride is in

the way?

It's good.

Okay.

So we don't want to

confess sin because we

want to give everybody

the impression that we

have it together.

Every time I sin, I

thought it was a good

idea.

Every time we sin, we

think it's a good idea.

And maybe even the times

we know it's not a good

idea, we believe that

somehow this is going to

get me what I want

because God is holding

out on me in some way.

Right?

And that's a real

problem.

Good.

What else?

Okay.

I don't want to bring

it out and now I have

accountability.

It's good.

I don't want people to

know because I don't

want the accountability.

And let's be honest,

confession makes things

really public.

There's no wonder why we

don't confess.

Because oftentimes there

are real consequences

to confession.

confession.

And we think that if we

just live with it a

little longer, people

will not just not know.

God will give us a pass

on that.

And then somehow those

consequences aren't

going to come to bear on

my heart.

One of the things that my

dad said to me constantly,

he says, son, make sure

your sin will find you

out.

Make sure your sin will

find you out.

That's a verse, by the

way.

And that's a good path

because it cuts short

this process of sin

working in our life and

creating bondage and

idolatry and all of that

brokenness that happens

in relationships,

brokenness that happens

with not being able to

serve in the way that we

want to, the testimony

that gets sullied.

And then the longer we

walk down the path, the

more we feel comfortable

with that sin.

And it calluses our

hearts.

And all of that is what

we can relinquish if we

just say, you know what,

I'm going to cut this

short.

It's going to be really

hard, but it's going to be

so much better for me to

just get it out in the

open.

And it doesn't always have

to be out in the open

with everybody, okay?

But getting it out in the

open with somebody who you

have a relationship with

who can really help in a

significant way, helping

overcome that sin, right?

Good.

Yeah, Elliot.

I think sometimes we

struggle with confession

because we don't

understand the events of

others.

Okay.

Think about David.

Yeah, that's good.

And then it wasn't

only for you to not

confess it when Nathan

came to him.

That's good.

That's good.

That's right.

That's good.

And so the blindness of

David's heart didn't start

with a sin with Bathsheba.

Okay?

And that's how it always

is.

The blindness of our

heart starts much, much

earlier in the things that

we give a pass to before

we ever arrive at the big

sins.

Okay?

That's the gateway that

we're talking about.

We give ourself a pass when

it comes to comfort.

We give ourself a pass when

it comes to anger.

We give ourself a pass when

it comes to needing to be

in control and not trusting

God for his provision.

All of those things.

And so we're like, no,

that one's okay, but this

one over here, well, I've

got to stay away from that

one.

But all along, the way we

are cutting these grooves

moves in our life.

There's no wonder why we

end up where we end up.

It doesn't happen overnight.

And so it requires us to

have a very clear perspective,

a very true perspective of

the nature of our hearts

early on so that we can put

sin to death before it ever

becomes a tree in our life.

Okay?

And we're pulling it out by

the roots.

John, just going back to

what you said, we don't

understand the root of the

problem.

We don't understand the

significance of the issue.

We're dealing with symptoms

instead of root issues.

And so we never pull it up

by the root.

We're just kind of, hey,

people can see that.

I'm chopping it down.

People can see it.

I'm chopping it down.

But it never fixes the

root problems.

You know what I'm saying?

Okay.

I love what David says.

He says in Psalm 32, 5,

I acknowledge my sin to

you.

I did not cover my iniquity.

I said, I will confess my

transgressions to the Lord

and you forgave the iniquity

of my sins.

That's the prize.

The prize of confession.

The prize of repentance.

And we talked about how we

need to keep calibrating our

heart, keep tuning our heart

to the standard that God has

given to us.

And that's what repentance

does.

It continues to compare our

life with the standard of

God's word.

And there's a turning.

There's a direction to

repentance.

There's a direction to our

life that happens.

So confession repentance is

the beginning of that

process.

Saying out loud what is

really the problem.

Coming to a place of

admitting that there's an

issue.

Not trying to conceal it.

The next is weakness and

humility.

humility.

Here's a quote from the

book.

It says, victory is not

found in saying, I can do

it.

I can make it happen.

I can try harder.

Or I can be stronger.

Victory is found in

acknowledging weakness and

abandoning self-effort.

What do you think?

Do you agree or disagree with

that statement?

What do you think?

Okay.

Do you agree with that?

Okay.

So it's there in your

guide.

Victory is not found in

saying, I can do it.

I can make it happen.

I can try harder.

I can be stronger.

Victory is found in

acknowledging weakness and

abandoning self-effort.

What do you think?

Is that true?

That's good.

That's good.

Sure.

And probably not just

hard for us to do in

trusting God in that way.

I think it's probably

hard for us to really

understand.

Okay.

Because this doesn't,

this isn't the let go

and let God.

That's not what we're

talking about here.

Okay.

And I think that's the,

that's the opposite

pendulum swing.

We're like, well, I'll

just let go and let God

and I guess if I sin,

then it's God's fault

because he hasn't kept

me from it.

No, that's, that's not

right either.

No, it's not, well, I

can do it all on my

own.

That's the one side of

the pendulum.

Or the God will do it

all for me.

That's the other side of

the pendulum.

It's, no, God has given

me very clear instructions

in his word.

And by his grace, he has

given me the spirit with

all the power I could

ever need to obey the

instructions that he's

given to me.

So I will apply my

heart to know what God

says.

And I will apply my

heart to finding

strength from the Lord

to do what he's called

me to do.

It's not about self-help.

It's about understanding,

identifying God's

strategy and following

the strategy that he

gives to us.

It says here,

self-confidence fuels

failure.

Humility invites help.

pride isolates.

Humility draws strength

from God.

And then drop down to

number three.

Humility keeps believers

teachable and accountable.

Pride resists correction.

Humility welcomes it.

I love what we find in

James chapter 4 verse 6.

James 4:6

And here's where the

gospel of grace comes to

play.

Understanding what God has

done for us.

Understanding the grace

that's available for us

and how we get it.

How do we get grace?

What does grace

accomplish?

Well, notice, he, speaking

of God, he gives more

grace.

Therefore, it says, God

opposes the proud.

He gives grace to the

humble.

So there's got to be a

spot in our life where

we say, you know what?

I cannot do this on my

own.

I am not capable.

This is not something I

can work out on my own

strength.

This isn't something I

can figure out on my

own.

I need not only to

invite the help of the

word of God and the

spirit of God.

I need to be in the

company with godly men,

godly women, who can

help me as I am.

I go in this journey.

But because as soon as

the enemy has isolated

you, and you think you

can do it alone, you've

lost.

At least that's the first

step of losing the

battle.

This really important

passage, 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 12:9

chapter 12, verse 9,

where Paul is talking

about his thorn in the

flesh.

And he says, he

prayed.

Remember, he prays that

God would take that

thorn away, and God

says, I got a better

answer for you.

And I think it's

important to understand

that God did not say

no.

But God had a better

yes.

This was his yes.

He said, my grace is

sufficient for you,

Paul.

You want power?

You want strength?

Well, there's better

strength.

Because my power is

made perfect in your

weakness.

So therefore, I will

boast all the more

gladly of my weakness,

so the power of Christ

may rest upon me.

You know, I don't need

you, God, now.

I understand.

I don't need power that's

resident within myself.

I need power that comes

from you.

And so, I'm praying that

you would remove this

thorn in the flesh so I

can have strength to do

the ministry you've

called me to.

But I'm realizing now,

because you've come and

corrected my perspective,

that I get actually more

power when I'm weak,

physically weak.

I get more power when I

come to the place of my

own limitations.

And I begin to depend on

your sufficiency.

That's what I'm going to

now begin to rejoice in.

Coming to a place of

recognizing our weakness.

Coming to a place of

humility.

Next, we get freedom.

We can't have freedom

from sin's dominion.

You see, Christ has

broken sin's authority,

not merely its

consequences.

Sin may tempt, but it

no longer rules.

That's the reality of our

life now.

Colossians 1, 13 and 14.

He has delivered us from

the domain of darkness

and transferred us to the

kingdom of his beloved

son.

Now, wait a second, Paul.

I'm still here.

How has he transferred me?

What is your problem?

What's going on?

Well, the reality of your

life is that you are in

Christ.

And if Christ is there,

then you are there.

It's kind of the already

not yet that we find

throughout so much of the

scripture.

That the reality has been

accomplished.

And to the extent that in

Ephesians chapter 5,

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

we're already seated with

him in the heavenly places,

actually Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

2, we're seated with him

in the heavenly places.

That's where we are.

In God's mind, that's the

reality that's been

accomplished for us.

We have to not be okay

with sin because we need

to understand that if we're

going to live consistently

with the identity that God

has accomplished for us,

that we've been delivered.

So don't be a walking

contradiction.

Don't be okay by being a

walking contradiction.

All right, moving on.

Living in grace.

Well, what does this mean?

What does it mean to live

in grace?

I like this statement from

the book.

Grace does more than

impart knowledge.

It serves to train the

believer in godly living.

Grace does more than fix

my present sinful condition.

Grace is what fuels

obedience.

As I come to understand

what Christ has accomplished

for me, it drives me,

it compels me to want

to obey him more.

That's how it should work.

Living in grace produces

perseverance, not panic.

failures become occasions

for growth rather than

surrender.

As I'm learning that God

does forgive sins,

then it helps me not to

give up.

It helps me not to feel

like a failure that I'm

stuck.

It helps me understand that

God's grace fixes that

issue in my life,

that brokenness in my life,

so that I can move beyond

it and enjoy the benefits

of that continuing grace

that he has invited me to

experience.

I don't have to be stuck

in my sin.

I don't have to be a

captive to it anymore.

I don't have to feel

defeated because of what

Christ's grace has

accomplished for me.

Does that make sense?

What a beautiful thing.

And because of that,

grace sustains long-term

obedience.

independence.

See, change is not,

change is progressive.

It's not instant.

We want, we live in an

instant world.

We want the instant

product.

But it is a measure of

God's grace to lead us

one step at a time in the

process of sanctification,

learning more and more

about his faithfulness.

Strategy number two.

Strategy number two is to

clean up your life.

Not just be a disciple of

grace, but now take sin

sin seriously.

To clean up your life

through thoroughly and

biblically.

And the standard that God

has given to us is a

standard of himself.

It's a standard of

holiness.

And we're familiar with

what Peter says in 1

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Peter chapter 1.

He says, be holy as I am

holy.

That's the standard.

And we're like, come on.

That's a little unrealistic,

don't you think?

No, it's not unrealistic.

It's what God has called

us to.

And it's so significant

that God actually says,

well, this is my will.

This is my will for you.

1 Thessalonians 4, 3 to 8

says, this is the will of

God, your sanctification,

to be like me.

You belong to me.

You represent me.

And so I want you to

look like me.

So God is intent on

working out this

sanctification process in

us.

And how does it look?

In 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, it says that

you abstain from sexual

immorality.

That each one of you

knows how to control

his own body in

holiness and honor.

Not in the passions of

lust like the Gentiles

who do not know God.

and that no one

transgress in wrong

his brother in this

matter because the

Lord is an avenger in

all these things.

As we told you

beforehand and solemnly

warned you.

For God has not called

us to impurity but in

holiness.

Therefore, whoever

disregards this disregards

not man but God who

gave his Holy Spirit.

Wow.

Someone summarize this

for me.

What is...

Who's interested in

your sanctification?

Obvious answer?

God is.

How interested is God

in your sanctification?

Like what will God do

if you don't care about

sanctification?

Is he personally vested

in this?

You better believe it.

What does he promise to

do for those who are

like, eh, you know,

it's not that important.

What's the word there?

An avenger.

God is personally

going to take matters

into his hands.

If you are not willing

to do it yourself.

Boy, God help me not to

be in the crosshairs of

your vengeance.

Help me to take this

seriously.

Help me to understand the

significance of holiness.

holiness.

And again, holiness,

this is, I think,

fundamentally our problem.

Holiness doesn't start

with sexual immorality.

That's where you're

beginning to cross

the finish line

of that James 1 process.

It starts way back here

with a complaining heart.

with a critical heart.

With an ungrateful heart.

With a, I deserve this

kind of heart.

And this is okay

kind of heart.

An excusing kind of heart.

It starts there,

not here.

You understand?

That's our problem.

Our problem is we're

addressing issues

after we've walked

down the road so far

that we're kind of

already at the place

of that final process

in James where sin

has finally had its way

and it's leading to death.

You're on death's door.

And so you need to back up

and come to the place

of recognizing,

no, wait a second.

It started much earlier

than that and there are

a lot of things I need

to begin to work on

in my life so I can be holy

and then, by God's grace,

this will never be

an issue for me.

Understanding the significance

of holiness.

Next, kill sin.

Kill sin.

Every time we succumb to sin,

we are performing

acts of worship.

Let me read that

one more time.

Every time we succumb to sin,

we are performing

acts of worship.

You are saying,

I worship this, not God.

That's, we understand

how serious that is.

It's idolatry.

It's so easy to excuse

though, isn't it?

And thus we become

a devoted idolater.

Nearly refusing yourself

these pleasures

will never purify your lust

because self has not died.

But when you truly die to self

and to the elemental spirits

of the world,

Paul affirms that

this is the right kind

of death.

For you have died,

he says,

and your life is hidden

with Christ in God.

Mere behavioral modification

and strict self-discipline

without a death experience

will never bring

complete purification.

Kill your sin.

Do not let even

the roots survive.

Pull it out.

Sin must be confronted

aggressively,

not managed cautiously.

Well,

I'm not gonna,

I'm gonna avoid

this kind of sin

because I know

this is wrong.

But this kind of sin,

you know,

it's okay.

Don't manage sin.

Partial obedience

leaves sin alive.

Next,

enliven righteousness.

And here's the beauty

of God's strategy.

There's a both and,

not an either or.

Because the Lord knows

that when we just

remove certain things,

it leaves a vacuum

in its place.

When we just remove

certain things,

then we're left to,

okay,

so what happens next?

And that's what Jesus

kind of describes

when that man

with the demons,

was healed,

right?

And then the demons

come back

and he brings more

because the place

has been swept

and it's clean

and you know

what I'm talking about?

And this is the same

kind of issue,

right?

So we clean our lives

up for a little while

and we just can't

do it anymore

because what we've

been counting on

and relying on

are the self-help

behavioral modifications

of kind of just

not doing this

over here

but it's never

replaced

by new good habits.

And that's the strategy

that God invites us

to enjoy.

Colossians 3, 5,

put to death

what is earthly in you

but it doesn't

stop there.

Put on,

verse 12,

then as God's chosen ones,

compassionate hearts,

kindness,

humility,

meekness,

patience,

bearing with one another

and forgiving each other.

There's this

beautiful strategy

of replacing

those sinful tendencies

with godly ones.

Building new grooves,

new patterns,

new impulses.

Now the impulse

is to do

what is good

and the more

you are involved

in doing the things

that please God,

the more

it invites

your heart

to experience

the benefits

of that

and to want

that more

instead of wanting

the sin.

Strategy number three,

do not trust

the weather vane

of your feelings.

And that's

what we talked about

the first week,

remember?

See,

feelings are

meant to be

tools for you.

They're meant to be

tools to address

or help to awaken

or to see

this awareness

of who you are

and to then

drive you

to dependence

on the Lord.

That's what our

feelings are meant to do.

And we all know this,

that feelings change

quickly

and cannot serve

as reliable guides.

Some of you

are more steady

than others,

okay?

But, you know,

I thought I was

a pretty steady guy.

I thought,

you know,

I'm not very emotional.

I don't cry.

Well,

that's not

the only kind

of emotion

that God talks about.

There's emotional,

emotion of anger

and even as a kid,

anger,

that emotion

was

so impulsive

and it was like

trigger ready,

okay?

That's also an emotion

by the way.

And so I was

a pretty emotional guy

but didn't think

I was.

Our emotions

serve as very

poor guides

to life.

Feelings are

indicators,

they're not

authorities.

You don't have

to believe

that your feelings

must be obeyed.

And here's how

David does this.

What is his strategy?

I love this.

Psalm 56,

3 and 4.

When I am afraid,

I will what?

I will trust

in you.

In God,

whose word I praise,

in God I trust.

I will not

be afraid.

What can man

do to me?

I love that.

Psalm 112,

7.

He is not afraid

of bad news.

His heart is firm,

trusting the Lord.

I will not

let my feelings

have the best

of me,

have their way.

Feelings of hopelessness.

Believing feelings

over God

always results

in trouble.

I love that.

Despair often

follows repeated

failures,

but it does not

define reality.

And in this process

of growing in Christ,

we're going to

continue to discover

how broken we are.

That's okay.

Because where sin

abounds,

grace abounds

even more.

What a blessing

that is to us.

But it's not

now a license

for us to continue

to sin.

Or to feel

the sense of hopelessness

when I'm like,

I just can't seem

to find victory.

Well, God has answers

and I'm going to

trust Him

for those answers.

So past sin

does not negate

present grace.

God's grace

is there.

It's present.

It's available.

It's ready

to meet you.

Again,

Psalm 27,

Psalms 27:13

verse 13.

These are a couple

of my favorite

verses in the Bible.

I would have lost

heart unless I had

believed that I

would see the

goodness of the

Lord in the land

of the living.

So then what do we

do?

You wait on the

Lord.

You be of good

courage.

Wait, I say,

on the Lord.

He settled his

heart on the truth

of who God was.

And regardless

of what was

taking place

around him,

he was steady.

Man, I want that.

I want that

steadiness.

I don't want to

be tossed about

my feelings

becoming now

the thing

that I have

to obey,

the authorities

in my life.

Number four,

strategy four,

be vigilant

about occasions

of temptation.

Temptation is

strongest when

opportunity meets

vulnerability.

wisdom recognizes

patterns,

environments,

and situations

that consistently

weaken resolve.

Come to a place

of knowing and

seeing.

Become aware

of the patterns

where you are

most vulnerable.

Those relationships

that often lead

you into sin,

those places

that lead you

into sin,

those private

occurrences

where you are

and knowing

I often

fall here,

I need to

find a solution.

I need to

run.

And I love

how Paul puts

it.

He doesn't say

stand up

against sinful

lust.

He says flee

sinful lust.

We often have to,

that's the best

strategy.

That's the strategy

we need to

employ most

often,

I think.

Fleeing

youthful lust.

Finally,

sorry we've

gone so quickly.

There's so much

here.

Man,

there's so much

I wanted to

cover,

but I'm

already taking

you too long.

Finally,

learn to

trust the

Bible,

the Bible

teaching church.

God has

graciously

given us

one another.

You are a

gift to me.

You are a

gift to one

another.

I am a

gift to you.

And God has

put us

together.

And as we

try to

conquer sin,

we're going to

find most

often that when

we isolate

ourselves,

then we become

vulnerable.

We open

ourselves up to

danger.

That is when

times are most

perilous.

And that's what

Satan wants to

do the most.

He wants to

separate you,

to isolate

you,

to make you

feel one way

or the other

either you're

strong enough

or that you're

too weak and

it's not worth

the effort.

One of those

two extremes.

He wants to

get you on

your own.

But God,

by his grace,

has given us

the church.

The church is

part of the

gracious provision

of God for

every Christian

who is struggling

with debilitating

sin.

It provides

positive examples

to follow as

well as

authoritative,

loving,

accountability.

God's gracious

gift to you

is his people,

the church.

And the more

we understand

that,

the more we'll

enjoy the

benefits of

freedom from

sin and the

grace that God

has given to

us.

It is a

gracious thing

that God has

given us,