Grace to Fortify You Against Satan's Temptations

Last night at our Wednesday evening service we talked about the fact that the death
of Christ also accomplished power over sin in this life for the Christian.

"From GRBC Doctrinal Statment:

We teach that on the basis of the efficacy of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the believing sinner is freed from the power of sin."

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die;
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
(Romans 8:13, NKJV)

I thought it was interesting this morning that the following prayer devotional arrived. It is helpful to both think through these concepts as well as pray through
them.



Pray for God's Grace to Fortify you Against Satan's Temptations
From Matthew Henrys Method for Prayer

We pray that we may not enter into temptation; Matthew 26:41(NASB) or, however,
that no temptation may overtake us but such as is common to man.
And may the faithful God never allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but with the
temptation provide the way of escape for us. 1 Corinthians 10:13(NASB)
Put upon us the full armor of God, so that we may be able to stand firm against the
schemes of the devil; Ephesians 6:11(NASB) to resist in the evil day, and having
done everything, to stand firm. Let our loins be girded with truth, put on us
the breastplate of righteousness, and let our feet be shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Give us the shield of faith with which we may
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and the helmet of salvation;
and let the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, be always ready to
us. Ephesians 6:13-17(NASB)Enable us to resist the devil, so that he may flee from us; James 4:7(NASB) to resist him, firm in our faith. 1 Peter 5:9(NASB) And may You, the God of peace, tread Satan under our feet, and may You do it soon. Romans 16:20(NASB)

Sins of Omission

James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do
good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Lying, cheating, lusting, and steeling are all sinful
activities. When we think of engaging in sinful activity, perhaps the first
things that may come to our mind is doing the things that we should not do. In
our text, James reminds us that there is another category of sinful activity to
avoid, the sins of omission.

Failing to do the right thing is wrong. The recent sexual abuse scandal surrounding the Penn State football program is a reminder of this fact. At this point there is conflicting information as to what did and what did not happen. The person who apparently first discovered the abuse allegedly reported it to his superiors. Given the nature of the crime it appears that he should have taken more aggressive action to prevent future abuse. He failed to act to the degree a reasonable person should act in protecting the most vulnerable. Those to whom the information was relayed likewise apparently failed to act in an appropriate way in confronting the abuser and reporting his actions to the police for further investigation.

Christians are called to a higher standard. We must not only not do the wrong thing, but we must also not fail to do the right thing.

Put to death the deeds of the body

Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Fighting sin is a matter of life and death. Too often we do not take to heart the reality of this concept. The Apostle Paul admonished us to fight sin. In fact he described his battle with the flesh as giving himself a black eye if need be.

1 Corinthians 9:27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Job made an agreement with God that he would not allow his eyes to wander.

Job 31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?

How can you fight the battle of the flesh?

Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

The more full you’re your mind is with the Word of God the less room you have for evil thoughts.

John Piper gives a practical strategy to fight sin that is worthy of consideration.

We must not give a sexual image or impulse more than five seconds before we mount a violent counterattack with the mind. I mean that! Five seconds. In the first two seconds we shout, "No! Get out of my head!" In the next two seconds we cry out: "O God, in the name of Jesus, help me. Save me now. I am yours."

Good beginning. But then the real battle begins. This is a mind war. The absolute necessity is to get the image and the impulse out of our mind.

How?

Get a counter-image into the mind. Fight. Push. Strike. Don't ease up. It must be an image that is so powerful that the other image cannot survive.

There are lust-destroying images and thoughts.

For example, have you ever in the first five seconds of temptation, demanded of your mind that it look steadfastly at the crucified form of Jesus Christ?

Picture this. You have just seen a peek-a-boo blouse inviting further fantasy. You have five seconds. "No! Get out of my mind! God help me!"

Now, immediately, demand of your mind—you can do this by the Spirit (Romans 8:13). Demand of your mind to fix its gaze on Christ on the cross. Use all your fantasizing power to see his lacerated back. Thirty-nine lashes left little flesh intact. He heaves with his breath up and down against the rough vertical beam of the cross. Each breath puts splinters into the lacerations.

The Lord gasps. From time to time he screams out with intolerable pain. He tries to pull away from the wood and the massive spikes through his wrist rip into the nerve endings and he screams again with agony and pushes up with his feet to give some relief to his wrists. But the bones and nerves in his pierced feet crush against each other with anguish and he screams again.

There is no relief. His throat is raw from screaming and thirst. He loses his breath and thinks he is suffocating, and suddenly his body involuntarily gasps for air and all the injuries unite in pain. In torment, he forgets about the crown of two-inch thorns and throws his head back in desperation, only to hit one of the thorns perpendicular against the cross beam and drive it half an inch into his skull. His voice reaches a soprano pitch of pain and sobs break over his pain-wracked body as every cry brings more and more pain.

Now, I am not thinking about the blouse any more. I am at Calvary.

To read Piper's article in full click on this link.

This Day in History

This day in Christian History


1780 - Pioneer American Methodist bishop Francis Asbury wrote in his
journal: 'My soul is more at rest from the tempter when I am
busily employed.'

Disposing Sin's Dominion

"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts." (Romans 6:12, NKJV)

This Sunday morning I will be preaching on Disposing Sin’s Dominion. Paul’s argument in Romans chapter six is that because we are new creations in Christ we do not have to be captivated by sin. Sin no longer should rule in the believer’s life.

While most of us would agree with this statement in theory, practicing holiness is quite another story. The Puritan preacher John Owen said, “be killing sin or it will be killing you.” It is the Christian’s duty and delight to mortify their sins. It is a duty because we are commanded to be holy (1 Peter 1:16). It is a delight because holiness yields blessings (Psalm 1).

To get the most out of the Sunday morning service prepare your heart for Sunday morning by reading Romans chapter 6. If you are really adventurous consider reading the first six chapters of Romans.

Sin Separates

Sin separates us from God

" Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:1-2, NKJV)

If you have ever felt that God is not listening to you or that He seems far off, it may be time to examine your heart. We know that God is near even when He seems so far away. If God seems distant it is most likely our own sinfulness that causes us to feel that way.
The solution may be to get out the Bible and preach to yourself!

"Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God." (Psalm 43:5, NKJV)