Step Two - The Power to Resist
Resistance is Futile
This may sound odd at first glance, but resistance is not the key to resisting. The Bible gives the key to resisting temptation in James 4:
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Many people believe in error that if we resist temptation the devil will flee from us, but that is not what this passage is telling us. The focus of this passage is humbling ourselves and submitting to God. When we draw closer to God, He gives us the power to resist and the devil flees from the power of God, not our resistance. I know that when I resist, the devil does not flee, but continues to pound away at my weaknesses until I give in. Resisting temptation is like pushing a weight off our chest. At first, I may be strong and able to resist, but in time I get weaker and more fatigued until, in a moment of weakness, I give in. As long as my focus is on resisting, I am standing by my own strength. When my strength fails, I fall.
God’s way is a complete paradigm shift from the way we think. Instead of facing temptation and trying to push away, we turn from temptation and draw near to God. Then we have the absolute promise that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Our relationship with God must come first. We were created to have fellowship with God. Anything that does not center around that relationship will fall short. When I am standing in my own strength, I don’t recognize my need for God. The Bible says, "let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall". God does not give grace to those who think they are self-sufficient. God resists the proud. Anytime we take total dependency on God out of the picture, we have cast our lot in with the proud. Humbling ourselves before God is the first principle of living by God’s grace.
Changing behavior is only a weak, temporary change. Changing behavior does nothing to change who we are. Changing the outside is temporary if the inside remains the same. Scripture puts it this way:
Proverbs 26
11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.
12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
2 Peter 2
21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."
If you do not let God change you on the inside, you will keep returning to the sins that destroy your life. Changing the outward actions means little unless there is a change of desires. If our focus is on the world then we will continue to be drawn in that direction. Where your eyes are, your feet will follow.
Changing Focus
The reason we struggle to resist temptation is because our desire resides in the world. When we draw our desires from the world, we will be at odds with God. James 4 also tells us:
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
As long as we desire the world, we will be double-minded - or have a divided allegiance. The Bible also tells us that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. If we desire temptation and try to resist, the battle is already lost. All we are looking for is justification. Once we begin to justify our actions, repentance is lost. The Bible clearly teaches that God is patient and leads us through our struggles to overcome temptation. However, the Bible also teaches that if we justify our sins, and try to use Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as holy washrag, we are living a lie. The purpose of the cross is to cleanse our sin so that we can have a relationship with our Creator. If we are looking for anything short of a relationship with God, we are abusing the cross. We may feel justified, but we are not justified. 1 John 1 says:
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
We can’t continue to walk in darkness - or living a lifestyle of sin - and claim to know God. There is a big difference between struggling and rebelling. We all struggle to overcome. Struggling has a focus beyond myself and centered on reaching for a closer relationship with Christ. Rebellion is turning by back on God and rejecting His commands to live holy. I may hate my sinful habits and still long for the sin. Satan continues to walk beside us and paint a rosy picture of sin. Satan does not want you to see the end result, but the 2 inch view and only look at the pleasure, not the consequences. On the other hand, God shows us that the end is better than the beginning. It is better to sacrifice now if it means a great inheritance later. The enemy tries to blind us to the future inheritance or consequences of our actions and only look at the pleasure at hand. What the devil does not reveal is that the illusion is all there is. It is a mirage that implies something that does not exist. There is never true satisfaction outside of God. Sin can gratify, but it cannot satisfy. There is a big difference. Gratification is the ’saturation point’ - the point where we no longer desire and may even have a temporary feeling of satisfaction. But as the feelings fade, emptiness returns.
All pleasure was created by God and is good inside His design. Pleasure was never intended to be our focus, reason for living, or the object of our desire. When living for pleasure is our first love, and the moment is gone, our focus and reason for living is gone. We must find another focus or be consumed with emptiness. For this reason, people crowd their lives with materialism and pleasure. They can’t be quiet for long because there is no real peace unless they are constantly in the process of ’getting’.
Temptation is like a Saturday morning commercial. When I was a child, I saw a commercial for a toy. In the commercial there were smiling, jumping kids surrounding this toy. It brought them excitement, joy and satisfaction. If I could just have this toy, I would have the fulfillment they had. I begged and begged for this toy. It was time for my birthday and I was willing to sacrifice anything to get this wonderful toy. Persistence paid off and I got the toy. I opened the box with great expectation. It was wonderful to have it. I played with it for 5 or 10 minutes, but where was the joy and excitement? It wasn’t there. It went in my closet and was never used again. What happened? It was all a lie. The kids were coached and the advertisers have self-serving motives. Nothing was real. That is exactly what temptation is. Everyone pretends to be fulfilled, yet everyone runs to and fro trying to find the elusive joy. The devil coaches and advertises, but without God, we cannot be satisfied.
We will either be Spirit led or desire driven. We all submit to one side or the other. Look at Romans 6:
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
People are deceived into thinking that sin is freedom and God is oppressive. In reality, it is just the opposite. We do choose which side we will submit to. However, when we submit to sin, it will rule us. The devil does not care about a relationship or our freedom to choose. He only seeks to rule and destroy us. Submitting to sin leads to bondage. Submitting to righteousness is always a choice. God does not enslave; we must choose daily to be a slave of righteousness. If we don’t have the freedom to reject God, we don’t have the freedom to love God. God will never violate our free will. To do so would end our ability to have a loving relationship with our Creator. He does not oppress, but instead calls us to submit.
It is important to realize this because there must be a change of focus to overcome temptation. Our desires need to change from wanting sin to wanting God. Instead of resisting what we desire, we pursue our desire of God. We adopt a lifestyle of repentance so that we are continuously drawing ourselves closer to God. We are not merely resisting temptation, but turning toward God and drawing close to Him. Satisfaction belongs to God. We are created and designed for the purpose of communion with God. Anything other than God that tries to fill the place in our heart created by God will not satisfy. In Genesis 15:1, God told Abraham, "I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward". Abraham had many possessions, but his satisfaction was always found in his relationship with God.
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
The pleasures that God gives satisfy because they are by His design and have their rightful place. When we are walking in the center of God’s will, He brings good things in our life and enriches our life. Because God is our focus, we can enjoy pleasure without living for pleasure. When we enjoy something in life and that pleasure is gone, we are not empty because our focus remains. Anything that takes our focus off of Christ is not of God. Anything that challenges our goal of conforming to the image of Christ is also not of God. The Bible says that God gives and adds no sorrow with it. There are no consequences or regrets with God’s gifts.
We cannot enjoy the good things in life unless God is our reward. Money is not our reward, God is. Pleasures, possessions, things and activities are not our reward, God is. The greatest pleasure and the greatest reward is our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Anything that falls short of or takes away from that relationship is of the world and will never satisfy. Our goal is not to be fulfilled in this life. Our goal is not to be successful. Our goal is not even to get to heaven. Our goal should be to draw near to God. Only in that relationship will all these other things fall into their rightful place. The first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Everything in this life centers around that love relationship. We are free to not love God, but everything created was created in the context of loving God and His love toward us. If you remove the love of God, you remove the purpose of all things. Then things and pleasures become the purpose instead of God being the purpose. Then they become our god and the true benefit has been lost.
Filling the Void
You can’t turn from your sinful habits and create a vacuum. Just saying, "I am not going to do this anymore" is not enough. Something is going to fill the gap left behind. It is our responsibility to wisely choose what will replace an uprooted habit. Sometimes people exchange one bad habit for another. It is not much of a benefit to turn from sin and toward another destructive refuge. We may even return back to our wallowing in the mire unless God becomes our focus and desire.
We have already discussed how that resistance is based on submission to God. Our relationship with God must fill the void or we will continue searching and crowding our lives searching for the satisfaction that cannot be found outside of Him. Therefore, it stands to reason that our relationship with God must be what replaces our affection for sin. You can’t love God fully without knowing God intimately. There are three main areas that we express and build our love for God. Prayer, Bible Study and Fellowship are vital to a healthy relationship with Christ. Time won’t allow detailed discussion here, so I will touch briefly on them.
Prayer
Prayer is simply communion with God. You can’t walk with a friend and have a friendship without talking with them. It is no different with God. The Bible puts great emphasis on prayer. We care commanded to pray without ceasing and to do all things with prayer, supplication and thanksgiving. We are told to come confidently before the throne of grace for our time of need. We have confidence that we are welcomed and wanted in God’s presence.
Even though the Bible tells us that God knows our needs before we even ask, that does not mean that there is no need for prayer. The Bible makes it clear that prayer touches the heart of God. I believe that God is moved by prayer because He loves us and takes pleasure in our fellowship, but also because of the passage we studied earlier:
James 4: 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
Prayer is humbling ourselves before God. The proud do not pray because they don’t see their need for God. Or maybe we take God for granted. We neglect prayer because we don’t need God or we feel like He owes us what we need or want. God resists those who are proud. God delights to give to the humble. The humble are those who acknowledge His hand in every part of their life - the good and what seems to be bad. Proverbs 3 says:
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Some people think that important things should be brought before God and not petty things. With God, all things are important and with God, all things are petty. It is a small thing for God to meet our big needs and our little needs are just as important as our big needs.
Prayer also is expressing our love for God. Prayer is expressing our thankfulness to God. Prayer is seeking a closer walk with Him. Prayer is humbling ourselves before Him and acknowledging our need for Him and how all good things come from His hand. Throughout the day, we should have a constant communion with God, but we also need to take specific time aside everyday to ’enter our prayer closet’. Some people do well to sit quietly and pray, and others walk and pray. I am the type of person whose mind wanders when I sit. I have to walk and pray. I like to take time in a wooded park or take a walk at night when everyone is quiet. It is better to lose sleep than to lose prayer. In prayer we talk with God about our needs and spiritual lives; we intercede or pray for others; we praise God for who He is; we thank God for all things. Don’t forget to thank God. Even bad things serve the purpose of shaping and directing our lives to the good that God has designed for us.
Bible Study
Psalm 119:
9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.
10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!
Without God’s word, there is no way to cleanse our heart and lives. Jesus also made this clear in John 15:3, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." It is very important to know and understand the word of God. Bible study and memorization of scripture go hand-n-hand. We study scripture because we are commanded to ’study to show yourself approved; a worker that does not need to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the word of truth’ (2 Timothy 2:15). We study so that we understand what the passages we memorize mean. Knowledge without understanding is useless or even destructive. If we can’t divide scripture based on truth, we will get off course and fall into the trap of many false teachings. It is not enough to memorize scripture unless we fully understand the context of the scripture and how it fits into the whole revelation of God’s word.
To take a passage out of context does not bind God to our interpretation. For example, Jesus said in John 14:14, "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it". Some use this to teach that if you ask anything, God will do it. One book I read said that if you ask God for a yellow Mercedes and tell God to put it in your driveway on a certain date, God must do it if you have faith. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Before verse 14, Jesus tells us that the focus is that the Father may be glorified in the Son and the passage that follows says, "If you love me, keep My commandments". The actual focus of this passage is to love God, seek to glorify Him and keep His commandments as an expression and evidence of our love for Him. It is not to get a Mercedes. James 4 clarifies even further that if we ask for the purpose of fulfilling worldly desires, God will not grant our request.
Bible study is important so that we understand who God is and how we are to live so that we can grow close to Him. The Bible tells us that our two greatest commandments is to love God with every part of our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Anything that takes away from those two things is of the world and not of God. Only in keeping God’s commands can we find true happiness and satisfaction. If you pursue happiness, you will be like a dog chasing his tail. It will always be just out of your reach. Your purpose is not to be happy, but to find your belonging in God and His purpose for your life. Out of a relationship with God you will find happiness, joy and satisfaction, but the relationship must always be the focus.
Fellowship
John 13:34
34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
One of the evidences that we belong to Christ is that we will have a love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we don’t enjoy being around fellow Christians, that should bring into question whether our faith is real. God should be working in us and there should be a desire that draws us together. We are also commanded not to forsake assembling together to teach, encourage and build up each other in the faith. God did not make any lone Christians. He has given each person special gifts and abilities that make up the church of Jesus Christ so that His purposes would be completed. My gifts can’t be used unless I am a part of a body. Dozens of times the New Testament stresses the need of encouraging and loving the brethren - brothers and sisters in Christ. 1 John puts special emphasis on this:
1 John 3
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
…
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 4
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Without fellowship, we can’t love our fellow Christians. Our second greatest command is to love others as ourselves. This begins with other Christians. We are to express our love for God by our love for His church that He died for. If we love God, we will love what God loves. Building up the church is the work each of us is called to. That includes bringing people to Christ and lifting up those who belong to Christ. We are like coals in God’s fire. When we are with the body, we remain on fire, but when we get alone, we will begin to grow cold. Just take a red-hot coal out of a fire and see what happens. The rest of the coals in the fire remain kindled, but in a few minutes the isolated coal is cold enough to pick up. Outside of the church, we grow cold even if we don’t realize it. I have never met anyone who made an impact for Christ that isolated themselves from the local church.
The power to resist does not come from our strengths or abilities, but from submitting to God. He lifts us up, makes us strong and transforms us from the inside out. God will never do anything against your will. It is through submission that we become what God wants us to be. As we surrender our lives to Him, He takes what we give Him and transforms it for His glory and our benefit.
***
This sermon can be downloaded as a Word document by following the link at http://www.exchangedlife.com/recovery/3step_recovery.htm
***
