THIS IS WAR!
Ephesians 6:10-18
S: Sin
Th: Seeing the Unseen Christ: How His Presence Transforms Life
Pr: WE ARE TO EMBRACE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND RENOUNCE EVIL
?: How? How do we do this?
KW: Ventures
TS: We will find in our study three ventures we need to make in order to embrace righteousness and renounce evil.
The ____ venture we must make is to…
I. POWER UP
II. PUT ON
III. PRAY OUT
RMBC 3/11/01 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Mains message intro…
Tolerance is a production concept that helped make this country famous.
In the mid-1800s, Europeans criticized American craftsmanship for being second-rate.
We had come to realize, however, that what we manufactured only had to be good enough to work.
We thought the extra touches that went into European products to make them perfect were really superfluous.
For example, a clock, a gun, or a lock only needed to function well.
It didn’t matter if it had curlicues or if all the rough edges were smoothed down.
Did the clock keep time?
Did the gun shoot straight?
Did the lock keep out unwanted intruders?
Tolerance prompted us to ask, “If the ball bearings don’t have to be perfect, how much error can be tolerated? How much variance can we get by with?”
The truth of the matter is that back in the 1800s, American-manufactured products were made just good enough for their purpose.
And by the 20th century, with increased automation, manufacturers were tolerating even larger variances—as long as products met mini-mum standards.
By then, we had become com-fortable with tolerance, and it obviously worked.
Even today, a lack of tolerance is not a virtue admired in America.
But I must ask you…
How much are you willing to tolerate?
Drama: “The Eye, The Eye”
TRANSITION:
1. God lacks tolerance (I John 1:5-6).
I have found God to be politically incorrect—terribly so.
Note what John writes:
(5) This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (6) If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
This is some pretty absolute writing.
We can’t walk in darkness and say we belong to the faith.
We walk in the light.
If we don’t walk in the light, we don’t belong.
Yet, what is often our tendency is that we try to walk in a little of both light and darkness.
For…
2. We tend to feel a little sin ought to be tolerated.
We like to think that if a person is doing well 85-90 percent of the time, certainly God can be tolerant of the other 10-15 percent that isn’t right.
That only seems fair, right?
After all, we can never achieve perfection.
God can certainly gracefully overlook some of this stuff.
But this is not a very realistic view of sin.
It has been said:
“Sin will always take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
Let me repeat that…
“Sin will always take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
We need to realize that…
3. Sin is not our friend!
Over time, it will extract a great toll.
It means to drag us down and make us less functional.
It keeps us from fulfilling our God-given mission.
This is why we must take it seriously and why targeting a self-destructive pattern is a part of our 50-day adventure.
So, what have you targeted to reverse during these 50 days?
Could it be…
…a critical spirit
…materialism
…greed
…arrogance
…a short temper
…perfectionism
…profanity
…workaholism
…pornography
…infidelity
…gossip
…self-promotion
…deceit
…laziness
…self-indulgence?
There are many sins to pick from.
But here is what we must be tuned in to…
It is these and many other evils that resulted in the scars on the hands, feet and side of our Lord
So, we must pray for conviction of our unrighteousness.
For…
4. Living like Christ is to be our standard.
It is to be no less that that.
Sin is to become intolerable.
While we may attempt to lower the standard, God does not.
Therefore…
5. WE ARE TO EMBRACE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND RENOUNCE EVIL.
But how do we do this?
How do we embrace the kingdom of light and stay away from the kingdom of darkness?
Well…
6. We will find in our study three ventures we need to make in order to embrace righteousness and renounce evil.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first venture we must make is to POWER UP (10).
Paul writes in Ephesians…
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
ILL Notebook: Fear (thunderstorms)
One summer evening, during a violent thunderstorm, a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?" The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can’t dear," she said, "I have to sleep with Daddy." A long silence was broken at last by a shaken little voice saying, "The big sissy."
1. We are not to be characterized by fear and weakness.
When it comes to embracing righteousness, this is something we can do.
When it comes to renouncing evil in our lives, this is something we can do.
We are not to operate from an attitude of fear.
We are not to say, “I can’t do it.”
We are to be strong in the Lord.
The reason is…
2. God is here and He is in us.
We do not operate in a vacuum.
We are not alone.
We can power up in the power of God because He is present.
He is here.
He is in us.
But we need to practice His Presence.
We need to let Him do in us and through us what He needs to do.
And when we do, He will give us the power we require to embrace righteousness and renounce evil.
II. The second venture we must make is to PUT ON (11-17).
Paul continues to write…
(11) Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (13) Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (14) Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, (15) and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. (16) In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (17) Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
ILL Bugs Bunny—“you know, this means war”
Do you remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoons when Bugs Bunny would get into a fight with someone, like Yosemite Sam? As the story would start to unfold and the conflict would begin, Bugs Bunny would say, “You know, this means war.”
Well, war is certainly what Paul is describing.
1. We are in a spiritual battle.
So, we are instructed to put on the armor.
Putting on the armor means we ready ourselves for the fight.
It means it is going to be tough.
It is going to be rough.
We are going against the dark powers of this world and the spiritually evil forces in the heavenly realms.
We are in the fight because sin desires to master us.
It seeks to win us and destroy us.
Interestingly, our loyalty is often divided.
We try to be a friendly with both sides.
But, the absolute truth is that…
2. We are not to be caught fraternizing with the enemy (Romans 6:12).
In a battle, soldiers don’t wander from one side to the other, making friends.
Yet in this spiritual battle, this fraternizing goes on far more than we care to admit.
Church soldiers sample the wares of the enemy to the detriment of the cause and to the shame of their king.
And it is here that we must learn intolerance.
As Paul says in Romans…
Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful desires. [NLT]
ILL Personal encounter with skunk
When we were living in New Jersey, we lived right next door to the church. One evening, I was crossing the property when all of sudden I heard some rustling in some weeds I was walking through. So I froze, because I didn’t know what it was. I stayed very still and so did the creature that had been rustling in these tall weeds. Eventually, the creature began to move again, away from me. To my relief, it was only a black cat…with a pretty white stripe across his back.
Have you ever been out walking in a field and come across a skunk? In a way, they’re cute little animals. Some people have actually tamed skunks. But as far as I’m concerned, skunks are to be avoided. Coming unexpectedly across this skunk, I didn’t say, "O little skunk, come here. You look so darling." I stayed clear of him because his potency was beyond that with which I could cope.
What would you think of someone who, after being sprayed by a skunk, allowed it to happen again? They said to you, “You know, after a while, the smell isn’t so bad once you get used to it”
Let me make this simple point.
You know sin stinks.
You know it is no good for you.
You know it seeks to master you.
Don’t let yourself get accustomed to sin.
ILL Richardson
It has been said that, "Many people pray to be delivered from temptation, but they still want keep in touch." On the old show Hee Haw, Doc Campbell is confronted by a patient: "Doc, I broke my arm in two places." Doc replies, "Well then, stay out of them places!"
Good advice for us!
3. We are to go on the offensive (Psalm 119:11).
In this text we have been looking, there is only one offensive weapon.
It is the sword, which represents the Word of God.
When we are confronted with the enemy, it is time to get out God’s Words and use them.
As the psalmist said…
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
When Christ was tempted in the wilderness, He got out His most powerful weapon.
Out came the sword.
He quoted Scripture from memory and the devil withdrew.
Now that’s power!
The example is a ready application for us.
You can use Scripture as a weapon against the sin you desire to reverse.
Using Scripture can make it what it ought to be: a thing of the past.
III. The third venture we must make is to PRAY OUT (18).
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
The concept of prayer teaches us a very important and simple principle.
It is this…
1. We are dependent creatures.
When we come to God in prayer, we recognize that this battle is not our own to fight.
We are completely dependent on Him.
We do not fight on our own.
Our strength finds its source in the Lord and Him alone.
This means that we never go into the battle by ourselves.
But…
2. We are to stay in the fight with prayer.
We are to stay alert.
We are to keep praying.
We are to stay in the fight so that we will embrace righteousness and renounce evil.
APPLICATION:
Let me offer some practical ways to do this now as outlined in our adventure manual.
Hopefully, you have already done this first one, that is…
1. Identify a self-destructive pattern.
What is the sin that the Lord has laid on your heart that must be dealt with?
Identify it and be determined to deal with it.
This is all-important for when sin is tolerated in a life, the presence of the Lord seems to fade.
God and sin just don’t go together.
It destroys us and it destroys our relationship with God.
After it is identified, chart your behavior.
Grade your progress every day.
Be sure to ask yourself, “How would Jesus grade me today?”
Do not ask, “How do I grade myself?”
Do you see the difference?
We are make Jesus the standard, not what we think is good enough.
After you have been grading your progress after a couple of weeks…
2. Analyze the pattern.
Take time to think about the pattern you have.
Evaluate it.
The journal can be of help to you in this as it gives you some tools to use to analyze your pattern.
Then figure out how to improve and plan new behavior strategies.
Next, don’t forget to be on the offense…
3. Memorize Scripture.
God has made His Word an effective weapon against the evil in your life.
[Quote verses.]
Do the hard work of memorization and reap the rewards.
Next…
4. Be accountable.
This may be hard, but you will find it extremely useful.
Don’t live in isolation.
And if you are dealing with an especially difficult sin that has mastered you for a longtime, go for the reinforcements that God has provided for you.
The reinforcements are another brother or sister in the Lord.
They will help you by checking on your progress.
Christ is not tolerant of sin, but He is incredibly understanding of sinners.
This is good news for us.
So…
5. Remember—God offers a fresh start (I John 1:9).
We need to practice confession regularly.
We are to practice it because we continually fall short of God’s standards.
We fail.
So to keep the relationship with God fresh and vital, we need to keep short accounts with God.
John tells us this wonderful promise…
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Confession is great because it gives us hope.
It helps us possess a spirit of victory over that which tried to master and own us.
Confession puts us back into the Presence of God and in touch with His standard of holiness.
And the more this happens, the more we will be able to stay in the fight to embrace righteousness and renounce evil.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Stay in the fight and embrace righteousness…do not accept any standard that is less than God’s standard—it is His holiness and His holiness alone that counts.
Stay in the fight and renounce evil…do not let sin in your life for it seeks to master you; Satan day after day, desires to drag you down, paralyze you and make you ineffective—use the power of God’s Word to keep sin and evil at bay.
Stay in the fight and confess your sin…rejoice that though God’s standard of holiness is tough; God does not hate us, but loves us and provides the power and grace we need to keep at it so that we ultimately can know the victory.
Now may your love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best; and may you be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Amen.
