What are the craziest things you thought were sin… that really aren’t? For example, I used to think not clapping during worship was a sin. I would literally be clapping till my hands were red, even during the slow songs. I also used to think wearing shorts was a sin, and then I saw the whole guest service team wearing shorts and decided I guess I can let these legs breathe. I used to think if I didn't use "Dear Heavenly Father" 20 times in my prayer, then God wouldn’t hear me. So instead, God would hear me say it 21 times. We all have things that aren't really sin, that we have been worked up about before.
But another crazy thing is that when I became a Christian, I thought I would automatically stop sinning. I thought I would magically stop hurting people with my words and I would stop making bad decisions, I would stop all my bad habits and live for God perfectly from that point forward.
What I didn’t know was that when I became a Christian I entered into a spiritual war. I don’t know if you know this or not, but Satan is not excited about your decision to follow Jesus. Jesus said this of Satan.
He said in John 10:10, “The thief (Satan) comes to steal, kill and destroy.”
That is not good news.
Whether you know it or not, we are at war and we have an enemy, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion. The devil wants to destroy you. Jesus said that Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy your life. He wants to take every good thing from you and he wants you to play the part of the fool. The good news is that God did not leave us in this battle defenseless. He gave us weapons to use to not only fight but to win the battles that we face every day. So it's time to fight.
In 1 Peter 5:8 Peter writes these words, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Here’s the bottom line– Satan will try to tempt us over and over again and try to make us fail. The bad news is he already knows our weaknesses and will attack us at our weakest point over and over again. It reminds me of a story I heard the other day.
In the 1920s, a wealthy industrialist purchased a zoo. It wasn't a public zoo but his own personal zoo, located on his estate, for the pleasure of this one man and his family. His zoo was one of the most complete collections of animals the world had ever known.
One day, he heard about a rare and beautiful type of gazelle from Africa that wasn't in any zoo in the world. He became obsessed with the idea of becoming the first to have one of these animals, so he mounted an expedition to Africa to learn about the animal. Over and over he was told, "You'll never catch one. They're too fast and too strong. You can shoot and kill them from a distance - but you'll never get close enough to take one alive."
He told a reporter who was on the safari with him, "Don't listen to them; I'll get as many of them as I want! And it won't be a problem."
When his men located a herd, he poured a blend of oats and barley rolled in molasses on the ground in an open area in the middle of the night and left. The next night, he scattered the feed again. For two weeks, he spread the feed, night after night.
The animals came in and ate it. On the first night of the third week, he scattered the feed and sank an eight-foot post into the ground twenty feet away. The next night, he scattered the feed and sank another post into the ground twenty feet in the opposite direction. Every night, he added a post. Then he started putting boards between the posts while scattering the feed.
Six weeks rolled by. He continued adding posts and boards until he had a corral built around his feed. Every night these animals found the gaps between the posts until, finally, he watched the entire herd squeeze through the final gap. He moved in behind them and nailed the last board into place. The animals were trapped inside. He chose the ones he wanted for his zoo and let the others go.
That’s a perfect description of temptation. We get what we want, but the cost is our freedom.
Every one of us has at least one weakness. Every one of us has some area of our life that is a little bit out of control. What is your weakness? If Satan could get you to fail, what would he use to do that with?
For some of us, it’s porn. Satan would love for you to be wrapped up in a cycle of lust that brings you guilt and shame.
For others, their greatest weakness is their mouth. Satan loves to tempt us to exaggerate or lie or gossip behind someone’s back.
For others, it’s your attitude. Satan loves it when we are so full of ourselves that we can’t see the needs of other people. He loves it when we act better than others and are arrogant. Satan loves it when you look nothing at all like Jesus. Because Jesus humbled himself, He constantly put others first, even dying on the cross for our sins.
For others it’s a bottle, it’s a drug, Satan would love to get you to the place where you are so addicted to that stuff that you will never break free.
What is it for you? What is the one area of your life that is a bit out of control, and how do we give God control of that area of your life? How does a person defeat temptation?
The first step to defeating temptation is to stop allowing yourself to be in a position to be tempted. If we stay away from the people or the places that we know will lead us astray, we have a better chance of not going back down the same road we were once traveling on.
James 1:14-15 says, “...but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death..”
The fact is we get ourselves in trouble because we want to play with sin. We want to find out how close we can get to the fire without being burned, and that is a strategy that will get you and me in a world of trouble.
Do you know what the problem with sin is? We don’t think about the long-term consequences of what we are doing. We are only thinking about immediate pleasure.
Sin has a kick to it. There is an adrenaline rush when we are doing the wrong thing. In fact, in the moment we might even enjoy what we are doing. We might be thinking this is a blast. I am having the time of my life. But as soon as it's done, you realize that sin also has a kickback and the kickback always costs us more than we want to pay.
When we are tempted to sin we need to minimize the payoff and maximize the payment.
What does this mean?
Sin always costs more than we want to pay and never brings the happiness we think it will bring. Sin is fun for a season, and then the fun ends and all that is left is the damage that is done by what you decided to do– damage done to you, your family and friends, and your reputation. The guilt over what you have done can be overwhelming, and that closeness you once experienced with God will feel like a distant memory until you come clean with God over what you have done. Our sin will haunt us day after day after day until we make things right with God and others.
Whatever line you are standing next to that you are considering crossing, think it through.
Ask yourself, is this worth it?
Do I want to do this to my family?
Do I want to do this to myself?
Do I want to do this to God?
I want you to understand that temptation is a constant battle, so when the weakness comes you need to take that thought and refocus that thought on something better.
We can control what we choose to think about. When that thought comes to our mind to disobey God, the first thing we should do is pray. “God, help me. Get that out of my head. Give me the strength to walk away.” And then as you walk away, place another thought in your mind to counteract that bad thought.
If all that doesn’t work, look for the exit that God is giving you and run to that exit. Get as far away from that sin as you can.
In 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul writes, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand under it.”
Two things I want you to see in this passage:
1. Every temptation you and I have faced has been faced by others.
You are not alone in your struggle. Don’t let Satan make you believe that no one on the whole earth understands what you are going through because that isn’t true. Share your weakness with others. Confide in a friend or one of our Remix leaders to pray with you and for you, and to hold you accountable. Fight the good fight together.
2. You and I have never been tempted by something that we don’t have the power to resist.
Going back to that verse, Paul says, “He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”
Don’t say, “I can’t.” You can fight temptation and you can win. That’s a promise from God.
If you are walking with the Lord and you are listening to Him, God will give you strength you never knew you had to say no to sin and yes to a better life, but you have to want it.
If we want to fight temptation and win, we have to pre-decide. Decide right now that you aren’t going to put yourself in situations that lead you to sin. Decide right now that it's not worth it. Decide right now that obeying God is more important than anything else, and even when you mess up you will choose to run back to God. Decide. Right. Now.
The Bible describes those who follow Jesus as sheep and the Bible describes Satan as a lion. I don’t know if you know this or not, but a sheep is no match for a lion. A little lamb will lose that fight every single time.
If we try to take on temptation on our own we will be devoured, but take heart. We have a good shepherd in Jesus who watches over His flock. Run to Him. He can handle that lion. He has tangled with him before and Jesus has won the battle, so stay as close to Him as you can.
So what's the next step? We just heard all these things, but what do we do?
1. Flee.
Make the choice right now to turn away from sin and go the other direction.
2. Find.
Find a partner. You can’t do this on your own. You need help. This is why we have small groups. Get in a group today.
3. Fight.
It’s a daily choice to follow God or give in to temptation.
If we can help you with any of these things, all you have to do is send us a text. Text the word “remix” to 97000 and a student director will connect with you.
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