October 30, 2022 - Battleground of the Heart
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For the past 3 weeks - as we’ve seen the transition from Samuel (as judge)...
…to Saul as King...
And we’ve seen the Heart of Man - elevated before us.
We started out looking at the WAY of the Heart...
Followed by the TRUTH of the Heart...
And last week - the LIFE of the Heart.
Yes - we know that Jesus - in John 14:6 claims HIMSELF to be = the Way. the Truth and the Life...
And so we know that our HEARTS have their OWN way, their own truth, and their own VERSION of life...
TODAY - having come out of the past 3 weeks of - PEALING back the layers of our hearts…and feeling the WEIGHT of our problem...
Feeling the weight of the ENEMY from within...
TODAY - we’ll see how we - AS Christians - can combat this enemy within each of us.
And so to DO THAT - we’ll step outside of our trek thru 1 Samuel.
• There's always a danger when you come to church on Sunday mornings... The danger is - to come week after week, and to simply "Learn" new things...
• But to never really apply these things in our lives.
HOPEFULLY - we know to live that way - - is to DECEIVE ourselves...
• How many of you have ever played a sport...or had a hobby that you at ONE TIME were DEDICATED to?
• If so, you know what it's like to discipline yourself...
*Gymnastics girl - injury
• maybe you were on a diet for good amount of time..
• maybe you worked out for a year straight...
• Maybe you trained for a race... Learned to play an instrument...
Whatever it was - it took discipline... It took Intentionality
• Being intentional about the choices you made, for a desired outcome...
And so when we THINK ABOUT - our HEARTS - and what the Bible SAYS about our hearts...
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
When WE - even as Christians - think about this...
We have to come to a place - where we - RESOLVE - to fight against it.
But let’s LOOK again at the ENEMY WITHIN us...
If we just go back and look at our main points from the last 3 sermons - we’d see this...
The Way of the Heart
Tastes the Blessing of God
Desires to Rule Itself
Prefers Darkness Over Light
The Truth of the Heart:
Attributes the Works of God to Man
Elevates the Physical World Over Spiritual Realities
Justifies That Which Brings the Judgment of God
Life of the Heart...
Lives Without Eyes to See God
Lives Without Affections to Love God
Lives Without Fear of God
Lives Without Faith to Trust God
WOW - do we even have a chance?
Well - the Bible says we do...
And it gives us some guidance to do so...
As Christians - we need to cultivate a spirit of - Self-Control
With a HEART inside of us that desires our destruction through the pleasures of sin...
We have to FIGHT....
But we need to know -
• we HAVE to know that Self-Control doesn’t JUST HAPPEN! (Fruit of the Spirit)
• This thing needs to be WORKED out in our lives...
• We’ll get into how we pursue Self-Control...
But first let’s look at what the Bible says about Self-Control in terms of what areas of life this affects in us...
SLIDE: Self-Control - How Much Do We Need It?
Self Control
Self Control
• The Bible is FULL of scriptures that show us our NEED of Self-Control....
• And it really does affect the WHOLE person!
SLIDE: Self-Control: and the physical life
Self-Control
Self-Control
26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
• If we really think about it, the Christian life is a life lived - CONSTANTLY saying “NO” to our flesh...
• What are some areas of life where the flesh tries to trip us up?
1. FOR GUYS - (a big one) - Lust/Sexual Immorality
• This doesn’t just apply to us guys…but, if anyone needs to hear this....it’s the guys (now women - get hung up on the physical when it comes to - CONTROL)
Now - what’s at play in the heart when it comes to LUST...
The Way of the Heart prefers darkness over light
The Truth of the Heart Elevates the Physical world over Spiritual Realities
The Life of the Heart Lives without Fear of God
All of these things - PLAY INTO - lust
28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
• So here we see Jesus equate LUST with Adultery...
• Heavy stuff...
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
• Sounds like it can be an impossible mountain to climb, especially for the guys...
• Guys, we need to know how to battle against these things..
• How to have Self-Control in this area...
Something that helps with this is the CONCEPT of - HUNGER
13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
• What is this saying - It’s saying yes - the body has CRAVINGS...
• What happens when you get REALLY hungry - and there’s no food to eat??
• Some people call it - Gettin HANGRY!
And that DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN - to men - Women KNOW this too!
Women - you wanna catch a glimpse into the MIND OF A MAN - when it comes to LUST - then dive into your DESIRE to EAT - when you haven’t eaten - IN DAYS...
• Right - the nicest person in the world, if HUNGRY…without food to satisfy that desire...
• will get - HANGRY!
• Food finds it’s purpose when it’s consumed.
• The stomach CRAVES the food.
• It’s a physical parable that points to the Spiritual.
• Our bodies are not merely physical entities that need merely physical satisfactions...
• God says - our bodies are meant for the Lord…and the Lord for our bodies...
SLIDE:
As much as our stomachs CRAVE food, so our souls should SO CRAVE Christ, that we obey Him with our bodies.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
• Sexual sins are sins where we abuse our own bodies, and use them in ways they were never meant to be used...
On the side of the WOMAN - maybe it’s CONTROL…(where does this come from - (Genesis 3:16)
But - what’s at play in the heart when it comes to CONTROL...
The Way of the Heart Desires to Rule Itself
The Truth of the Heart Attributes the Works of God to Man
The Life of the Heart Lives Without Eyes to See God and without Faith to Trust Him
All of these things - PLAY INTO - Control
• It’s clear from Scripture that we are to maintain SELF-CONTROL in these matters... in the physical life (we’ll close today with some practical things we can do to help us have SELF-CONTROL in these areas...
But NOT ONLY do we need Self-Control in the Physical Life -
But also...
SLIDE: Self-Control and the thought life
Self-Control
Self-Control
• We also see in Scripture the need for us to maintain Self-Control in the mind...
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
• How many thoughts have you had since you woke up this morning?
• And Paul says - take EVERY ONE captive…to obey Christ...
• WOW - this kinda flies in the face of the American Christian culture doesn’t it...
• “THINK Christianity ALL the TIME!!????”
• Too often those attending services on Sunday are thinking mainly about themselves...
• …and we see it in how quickly people are to jump ship and go looking for something that SATISFIES (Music, coffee, these programs, those programs…)
• It reminds us of Romans 12 doesn’t it?
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
• Do you see how both the Physical Body and the Mind are connected?
• If we are transformed by the renewal of our Mind, then it will lead to us presenting our Bodies as a living sacrifice...
• And so to be SELF-CONTROLLED in the Mind, we must be TRANSFORMED ...
• and there's only 1 other place, in the gospels, where this same word is used (transformed)....
And it's in Matthew 17:2
2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
The transformation we're after, is the same word used here, but translated as transfiguration in Matthew...describing Jesus.
• And so we should know that this transformation we're after (Self-Control), is not some elementary thing... It's a glorious....miracle...
• It is not the replacement of a list of bad behaviors, with an external list, of new, better behaviors...
• This transformation is not about being a "better-list" keeper...
• This transformation/the SELF-CONTROL we’re after is not about switching from the To-DO list of my flesh....to the To-DO list of my moral effort.
• No, His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light...
• When Jesus rejected the works of the Law, He didn't replace them with the works of the Spirit....no instead what we find are "FRUITS of the Spirit...
• Biblical Self-Control is not man-powered!
• It’s Holy Spirit powered!....and we’ll get more into that in a bit.
But as we see, we’re called to not only be Self-Controlled in our physical bodies, but also in our mind...
Not only that, but the Bible makes it clear we’re also to be Self-Controlled when it comes to our tongues...
SLIDE: Self-Control: in speech
Self-Control
Self-Control
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
• Many warnings here, especially in James, that we are to be careful in how we use our tongues...
• The words that we say can - destroy
FACEBOOK:
December of 2004 – 1 million Facebook users
December 2012 – 1 billion users
2022 - 1.9 Billion users
Twitter:
· 867 million tweets per day
· Equivalent to writing a 40 million-page book every day.
· Why are these online environments so popular?
· Because they give us a voice, and not just a voice,
· but a platform so grand, that when we do speak, the WORLD can hear us, and that’s enticing.
The problem is....
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
• When we play with the tongue, we’re playing with fire...
• Hence the reason we see that SELF-CONTROL is so important regarding how we use our tongues...
NOW - we’ve seen that Self-Control deals with...
• the Physical body
• the Spiritual Mind
• and also - specifically, our tongues
• BUT HOW do we pursue, as Christians, SELF-CONTROL in these areas...
and THEREFORE - fight against the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE of our hearts!??
To see what might help with this, let’s go to Ephesians 6
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
• If we want to STAND FIRM in our faith, we need to know who we’re fighting against in this world!
v12 said - We do not wrestle against flesh and blood...
…but against the rulers, against authorities, and cosmic powers over this present darkness…against the SPIRITUAL forces of evil...
• This is our enemy!
• And because THIS is our enemy...
• We have weapons at our disposal
What are they?
SLIDE: Weapons
Belt of truth
Breastplate of righteousness
Shoes of readiness
Shield of faith
Helmet of salvation
Sword of the spirit
Let’s QUICKLY look at these in detail:
SLIDE: Self-Control using the belt of truth
Self-Control
Self-Control
• BELT OF TRUTH
• When we think about the Belt of Truth here....we need to think outside the box of CONTENT...
• This isn’t necessarily referring to the CONTENT of TRUTH...
• NOW I THINK we can infer this because another piece of this armor mentioned a couple verses later is the WORD of God...
• and so the Belt of Truth is more referring to Commitment!
• Has anyone ever seen someone run a marathon wearing a winter jacket?
• ....or snow boots?
• NO - why?
• Because those things would HINDER that person from RUNNING the race...
• Are winter jackets SINFUL?
• Are snow boots SINFUL?
• NO - BUT...
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
• So don’t JUST lay aside every SIN that hinders us...
• BUT WHAT?
• Lay aside every WEIGHT (non-sinful thing) that hinders us from RUNNING the Christian life...
• Many people wander through the Christian life…NOT running....
• because they’ve never put on the belt of truth...
• They live life - LACKING self-control in the things of God because they lack the belt of truth
• They’re not committed to THE FIGHT
Not committed to fight the spiritual battles of life...
• And in that sense - They’re a consistent NO-SHOW / ALWAYS on the side-lines - - (loser)...
Was the apostle Paul a consistent NO-SHOW…?
NO- He lived his life in a way that is described by lists like this:
• Endurance, affliction, hardship, distress, beatings, imprisonment, labors, sleeplessness, hunger.
• No one could ever accuse Paul of a lack of commitment!
› Have you committed yourself to always losing the spiritual battles of life?
We’re all committed to something…what are you committed to?
The next piece of armor to help us gain self-control is...
SLIDE: Self-Control using the breastplate of righteousness
Self-Control
Self-Control
Whenever the Bible tells us to PUT ON RIGHTEOUSNESS, we MUST know that it’s NEVER referring to Self-Righteousness…!
• Remember reading about the Pharisee who thanked God for his works...
• tithing (all that i get)
• fasting (twice a week)
• This Pharisee was pursuing righteousness!
• BUT... He was pursuing his OWN righteousness!
• Yes he was thanking GOD....but for what purpose?
• So that he could stand there...and look down at all those around him...
This Pharisee was USING God to exalt himself... And the Bible says - he walked away UNjustified!
• So how DO WE pursue God’s righteousness as Christians?
Here’s how:
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
SLIDE:
We pursue God’s righteousness as Christians by displaying Jesus to the world, through sacrificial love for others, so that God would be glorified!
• OUR motive in doing good works determines whether we’re pursuing God’s righteousness or our own righteousness!
We’re also to put on the Shoes of Readiness!
SLIDE: Self-Control using the Shoes of Readiness
Self-Control
Self-Control
I think a misconception we can latch onto is to think that - SELF-CONTROL promotes inactiveness
• To be a SELF-CONTROLLED Christian - is to be someone who is READY to TAKE the GOSPEL to the WORLD at a MOMENT’s NOTICE!
• Anyone in here ever had a job where you were ON-CALL?
• When you sign up for a job like that - you’re saying - OK, I’LL BE READY at anytime!
• Many Christians wake up each morning, failing to put on their SHOES OF READINESS!
• And we can tell because they go through their day NOT LOOKING for opportunities for Christ...
• NOT looking for chances to speak about Christ...
• They haven’t PUT on their SHOES of READINESS!
SLIDE: We’re also called to put on the - Shield of Faith
Self-Control
Self-Control
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
• In all circumstances...
• Why does it say that?
• What is FAITH? - It is to TRUST something
• When we put on the SHIELD of FAITH - we’re guarding against our HOPE turning to DESPAIR when the trials of life come!!
• If I don’t TRUST Christ to be my STRENGTH when the world around me crumbles...
• then I’ll let those CIRCUMSTANCES win that spiritual battle!
• My HOPE will decrease and my DESPAIR will increase!!
• WITH the Shield of Faith, EVEN WHEN my world crumbles…my faith will rest in Christ...
• and HE will be my strength…my sustainer!
SLIDE: We’re also called to put on - the HELMET of Salvation!
Self-Control
Self-Control
• Now we must know that Paul here is not referring to “Being a Christian”.
• He’s not saying - you need to BE a Christian to get into this battle...
• While that’s true, it’s also true that you wouldn’t even have any of the other pieces of armor if you WEREN’T a Christian.
• He’s not saying - Make sure you’re SAVED before you fight!
• No - he’s SPEAKING to Christians to put on the helmet of Salvation...
• What is he saying?
• There are 3 aspects of Salvation that we see in Scripture..
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
• You get saved = Justification
• You grow in holiness = Sanctification
• You no longer deal with the presence of sin = Glorification
All 3 are summed up to equal SALVATION!
• When Paul tells Christians to put on the helmet of Salvation, he’s speaking about FUTURE Salvation!
• Your Glorification! - When we will deal with sin no more!
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
• As Christians, if we’re going to FIGHT the good fight of Faith…we must look to our Future Salvation!
• If we don’t…if we’re not confident in that Glorification...
• we’ll shrink from the battle!
For the JOY set BEFORE HIM - He - - endured the cross...
FOR US?
For the JOY set before US...
We endure…temptation
We endure…the pressures of life
SLIDE: Self- Control: We are also to put on the Sword of the Spirit
Self-Control
Self-Control
• What is the sword of the Spirit - it’s the Bible! God’s word!
• Now if you own a Bible, you own the Sword of the Spirit...
• It’s not a Sword of the Spirit BECAUSE you OWN one...
• It’s the Sword of the Spirit and it’s to be USED!
• A knight that NEVER picked up his sword for battle, would have been what? - No Soldier at all!
• Being able to wield the sword is to be able to use the truth of Scripture to contend for the Faith!
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
• Do you notice that of all the pieces of armor, the Sword (God’s Word) is the only one typically used on offense!
• Belt of truth (hold weapon)
• Breastplate of righteousness (defense)
• Shoes of readiness
• Shield of faith (defense)
• Helmet of salvation (defense)
• Sword of the spirit
• When we pursue these pieces of ARMOR...
• When we’re constantly taking care of these things...
• shining our breastplate, our shield, our helmet...
• Meditating on these things...
• …our SELF-CONTROL will rise...
NOW - TO CLOSE - We finish now with probably the most important piece of this whole thing today!
We HAVE to know that even with ALL the things we just walked through...
There’s SOMETHING ELSE that HOLDS up - ALL of those THINGS...
Something that’s - NOT OPTIONAL in the Christian life!
Another way to put it is this - - If I was going to GIFT my kids, or YOU - the ARMOR of God -
I would WRAP - ALL of the armor - IN THIS...
ANSWER...
SLIDE:
Joy in God
WITHOUT - THIS...
Anything we DO - will FALL short of Honoring God…!
And this can be SCARY for us BECAUSE - the Bible is asking us to - Control your affections!!
OR - Control the Uncontrollable!
And the question is - How do we CONTROL the passions of our hearts?
*You ever wake up - angry? (and you’re like - where.did.that.come.from)
How many of us have COMPLETE control over our EMOTIONS?
How do we CONTROL these things?
*If I decide - I’m going to put my right pointer finger - UP.....DOWN....UP.....DOWN-UP
I can CONTROL that right?
But if I tell myself - OK - BE HAPPY!
Or … DON’T BE Anxious!
DON’T BE Nervous!
Can we just flip those things - ON AND OFF??
If I asked Dr. Nick to come up and SING a solo...
And I said - ok, turn OFF your nerves....is that easy?
*If you're at the dinner table with the kids, and one of your kids starts choking....HOW MANY of you would have to stop, contemplate what's happening, and THEN decide to be scared?
AND YET - the Bible constantly tells us things like THIS...
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
That’s a - COMMAND
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
DELIGHT yourself - be SATISFIED in God - that’s a COMMAND...
It’s not a suggestion!
A constant theme runs throughout Scripture...
SLIDE:
to DELIGHT in something is to WORSHIP that something...
to DELIGHT in something - is to MAKE MUCH of it...
We glorify what we DELIGHT in...satisfied in!
AND BECAUSE we know our HEART is the enemy WITHIN...
We can - FEEL the weight of this - INTERNAL Dichotomy
AND SO -
HOW do we fight against The WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE of our HEARTS?
YES - we adorn ourselves with the Armor of God
BUT - we must EXAMINE our AFFECTIONS in doing so!
We need help doing this! We need help FEELING this!
I'm called to REJOICE in the LORD
Well, that's not always my INCLINATION...Where i DON'T rejoice in the Lord, i need help - REJOICING in the Lord
Just as ISRAEL did… They needed help TOO!
We need to FIGHT for this…
AND SO - to close...
We USE the ARMOR of God - YES
AND...
We FIGHT - for JOY in GOD!
HOW??
HOW DO WE PURSUE JOY in the LORD?
How do WE pursue HOLY SPIRIT wrought JOY - in Christ!??
SLIDE
Realize that Authentic Joy in God is a Gift
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Isn't it interesting to think that one of the ways we fight for JOY IN GOD is to realize that the JOY we're after must be given to us?
See God blesses those who pursue Him...
Which leads to our next point:
SLIDE
Realize that Joy in God Must Be Fought For Relentlessly
24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
You would think that Paul would have said this:"Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your FAITH...*
See FAITH has JOY at its heart: It is being SATISFIED with all that God is for us in Jesus.
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
*Jesus is our Soul’s Satisfaction:
He is most glorified in us when we are most - Satisfied in Him
therefore - the "good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6) is a FIGHT FOR JOY!
SLIDE:
Resolve to Attack All Known Sin in Your Life
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Again - this is where the Armor of God comes in...
SLIDE:
Learn to Fight as a Justified Sinner
8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.
9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.
*Explain
We need to cultivate in ourselves - Gutsy Guilt!
I read an awesome meme recently -
“When Satan reminds you of your recent failure, remind him of his ultimate doom.”
SLIDE:
Meditate on the Word of God Day and Night
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
SLIDE:
Preach to Yourself, Don't Listen to Yourself
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation
We WILL fail - and because that’s true - we must PREACH to ourselves
SLIDE:
Spend Time With God Saturated People Who Will Help You See God and Fight the Fight
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
We fight - yes - but we FIGHT together!
We NEED each other!
CLOSE:
= The heart of man is deceitful above all things -
It seeks to DESTROY us - AND...
It [WE] - justify it DOING so...
How do we FIGHT?
We adorn ourselves with the armor of GOD...
AND...
SLIDE:
We Fight for Joy in God:
Realize Authentic Joy in God is a Gift
Realize Authentic Joy in God Must be Fought for Relentlessly
Resolve to Attack All Known Sin in Your Life
Learn to Fight as a Justified Sinner
Meditate on the Word of God Day and Night
Preach to Yourself, Don’t Listen to Yourself
Spend Time with God-Saturated People Who Will Help You See God and Fight the Fight
Let’s Pray