Soul Detox: Tortured
Notes
Transcript
Handout
UNBROKEN… almost supernatural ability to withstand torture
We have this ability, but it’s not the life God wants for us
Today we are looking at the Tortured soul…
WE ARE NOT A BODY WITH A SOUL.
• WE ARE A SOUL WITH A BODY.
26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
I’m not a body with a soul, I am a soul with a body.
I’m not a body with a soul, I am a soul with a body.
Souls can be tortured when we are in pain… when world doesn’t make sense… when we are sick… when someone we love is suffering… when
How long oh lord....
Many things can torture our souls, but today I want to focus on just one of them.
Daughter - Tickle Monster - What was fun became miserable
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.
Paul in his letter to the church in Rome described this sense of being tormented by sin.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
Normal on outside—inside dying, private spiritual death.
So, let’s get busy with clearing our souls. First let’s begin with identifying how exactly sin tortures our souls.
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WHAT TORTURES OUR SOULS?
3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. 4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.
We are tortured by things we have done.
We are tortured by things we have done.
I remember the first time I felt this way about something I had done. I was probably 7-8 years old - playboy - loss of innocence. Set me on a track to struggle with sex and sexuality for years even into my marriage. I wasn’t addicted as a diagnosis, but spiritually I was allowing a stronghold to develop.
Back then it wasn’t as readily available as it is today. Today, every kid with a cell phone has a library of pornography available to them 24/7.
I say this because today it’s reported 40 million people… 28,000 per second… 65% of Christians… You get a kid to get honest about it and they will tell you that it’s a problem.
But that’s not the only thing we torture ourselves about:
Lies we have told,
Cheated someone a spouse/business partner,
Over-eating,
Overspending,
Lying about finances,
Addicted to some substance
Sometimes we are pretty good at covering up our sin and they can go on forever.
But sometimes we realize the senselessness of our behavior and we stop - we never do it again - but the torture of our sin doesn’t end there.
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The effect of sin isn’t limited to the immediate effects of it.
No. Instead, we begin to tell ourselves a story about the sin.
2) WE’RE TORTURED BY LIES WE BELIEVE.
We have all these “I’m Just” statements they are limiting beliefs we put on ourselves… I’m just an addict… I must have a problem… I guess I’ll never be anything… No one can love someone who does that…
John 8:44 (TNIV)
44 ...the devil… was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
You may not be the one to come up with the lie… it may be something someone told you. My father in law would tell a story of his going to church and one of the older ladies in church told him bad kids like him shouldn’t be in church… and since that day he rarely went back. Why? because he believed the lie.
This is how a stronghold is developed in our lives.
Something has a real spiritual effect on our lives, and instead of accepting the forgiveness God offers us, we believe the lies of Satan instead.
We’re tortured by lies we believe.
We’re tortured by lies we believe.
It may be something some one else said, or it may be something that you told yourself. Either way Satan, the father of lies leads us to convince ourselves it’s true… to connect what happened w/who you are.
Am what I did.
Did bad—am bad.
Failed—so I’m failure.
Blown it—might as well keep doing it.
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This is just the way you are.
Guilt and shame.
You can’t tell anyone. If they knew—wouldn’t like you.
How to be set free.
How to be set free.
Stop trying to hide your sin.
Jesus came to set us free.... so to find the freedom that he wants for us, let’s turn to God’s Word.
13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.
Forgiveness is an amazing thing.
It’s the key to our freedom in Christ. The problem is, sometimes it’s easier to offer forgiveness than receive it. It’s easier to forgive others than it is yourself.
Like when someone hurts us, it’s much easier to forgive than when we but when we hurt ourselves, when we are the offender.
It’s much harder to deal with my own mistakes than with yours.
But if we want to be free, we have to deal with it… it starts with confessing it to God.
Stop trying to hide your sin, confess it.
Stop trying to hide your sin, confess it.
We all have eaten bad food - Food poisoning - Your body knows what to do - vomits it!
Un-confessed sin is poison to the soul!
Don’t try to hide it, cover it up, pretend it didn’t happen - makes us sin sick.
I told you that time the police were called by a neighbor because some kids were in their pool late one night. They stopped to talk to us about the time my son came home soaking wet. I asked him was it him… he said no I wasn’t swimming.
Here he is in his bathing suit, soaking wet, busted completely, and still he was trying to deny it.
How foolish… but then he was a 12 year old kid… how foolish are we for doing the same thing with God about our sin. We act then pretend God didn’t notice.
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We confess to God for forgiveness of sins.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We confess to God for forgiveness of sins.
We confess to God for forgiveness of sins.
Why do we need to confess our sins? What good does it do?
One thing is for sure, we aren’t breaking the news to God. He knows everything we do. Nothing is unknown to Him.
SO why confession? Because we need God to know everything.
We need to admit what we did. God wants us to own it.
IF we can’t own it, there’s no forgiveness for it.
IT’s part of our surrendering to his authority in our lives.
and when we confess our sins to God we can be assured that we are entirely forgiven… that’s a promise by God.
David, who was no stranger to sin experienced this forgiveness leading him to declare:
Psalm 103 12 “12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
But how many times have you asked God to forgive you for a sin you committed but you didn’t feel like anything had changed. In fact, it felt like the sin was right there hanging over you… waiting to dump a fresh load of guilt and shame.
The torture of our soul continues...
Our past sin can remains like a shadow that we can’t run away from.
And yet, Jesus promised that we can be free. How do we find this freedom?
That’s the second part of confession. We confess to God for forgiveness, then we confess to another person for healing.
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We confess to people for healing from sins.
You see, God knows we need healing from sin for this life which is why God gives us the church. Some may laugh at that thought, but the church is the primary place God has designed for us to experience Grace.
In the faithful relationships of disciples of Jesus is where grace is to be found.
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
We confess to people for healing from sins.
We confess to people for healing from sins.
Enter ministry… something I had to resolve… angry teenager - vandalism - letter - forgiveness
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Any time someone says, I’m about to tell you something I’ve never… Spiritual growth is about to happen.
Finding this freedom through confession and accountability creates in us a willingness to confess our sin… as we develop a hunger for righteousness.
In fact… Marks of maturity: time span between sin and confession.
Don’t have to tell everyone everything Do have to tell someone something.
After church today we are going to be talking about GMC… One of the core principals of Methodism was based on having small “bands” 3-5 for support and accountability…
What known sins have you committed since our last meeting?
What temptations have you met with?
How were you delivered?
What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not?
The secret of the growth of the church wasn’t rocket science… I don't think doing it again will be either. But I do think it will take real honesty from real Christ followers.
That’s why the GMC is leading every member to be a part of one of these groups.
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Christ will set you free!
Christ will set you free!
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. 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 endure it.
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Always a way out!
Always a way out!
Power of Christ: You can stop drinking. Lusting. Lying.
Pray for forgiveness… Silent confession
24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.