Echoes Of Eternity Wednesday

Intro

I have two main things I want to teach you tonight. The first is that without God, living the right way is impossible. So I need to hear it from you, without God, living the right way is ____________

The second thing I want to teach you is that God has made living the right way possible through Jesus. So I want to hear it from you, God made living the right way possible through ____________

Good! Now you know what I want to teach you, so I’m going to get to teaching.

Without God, Living the Right Way is Impossible

Why is it that we can’t live the right way without God?

You see, it’s got something to do with our hearts. I don’t mean your actual heart, but its about who we are on the inside. Have you noticed that ever since you were born, without anyone ever having to teach you how, there’s always been something inside you that makes it hard to listen or do the right thing? Now I’m not saying that you’re all a bunch of terrible kids and you never do anything right, but what I’m saying is that there has always been that part of you inside that doesn’t want to listen or do the right thing.

Maybe you feel that when your parents make a rule you don’t want to follow. I want to give you an example of just last week in my own house. I have two beautiful little girls at my house and I love them both with my whole heart. Elsie is 4 and Aria is 2. We have a rule in our house that they are not allowed out of their room until a certain time in the morning. When it turns that time, a light in their room will turn from pink to green.

We also have another rule that you guys might have as well, which is no candy for breakfast.

Well last week, Elsie and Aria woke up early while I was still sleeping and they felt something called “temptation.” Do you guys know what that is?

Temptation is when we feel something inside that wants to do something we know we aren’t supposed to do.

They snuck out of their room while the light was still pink. And do you know what they did? They went downstairs, found some candy, and snuck it back into their room. When I woke up and walked into their room, I found melted chocolate and half eaten suckers all over their bed sheets and blankets. Now I promise you I was not very happy with them, and I asked Elsie, “Why would you do that?”

Do you know what she said to me? While she was obviously frustrated, all she could say was, “I don’t know, daddy.”

And I believe her. I don’t think she really knows why she has so much trouble obeying the rules in our house. Theres something inside of her that makes it really hard to listen to her parents, and sometimes it makes her disobey us.

Now my girls are not some especially bad kids. I love them very much and a lot of the time they’re very sweet girls. But I know something that they don’t really understand yet.

Because of sin, every single one of us has something inside of us that does not want to listen to God or obey Him. It makes obeying Him impossible, and we can’t resist the temptation inside to disobey. Our hearts want things that we aren’t supposed to have, to do things we aren’t supposed to do. And that is not good! Because as we know, those things deserve consequences.

God himself has said that disobeying Him deserves consequences and He does not like it when we sin against Him. But do you know what else God has said? When God saw a world full of His kids that were behaving badly and sinning against Him, He decided He still loved us. He saw that we had a problem inside, and He decided to do something about it.

Here’s what the Bible says to people who are struggling with temptation:

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

In other words, God makes living the right was possible through _________

God Gave us Jesus to Make Living The Right Way Possible

The Bible here is saying that when you are facing temptation, it is very important that you remember one thing: God is faithful.

What does he mean by that? It means that God will protect you and love you even when you are being tempted, in fact, especially when you are being tempted!

And how does God love you? I want to share three ways you can remember God is faithful when you’re facing temptation

God sent His Son Jesus to die for your sins

Everyone here has let temptation win before. Everyone has caved in to the pressure and did the thing they knew they weren’t supposed to do. Everyone here has sinned. When we sin against God, there is a big consequence that comes along with it. Does anyone know what that is?

God sent Jesus into the world to take that consequence for us. If you believe and trust in Jesus, then there is no more punishment for your sins. Jesus took the consequences so that you don’t have to!

God sent his Holy Spirit to give you a new heart that is strong against temptation

Just before Jesus went back up into heaven, he promised that he would send us a Helper. Do you know who that Helper is? the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit is God, one of the three persons of the Trinity. The Bible tells us that God Himself has made a home inside of everyone who believes in him. He tears down all the bad stuff inside of us that wants to do wrong things, and he makes us into new people. Even though we were all weak when facing temptation, the Holy Spirit makes us strong!

God won’t let you face a temptation that you can’t handle

God will not let you go through something that you can’t handle. Remember: God knows you better than you know yourself. He has washed you clean through Jesus, He has made you strong through his Holy Spirit, and he knows what you can and can’t handle. He also loves you, and he won’t let anyone give you something you’re not able to handle.

BUT this doesn’t mean God is going to make it always easy on you. A lot fo the times, God will let you work through some things that are really, really hard. Do you know why he does that? That’s how he helps you to rely on him more and grow. When you feel overwhelmed, you have to remember that God is with you and that you need to trust in His strength, not your own.

So guys, here’s the deal:

Life is going to throw a lot of temptation at you. There’s no stopping that. But how are we going to handle temptation when it comes to us?

First we remember: without God, living the right way is __________

Then we remember: God has made living the right way possible through ___________

How has Jesus made living the right way possible?

Jesus has washed us clean from sin

The Holy Spirit gives us strength

God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle.

So when you feel like you’re being tempted to do something bad or wrong, remember God in that moment. Remember how much he loves you, that he makes you strong, and he gives you everything you need to live the right way with Him.

English Standard Version Chapter 10

12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

FCF: Our flesh is weak

CFC: God makes us strong and upholds us