Temptation and Obedience Battles of Spiritual Warfare

Good morning and welcome to fall. I sure hope fall weather arrives. Especially after Friday evening at the football game I am over summer and heat and humidity.

It is very good to have each of you here with us in person this wonderful Lord’s day. To those watching our live stream we also want to give you a warm welcome. We would love to worship with you in person very soon!

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God has really worked this morning’s message over and over in my head. He has lead me down several different paths.

Same main scriptures but many different looks and thoughts.

If I would tell you I am exactly sure where this is going this morning I would be lying to you but that is how the Holy Spirit works

When it comes to spiritual warfare there are two main forces

External....sin…satan....fallen world....evil....we have covered these quite extensively during the 1st three weeks of this series

The other main force is

Internal....thoughts......lusts....desires…passions…flesh…sinful nature

Us

Our humanness

our sinful natures

All those make up the internal force that produces so many spiritual battles inside of you and me everyday.

That is what we are going to look at today

I felt like spiritual warfare and spiritual battles could really be boiled down into two battles

Temptation

Obedience

We will start with

Temptation

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The world and so many Christians do not have a biblical perspective on temptation

Let’s make sure we are not part of that group here this morning

James 1:13–16

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“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.”

This is a true Biblical perspective when it comes to temptation

we will dive into these but I wanted to list them first....the aspects of this biblical perspective on temptation

1. God cannot be tempted by evil

2. God tempts no man

3. You are drawn away by your own lust

4. Sin brings forth death

1. God Cannot Be Tempted By Evil vs 13

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Think about this for a moment.

God cannot be tempted by evil

God hates evil

God refuses to look upon evil

Even when Jesus.....His One and Only Beloved Son became your sin and my sin on the cross God looked away from Jesus for the only time in eternity

God cannot be tempted by evil

Why

Why is it that God cannot be tempted by evil

He is holy

I am putting several scriptures in your notes for you to dive into this week in your secret place that deal with God and how holy He is....I won’t have you turn to each one but I want to read each one

Exodus 15:11

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“Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

Psalm 96:9

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“O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Fear before him, all the earth.”

Ezekiel 38:23

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“Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

1 Samuel 2:2

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“There is none holy as the Lord: For there is none beside thee: Neither is there any rock like our God.”

Revelation 15:4

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“Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.”

What is the result of that holiness.......God cannot be tempted by evil

It also means He is set apart

He is different

He is so far above each and every one of us

Isaiah 55:8–9

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“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God is holy

God is sanctified

God is set apart

God has nothing to do with evil

God cannot be tempted by evil

If God fully and completely rejects evil so must you

We will get into this more in obedience and next week when we wrap up Spiritual Warfare series by looking at Absolute truth

God is holy and God cannot be tempted by evil

2. God Tempteth No Man vs 13

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So many say God is tempting me

God is not tempting you

God cannot be tempted with evil so why would He tempt you with evil

God is tempting me is not true.....it doesn’t hold water when placed in captivity to God’s Word

If you claim God is tempting you then you are ignorant of scripture.....still on milk not moving to meat

you could not be saved therefore don’t have the Holy Spirit to teach you

You could be deceived or mislead

Any way you put it you are wrong

Scripture is very clear

God does not tempt any man with evil

If God doesn’t tempt you then who or what does

It Is An Inside Job vs 14

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James 1:14

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“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”

When you are tempted you are drawn away by YOUR own lusts

Many claim the devil made them do it....NOPE....YOU made YOU do it

Proverbs 19:3

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“The foolishness of man perverteth his way: And his heart fretteth against the Lord.”

You pervert your way

Your heart fretteth against the Lord

You place yourself in wrong standing with God

because of your desires

because of your lusts

because of your passions

because of your ambition

because of your laziness

because of your worry

because of your anxiety

because of your addiction

Get the picture

YOU ARE TEMPTED BY YOU

YOU ARE DRAWN AWAY BY YOU

Not God

Not the devil

Not your spouse

Not your kids

Not your friends

Not your family

Not your co-workers

Not your drug or idol of choice

YOU ARE DRAWN AWAY BY YOU

Your lusts

Your desires

your passions

they entice you

then you are drawn away

you are drawn into sin and death

This is where the battle over your thoughts plays out…we talked about this last week

if you don’t take those things captive they will become sin and that sin will lead to death

4. Sin Leads to Death vs 15

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James 1:15

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“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

Sin leads to death

If you do not deal with your sin you will die, it could be a physical death but for sure a spiritual death

You must repent of your sin

You must confess that sin

When you are convicted of sin you have a choice

repent and be cleansed of all unrighteousness or refuse repentance and face spiritual death

1 John 1:9

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“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

When you sin....not if you sin....this if is not for if you sin but if you will humble yourself and confess your sins

when you sin you must admit to God He was right you were wrong and you are repenting of that sin and returning to agreement with Him and His ways.

Sin leads to death

every single one of us sins

every single one of us has had to face the consequences of those sins

you know this is true

some sin leads to physical death but all sin leads to spiritual death if not repented and confessed!

Some of you if not all of you will face this very battle this morning

God is bringing to mind sins that you have not confessed and repented of

what will you do with them this morning

what will you do with that conviction this morning?

The second battle we are going to look at this morning is

Obedience

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Galatians 5:16–17

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“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

Again choice

Walk in Spirit or walk in flesh

These are the only two choices by the way

Many claim to be walking in the Spirit but are truly walking in the flesh

How do you know?

Fruits

Obedience

Fruits and obedience are about devotion

Fruits and obedience are about love

You don’t obey to become saved you obey because you are saved

John 14:15

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“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

Obedience is not optional for Christians

Obedience is a result of true love and devotion

You cannot abide in Jesus and Jesus in you if you refuse to obey

Many debate what commandments Jesus is speaking of here

God’s Word

That is what He is talking about

Every Word that came from His mouth

Christians get caught up in and argue over Old Testament

Is it still relevant is it not

Here is the truth some of the old testament has been fulfilled therefore is there for us to learn of God’s character and see pitfalls to avoid but it has not legally binding affect on us

Other parts are yet to be fulfilled so they are just as binding today as they were back then

The old testament is wonderful and should be read and studied and applied.

The entire old testament points to Jesus

satan uses these debates to drive wedges between believers that leads to destruction of personal faith and corporate churches

The Holy Spirit is in you for many reasons one of them, one of the main ones, is to discern or learn and understand scriptures.....seek Him and you will find your answer

Jesus clarifies elsewhere in scriptures two very important commands we must obey as Christians

Matthew 22:36–40

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“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Now obedience and talking about obedience always leads to conviction

Yes always leads to conviction because you and I are so far from perfect....remember Isaiah....God’s thoughts and ways are so far above ours

We fail and sin every single day

We fail to obey daily so when we talk about obedience it must lead to conviction because we are not perfect therefore conviction is needed

This morning is no different

Look at what Jesus is saying

Love God with every fiber of your being

If you love Him with every fiber of your being you will stop at nothing to obey him because of that love

Many say they love God with every fiber of their being but they do not

Listen let’s keep it 100 as they say....let’s keep it real this morning

Right now many of you just had this thought pop into your head

well that is true but it doesn’t apply to blank

we all fill that blank in with our pet sin.....our sin we think God will over look......wrong sin is sin is sin

doesn’t matter what you put in that blank

smoking marijuana which is really more about idols than smoking....you smoke to deal with life so therefore you smoke instead of turning to God making marijuana an idol in your life......and if you aren’t turning to them to deal with life you are surely not sober minded which again is a sin because God says in scripture to be sober minded at all times......cigarettes, chew, alcohol, drugs..all fit here

pride

anger

porn

lust

mental adultery.....if you think it you commit adultery

unforgiveness

I hope you get the picture......repent and confess ALL sin....even the sin you love.....that is a topic for another day

Again how do you tell

How do you tell what you need to repent and confess

Fruits

Galatians 5:19–21

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“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

We all have these fruits present in our lives because we are sinful by nature

we are enticed by the fruits on here that we like

we are enticed by the fruits on here we have a weakness towards

All of us have fleshly fruit in our lives so the question is not do we have them but what are we doing about them?

When these fruits are present in your life you are walking in the flesh

If you refuse to repent you then must question are you truly saved

Many of these fruits are self-explanatory

If you are unsure about one go to strongs concordance online and look at the Greek

What I want you to see this morning

What I want you to think about this morning

Is how do I allow the Holy Spirit to apply this to my life

Every one of us have evil desires

that is never the question

the question is will you through love and devotion and obedience deal with them decisively

Lust

Adultery

Murder

Some sins are very obvious to you and everyone around you

Others are much less obvious to you and others around you but are still present and still must be dealt with

ambition

pride

anger

jealousy

envy

unforgiveness

lust

adultery in the heart and mind

just to name a few

If these are present and they must also be dealt with quickly and decisively

If you are a true Christian you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you

He will produce fruit

As you surrender to obedience because of your love and devotion to Christ who you are begins to change

How you react begins to change

what you look at and listen to for entertainment begins to change

perspective and your outlook on the world begins to change

When you get angry you have a choice.....surrender that and obey or keep it and sin and risk destroying relationships

Lust…again you have a choice..take those thoughts captive and cast them away or keep them and let them become sin and risk destruction

You will be enticed by your own lusts and evil desires…that is temptation

will you choose love and devotion in obedience and take those lusts and evil desires captive against the Word of God and cast them away or will you fall to sin and separate yourself from God

you always have a choice…what choice will you make this morning?

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