Cut off my arm?!

I thought this was an excellent article from World Magazine by Andree Seu Peterson. She takes the passage in Matthew 18:8 where Jesus says, "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away."  He goes on to say that it is better to be maimed than to go to hell with all of our body parts present. The author challenges us to realize that God would have us face up to our temptations and defeat them. We need to die daily to self and sin and we need to be willing to struggle against sin and not just roll over and play dead.

Excellent article. I encourage you to check it out.

 WORLD | Cut it off? | Andrée Seu Peterson | Aug. 10, 2013

Biblical Battle Strategies Against Lust and Sin-2

So this leads us back now to the first point in what I'm calling Battle Strategies for the war on lust and sin. The first step is to ask ourselves, “Do I really want to pursue righteousness and holiness, and count everything loss in order to know Christ and the power of His resurrection in my life.” Do I really want this? Am I willing to work hard, suffer and sweat to gain it?

This is not a trite question. You shouldn't just read it and go on. In order to help us think about this, I'd like to look at several passages of Scripture.

The Bible speaks about fleeing some things and pursuing others. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” One of the things that should be pursued is holiness. To pursue means to chase down or chase after. You've seen the police chases. Several squad cars are seen pursuing a car speeding to get away. The point is they are trying to catch the person. They are not just following along after it like they would be during non-chase normal traffic situations. So we are to chase down holiness, which the writer says we need if we want to see the Lord. Do you have the desire to chase holiness? Are you chasing it?

1 Timothy 6:11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

There are things to flee, but in this case I'm focusing on the pursuit. Here we are told to pursue several traits. Look these over and ask yourself am I chasing these things? Look at each one of these traits one at a time. Do I have a desire chase them? Am I willing to ask God for the desire to chase them?

2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Am I fleeing and do I desire to flee youthful lusts. Older people can have youthful lusts. Sex is certainly one of these, but young people also have other inordinate desires for prestige, acceptance, power, recklessness, etc. Sometimes as we get older, these lusts don't disappear. We need to run away from these lusts with as much energy as we can. And here again we are to pursue righteousness and other traits. So if you can picture this, we are to be running away from some things in hot pursuit of other things. This is not a lazy afternoon walk. This is a chase.

And from Philippians 3:8-14 we learn that, like Paul, we should count things that are normally thought of as gain, we should count them loss. The reason is because of the excellence of Christ. Paul wanted to gain Christ. He described his effort as “pressing for the mark.” He was like a runner stretching out to be the first person across the line. That is the kind of effort he was making in order to know Christ better and to be found in Him.

Before we go on to any of the strategies that I will outline for us, each one of us needs to ask ourself the question: Do I really want this? Do I want to pursue righteousness and holiness? Do I really want Christ above all things? If the answer is “no” or if the answer is “I don't think I really care.” or if the answer is a shrug of the shoulders, then there's no point in going on.

Next time we'll begin to look at some of the strategies in detail.

To help your meditation on these passages, you can find the entire list here.

Biblical Battle Strategies Against Lust and Sin - 1

Every day we are confronted with temptations that attempt to distract us from our primary focus of service and obedience to Christ. These temptations often derail our attempts to live a godly life. Every day we are engaged in a battle to defeat these temptations and to stay the course. What I hope to do in this series is to review some of what the Bible teaches as to methods and strategies we can use to fight successfully. I plan to provide you with 10 or 11 specific statements that you should be able to make about yourself and about your spiritual life. These will be supported with passages of Scripture to help give you a strong foundation for those statements. If these statements are true of you, you will be in a better position for success in this battle against sin, lust and temptation. If the statements are not true of you, it should provide motivation and a goal that you can work on in order to improve areas of weakness.

The first thing we need to realize is that this battle is universal among Christians. As you read this material you are going to be tempted to think that this is a battle for someone else. Often, when we speak of lusts, as we will in the following section, people immediately focus on sexual lust and if that doesn't happen to be your problem, you might stop reading thinking that you have everything under control. That is a dangerous position to be in because if you are not aware of a battle for your heart and soul, the devil has you right where he wants you. But as soon as you realize that this applies to you just as much as anyone else and as soon as you take up arms to defeat your own lusts, you will find a battle greater than you ever imagined could exist.

The first step, then, is to ask ourselves the question: “Do I really want to pursue righteousness and holiness, and count everything loss in order to know Christ and the power of His resurrection in my life?” In order to accurately answer this question, there are some truths we need to consider.

In 1 John 2:15-17 we read: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

There is a distinction between the things of the world and the things of God. These verses very clearly teach that it is not possible to love the world and love God at the same time. This means a decision is required. Do I really want to abandon the world for Christ? This is an overarching decision, but it is also a decision that has to be made hundreds of times a day. Making the decision during a momentary temptation without having made it as a principle of your life will make the battle ultimately impossible to win. So before you go any further you need to decide – Christ or the world.

In this passage, much of the world definition involves lust. Lust is a strong desire that is excessive to the point of being sinful. In this passage we have three components given for worldliness – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We don't have time to go into each one in detail, but if you think about it you will realize that many of the things we do and decisions we make are made based on these lusts. We covet what we see other people have. We lust for sex or excitement or other flesh-based pleasures. We desire to have people look up to us as someone important or powerful or contented. Yes, we can be proud of our contentment and wish for others to be jealous of our contented life. All of these temptations come from the world and not from God.

In James 1:14-15 we read this: But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Here's the issue then. The world and Satan provide attractions that feed the lusts that John referred to. But our temptations come from within us, from our own lusts or desires and we are drawn away by them. We are pulled in a wrong direction. The desires come from deep within us. They are part of our sin nature, our fallenness, our brokenness. As these desires are conceived and gestate within us they give birth to sin. Sin is a thought or deed that is not within the will and character of God. These sins begin to grown and then, as James writes, they bring forth death. The Bible teaches that sin has wages and those wages are death.

A Christian, having been born again and now a child of God, has a new desire in competition with the old tendency and therein lies the conflict. Paul writes it this way in Galatians 5:17 - For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

So this leads us back now to the first point in what I'm calling Battle Strategies for the war on lust and sin. The first step is to ask ourselves, “Do I really want to pursue righteousness and holiness, and count everything loss in order to know Christ and the power of His resurrection in my life.” Do I really want this? Am I willing to work hard, suffer and sweat to gain it?

We'll think more about this question next time.

When a Temptation Comes to its Hour

One final Puritan devotional on the subject of temptation. Thought this was especially good. If you've ever been strongly tempted or have fought to defeat sin in your life, you will relate to this.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  1 Corinthians 16:13

How can we recognize when a temptation has come to its hour?  A temptation has come to its hour when it is restless, urgent, and arguing.  It is a time of battle, and sin will give the soul no rest.  Satan sees his advantage, the convergence of his forces, and knows that he must prevail, or be hopeless forever.  Satan pushes this opportunity and time of advantage with special pleas and promises. He has taken some ground in his arguments so far, and seeks to exert his ground further.  He reminds us of a full pardon after the sin.  He realizes that if he does not win now he will lose the opportunity.  When Satan had prepared all the events against Christ, it was the hour of darkness.  When a temptation presses in upon us through our imagination and reason, and when opportunities, solicitations, and advantages press us on the outside, we may know that the hour of its power has come.  A temptation has also come to its hour when it brings both fear and allurements together to work with greater force.  These came together in King David when he planned the murder of Uriah.  There was the fear of his sin being found out, and also the continued pleasure and enjoyment with Bathsheba.  Men sometimes are carried into sin just by the love of it, but they often continue in it because of the fear of the consequences that might appear by repentance and full disclosure.  Our Saviour teaches us the ways to prevent our entering into temptation, and there are two: ‘Watch’ and ‘Pray’.  To watch means to be on guard, to take heed, and to consider the ways the enemy might seek to approach us and entangle us in his baits and methods.  The second direction is to pray.  This important duty is known to all.  These two duties are the whole expression of faith to protect us from temptation.

From "Voices from the Past" Edited By Richard Rushing, page 95, published by Banner of Truth Trust

Entering into Temptation

then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,  2 Peter 2:9

To enter into temptation there must be two things:  First, by some special advantage or occasion, Satan attacks us with greater force than his ordinary solicitations.  He takes advantage of a lust or corruption with much greater turbulence than usual.  Secondly, our heart must be entangled enough in the temptation that we are not wholly able to eject or cast out the poison that has been injected.  The soul is surprised how hard the entanglement is to resist.  The soul may cry and pray, and the entanglement continues.  Entering into temptation occurs in one of two seasons:  (1.) When God allows Satan, for ends best known to himself, to gain a peculiar advantage against the soul; as in the case of Peter, he sought to sift him like wheat, and prevailed.  (2.) When a man’s lusts and corruptions meet a particular provoking object or opportunity along life’s way, as it was with King David.  When one enters into one of these seasons, he has entered into temptation.  The hour of temptation is the hour that a temptation has arrived at its zenith, a season in which it grows to its greatest force, when it is most vigorous, active, and prevalent.  It may take a while to get to this point, but given the right circumstances, temptation arrives at this very dangerous hour.  When man has entered into it, it carries him quite away before it.  At other times it has little power over a man; he can despise it, and easily resist it.  Temptation at times is supported by other circumstances and occurrences that give it new strength and effectiveness.  The man is weakened, the hour has come, he has entered into it, and it prevails.  Blessed is he who is prepared for such a season.  There is no escape without this preparation.  If we maintain our preparation, we are safe.

From "Voices from the Past" Edited By Richard Rushing, page 94, published by Banner of Truth Trust 

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Today and tomorrow I am sharing a couple more puritan devotionals. These are on the topic of temptation. They are very appropriate for the day in which we live. Both are by John Owen.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:13

Entering into temptation is not merely being tempted.  We will never be free from temptation while Satan continues in his power and malice, and while the world and lust continue.  There is no need to pray for an absolute freedom from temptation, since there is no scriptural promise to claim concerning it.  It is entering into temptation that we are to pray against.  It is an entrance into a powerful or frightening allurement.  Entering into temptation does not mean that it has conquered you, or that you have committed it.  A man may ‘enter into temptation’ and yet not fall.  God can make a way of escape.  When a man has entered into temptation God can break the snare, tread down Satan, and make the soul more than a conqueror.  Christ entered into temptation, but was not the least foiled by it.  The apostle expresses it to ‘fall into temptation’ (1 Tim. 6:9), as a man falls into a pit or deep place where there are traps and snares with which he might be entangled.  The man is not presently killed and destroyed, but he is entangled and detained.  He does not know how to get free or be at liberty.  So Paul expresses it (1 Cor. 10:13):  ‘No temptation has overtaken you’, That is, to be taken by a temptation and to be tangled with it, to be held I its cords, and not finding at present a way to escape.  Peter also, says (2 Peter 2:9):  ‘The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials.’  When we allow a temptation to enter into us, then we ‘enter into temptation’.  When sin knocks at the door,  we are at liberty; but when a temptation comes in and we allow it to parley with our heart, reason with our mind, entice an allure our affections, for a long or short time, sin subtly and almost imperceptibly draws our soul to take particular notice of it, then we ‘enter into temptation’.  Lord, ‘lead us not into temptation.’

From "Voices from the Past" Edited By Richard Rushing, page 93, published by Banner of Truth Trust 

The Believer's Battle - Temptation

This is the last in the series summarizing our pastor's sermon series on the Believer's Battle. This is just a short synopsis of the message. The link at the bottom will take you to the audio of the sermon, if you would like to hear it.

We are tempted to blame many things and many people for our temptations, but the truth is that temptations are not the fault of other people. Temptations are common to all of us. No one should think he is unusual when he is tempted. It's a normal part of living in a fallen world.

Temptations are not sinful in themselves. Even Jesus was tempted in all points like we are, yet He was without sin. But that doesn't mean that they are easy to deal with. They are a means the devil uses to activate our own desires. That's where the trouble comes from. We are tempted when we are drawn away of our own desires and enticed. (James 1:13-16)

There are some biblical actions we need to take in order to successfully fight temptation.

We need to...

Abide in Christ – John 15:1-11

Walk & be controlled by the Spirit – Ephesians 5:18

Make no provision for the flesh – Romans 13:14

Meditate and heed the Word of God – Psalm 119:9-11

Affirm the truth and priority of God's Word – Matthew 4:1-11

Acknowledge God has made a way of escape – 1 Corinthians 10:13

Avoid situations that make temptation hard – Proverbs 22:3

Pray – Matthew 6:13

Guard yourself and your mind – 1 Peter 1:13

Learn to say, “NO” – Proverbs 1:10

To hear the audio of the message brought to you from Faith Baptist Church in Mattawan, Michigan, click here.