Lead Us Not Into Temptation (2)
The King and His Kingdom
OKAY - I want to start off this morning by reading several passages of Scripture that are both powerful and inspiring.
But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. - John 4:14
I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. – John 10:10
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. – Philippians 4:12,13
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6,7
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. - 1 Peter 1:3
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy… - 1 Peter 3:18
Prayer
QUESTION – have you ever read Scriptures like the ones we just read, Scriptures that describe this full and abundant life that is supposedly ours as a Jesus follower…
Never thirsty again, Content in every and any situation
Able to ensure and stand up under all things through Christ
No longer being anxious about ‘anything’
Having a living hope and experiencing a peace that passes, that transcends all understanding, and
Being filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy
AGAIN – have you ever read passages like that and thought... “yeah sounds great, but my life sure doesn’t look like that. INSTEAD -
AND – how come every time I try to experience that life, it’s like I’m walking into a stiff wind or running uphill into a brick wall. QUESTION...
Why, is life so hard, so difficult?
Why, is it at times such a struggle?
Why do our best efforts seem to never go unopposed.
BECAUSE – as we said last week, as we began unpacking the closing words of the greatest prayer ever prayed...
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
BECAUSE – we have a powerful and unrelenting enemy who has declared war on us.
As John Eldredge writes in his book ‘Waking The Dead’
By all means, God intends life for you. But right now that life is opposed. It doesn’t just roll in on a tray. There is a thief. He comes to steal and kill and destroy. In other words… yes, the offer is life, but you’re going to have to fight for it because there’s an enemy in your life with a different agenda.
OKAY MGCC – here’s the deal...
IF YOU – want to experience the abundant life that God has for you, you will need to fight for it, and listen in order to fight to win, you must know 3 things, you must
Know Your Enemy
Know Your Responsibility, and
Know Your God
NOW – some of our conversation this morning will be review (review is good), However, most will be new stuff.
AND B/S– I really want to encourage you to lean into our study morning... BECAUSE – falling into temptation is like a really ‘huge deal.’
I MEAN – check out what Jesus’ ½ brother James wrote to us in the first chapter of His letter ..
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
UNDERSTAND – God never tempts us to sin.
but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
Dragged away and enticed are fishing terms.
Bait is dropped before us, we are attracted to the bait
And we okay until we take that bite.
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
– James 1:13-15
Death = spiritual death = separation from God
OKAY – let’s this do this.
MGCC – to win the battle, the war, this struggle with falling into temptation and doing evil, you need to know your enemy.
I. Know Your Enemy
NOW – last week we talked a lot about our enemy, so this will just be a ‘brief’ review.
a) Know who he is
He is extremely powerful... (his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.
He is a thief who comes into your life to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10)
He is a roaring lion looking for an opportunity to devour you (1 Peter 5:8)
He is an angry dragon who has declared war on you, because you want to follow Jesus
b) Know his target
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23
B/S – you have an enemy and he is and will always be attacking your heart. Why?
BECAUSE – everything flows from the heart.
The Story of your life is the story of the long and brutal assault on your heart by the one who knows what you could be and fears it. - John Eldredge (Waking The Dead)
c) Know his goal
Your destruction and spiritual death.
d) Know his method/battle strategy
Which is temptation...
MGCC – our enemy, who Paul says in 2 Corinthian 11:14, ‘masquerades as an angel of light,’ baits various hooks to entice us.
Falsely promising life in things that lead to death.
He makes sin and evil look good
AGAIN – to defeat your enemy you need to know you enemy... AND B/S – I can guarantee that he carefully studies and knows you.
He knows what temptations (marshmallows) that you really struggle resisting.
He knows your weaknesses and when you are most vulnerable.
II. Know Your Responsibility
Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. – James 1:14
QUESTION - how good are you at accepting responsibility for your actions?
In other words, when you do something wrong do you admit it, or do you try to blame someone or something else?
You get a bad grade in school or something goes wrong at work... it was their fault.
You get angry and lose control -- they made me do it, if they didn’t then I wouldn’t have.
NOW – I do not think that I need to tell you, that there is an ever increasing epidemic in our society of people refusing to take responsibility for their actions and inactions.
Everyone is always blaming everyone and anything else for the things they do wrong or for the good they fail to do.
AND UNFORTUNATELY – our culture, our media and even our government feeds, promotes and pacifies this unhealthy and destructive mindset.
BUT UNDERSTAND – the bible is all about personal responsibility...
We are responsible for our own conduct (Gal 6:5)
We are responsible for our sinful behavior
(James 4:17)
We are responsible to use our spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6-8; Matthew 25)
We are responsible for providing for our families
(1 Timothy 5:8)
We are responsible to work out our own salvation with ‘fear and trembling.’
AND LISTEN...
As a Jesus-follower we have some responsibilities when it comes to resisting and overcoming temptation and not doing evil things. Here are a few...
a) It’s you responsibility to…Pursue authentic joy
UNDERSTAND - If I had to name the single greatest ‘emotional resource’ against temptation, it would be joy.
NOW - On Nehemiah 8:10 we read...
The joy of the Lord is our strength... is our what?
MGCC – what I am trying to say is that... if we want to resist temptation we need to arrange our life around joy... around experiencing the joy of the Lord.
YES - I believe that experiencing authentic, God-honoring joy may be the single greatest weapon that a person can have to fight temptation. On the other hand, joylessness is always sets us up to be vulnerable to temptation and sin.
In other words unhappy, miserable people tend to be more susceptible to temptation and sin....
"Failure to attain a deeply satisfying life always has the effect of making sinful actions seem good."
– Dallas Willard
UNDERSTAND – if you have authentic joy in your life then temptation, (which is always the offer of the illusion of joy–never joy itself) is not going to look that good. It’s just not.
SO - the question is what do you need to do to increase the joy factor in your life?
LIKE - what are the activities and relationships that are God-honoring that will bring you authentic joy?
Maybe it’s being in nature.
Maybe there’s music you love to listen to.
Maybe it’s learning new things
Maybe it’s time with certain friends.
Maybe it’s physical challenges that you love.
UNDERSTAND - as we pray, "God, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," this needs to be part of what we pray for. "God, help me be a joyful person. Help me to find those things that will bring me real – authentic joy, help me to have a deeply satisfying life."
b) It’s you responsibility to…Starve Temptation and not feed it
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. - Romans 6:13
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness
In other words starve temptation don’t feed it.
NOW – if we are honest most of us would have to admit that we tend to play around with things that lead to sin.
I MEAN – we are like the young boy whose mom told him that he was not allowed to go swimming...
However, when he came into the house later that day, she noticed that his hair was wet and that he was wearing his bathing suit. "Johnnie," his mother scolded, "I told you not to go swimming."
"I couldn’t help it mom," he defended himself.
The water looked so good." "But why did you take your bathing suit with you?" "In case I was tempted."
OR – we are like the overweight guy who decided that it was time to lose weight. I MEAN - he really took his new diet seriously, even changing his driving route to avoid his favorite bakery. One morning, however he arrived at work carrying 3 boxes of donuts.
He explained. "I accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and there they were ‘hot and fresh’ in the window.
I felt that this was not am accident so I prayed, `Lord if you want me to have on of those donuts, let me find a parking place directly in front of the bakery.’
"And sure enough," he continued, "the 8th time around the block, there it was!"
Many, many years ago, on a TV show called "Hee Haw"
(yeah I know it was before your time)... But in one clip Doctor Campbell is confronted by a patient who says that he broke his arm in 2 places... And Doctor Campbell had some simple but wise advise, "well then stay out of those 2 places
UNDERSTAND B/S - there are certain places and situations that we need to stay out of... amen?
BECAUSE – if you play around with fire long enough, eventually you will get... you will get burned.
SO – let me ask you, are there....
Some places you need to stop going to?
Some people you need to stop hanging out with?
Some internet sites you need to avoid?
Some situations that you need to avoid... like being single and being alone in your home, or the back seat of car with someone of the opposite sex?
UNDERSTAND – it is your responsibility and mine, to starve and not feed temptation...
Get It?
LISTEN - temptation to sin (which when full grown leads to death) is nothing to play around with...
NOW – one of the classic fails at this is King David sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel chapter 11.
UNDERSTAND - David didn’t starve temptation he fed it
LIKE - he knew exactly what he was going to see when he went up to that roof top (Bathsheba bathing), and he knew what was going to happen when he had his servants bring her to his bed chamber.
YES - David played around with the things that made him weak. And the price that he paid was high.
Dag Hammarskjold , Secretary General to the United Nations in the mid to late 1950’s;
You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn’t reserve a plot for weeds.
c) It’s you responsibility to…Use the right resistance
UNDERSTAND - just as all sickness is not cured by the same medication, not all temptation is handled by the same resistance. In other words - we must fit the resistance to the temptation.
FOR EXAMPLE - when dealing with sexual temptation we are told to flee, to run, to get out of Dodge, as quick as we can. NOW – that’s what Joseph did in Genesis 39:12.
She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body but he who sins sexually sins against his own body... - 1 Corinthians 6:18
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. - 2 Timothy 2:22
BOTTOM LINE (B/L) - if we stay and try to fight or negotiate with sexual temptation, we will enviably get zapped and wind up electrocuted, fried at the bottom of his tray...
GET IT?
AND IF - we are tempted to gossip and slander someone,
There is an effective resistance for that too, keep our shut closed. You say, "well, that’s one way."
No that’s the only way!
LISTEN - a bridle isn’t an answer for gossip-you need a muzzle. Stop talking, Say nothing…
If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. – James 1:26
NOW – I have always appreciate the advice from that great theologian from the movie Bambi (1942) the pink nose rabbit named Thumper.
AGAIN – it is our responsibility to use the right resistance.
Sexual temptation --- run, flee
Gossip, slander --- hold your tongue
Laziness --- work
Bitterness --- forgive
Holding back and not giving to the Lord what is his ---- give
d) it’s your responsibility to… Remind Yourself Of The Final Pain That Will Soon Replace The Passing Pleasure
NOW - that is exactly what Moses did when he choose life with God’s people over life with the Egyptians;
By faith Moses when he had grown up, refused to be know as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He choose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time...." - Heb 11:24,25
Is sin pleasurable? You bet it is. So much so that people will risk their reputations, their careers, even their families just to taste it’s flavor.
I MEAN - if the bait on the hook did not look like something good to eat then the fish would just swim away and never take bite.
HOWEVER - though pleasurable this enjoyment lasts only a short time... You have your kicks and then your kickbacks. You sow and then you reap what you sow.
B/S - when sin’s pleasure is dangling on a hook right in front of us we have to remind ourselves that the pleasure of sin is temporary – and the consequences can be severe.
Sin always takes you further than you want to go and keeps you longer than you want to stay.
It’s your responsibility to…
Remind Yourself Of The Final Pain That Will Soon Replace The Passing Pleasure
Pursue authentic joy
Starve and not feed temptation
To use the right resistance
e) It’s your responsibility to…Put On The Full Armor Of God
NOW LISTEN…
I WANT - to make this as practical as I possibly can.
I WANT – to help you to not only understand what ‘the full armor of God’ is, but also how to actually put it on.
The Belt Of Truth
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist… - Ephesians 6:14
UNDERSTAND - the belt of a Roman soldier held all of the other parts of the armor together.
In like manner the belt of truth, holds together the armor of the Christian.
AND LISTEN – this truth is not truth as in God’s truth (that is going to come up later in Ephesians 6:17, when Paul talks about the sword of the Spirit)
BUT – here in verse 14, the belt of truth is talking about personal integrity and honesty…
A few verses…
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. – Proverbs 11:3
Let your word ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one. – Matthew 5:37
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He 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. – John 8:44
LISTEN – here’s the deal… we cannot defeat the devil if we are trying to play the game on his field (the field of dishonesty and lack of integrity).
UNDERSTAND - once we allow what is false to take root in our life… once we lose our integrity – everything else begins to fall apart (like armor without a belt).
QUESTION…
Do you words and actions match – all the time?
Can people (do people) trust what you say?
Are you the same person in the dark as you are in the light?
The Breastplate of Righteousness
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place…
Ephesians 6:14
NOW - this piece of armor was made of metal plates or chains, it covered the body from neck to waist, both front and back, protecting the vital parts of the body…
AND LISTEN - as Paul talks about the breastplate of righteousness – I believe that he has 2 aspects in mind; a ‘positional’ and a ‘practical’ aspect.
The Positional Aspect, is the righteousness we have because we are ‘in’ Christ.
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… - Romans 8:1
God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
- 2 Cor 5:21
LISTEN - when we are in Christ, we can stand before God not condemned – because we stand in God’s grace.
AND B/S - this is an essential defense against the attacks of the evil one who still wants us to live under the law, by the rule of ‘do to be’.
“I am right with God”
Our heart is protected.
NOW UNDERSTAND - there are many more passages that talk about us being ‘in’ Christ.
AND – it is clear from scripture that being in Christ is essential to salvation.
Therefore the question of the ages is how does a person get ‘in’ Christ?
Can you answer that question, biblically?
A repentant believer is baptized into Christ.
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? – Romans 6:3
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. – Galatians 3:27
The Practical Aspect is the believers righteous life.
This is about as Paul told us in Ephesian 4:24… “putting on the new self…” it’s about walking the walk.
AND UNDERSTAND - this practical righteousness is important because satan (the great accuser who according Revelation 12:10 accuses us night and day) has difficultly accusing the one who is living a righteous life.
OKAY – here’s what I am trying to say…
The life we live, either fortifies us against satan’s attacks or it makes it easier for satan to attack and defeat us…
YOU SEE - it is hard for us to go into battle, and to feel confident in our ‘positional’ righteousness (being in Christ) when we know we are not living the life that God has called us to live.
LIKE - when we have secret or not so secret sins… it is difficult at those times to tell satan when he attacks, “ hey, I’m a Christian, I’m under grace..” WHY? - because we are not so confident in that grace anymore. WHY? - because we who are supposed to be dead to sin are still living in it.
Does any of this make sense?
MGCC - when satan accuses us (and he has, will and maybe is)… It is our righteousness ‘in Christ’ that protects us.
But this ‘positional’ righteousness, without ‘practical’ righteousness in our daily lives only gives satan the opportunity to attack us.
“Are you sure…
“If you really were…
The Gospel Of Peace
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace… - Ephesians 6:15
The Roman soldier wore a half boot made of leather…
It had heavy metal studded soles and was tied to the ankles and shins with straps.
These boots equipped the soldier both for long marches and for taking a stand in battle…
(shoes are important)
Now I think you would agree that it is important for a soldier to be prepared for battle…
Have you ever been unprepared for something?
YEAH - being unprepared usually spells one thing defeat
AND SO – Paul says in Ephesians 6:15 it is the Gospel of peace that prepares us and makes us ready for battle.
AND UNDERSTAND – the Gospel of peace makes us ready for battle in at least two ways… and both of these ways are seen in Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. – Romans 1:16
SO – did you see those 2 ways…
The Gospel’s Power Makes Us Ready
QUESTION - does knowing that he has a great power with Him make a soldier ready for battle? You bet it does.
D-day (Naval and air support)
WELL – the Gospel is the power (the dynamis… du-na-mes) of the all-powerful God.
The Gospel’s Purpose Makes Us Ready
Knowing your purpose as a soldier is important
(Vietnam/Desert Storm)
Leadership Conference – (General Norman Schwarzkopf)
What is the Gospel’s purpose?
The salvation of everyone who believes!
UNDERSTAND - It is only when the Christian soldier has a firm grasp on this purpose that he will endure the hardships that make victory possible.
UNDERSTAND – there is no greater cause then the cause of Christ and His Gospel.
Changing the forever of lost people
QUESTION – are your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace?
The Shield Of Faith
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Ephesians 6:16
NOW - shields were made of wood… So the best way to attack your enemy ‘back in that day, was to have your archers shoot flaming arrows at them… catching the shield on fire.
A good plan.
That’s why the Roman’s covered their shields in leathers and soak them in water before a battle…
Another good plan…
UNDERSTAND – we have an enemy that is continuously launching flaming arrows at God’s people…
tempting us to sin
come on, take a bite
you deserve it
it will make you feel better
just one more time and you can give it up tomorrow
other people are doing worse things
it will end differently this time
YES – our enemy constantly launches his flaming arrows... tempting us to sin, and lying to us about who we are.
you’re not loved
you’re not forgiven
you’re not: cared for, significant, needed, valuable, maturing,
you’re not doing enough, giving enough
You’ll never
NOW - some of you know exactly what I am talking about… AND LISTEN – your faith is the shield that will protect you from those flaming arrows…
OKAY – so what does that mean practically…
UNDERSTAND – when the flaming arrows of the enemies lies comes raining down on us… It is our faith in Jesus, who He is and what He has done for us - that will protect us…
“It’s not true… those are lies!… I am not going to listen to you because I know who I am – and I know whose I am…”
I am loved
I am forgiven
I am significant
I matter to God
I am His child
AND – when the flaming arrows of temptation to sin rain down us… ONCE AGAIN – our faith is our shield…
“No, I will not do that…
I can’t do that; it is not who I am anymore.
I am a Jesus-follower. I will not dishonor Him.”
The Helmet Of Salvation
Take the helmet of salvation
OKAY – I’m going to say something real obvious here.
YOU – need your head.
YEAH – people can lose an arm, a hand, a foot or a leg and still make it, but if you lose your head... it is over.
UNDERSTAND - your head is very important, that’s why we protect it… Roman soldiers wore a helmet made of thick leather or brass to protect their head from a blow from a sword of club…
In certain sports people wear helmets…
(Mei Leigh)
We are in a battle… We have an enemy… and listen, he is going to go for our head… LIKE - he will try to get inside our head and mess with us, discourage us… AND – Paul says that The Helmet Of Salvation is what protects our head.
NOW – I think the key to understanding what this means is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:8?
But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on … the Hope of salvation as a helmet.”
QUESTION - is hope essential?
Is it essential to a sports team? To a soldier?
LISTEN - we need to remind ourselves daily of the hope of our salvation,
BECAUSE many times the individual battles we find ourselves in give the appearance that we’ve already lost, that it’s over… (Normandy landing…)
UNDERSTAND...
Bad things happen to good people.
Doctors bring back bad reports.
Children fall away from the Lord.
Often times in life we suffer, we hurt, we feel pain and we are disappointed it.
BUT MGCC – one day the trumpet will descend… the sky will crack open as Jesus returns to take us to our perfect forever.
YES – the end of this story, this battle has already been written… And when all is said and done, we win, and we go
home!
AMEN?!
These next two will go quick, but I think you know what they are...
The Sword Of The Spirit
Take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians
The sword Paul is talking about was 22” long, doubled edged and perfectly straight and no Roman soldier felt fully armed without it. The sword was primary an offensive weapon but also helped the soldier defend himself
The Christians sword is the Word of God
Checkout this scriptures about our sword;
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16,17
Prayer
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that wherever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. – Ephesians 6:18-20
The Christian soldier needs to be plugged into his power source… He needs to be in constant communication with headquarters…
To pray in the spirit is to pray;
With sincerity
With all your heart, your soul, mind and strength
In agreement with the purposes of God
III. Know Our God
Know that Our God...
a) Is Greater than our enemy
YES – our enemy is too strong for us...
BUT B/S - he is not too strong for God…
YES – on own we are toast, electrocuted, dead, lying on the bottom of his tray.
BUT – with God’s help we can resist and overcome…
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. – 1 John 4:4
He Controls The Intensity Of Our Temptations
And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. – 1 Cor 10:13
UNDERSTAND – as a Jesus follower there is no temptation that we will ever face that is not first filtered through the loving hands and caring eyes of the Father…
MGCC – our father is faithful and He will not allow our enemy to tempt us beyond our ability to resist.
God Always Provides A Way Out
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. – 1 Cor 10:13
LISTEN – when temptation comes, we need to look around, because there is always a way out!
WE – might have to run or we may have to fight.
It could just be a big “NO!” OR – the exercise of spirit-led self-control… but there is always a way out…
b) He Is Holy (never tempts)
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone…
James 1:13
MGCC – our God is holy, He is perfectly sinless
He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.
Everything in God resists sin.
He is aware of sin but untouched by it.
The angels who are flying around at this very moment are crying out... "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Alight, who was and is and is to come.”
To defeat temptation we must know that God is holy and He calls us to be holy.
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created. - James 1:16-18
c) He is the source of every ‘good’ thing
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
MGCC – God is the giver of every good thing in our lives.
UNLIKE – our enemy He does not promise us good and then give us pain and sorrow.
Is there any god in your life... praise Him for it!
He has not come to steal, kill and destroy but to give you life in all of its fullness.
God is good and only wants good for you!
AMEN?!
He is steady, sure and unchanging
who does not change like shifting shadows.
MGCC – God is the same yesterday, today and forever!
His mercy is unchanging
His grace is unchanging
His love is unchanging
His plans, purposes and ways are unchanging
His goodness and kindness is unchanging
His goal for us is new birth and salvation
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
NOW – unlike our enemy God’s goal for us is not death, but new birth.
UNDERSTAND – knowing that... God is: holy, good, unchanging and wants to give as birth into a new and better and fuller life...
Will make temptations of our enemy
Will make the worms ‘to sin’ he baits on his hook
So unappealing in comparison.
