1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,660 You are listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible, to contact 2 00:00:07,660 –> 00:00:16,440 us call us at 1 877-Open-365 or visit our website www.openthebible.org. 3 00:00:16,440 –> 00:00:17,760 Let’s get to the message. 4 00:00:17,760 –> 00:00:20,420 Here’s Pastor Colin. 5 00:00:20,420 –> 00:00:26,920 Well please open your Bible today at James and chapter 1, the book of James, towards 6 00:00:26,920 –> 00:00:31,340 the end of the New Testament and chapter one, we’re continuing to look at the inside story 7 00:00:31,340 –> 00:00:36,080 of the Christian life, and we saw last time that this is a life that we live in the body 8 00:00:36,080 –> 00:00:41,080 and it’s a life that we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for 9 00:00:41,080 –> 00:00:46,599 us, and we’ve been learning that we are to understand these two realities of the Christian 10 00:00:46,599 –> 00:00:47,599 life. 11 00:00:47,599 –> 00:00:51,520 You have new life because you’re in Jesus Christ, but you also have some new battles 12 00:00:51,520 –> 00:00:55,880 because you’re living this life in the body, and we saw last time that these are the twin 13 00:00:55,880 –> 00:00:58,880 tracts of Christian experience. 14 00:00:58,880 –> 00:01:05,279 A Christian then is a person who lives in Christ and in the body at the same time, and 15 00:01:05,279 –> 00:01:11,839 so experiences this strange enigma that on the one hand, the life of Christ is within 16 00:01:11,839 –> 00:01:19,000 you and on the other hand, an ongoing struggle is within you in Christ and in the body. 17 00:01:19,000 –> 00:01:24,919 Now today we’re going to focus on what this struggle actually looks like, and I’ve called 18 00:01:24,919 –> 00:01:30,599 the message Guerrilla Warfare, because indwelling sin that is the impulse to sin that remains 19 00:01:30,599 –> 00:01:37,580 in the flesh of a Christian believer, fights rather like a guerrilla warfare all of your 20 00:01:37,580 –> 00:01:38,580 life. 21 00:01:38,580 –> 00:01:42,360 So I hope you have your Bible open at James and Chapter 1. 22 00:01:42,360 –> 00:01:44,699 This is really the first part of a two part message. 23 00:01:44,699 –> 00:01:49,540 We’re going to focus on what this battle is like today, and then next week, God willing, 24 00:01:49,540 –> 00:01:53,720 we’ll focus a little more on how we are to fight it. 25 00:01:53,720 –> 00:01:57,080 So let’s look at what the battle is like then, James Chapter 1 and verse 14. 26 00:01:57,080 –> 00:02:11,619 Here it is, each one is tempted when by his own evil desire he is dragged away, and enticed. 27 00:02:12,460 –> 00:02:26,919 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 28 00:02:27,559 –> 00:02:30,800 Very important Scripture to know and to understand. 29 00:02:30,800 –> 00:02:36,940 Do you see that very simply here, James gives to us five stages in the life of sin, it begins 30 00:02:36,940 –> 00:02:39,139 with the evil desire. 31 00:02:39,240 –> 00:02:44,720 There’s a desire that pools at your soul or it entices at your soul. 32 00:02:44,720 –> 00:02:49,199 And then we read secondly that this evil desire conceives. 33 00:02:49,199 –> 00:02:53,419 What that means is very simply that it gains the consent of the will. 34 00:02:53,419 –> 00:02:54,979 Something settles within the mind. 35 00:02:54,979 –> 00:02:57,360 Yes this I am going to do. 36 00:02:57,360 –> 00:03:02,679 Then after evil desire conceives we’re told sin is born, and when sin is born it has by 37 00:03:02,679 –> 00:03:04,860 definition its own life. 38 00:03:04,860 –> 00:03:07,940 One sin is never an end within itself. 39 00:03:08,740 –> 00:03:10,080 Here is what will happen. 40 00:03:10,080 –> 00:03:11,419 It will grow. 41 00:03:11,419 –> 00:03:17,919 Sin grows and if the growth of sin is not cut back, then in the end sin will produce 42 00:03:17,919 –> 00:03:19,380 death. 43 00:03:19,380 –> 00:03:23,419 Now there’s a famous line that is in the story of Samson. 44 00:03:23,419 –> 00:03:28,339 Do you remember that Samson was seduced by Delilah on one occasion? 45 00:03:28,339 –> 00:03:33,139 And he’s asleep and then suddenly, because Delilah is betraying him and the Philistines 46 00:03:33,139 –> 00:03:34,139 have come. 47 00:03:34,139 –> 00:03:41,300 Delilah wakens him up and says, Samson, the Philistines are upon you. 48 00:03:41,300 –> 00:03:48,460 The struggle with the Christian life is this, that our enemy is not only upon us, our enemy 49 00:03:48,460 –> 00:03:51,020 has an entrance within us. 50 00:03:51,020 –> 00:03:56,899 There is the enemy outside, as it were, the world and the flesh and the devil. 51 00:03:56,899 –> 00:04:01,259 But our focus today is on the enemy inside. 52 00:04:01,539 –> 00:04:04,960 The traitor within our own hearts, as it were. 53 00:04:04,960 –> 00:04:11,220 The flesh that is drawn to sin and so easily enticed. 54 00:04:11,220 –> 00:04:17,399 Now, it’s very important to understand this so that you can figure out what is going on 55 00:04:17,399 –> 00:04:22,980 in your Christian life and experience and then discover how to move forward and to grow 56 00:04:22,980 –> 00:04:26,200 in the likeness of Jesus Christ. 57 00:04:26,200 –> 00:04:33,839 Sinclair Ferguson, an insightful writer, describes in this way what is going on in the Christian’s 58 00:04:33,839 –> 00:04:34,839 life. 59 00:04:34,839 –> 00:04:35,839 He says this, 60 00:04:35,839 –> 00:04:41,859 The enemy that we face attacks us from the outside of our hearts and moves inward, to 61 00:04:41,859 –> 00:04:46,359 draw our affections towards themselves, and away from the Lord. 62 00:04:46,359 –> 00:04:55,600 But he says the power of our enemy rests on a further factor, namely the landing ground 63 00:04:55,600 –> 00:05:00,059 that they are able to find within our own lives. 64 00:05:00,059 –> 00:05:07,299 The landing ground that sin is able to find within our own lives. 65 00:05:07,299 –> 00:05:12,859 He goes on to point out that there was nothing in our Lord Jesus’ character that could ever 66 00:05:12,859 –> 00:05:20,000 be employed as a kind of natural fulcrum on which sin could lever its way into Jesus’ 67 00:05:20,000 –> 00:05:21,000 life. 68 00:05:21,000 –> 00:05:23,619 That is why the Lord Jesus was able to say 69 00:05:23,980 –> 00:05:25,799 He has no hold over me. 70 00:05:25,799 –> 00:05:29,260 All sin was outside of him. 71 00:05:29,260 –> 00:05:31,660 But it is different for us. 72 00:05:31,660 –> 00:05:39,540 As Christians, there is a base of operations from which sin is able to work as long as 73 00:05:39,540 –> 00:05:42,299 we are in the body. 74 00:05:42,299 –> 00:05:48,739 That very simple picture of there being a landing ground within our own life for sin. 75 00:05:48,739 –> 00:05:52,739 A landing ground within our own flesh for sin. 76 00:05:52,820 –> 00:05:57,839 I have found that picture to be profoundly helpful in understanding what is going on 77 00:05:57,839 –> 00:05:59,799 in the Christian life. 78 00:05:59,799 –> 00:06:02,660 Let me play out the picture a little more. 79 00:06:02,660 –> 00:06:05,179 Imagine that we are living on an island. 80 00:06:05,179 –> 00:06:09,220 A small island in some remote part of the world. 81 00:06:09,220 –> 00:06:15,059 There is a population of only a few hundred of us and thousands of sheep. 82 00:06:15,059 –> 00:06:22,500 And the island belongs to our king, and it is his by sovereign right. 83 00:06:22,519 –> 00:06:27,820 But enemies on one occasion invade the island, and they take us captive. 84 00:06:27,820 –> 00:06:34,279 And then on another day, the king comes with his army and he marvelously sets us free. 85 00:06:34,279 –> 00:06:36,200 The island is liberated. 86 00:06:36,200 –> 00:06:40,500 We are able to live under the blessing of the king’s rule. 87 00:06:40,500 –> 00:06:48,339 But somewhere in a secret corner of the island, there is a hidden landing. 88 00:06:48,519 –> 00:06:55,619 And every night there are one or two enemy agents that land in that hidden place. 89 00:06:55,619 –> 00:06:56,899 Their aim is always the same. 90 00:06:56,899 –> 00:07:01,640 It is sabotage, it is subversion. 91 00:07:01,640 –> 00:07:07,040 The problem for us is that these enemies who land at night operate largely in secret. 92 00:07:07,040 –> 00:07:10,519 They are largely hidden, they largely do their work at night. 93 00:07:10,519 –> 00:07:14,640 They do things like take a single brick out of a wall in a building. 94 00:07:14,640 –> 00:07:15,720 And then another and another. 95 00:07:15,799 –> 00:07:19,220 Eventually a wall in a building looks like cheese with holes in it. 96 00:07:19,220 –> 00:07:20,920 You think, this building is being sabotaged. 97 00:07:20,920 –> 00:07:22,220 It’s going to fall down. 98 00:07:22,220 –> 00:07:24,279 But you didn’t notice it for a long time. 99 00:07:24,279 –> 00:07:29,459 They pollute the water so that the people will become sick, and so forth and so on. 100 00:07:29,459 –> 00:07:36,440 Only occasionally do they ever mount an open attack. 101 00:07:36,440 –> 00:07:41,820 But then it’s easy to see them and you know what you’re up against. 102 00:07:42,440 –> 00:07:46,420 Most of the people on the island, because their activity is largely hidden, 103 00:07:46,420 –> 00:07:49,940 are scarcely aware of that activity at all. 104 00:07:49,940 –> 00:07:56,160 I’m going to quote from a great Christian writer by the name of John Owen on a number 105 00:07:56,160 –> 00:07:57,640 of occasions tonight. 106 00:07:57,640 –> 00:08:05,119 I think that by wide consent there is no writer in all of Christian history who has been used 107 00:08:05,119 –> 00:08:12,600 by God to have such great insight into the internal struggle that goes on in a believer’s 108 00:08:12,600 –> 00:08:19,100 life, and I have found John Owen to be so helpful as a shaft of light into the truth 109 00:08:19,100 –> 00:08:24,760 of the bible that I’ve wanted to share some of what has helped me so much, in the hope 110 00:08:24,760 –> 00:08:27,140 that it will also be helpful to you. 111 00:08:27,140 –> 00:08:29,859 Owen says, this gives you a sample of his thinking, 112 00:08:29,959 –> 00:08:35,659 We fight an enemy whose strength is secret and who’s presence is hidden. 113 00:08:35,659 –> 00:08:43,159 So often when we think Sin has been destroyed, it is merely out of sight. 114 00:08:43,159 –> 00:08:46,780 It has coverts and retreats into which we cannot pursue. 115 00:08:46,780 –> 00:08:54,260 You see, there are these hidden landing places and the flesh provides the landing place for 116 00:08:54,260 –> 00:08:55,820 sin. 117 00:08:55,859 –> 00:09:00,419 Which is why so long as you are in the body you will experience the struggle that every 118 00:09:00,419 –> 00:09:03,260 Christian knows with temptation. 119 00:09:03,260 –> 00:09:08,140 Sin is not your master — as we saw last time — but it will always be your enemy. 120 00:09:08,140 –> 00:09:14,359 When Jesus Christ comes into your life, He overthrows Sin’s rule but He does not eradicate 121 00:09:14,359 –> 00:09:17,500 Sin’s presence. 122 00:09:17,500 –> 00:09:21,659 Think about the difference between Teflon and Velcro. 123 00:09:21,659 –> 00:09:25,219 Teflon is that wonderful nonstick surface. 124 00:09:25,219 –> 00:09:29,059 You fry your eggs on it in the morning and they just slide off absolutely beautifully 125 00:09:29,059 –> 00:09:33,099 if you have got the right stuff on your frying pan. 126 00:09:33,099 –> 00:09:36,340 But stuff sticks to Velcro. 127 00:09:36,340 –> 00:09:39,659 And you have to prise it off. 128 00:09:39,659 –> 00:09:45,979 The flesh is like Velcro to Sin and Sin is like Velcro to the flesh. 129 00:09:45,979 –> 00:09:48,260 It sticks. 130 00:09:48,260 –> 00:09:54,820 And the flesh provides a landing place — Sinclair Ferguson says so helpfully — for Sin in 131 00:09:55,719 –> 00:09:56,719 your life. 132 00:09:56,719 –> 00:09:57,719 So this is the enemy. 133 00:09:57,719 –> 00:10:02,739 Sin is the enemy with which we all and always have to contend. 134 00:10:02,739 –> 00:10:05,460 Well, let’s look at what we are up against. 135 00:10:05,460 –> 00:10:08,359 Let’s look at what this battle is like. 136 00:10:08,359 –> 00:10:11,299 You notice three things from James in chapter 1. 137 00:10:11,299 –> 00:10:13,780 The first is that Sin entices. 138 00:10:13,780 –> 00:10:15,739 That’s what he says. 139 00:10:15,739 –> 00:10:19,059 So we are to name it and confess it. 140 00:10:19,059 –> 00:10:20,719 Sin entices. 141 00:10:20,719 –> 00:10:23,760 So name it and confess it. 142 00:10:23,760 –> 00:10:35,200 Each one, verse 14, is tempted when by his own evil desire he is dragged away and enticed. 143 00:10:35,200 –> 00:10:38,640 Each one. 144 00:10:38,640 –> 00:10:41,299 Nobody is exempt from this! 145 00:10:41,299 –> 00:10:50,260 However much you have progressed within the Christian life, each one, he says, is in some 146 00:10:50,260 –> 00:10:55,380 way pulled, is in some way enticed. 147 00:10:55,380 –> 00:11:00,080 If you think that you’re somehow beyond this or that this does not affect you or that this 148 00:11:00,080 –> 00:11:06,340 is not about you, then sin has really deceived you because it is never more active than when 149 00:11:06,340 –> 00:11:11,020 you think it is silent and when you think it is gone. 150 00:11:11,020 –> 00:11:13,080 You don’t ever grow out of it. 151 00:11:13,080 –> 00:11:18,940 The scene of the battle may change, the particular form of the temptation may evolve and change 152 00:11:18,940 –> 00:11:22,799 over the years of your life, but the conflict never ends. 153 00:11:22,799 –> 00:11:25,200 Each one. 154 00:11:25,200 –> 00:11:30,140 So I ask you, because we’re here in order to grow in our walk with God, I ask you to 155 00:11:30,140 –> 00:11:39,979 think about this question, what are the evil desires to which you are enticed and tempted? 156 00:11:39,979 –> 00:11:44,260 And I plead with you, don’t simply think of those things that are within the sexual sphere 157 00:11:44,260 –> 00:11:48,859 that so often are the first things to come to our mind. 158 00:11:48,859 –> 00:11:51,280 What about pride? 159 00:11:51,280 –> 00:11:53,900 What about worry? 160 00:11:53,900 –> 00:11:57,000 What about bitterness? 161 00:11:57,000 –> 00:12:01,700 What about self-confidence? 162 00:12:01,700 –> 00:12:05,359 What about laziness? 163 00:12:05,359 –> 00:12:09,219 What about prayerlessness? 164 00:12:09,219 –> 00:12:11,340 What pulls at you? 165 00:12:12,200 –> 00:12:19,580 Gerry Bridges has written an outstanding book by the title, Respectable Sins. 166 00:12:19,580 –> 00:12:24,760 And the reason for that title is that he points out that many of us Christians are 167 00:12:24,760 –> 00:12:29,659 pretty good at identifying the obvious sins in the culture. 168 00:12:29,659 –> 00:12:35,059 We can see the sins that are out there, but sometimes we’re not quite so good at identifying 169 00:12:35,059 –> 00:12:42,659 the subtle sins that hang out in here, in the hidden secret crevices of our hearts. 170 00:12:42,659 –> 00:12:43,960 He mentions a number. 171 00:12:43,960 –> 00:12:46,679 What about discontent? 172 00:12:46,679 –> 00:12:49,099 What about impatience? 173 00:12:49,099 –> 00:12:51,900 What about ingratitude? 174 00:12:51,900 –> 00:12:57,619 What about envy or frustration that produces so many bad fruits? 175 00:12:57,619 –> 00:12:58,859 What about judging others? 176 00:12:58,859 –> 00:13:00,619 What about the sins of the tongue? 177 00:13:00,619 –> 00:13:02,799 There are many of them. 178 00:13:03,799 –> 00:13:12,239 Now, you need to be able to see where sin is active so that you can take action against it. 179 00:13:12,380 –> 00:13:18,320 Otherwise, you are entirely passive in relation to this whole area of the Christian life. 180 00:13:18,320 –> 00:13:22,799 So, I’m asking you to try and identify as we place ourselves under the Word of God, 181 00:13:22,799 –> 00:13:27,659 where is the battle in your life today? 182 00:13:27,880 –> 00:13:34,020 Where is it that you are most evidently being tempted? 183 00:13:34,020 –> 00:13:35,580 Where is it that you’re being pulled? 184 00:13:35,580 –> 00:13:38,080 Where is it that you are being enticed? 185 00:13:38,080 –> 00:13:44,020 Where is the subversive activity of sin most obviously in operation in your life? 186 00:13:44,020 –> 00:13:47,039 Can you answer that question? 187 00:13:47,039 –> 00:13:55,099 Folks, you have to know that the biggest challenge in preaching the Word of God is that you cannot 188 00:13:55,299 –> 00:14:01,900 possibly bring anything to God’s people by way of challenge if you have not first sat 189 00:14:01,900 –> 00:14:04,539 under the Word of God yourself. 190 00:14:04,539 –> 00:14:09,580 That’s why it is such a stretching thing. 191 00:14:09,580 –> 00:14:16,000 I am not asking you to do something that I have not been doing over these last days myself. 192 00:14:16,000 –> 00:14:21,239 I’ve been asking in this last week, in the course of preparing to speak to you today, 193 00:14:21,380 –> 00:14:27,640 I’ve been asking the Lord to search me and show me where sin is doing its sabotaging 194 00:14:27,640 –> 00:14:30,460 work in my own life. 195 00:14:30,460 –> 00:14:31,460 It has been profoundly helpful. 196 00:14:31,460 –> 00:14:35,979 I hope it will be to you. 197 00:14:35,979 –> 00:14:39,000 I’ve identified a number of areas. 198 00:14:39,000 –> 00:14:42,020 I hope you will too. 199 00:14:42,020 –> 00:14:47,559 One of them, for me, and I had not really seen this before until I really got serious 200 00:14:47,799 –> 00:14:55,200 about praying it through this week, one area that I identified was self-pity, just the 201 00:14:55,219 –> 00:15:02,900 disposition to feel sorry for yourself, and it saps the life out of you. 202 00:15:02,900 –> 00:15:09,700 I felt this pulling me so my antenna is up, because I have to fight against it. 203 00:15:09,700 –> 00:15:14,780 I don’t have to fight that all the time, but I do right now. 204 00:15:14,780 –> 00:15:17,299 Where’s the battle for you right now? 205 00:15:17,299 –> 00:15:19,659 Where is it? 206 00:15:19,659 –> 00:15:25,559 Are you completely unaware of any conflict whatsoever? 207 00:15:25,559 –> 00:15:31,359 This is of huge importance, if you are going to live the Christian life. 208 00:15:31,359 –> 00:15:37,520 Notice that we are tempted when, by our own evil desire, we are dragged away and enticed. 209 00:15:37,520 –> 00:15:40,619 Therefore, it will be quite different for different folks among us. 210 00:15:40,619 –> 00:15:42,979 But the common factor is that we will be enticed. 211 00:15:43,020 –> 00:15:48,059 We will be pulled into something that so easily becomes a pattern of thought or a pattern 212 00:15:48,059 –> 00:15:51,260 of behavior. 213 00:15:51,260 –> 00:15:53,820 Think with me for a moment about how sin entices. 214 00:15:53,820 –> 00:15:56,440 That’s the word that James uses here. 215 00:15:56,440 –> 00:16:02,460 Satan, as it were, to use a phishing analogy, he baits the hook very, very well. 216 00:16:02,460 –> 00:16:08,979 Presents arguments to your mind as to why a particular behavior or a particular pattern 217 00:16:08,979 –> 00:16:14,039 of thought or a particular cherished attitude is something that you should pursue. 218 00:16:14,039 –> 00:16:19,760 And you will recognize these rationalizations from your own experience. 219 00:16:19,760 –> 00:16:22,219 Have you heard him whisper this one in your mind? 220 00:16:22,219 –> 00:16:26,059 God will forgive you. 221 00:16:26,059 –> 00:16:34,520 So now Satan tries to use the grace of God itself to lead you into more sin. 222 00:16:34,520 –> 00:16:37,080 Or have you heard this one in your mind, hey it’s no big deal. 223 00:16:37,419 –> 00:16:40,059 It’s just a bit of pride. 224 00:16:40,059 –> 00:16:41,479 Just a little bit of impatience. 225 00:16:41,479 –> 00:16:43,679 Isn’t everyone pretty impatient now and again? 226 00:16:43,679 –> 00:16:46,340 I mean let’s not get over scrupulous here. 227 00:16:46,340 –> 00:16:49,299 No big deal. 228 00:16:49,299 –> 00:16:50,840 What about this one? 229 00:16:50,840 –> 00:16:51,840 You’re different. 230 00:16:51,840 –> 00:16:54,760 See you’re a special case. 231 00:16:54,760 –> 00:16:58,020 Have you ever had Satan suggest that into your mind? 232 00:16:58,020 –> 00:17:00,260 You know you face unique pressures. 233 00:17:00,260 –> 00:17:02,359 You’ve got to be cutted a little bit of a break. 234 00:17:02,359 –> 00:17:06,119 You’re wired in a different way. 235 00:17:06,160 –> 00:17:07,180 What about this one? 236 00:17:07,180 –> 00:17:09,099 No harm will come from it. 237 00:17:09,099 –> 00:17:12,280 Of course that one goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. 238 00:17:12,280 –> 00:17:16,400 You will not surely die, he says to Eve. 239 00:17:16,400 –> 00:17:17,880 And of course that was another lie. 240 00:17:17,880 –> 00:17:20,160 He masks sin’s danger. 241 00:17:20,160 –> 00:17:22,680 And then what about this? 242 00:17:22,680 –> 00:17:25,479 You can always repent afterwards. 243 00:17:25,479 –> 00:17:28,160 That hides sin’s effect. 244 00:17:28,160 –> 00:17:33,739 Remember earlier in the series we talked about how so easily we grasp sin as stain like crayon 245 00:17:33,739 –> 00:17:34,880 on the wall? 246 00:17:34,939 –> 00:17:39,020 But what we don’t see so easily is that sin is like mold. 247 00:17:39,020 –> 00:17:40,020 It is corrosive. 248 00:17:40,020 –> 00:17:42,180 It is destructive. 249 00:17:42,180 –> 00:17:44,719 It’s more than a stain. 250 00:17:44,719 –> 00:17:48,060 And so when Satan says well of course you know you can do this and then you can repent 251 00:17:48,060 –> 00:17:53,780 afterwards, what he blinds you to is the effect it has in your own soul? 252 00:17:53,780 –> 00:17:54,939 What about this? 253 00:17:54,939 –> 00:17:56,839 It’s just this once. 254 00:17:56,839 –> 00:18:03,640 Which masks sin’s power, closes your eyes to the fact that once something has been broken 255 00:18:04,339 –> 00:18:10,160 into the pool that you will experience next time is so much more. 256 00:18:10,160 –> 00:18:11,260 And what about this one? 257 00:18:11,260 –> 00:18:13,579 You know that you can’t say no. 258 00:18:13,579 –> 00:18:18,760 You know that you’ll give in in the end, which is to lie by completely discounting the presence 259 00:18:18,760 –> 00:18:21,280 and the power of the Holy Spirit. 260 00:18:21,280 –> 00:18:27,000 So sin entices and it does this in all kinds of different ways and it does this in all 261 00:18:27,000 –> 00:18:32,199 kinds of different spheres and so it is so important for us to be able to name it. 262 00:18:32,199 –> 00:18:34,959 And say, now how is Satan operating? 263 00:18:34,959 –> 00:18:36,359 Where is the enemy at work? 264 00:18:36,359 –> 00:18:40,099 Let me search this enemy out. 265 00:18:40,099 –> 00:18:42,319 What’s he up to? 266 00:18:42,319 –> 00:18:48,199 What’s he up to in my life today, not ten years ago, but now? 267 00:18:48,199 –> 00:18:55,140 Second, not only does sin entice so that we need to name it and confess it, but quite 268 00:18:55,380 –> 00:18:58,420 clearly here, we are told that sin grows. 269 00:18:58,420 –> 00:19:03,479 And because sin grows, we need to cut it back. 270 00:19:03,479 –> 00:19:05,099 We need to cut it back. 271 00:19:05,099 –> 00:19:11,579 Notice what he says, verse 15, sin when it is full-grown. 272 00:19:11,579 –> 00:19:17,800 So James is making it very clear to us that sin is like a vigorous living root. 273 00:19:17,800 –> 00:19:24,719 It produces growth, like a weed that is deeply rooted in the garden. 274 00:19:24,719 –> 00:19:29,719 If the growth of sin is not checked, what will happen is that it will progressively 275 00:19:29,719 –> 00:19:37,859 and gradually take over your life in the same way as unchecked weeds, eventually take over 276 00:19:37,859 –> 00:19:40,000 a garden. 277 00:19:40,000 –> 00:19:45,880 Now I’ve chosen my words very carefully here because it is important to be clear. 278 00:19:45,880 –> 00:19:48,699 We are to cut sin back. 279 00:19:49,160 –> 00:19:54,780 I did not say here cut out for this reason. 280 00:19:54,780 –> 00:20:01,380 That, if God should grant to you a victory over a particular sin in your life and you 281 00:20:01,380 –> 00:20:07,359 can look to him for this, what will happen when you gain that victory and perhaps you 282 00:20:07,359 –> 00:20:12,140 get to a point where that sin really no longer troubles you? 283 00:20:12,140 –> 00:20:14,699 But here’s what will happen. 284 00:20:14,699 –> 00:20:20,040 The sphere of the battle will simply move somewhere else, and that may be where Satan 285 00:20:20,040 –> 00:20:21,079 outwits you. 286 00:20:21,079 –> 00:20:22,119 Oh, look. 287 00:20:22,119 –> 00:20:26,099 I was once falling into this sin and I’m no longer doing that. 288 00:20:26,099 –> 00:20:27,459 I now have gained victory. 289 00:20:27,459 –> 00:20:31,380 I’ve made tremendous progress in the Christian life and all the time, what Satan’s doing 290 00:20:31,380 –> 00:20:35,380 is he’s saying, yeah, he’s got eyes to that one, so I wouldn’t land that one on the landing 291 00:20:35,380 –> 00:20:36,380 anymore. 292 00:20:36,380 –> 00:20:42,060 I’ll just land something different that he’s not even looking for and doesn’t even see. 293 00:20:42,300 –> 00:20:46,839 So this battle against sin, big picture, is always going on. 294 00:20:46,839 –> 00:20:52,020 The root as it were remains vigorous as long as we are in the body, as long as we are in 295 00:20:52,020 –> 00:20:53,060 the flesh. 296 00:20:53,060 –> 00:20:59,079 You long that one day you will be completely free from sin, and one day you will be, but 297 00:20:59,079 –> 00:21:02,300 not in this life. 298 00:21:02,300 –> 00:21:09,420 This root keeps producing these shoots, and therefore you need to keep cutting it back. 299 00:21:09,420 –> 00:21:11,979 The roots of sin remain is flesh throughout this life. 300 00:21:11,979 –> 00:21:20,300 That is why Paul says, not as though I have already attained or have already become perfect, 301 00:21:20,300 –> 00:21:22,520 but I press on. 302 00:21:22,520 –> 00:21:26,699 And that will be your posture, that will be the reality of your experience all the days 303 00:21:26,699 –> 00:21:27,900 of your Christian life. 304 00:21:27,900 –> 00:21:31,880 You will never come to the point where you say, I have attained this perfection. 305 00:21:31,880 –> 00:21:35,619 You will always be saying with the Apostle Paul, I press on. 306 00:21:35,619 –> 00:21:38,560 I press on towards the mark. 307 00:21:38,660 –> 00:21:40,900 The battle is always there. 308 00:21:40,900 –> 00:21:44,680 If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves. 309 00:21:44,680 –> 00:21:52,939 Now, this is really important, so that you do not become unduly discouraged. 310 00:21:52,939 –> 00:21:59,439 See, there are times, aren’t there, when you long and I long, oh Lord, when will I be completely 311 00:21:59,439 –> 00:22:02,520 free from this? 312 00:22:02,540 –> 00:22:09,900 That day will come, but to be completely free from all sin will not happen for you in this 313 00:22:09,900 –> 00:22:10,900 life. 314 00:22:10,900 –> 00:22:15,500 There will not come a day when you are completely free from all temptation and when you no longer 315 00:22:15,500 –> 00:22:17,199 face this battle. 316 00:22:17,199 –> 00:22:22,339 So, understand this, then, that the mark of progress in the Christian life, the mark of 317 00:22:22,339 –> 00:22:28,459 success in the Christian life, is not that sin is eradicated. 318 00:22:28,540 –> 00:22:36,359 That is not what we are called to expect, but rather that in the mercy and in the grace 319 00:22:36,359 –> 00:22:40,239 of God, sin is weakened. 320 00:22:40,239 –> 00:22:42,719 That’s a very important distinction. 321 00:22:42,719 –> 00:22:52,760 Again, John Owen, our task is to weaken this habit of sin so that its power to express 322 00:22:52,900 –> 00:23:03,540 itself in violence, frequency, tumult, provocation, and unrest is quelled. 323 00:23:03,540 –> 00:23:08,500 Here’s what progress in a particular battle with a particular temptation will look like 324 00:23:08,500 –> 00:23:09,500 for you. 325 00:23:09,500 –> 00:23:15,020 I have found this so helpful, so helpful. 326 00:23:15,020 –> 00:23:18,540 It is not that you are no longer tempted. 327 00:23:18,540 –> 00:23:23,119 It is not that you no longer fall or fail. 328 00:23:23,119 –> 00:23:31,900 It is that the power of sin that had a mastery over you is gradually and increasingly subdued, 329 00:23:31,900 –> 00:23:40,880 so that to use Owen’s language it’s assault is less intense, less frequent. 330 00:23:40,880 –> 00:23:44,300 You do not give way to it as you used to. 331 00:23:44,300 –> 00:23:45,300 It has been cut back. 332 00:23:45,380 –> 00:23:49,140 It no longer has the position in your life that it once has. 333 00:23:49,140 –> 00:23:54,219 Sin has been weakened and grace has been increased. 334 00:23:54,219 –> 00:24:00,500 All this is contained in what the Apostles means when he says that we are to put to death 335 00:24:00,500 –> 00:24:02,819 the misdeeds of the body. 336 00:24:02,819 –> 00:24:06,959 We’re hacking this stuff back all the time. 337 00:24:06,959 –> 00:24:10,020 Hacking it back. 338 00:24:10,020 –> 00:24:11,260 Now how are you to do that? 339 00:24:11,260 –> 00:24:16,239 Let me suggest this simple phrase that’s very easy to remember. 340 00:24:16,239 –> 00:24:20,699 To be cutting sin back you’ve got to act early and you’ve got to act often. 341 00:24:20,699 –> 00:24:22,500 Say that with me would you? 342 00:24:22,500 –> 00:24:24,660 Act early, act often. 343 00:24:24,660 –> 00:24:28,040 Again, act early and act often. 344 00:24:28,040 –> 00:24:35,439 That’s the strategy that is of key importance in the spiritual battle. 345 00:24:35,439 –> 00:24:38,520 Think about the image of weeds in the garden. 346 00:24:38,520 –> 00:24:48,160 Where sin is unchecked it builds a position in a person’s life, it takes root further 347 00:24:48,160 –> 00:24:56,760 and further over the area of the garden and the longer it is left alone the stronger its 348 00:24:56,760 –> 00:24:59,199 root will be. 349 00:24:59,199 –> 00:25:04,140 So some of us even today are experiencing battle with intense habits. 350 00:25:04,180 –> 00:25:06,660 How did they become intense habits? 351 00:25:06,660 –> 00:25:11,739 Because you did not address them a year ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 352 00:25:11,739 –> 00:25:14,300 40 years ago. 353 00:25:15,739 –> 00:25:18,400 You allowed it to grow. 354 00:25:18,400 –> 00:25:24,439 You were not in the fight, your eyes were not open to where Satan was landing stuff 355 00:25:24,439 –> 00:25:27,880 on your flesh that was taking over your life. 356 00:25:27,880 –> 00:25:38,439 That’s why David prayed for protection against this growth and spread of sin in his life. 357 00:25:38,439 –> 00:25:42,739 Psalm 19 and verse 13, this is a great prayer to use. 358 00:25:42,739 –> 00:25:44,239 David says, 359 00:25:44,239 –> 00:25:50,760 Pray, my servant, from willful sins, that they might not rule over me. 360 00:25:50,760 –> 00:25:58,660 O God, in Your mercy, help me to live with wisdom and grant to me Your help and Your 361 00:25:58,660 –> 00:26:06,339 protection, so that I may not end up in a position where sin has spread and been rooted 362 00:26:06,339 –> 00:26:09,560 becauseI’ve neglected its growth in my life. 363 00:26:09,560 –> 00:26:11,760 Don’t let me be that fool. 364 00:26:12,699 –> 00:26:19,339 Then in another psalm, David cries out to God, because he sees that some particular 365 00:26:19,359 –> 00:26:23,420 sins have indeed taken hold in his life. 366 00:26:23,420 –> 00:26:27,219 I’m referring to Psalm 40 and verse 12. 367 00:26:27,219 –> 00:26:30,400 He says there, my sins have overtaken me. 368 00:26:30,400 –> 00:26:32,319 Isn’t that a striking phrase? 369 00:26:32,319 –> 00:26:36,660 There are some sins that I can identify and they’ve overtaken me. 370 00:26:36,939 –> 00:26:42,339 I cannot see, he says, they are more than the hairs of my head and my heart fails within 371 00:26:42,339 –> 00:26:43,339 me. 372 00:26:43,339 –> 00:26:48,199 And you might want, by the way, to use Psalm 40, if that is the position that you are in 373 00:26:48,199 –> 00:26:49,199 today. 374 00:26:49,199 –> 00:26:55,099 It is a wonderful prayer for a person who feels that they are in a situation where sin 375 00:26:55,099 –> 00:26:59,060 has gained a grip within your life, and you say, no, it seems like it’s everywhere, oh 376 00:26:59,060 –> 00:27:00,400 God, where do I begin? 377 00:27:00,400 –> 00:27:01,760 You begin in Psalm 40. 378 00:27:01,760 –> 00:27:04,979 That’s where David began. 379 00:27:05,040 –> 00:27:15,979 Maybe you’ve seen a situation where a mature believer suddenly collapsed in a public failure, 380 00:27:15,979 –> 00:27:25,000 financial scandal, moral or sexual failure, and here was this person who was held in high 381 00:27:25,000 –> 00:27:29,619 esteem and you were completely taken by surprise. 382 00:27:29,719 –> 00:27:35,060 We’ve all had this experience, tragically, I expect, where someone who in some way or 383 00:27:35,060 –> 00:27:40,719 with some profile we were aware of and we said, well, how in all the world could that 384 00:27:40,719 –> 00:27:43,339 have happened? 385 00:27:43,339 –> 00:27:47,319 I’ll tell you how it happened. 386 00:27:47,319 –> 00:27:53,739 Behind the event that suddenly became visible in the newspaper, suddenly became known to 387 00:27:53,900 –> 00:28:02,079 everyone in the circle, behind what became visible, sin was building a position in that 388 00:28:02,079 –> 00:28:03,619 person’s life. 389 00:28:03,619 –> 00:28:13,780 The weeds had been growing in his thoughts and in his affections and in his imagination. 390 00:28:13,780 –> 00:28:22,219 He had allowed them to grow and then suddenly … but actually, it wasn’t so sudden. 391 00:28:22,219 –> 00:28:24,579 It was not so sudden. 392 00:28:24,579 –> 00:28:28,599 It was just that all that was happening was not visible. 393 00:28:28,599 –> 00:28:30,479 And then suddenly it was. 394 00:28:30,479 –> 00:28:36,400 You see, this is the nature of the battle that we’re engaged in, folks. 395 00:28:36,400 –> 00:28:39,800 It’s real world, real life Christianity. 396 00:28:39,800 –> 00:28:44,760 Now, you may be saying at this point, boy, that sounds like it’s a bit late for me because 397 00:28:44,760 –> 00:28:49,599 my sins have overtaken me. 398 00:28:49,599 –> 00:28:55,739 The stronger the position of sin in your life, the deeper the particular pattern has been, 399 00:28:55,739 –> 00:29:04,020 the longer that it has been there, the harder it is for you to act, and the more important 400 00:29:04,020 –> 00:29:06,239 it is for you to act today. 401 00:29:06,239 –> 00:29:12,780 Oh, it would have been better if you had acted last week, last month, 10 years ago, 20 years 402 00:29:12,780 –> 00:29:16,780 ago. 403 00:29:16,780 –> 00:29:23,439 But there will be no better time for you to act in coming to Jesus Christ and asking for 404 00:29:23,439 –> 00:29:29,599 grace to engage in warfare against this sin that has built a stronghold in your life than 405 00:29:29,599 –> 00:29:30,680 today. 406 00:29:30,680 –> 00:29:33,280 His grace is sufficient to you today. 407 00:29:33,280 –> 00:29:36,140 You put it off, you make it harder tomorrow. 408 00:29:36,140 –> 00:29:41,280 Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. 409 00:29:41,280 –> 00:29:49,560 Use Psalm 40 today, and come as David did when he felt that he’d been overtaken. 410 00:29:49,560 –> 00:29:54,859 Cast yourself with him on the grace and on the mercy of God. 411 00:29:54,859 –> 00:29:58,380 Share your need with another Christian. 412 00:29:58,380 –> 00:30:00,300 Ask for the strength of some prayer. 413 00:30:00,300 –> 00:30:06,699 Say, this cannot continue beyond today because God has spoken about it and he’s opening 414 00:30:06,699 –> 00:30:07,739 a door of grace. 415 00:30:08,079 –> 00:30:19,520 His grace is sufficient for you today – the power of his spirit is available for you today. 416 00:30:19,520 –> 00:30:22,660 Act early, and act often. 417 00:30:22,660 –> 00:30:25,300 I want you to understand this. 418 00:30:25,300 –> 00:30:31,339 The struggle against the flesh is not a short battle. 419 00:30:31,339 –> 00:30:34,339 It is a long warfare. 420 00:30:34,619 –> 00:30:40,260 And this warfare is never concluded with one prayer, it is never concluded with one commitment, 421 00:30:40,260 –> 00:30:42,800 it is never concluded with one act of faith. 422 00:30:42,800 –> 00:30:45,380 It has begun with these things. 423 00:30:45,380 –> 00:30:48,699 It is sustained with these things. 424 00:30:48,699 –> 00:30:56,479 This battle involves a sustained and a relentless assault against every evidence of the sin 425 00:30:56,500 –> 00:30:59,640 that assails you. 426 00:30:59,640 –> 00:31:03,260 So your antennae are up, and you’re watching for that pride, you’re watching for that 427 00:31:03,260 –> 00:31:09,979 self-pity, and you’re asking that God will open your eyes to it, and that God will help 428 00:31:09,979 –> 00:31:11,619 you to overcome it. 429 00:31:11,619 –> 00:31:16,260 And you’re cultivating what is the opposite of it, you’re humbling yourself, you’re engaging 430 00:31:16,260 –> 00:31:18,839 in thanksgiving. 431 00:31:18,839 –> 00:31:30,040 Again, John Owen, sin will not die unless it is gradually and constantly weakened. 432 00:31:30,040 –> 00:31:32,540 Gradually and constantly. 433 00:31:32,819 –> 00:31:38,599 Chipping away at an iceberg, cutting back weeds. 434 00:31:38,599 –> 00:31:42,260 Gradually, constantly, weakened. 435 00:31:42,260 –> 00:31:49,099 Spare it, and it will heal its wounds and recover its strength. 436 00:31:49,099 –> 00:31:50,819 You may recognize this in your life. 437 00:31:50,819 –> 00:31:55,800 You may be able to look back to a time some period ago when you really got serious about 438 00:31:55,800 –> 00:32:00,560 seeking to deal with some sins that had built a position within your life, and you made 439 00:32:00,560 –> 00:32:04,920 some progress, and then you slackened off. 440 00:32:04,920 –> 00:32:08,380 And the weeds in the garden ended up being exactly where you were before. 441 00:32:08,380 –> 00:32:15,900 Because you did not sustain the assault that you acted early, but you did not act often. 442 00:32:15,900 –> 00:32:22,839 Let no man think, says Owen, that he will kill sin with a few easy or gentle strokes. 443 00:32:22,839 –> 00:32:25,000 And I love the image that he uses. 444 00:32:25,060 –> 00:32:35,400 He also says He who has once smitten a snake, if he follow not up on his blow until the 445 00:32:35,400 –> 00:32:41,800 snake be slain, may repent that he ever began the quarrel. 446 00:32:41,800 –> 00:32:45,319 You get that? 447 00:32:45,319 –> 00:32:51,060 So he who undertakes t deal with sin and pursues it not constantly to death? 448 00:32:51,400 –> 00:32:55,839 Not gonna make much progress. 449 00:32:55,839 –> 00:33:03,319 So I’m saying to you that this relentless war against sin that so easily entices us, 450 00:33:03,319 –> 00:33:08,260 that has this landing strip, as it were, within our lives, within our own flesh, it is fought 451 00:33:08,260 –> 00:33:13,459 in this way by act early and act often. 452 00:33:13,459 –> 00:33:17,599 Act early and act often. 453 00:33:17,680 –> 00:33:23,880 Third, sin destroys and so treat it as an enemy. 454 00:33:23,880 –> 00:33:30,560 James has been telling us that sin entices, then he tells us that sin grows and now he 455 00:33:30,560 –> 00:33:32,439 tells us that sin destroys. 456 00:33:32,439 –> 00:33:40,640 Sin when it is full-grown, verse 15, gives birth to death. 457 00:33:40,660 –> 00:33:43,619 It kills, that’s what he is saying. 458 00:33:43,619 –> 00:33:45,680 Unchecked. 459 00:33:45,680 –> 00:33:46,880 It brings death. 460 00:33:46,959 –> 00:33:48,719 It’s what happens. 461 00:33:49,699 –> 00:33:58,060 So, to change the analogy from the garden to the house, if you smell smoke in your house, 462 00:33:58,060 –> 00:34:02,819 sitting there in your armchair, you’re a lazy boy, your feet are up or whatever you think. 463 00:34:02,819 –> 00:34:05,000 Smells like smoke. 464 00:34:05,000 –> 00:34:10,139 You do not say, hey, smells like smoke, wonder where that’s coming from, and carry on reading 465 00:34:10,139 –> 00:34:11,139 the newspaper. 466 00:34:11,139 –> 00:34:12,159 Why? 467 00:34:13,100 –> 00:34:18,379 Because smoke is an indication of fire, and fire is incredibly destructive. 468 00:34:19,520 –> 00:34:20,860 So, what do you do? 469 00:34:20,860 –> 00:34:25,580 You act immediately, you put down the paper, you go sniff this thing out until you track 470 00:34:25,580 –> 00:34:29,939 it down to its source. 471 00:34:29,939 –> 00:34:32,679 Sin kills. 472 00:34:32,679 –> 00:34:35,179 Sin leads to death. 473 00:34:35,179 –> 00:34:37,439 You can’t mess about with it. 474 00:34:37,439 –> 00:34:41,439 Like fire in the house, you leave it, it destroys. 475 00:34:42,439 –> 00:34:44,560 So, Own puts it this way. 476 00:34:44,560 –> 00:34:50,060 He says, Be killing sin or sin will be killing you. 477 00:34:50,060 –> 00:34:53,600 He takes that from Romans, chapter eight and verse thirteen where we’re told to put to 478 00:34:53,600 –> 00:34:56,899 death by the Spirit the misdeeds of the body. 479 00:34:56,899 –> 00:35:01,120 Be killing sin or sin will be killing you. 480 00:35:01,120 –> 00:35:03,919 He’s talking about that which lurks within your own soul. 481 00:35:03,919 –> 00:35:06,979 Deal with it radically. 482 00:35:07,120 –> 00:35:12,739 Remember this, being at war with sin does not make you at peace with God. 483 00:35:12,739 –> 00:35:14,760 That would be salvation by works, wouldn’t it? 484 00:35:14,760 –> 00:35:18,379 To say, to be at war with sin means to be at peace with God. 485 00:35:18,379 –> 00:35:21,080 That would be salvation by works. 486 00:35:21,080 –> 00:35:28,080 But here’s salvation by grace, to be at peace with God, means that you are at war with sin. 487 00:35:28,080 –> 00:35:35,139 And a person who is not at war with sin is not at peace with God. 488 00:35:35,340 –> 00:35:37,939 If you live according to the sinful nature, what does Paul say in Romans? 489 00:35:37,939 –> 00:35:38,939 You die. 490 00:35:38,939 –> 00:35:39,939 Why do you die? 491 00:35:39,939 –> 00:35:42,899 You’re not a Christian if you’re not engaged in this fight. 492 00:35:42,899 –> 00:35:48,020 Or you may say, I’ve got this belief about Jesus, but what evidence is there of His life 493 00:35:48,020 –> 00:35:52,300 within you if you’re not engaged in this fight, really? 494 00:35:52,300 –> 00:35:55,239 These are serious warnings. 495 00:35:55,239 –> 00:35:58,179 Sin kills. 496 00:35:58,179 –> 00:36:04,699 Do not deceive yourself into thinking that a mere belief has made you a Christian. 497 00:36:04,699 –> 00:36:12,340 And even within the life of a believer, sin that is allowed to grow brings its own kind 498 00:36:12,340 –> 00:36:14,820 of death. 499 00:36:14,820 –> 00:36:17,800 Owen describes it in this way. 500 00:36:17,800 –> 00:36:23,419 Sin weakens the soul, and it darkens the soul. 501 00:36:23,419 –> 00:36:31,979 Remember, David says in Psalm 32, he says, when I hid my sin, and David here is a believer, 502 00:36:31,979 –> 00:36:33,780 and yet, there was something that he hid. 503 00:36:34,159 –> 00:36:39,199 He just pressed it down Did not bring it in confession before God, did not deal with it, 504 00:36:39,199 –> 00:36:40,639 did not face up to it. 505 00:36:40,639 –> 00:36:47,899 And he says, here is what happened, my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 506 00:36:47,899 –> 00:36:50,800 I was exhausted! 507 00:36:50,800 –> 00:36:53,959 I was exhausted! 508 00:36:53,959 –> 00:36:56,320 Why was he exhausted all the time? 509 00:36:56,320 –> 00:37:02,739 He was exhausted because there was no life, no vitality, no spiritual energy within him. 510 00:37:02,739 –> 00:37:10,419 It was drained out, weakened, by unconfessed sin. 511 00:37:10,419 –> 00:37:13,260 Sin weakens the soul and sin darkens the soul. 512 00:37:13,260 –> 00:37:21,959 Owen describes sin as a thick cloud that spreads itself over the face of the soul and intercepts 513 00:37:21,959 –> 00:37:25,600 all the beams of God’s love and favor. 514 00:37:25,600 –> 00:37:29,320 Could this be why you have lost a sense of the love of God? 515 00:37:29,699 –> 00:37:34,760 Could this be why you have lost joy in meaning in worship? 516 00:37:34,760 –> 00:37:37,000 Vigor in prayer? 517 00:37:37,000 –> 00:37:39,040 Readiness in testimony? 518 00:37:39,040 –> 00:37:45,120 You remember Jonah in the ship when there are all these people who do not know God and 519 00:37:45,120 –> 00:37:48,479 he’s the only man who does and he cannot speak. 520 00:37:48,479 –> 00:37:50,500 Why has he got nothing to say? 521 00:37:50,500 –> 00:37:54,919 Because there’s stuff in his life that he’s not dealt with before God. 522 00:37:54,919 –> 00:37:57,260 He’s silent, he’s useless. 523 00:37:57,360 –> 00:38:01,840 Let me ask you this question. 524 00:38:01,840 –> 00:38:07,139 How would you describe the state of your spiritual life today? 525 00:38:07,139 –> 00:38:15,620 Would you say that your love for Christ is vigorous or has it become weakened as sin 526 00:38:15,620 –> 00:38:20,739 has become vigorous in your life? 527 00:38:20,739 –> 00:38:32,699 Now, if at this moment you are discouraged by your own failures, I want you to remember 528 00:38:32,699 –> 00:38:41,179 that Satan regularly overplays his hand, if I can coin a phrase. 529 00:38:41,179 –> 00:38:42,260 He does. 530 00:38:42,260 –> 00:38:49,760 He overplays his hand and here’s the most wonderful thing that may be happening for 531 00:38:49,760 –> 00:38:55,540 you right now as the Word of God is proclaimed. 532 00:38:55,540 –> 00:39:04,080 It would be a wonderful triumph of God’s grace if the very sin that Satan has used 533 00:39:04,080 –> 00:39:13,260 to so weaken you, should today be the means of awakening you to your need of Christ and 534 00:39:13,260 –> 00:39:18,540 to cause you to cry out for the help of the Holy Spirit. 535 00:39:18,540 –> 00:39:24,260 If the Holy Spirit were to bring you today to the place where you say, I feel my need 536 00:39:24,260 –> 00:39:31,899 right now of being washed in the blood of Jesus, I feel my need of a strength that is 537 00:39:31,899 –> 00:39:36,040 greater than my own because in my own strength I have just given up. 538 00:39:36,040 –> 00:39:38,899 Well you know what is happening? 539 00:39:38,899 –> 00:39:43,179 God is shining the light of hope into your heart right now. 540 00:39:43,179 –> 00:39:45,899 He is drawing you. 541 00:39:46,540 –> 00:39:51,580 Satan has overplayed his hand as far as you are concerned and right now God is dealing 542 00:39:51,580 –> 00:39:54,399 with you in mercy and in grace. 543 00:39:54,399 –> 00:39:57,739 So look to Jesus Christ. 544 00:39:57,739 –> 00:40:01,179 He says, if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. 545 00:40:01,179 –> 00:40:07,500 Greater is the one who is in you, that is the Holy Spirit, than he who is in the world. 546 00:40:07,500 –> 00:40:12,760 You can say as you look to Jesus Christ today with the help of his spirit, you can say, 547 00:40:12,760 –> 00:40:18,959 though I have fallen, yet I will rise. 548 00:40:18,959 –> 00:40:27,280 And though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. 549 00:40:27,280 –> 00:40:29,879 One story, then we’re through. 550 00:40:29,879 –> 00:40:35,020 Tuesday of this week I received an email from a member of the congregation and I read it 551 00:40:35,020 –> 00:40:36,600 to you with his permission. 552 00:40:37,320 –> 00:40:44,620 It illustrates someone taking sin seriously and the blessing of God upon it. 553 00:40:44,620 –> 00:40:51,040 Collin, last Sunday’s sermon spoke to me in a special way. 554 00:40:51,040 –> 00:40:58,000 Last week while I was at, and he names a particular service garage, I was displeased about an 555 00:40:58,000 –> 00:41:03,159 issue regarding the service and I spoke inappropriately to one of the managers. 556 00:41:04,040 –> 00:41:07,080 I came home to get on my knees to ask God’s forgiveness. 557 00:41:07,080 –> 00:41:11,679 I was so convicted and knew that I was way out of line. 558 00:41:11,679 –> 00:41:17,919 Sunday morning at church I thought, what would I say and what would he think if he came to 559 00:41:17,919 –> 00:41:21,040 the orchard today? 560 00:41:21,040 –> 00:41:25,439 Then your sermon was directed to me, you indicated that each of us has different battles. 561 00:41:25,439 –> 00:41:28,760 I wish mine wasn’t so obvious. 562 00:41:28,760 –> 00:41:31,659 But God spoke to me and I knew what I needed to do. 563 00:41:32,500 –> 00:41:37,159 I don’t like going back and being humble enough to make things right, but how could I engage 564 00:41:37,159 –> 00:41:40,159 in ministry at the church under these circumstances? 565 00:41:40,159 –> 00:41:45,719 It was as if big, bold, letters were on my forehead, and he types it in bold. 566 00:41:45,719 –> 00:41:46,919 Hypocrite. 567 00:41:46,919 –> 00:41:51,899 Colin, I went back and apologized and told the manager I was wrong because I belong to 568 00:41:51,899 –> 00:41:56,739 Christ and what I said was not appropriate for me, who wants to bear the name Christian. 569 00:41:56,739 –> 00:42:05,179 And in response, the manager said, I’m a Christian, too, and you just made my day. 570 00:42:05,179 –> 00:42:08,179 You’ve given me courage. 571 00:42:08,179 –> 00:42:11,419 Man writes, I relate this story as a demonstration of God’s grace. 572 00:42:11,419 –> 00:42:16,780 He takes lemons and makes lemonade, and then his last line is, what will God be saying 573 00:42:16,780 –> 00:42:19,879 to me next weekend? 574 00:42:19,879 –> 00:42:25,620 The following day, another e-mail from the same man to say that he had received a phone 575 00:42:25,679 –> 00:42:30,320 call from the manager at the service garage. 576 00:42:30,320 –> 00:42:35,040 It’s hard to believe, I quote, I’m quoting, it’s hard to believe what he said. 577 00:42:35,040 –> 00:42:40,760 He indicated that, that evening, he told his wife and then his 13-year-old son about what 578 00:42:40,760 –> 00:42:41,979 had happened. 579 00:42:41,979 –> 00:42:48,820 I didn’t think there was anybody like you, he said, and I’ve repeated the story about 580 00:42:48,820 –> 00:42:52,979 you coming to me several times, never using your name, but each time it has brought tears 581 00:42:52,979 –> 00:42:55,459 to my eyes. 582 00:42:55,459 –> 00:42:58,679 I will never forget what you did. 583 00:42:58,679 –> 00:43:02,979 Please stop in next time you have your car serviced. 584 00:43:02,979 –> 00:43:09,800 He concludes, Collin, I could never have dreamt that obedience could result in such an outcome, 585 00:43:09,800 –> 00:43:20,739 the end result, two guys praising God because one man took his sin seriously. 586 00:43:20,739 –> 00:43:23,219 What would happen if you were to do that? 587 00:43:24,179 –> 00:43:27,060 Let’s pray together, shall we? 588 00:43:27,060 –> 00:43:34,739 Father, we see how sin entices and hides in secret crevices and landing spaces in our 589 00:43:34,739 –> 00:43:35,739 lives. 590 00:43:35,739 –> 00:43:44,399 We see how it grows and we see the need to act early and to act often. 591 00:43:44,399 –> 00:43:47,659 We thank you for the cleansing blood of Jesus. 592 00:43:47,659 –> 00:43:49,739 We thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit. 593 00:43:49,780 –> 00:43:53,760 We thank you for the hope of the gospel. 594 00:43:53,760 –> 00:43:58,780 We pray that there may be growth and progress in every Christian life today and for a person 595 00:43:58,780 –> 00:44:05,320 without Christ that it will just be overwhelmingly obvious why it is that we need him. 596 00:44:05,320 –> 00:44:11,399 These things we ask in the Savior’s name and everyone together said, you’ve been listening 597 00:44:11,399 –> 00:44:14,560 to a sermon with pastor Collin Smith of Open the Bible. 598 00:44:14,560 –> 00:44:22,659 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website, openthebible.org.