Pastor Andrew Lim
2nd May 2010
Romans 6:1-14: What shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God's grace will increase? Certainly not! We have died to sin - how then can we go on living in it? For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death. By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.
For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was. And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin. For when a person dies, he is set free from the power of sin. Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die again - death will no longer rule over him. And so, because he died, sin has no power over him and now he lives his life in fellowship with God. In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concered, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.
Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self. Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes. Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God's grace.
*Sinful habits
- a particular area that we fall after repenting over and over again
- most destrucive in the person's mind
Colossians 3:6-9: Because of such things God's anger will come upon those who do not obey him. At one time you yourselves used to lie according to such desires, when your life was dominated by them.
But now you must get rid of all these things: anger, passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from your lips. Do not lie to one another, for you have taken off the old self with its habits.
eg: anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, envy
Why is sin bad?
1. Destructive- prevent the blessings of God from coming in
Proverbs 28:13: You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; the God will show mercy to you.
2. Separate us from God's presence is difficult
-find something missing when doing quiet time, reading the Bible with difficulty
3. Brings condemnation
-not sin but condemnation that brings us down
-the lies of the enemy to trample- cannot rise up against the sin
4. Quenches the joy of the Spirit
Psalm 51:11: Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me.
Ephesians 4:29-32: Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. And do not make God's Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God's mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.
Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.
"Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God"
5. Risk losing the joy of salvation
-if we continue to live in the bondages of our lives
-It becomes part of our character/personality that it becomes impossible to break through
eg: gossiping, envy, hatred
-cannot stand (envy) seeing people more beautiful that yourself
John 8:36: If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free.
Romans 8:2: For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free form the law of sin and death.
-no longer bound by sin
-don't let our sinful habits control our lives
-fight against the carnal man
-we read all the motivational, self help books but those cant help us if our spirit man is dead
1 Corinthians 10: 1-13: I want yu to remember, my bothers, what happened to our ancestors who followed Moses. They were all under the protection of the cloud, and all passed safely through the Red Sea. In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptized as followers of Moses. All ate the same spiritual bread and drank the same spiritual drin. They drank from the Spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself. But even then God was not pleased ith most of them, and so their dead bodies were scattered over the desert.
-(let those who think he does not sin..)
-every temptation has a way out
James 1:12-15: Happy is the person who remains faithful under trials, because when he suceeds in passing such a test, he will receive as his reward the life which God has promised to those who love him. If a person is tempted by such trials, he must not say, "This temptation comes from God." For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But a person is tempted when he is drawned away and trapped by his own evil desire. Then his evil desire conceives and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
-It is the mind that temptation comes
-we entertain our thoughts until we fall into temptation
One day a man had a very clever mongkey. He had to go for a long trip so he told the mongkey that he could do anything except never to eat the banana from the banana tree. So while he was clearing the man's house, he stopped to look at the banana tree.
He said to himself, "My master told me not to eat the banana but he did not say i could not eat the banana."
So he saw the banana.
Then he thought to himself again "My master told me not to eat the banana but he did not say i could not go nearer to see the banana tree."
So he went nearer to the banana.
Then he thought to himself again "My master told me not to eat the banana but he did not say i could not climb the banana tree."
So he climbed the banana tree.
Then he thought to himself again "My master told me not to eat the banana but he did not say i could not hold the banana."
So he held the banana.
Then he thought to himself again "My master told me not to eat the banana but he did not say i could not smell the banana."
So he smelt the banana.
Again he thought to himself again "My master told me not to eat the banana but he did not say i could not pluck the banana."
So he plucked the banana.
Then he thought to himself again "My master told me not to eat the banana but he did not say i could not lick the banana."
The moment he licked the banana, he ate it.
This is how temptation can be.
*You might want to forgive that person who hurt you but when you begin thinking about the pain he or she caused you, you change your mind.
*We try and resist temptation when we are on the way to temptation
*That is not the way. Instead, we should try and resist while it is a thought in our minds
*How does he stop while temptation is still a thought
*Jesus getting tempted in 40 days
Luke 4:1-13: Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert,where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days.In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.
The Devil said to him, "If you are God's Son, order this stone to turn into bread."
But Jesus answred, "The scripture says, 'Man cannot live on bread alone.'"
Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of the world "I will give you all this power and all this wealth, " the Devil told him. "It has all been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I choose. All this will be yours, then, if you worship me."
Jesus answered, "The scripture says, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!'"
Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here. For the scripture says, 'God will order his angels to take good care of you, ' It also says, 'They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.'"
But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test, '"
When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while.
*In that story, Jesus immediately responded, he didn't think
Deuteronomy 8:3: He made you go hungry, and then he gave you manna to eat, food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did this to teach you that man does not depend on bread alone to sustain him, but on everything that the Lord says.
Deuteronomy 6:16: "Do not put the Lord your Go to the test, as you did at Massah."
Deuteronomy 10:20: Obey the Lord your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone.
Ephesians 6:16: At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One.
*Faith comes by the word of God
*When our minds are filled with the word of God, we won't be tempted easily
*Every waking moment your mind is filled with the word of God if you keep reading the word of God. Then, you will not fall so easily into temptation
James 4:7: So then, submit to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you.
*THE CHOICE IS OURS
**Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path**
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