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Genesis 3 tells us how sin came into the world as well as God's plan for redemption from sin. Sin was already present in the universe before God created the world. I've just read "The Invisible War" by Donald G. Barnhouse in which he traces the activity of Satan from his beginnings as the Angel of Light. Satan was the first to sin and it is in Genesis 3 where Satan comes into the World and proceeds to tempt Eve. One of my notes from class states that we gloss over how evil Satan is. I think that sometimes we attribute too much power to Satan and think that he is in a battle with God and has a chance of winning. This is a false view of Satan as he is not anywhere near possessing the power of God. God will always win the battle with Satan. And Satan has probably not personally tempted any of us as he is not Omnipresent, nor Omniscient, and, as I just stated, not Omnipotent like God. Of course he does go back and forth throughout the earth and probably pretty quickly and he does have his own followers that like to torment us as well. And, the most important thing for me to understand is that he is a whole lot more powerful than I am. In a battle between me and Satan, he will win. Someone said that when Satan comes knocking at the door, we need to send Jesus to answer it. James 4:7 tells us to submit to God first and foremost and then, resist the Devil. As the teacher today pointed out, if we don't submit to God first, resisting the Devil on our own isn't going to make him flee. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness He had been submitting to God in prayer and fasting for 40 days. Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus and Jesus answered him back with Scripture. Of couse, Satan quoted the Scripture out of context. In Genesis 3, Satan misquoted God. "Did God really say that you may not eat from any tree in the garden?" Eve corrected Satan, "No, God didnt say that." She knew better than that. But then, Eve added to God's Word. "God said we must not eat from nor touch the tree in the middle of the garden." God didn't say anything about not touching the tree. I wonder why Eve felt she had to add the not touching part? My personal thought is that she was under such strong temptation standing face to face with Satan for the first time and hearing his twisted words. The temptation must have been incredibly strong. So maybe she thought to herself if she would just not even touch the tree it would be easier to resist Satan and not eat from the fruit of the tree. It's what I do when I try in my own power to resist sin. If I can add all kind of rules and regulations I think I can maybe resist in my own power. I was born with original sin. It is my nature to sin. I have the potential to commit the grossest of sins. Like our teacher, I am amazed at how many times I commit the same sin. I've heard people say they were delivered from a certain sin and would never ever commit that sin again due to having been delivered by the Lord. Well, I was delivered by the Lord from smoking and didn't smoke for 17 years during which time I thought I would never smoke again. I underestimated the power of temptation and the the pull of my own flesh toward sin. One day, during a very stressful period, I smoked one cigarett. "I'll just smoke this one so I can relax," I thought to myself. The next day, I smoked a pack and a half. "Let him who thinks he stand take heed lest he fall." It was several years before I was free again. And then I was free for a few years and started up again. And then I smoked and stopped again. And then someone told me, "Don't EVER smoke again because God will not deliver you the next time." Whoa! I went home with such a huge inner battle going on in me. I was in so much FEAR of falling into smoking again that I was uptight and tense and on guard and without any peace. Then one day I read in the Psalms that the righteous man falls 7 times and the Lord picks Him up again. I knew that was like that verse about forgiving 7 x 70. It meant that God would always pick me up again, like a Father who watches over his child while the child is learning to walk. No matter how many times the child falls, the parent picks him up. I learned that God is not a "three strikes and you're out God" as the woman who was trying to keep me from smoking again had implied. Today, I'm not smoking and I can't remember how many years it has been since I smoked. But, I don't know about tomorrow because I know better than to underestimate how strongly I can be tempted and, most of all, I know myself. I am the chief of sinners. My assurance is that I also know God Who always has and always will pick me up again. He has assured me in His Word that I am being conformed into the likeness of His own Son. I haven't yet attained that likeness but I will have it when He comes for me. I have a propensity toward sin and all because of Adam's sin. Though Eve was the first to sin in the garden and eat the fruit, the Scripture never says that sin came into the world through Eve. Eve was the first tempted and the first deceived. Adam, on the other hand, was not decieved. Adam deliberately sinned. He chose the woman over God. (Don't men still do that today?) It is a sin to choose anything or any person over God. In fact Jesus said that if I love my own children or my parents or anyone more than Him then I'm not worthy to be His disciple. If I am honest with myself then I have to confess, Lord, I am not worthy to be Your disciple. How can any human being be worthy of being His disciple? Jesus says with man it is impossible but with God all things are possible. In Genesis 3 God provided for me the possibility that I could be His disciple. He already had a plan for my redemption. God took animals and the first death came onto the earth. An innocent animal died and shed its blood to make a covering for Adam and Eve. God put a curse on Satan and told him that he would bruise the heel of Messiah (the seed of the woman) but that Messiah would bruise Satan's head. This is God's only plan for my redemption from sin. I became a Christian at age 25. My life changed so radically that I was at first convinced that I would never sin again. Of course, I was sinning every day. It was just that, by comparison to the me before Christ, the me after Christ appeared sinless. I'll be forever grateful to my Pastor for not allowing that heresy to take hold in me because, within a few months, I knew that I was far from sinless. I now knew that to lust after someone in my heart was a sin as much as if I had committed adultery. To feel anger toward someone in my heart was the same as murder. And, guess what, I was witnessing to the Assistant Pastor of a major church who did not believe in the Deity of Christ and had some really heated words with him. I became angry that the minister of a church didn't believe in the Deity of Christ. Sometime later, I ran into him again and I suddenly realized how very good-looking this "creep" was. I was 25, married and devastated. I was lusting after this guy. I had committed adultery in my heart! If not for the good Biblical discipleship of my Pastor I would have thought that I had lost my salvation. If not for the good teaching of my Pastor, I could have rationalized that sin in a million different ways and never confessed and sought forgiveness. As the teacher pointed out today, denial of our sin nature cuts us off from all possibility of repentance. This is true of the Christian. We must be open about our sin. We must confess our faults to one another and pray for one another to be overcomers of sin because we will always wage a daily war with our flesh. We will win that war sometimes but many times we will lose that war. If I come to the end of the day and think I have not committed sin at some point during the day I can be sure of one thing, I have deceived myself. I deceive my own self when I say, "Oh, that was just a little thing. It wasn't really a sin." Or, I deceive myself when I try to rationalize it. "I have such a terrible back pain. I have PMS. I'm just tired." I deceive myself when I try to set a standard that is lower than God's standard. Sin is any falling short of the glory of God. If I lower the bar, then I can reach it and then I can say that I haven't sinned. Deep in my heart I am really anger but I've covered it so deep in my heart that I have convinced myself that I love everyone, then I don't have to admit that I have sinned. And, I don't have to realize the fact that if I feel anger in my heart toward another person I have already killed that person in my heart. I attended LAEL for a brief time. The teacher at LAEL taught that she had not sinned since she became a Christian. One of the students said to her, "You are sinning right now because you're lying." She was lying to us and she was lying to herself. She really believed she had not sinned since salvation. She was lying to (deceiving) her own self as well as other people. [I John 1:9] And, she was making God into a liar too by not believing His Word. There was no place for repentance of this deception until she could come under conviction of the Holy Spirit in regard to this sin. Here's the bottom line: If I don't recogize my sin, I can't repent of it. I'll stand before God trying to blame someone or something else, I'll try to justify my sin, I will try to make a difference between "just little" and "big" (venial and mortal) sins; or I'll set a lower standard on sin and be proud of the fact that I can reach my own standard. And, if I witness to someone who can't recognize their sin, how can they be saved. We don't need a Savior from sin if we don't sin. Every day we have to do this battle with sin so long as we are here in this flesh and on this earth. I look forward to being in glory and free from this flesh. Meanwhile, I am grateful that Jesus provides a way of repentance and amazed at His love to continue to renew His mercies to His children on a daily basis. |
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Part 2 First Corinthian Series Pastor Jerry Marshall 7-12-09
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Struggle with sin : Bruce Keller Very personal and important message. Romans 5 : Cause of our struggle Romans 7: Common conflict of all believers Romans 8: Comfort [Romans 5] Righteousness has nothing to do with us. We cannot obtain righteousness in and of ourselves. One Man by one act brought salvation to all that God has chosen. Adam by one act brought sin on everyone. ... The entire human race was altered by Adam's one act of disobedience. The consequence is realized whether a person knows God or not ... all die. [Romans 7] The penalty of my sin was removed by Christ but the principle of sin still dwells in my flesh. The price was paid. My eternal destiny is secure. Paul outlines his own struggle with sin. Conclusion: O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this body of death? [Romans 8] Not my righteousness but His. Adam by one act brought sin and death onto all of creation. By one act Jesus imparted His righteousness to His elect. We are perfected for eternity.
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Wisdom: Jerry Marshall Sermon July 1, 2009 The difference between knowledg and wisdom. Who has this wisdom? Who doesn't have this wisdom? Before I was regenerated I remember I prayed to God to "know the truth" and I thought He was going to show me some sort of philosopy by which I could live my life. The wisdom of the world that I had caused me to even search for the wrong thing. Then, God in His grace, showed me that the Truth was not a philosopy of life and a way to live but the Truth is a Person, Jesus Christ. He said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Jesus isn't a way of life, Jesus is "the Way." There are no 10 steps to life. Jesus is "the Life." All this we received by the Sovereign Grace of God! Mysteries: Wow! Christ in you the hope of glory! Eye has not seen and ear has not heard ... misapplied verse. This verse is not talking about the glories of Heaven. What am I doing with this gift? I don't think I am demonstrating it. This is my prayer after hearing this sermon:
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Remember ... these are my notes from class and my own thoughts at interspersed with the things that I heard. Some things were said about having appropriate expectations. I can attest to that. I often expect too much of others and not enough of myself. Earlier in the week, due to some encouragement from another counselor in the class, I was pondering a lot on expecting too high standards from people. She had pointed out that we cannot hold the unbeliever to the same standard that we hold the believer. And, of course, there is a progression from there. The new convert hasn't had time to learn Scripture and Doctrine and cannot be held to the same standard as someone who has been a Christian for a longer number of years. According to our lesson, there are 4 things that we are doing in Biblical Counseling: 1. For the person who is unsaved we are doing Evangelism. I was just reading in The Invisible War, that angel means messenger and Ev-angel means "the message brought by the angel." We are bringing the message of the good news of Christ's redemption. 2. Crisis Discipleship. A believer may be going through a crisis in there life and they need help. We attempt to help with Biblical solutions and hope. What comes to my mind is that we are exhorted in Scripture to "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2 (In case anyone is wondering I am copying and pasting some Scripture references from The Blue Letter Bible Web Site and Search Engine . I have it set on KJV for easy reference for me but you can set it on many different versions of the Bible. If you don't find what you are looking for with your keywords in one version, just try looking in another version.) 3. We are doing one-on-one discipleship. My thought go to how much this is needed for new Christians today. At my church (WSC) the women are trying to practice mentoring. I see it as a primary need for new Christians today. Whatever we call it, one-on-one discipleship, friendship, mentoring, all Christians need some other Christian in their life to whom they can go and to whom we can be held accountable ... prefererably someone older and wiser ... At my age it is hard to find anyone who has been saved longer than me but is easy to find someone who is wiser. 4. We need to let all Christians know that the church as a body is important. No solo Christians. "And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. " I Corinthians 12:21 and all the context. We need to know that the Bible is sufficient and that man is responsible. THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 1. He gifts the counselor. Our spiritual gifts are imarted to us when we are saved but they are developed over time. I'm thinking this must be true because every time I have taken one of those "spiritual gifts tests" over the last 40 years I always get essentially the same results. My son and I took a test at church not too many years ago and he was laughing at me because , as the group was discussing the gifts, I turned to him and whispered. "I didn't have to take a test to show that I have gift of prophecy. No one ever listened to the prophets and no one ever listens to me either." There ... proof positive. Another funny thing I will probably always remember from class. They asked the question, "What are your passions?" I am often sick and can't do what I would like to do so I said, "I think I would rise from the dead to do genealogies and cult evangelism." One of the elders immediately quipped, "You should move to Salt Lake City Utah and you can do both." Jason (I'm back to counseling class and he was the teacher) suggested a web site where you can go and take and online "gifts test" if you would like to try that one day. JOHN MACARTHUR'S WEBSITE More on the gifts can be found at Ephesiand 4 and Romans 12. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: " Ephesians 4:11-12 and other verses. "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, [let us prophesy] according to the proportion of faith;" Romans 12:6 and other verses. I like this advice from Jason. He said if you don't know your gifts just start serviing. A lot of times it is members of the Body of Christ who recognize our gifts before we do. In my years as a Christian I have had this happen to me that someone would come and tell me something I said helped them or an elder would tell me a gift observed. And I have noticed what I believe to be gifts in others. 2. He brings to remembrance the teachings of Jesus. " But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. " John 14:26. Jason also pointed out that we should not study the Bible to teach or counsel with others. We should study the Bible for our own benefit. Self evaluation before counseling. 3. The Holy Spirit brings people to repentance and/or the appropriate response. The way I express this for my own understanding is that we can plant the seed but we can't make it grow. I always frustrate myself by attempting to do the Holy Spirit's work. PRIDE goeth before a fall. And Pride is what it is that makes me want to not leave the outcome to God. John 16:8 "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: " 4. Gives the counselee the wisdong they need to put to death the deeds of the flesh. "[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1 and other verses. At this point in the lecture I got lost. Jason says that our "sin nature" died when we received Christ so that Christians do not have a sin nature. I heard this teaching at LAEL University and the teacher put the whole class into shock by going on to say that she had not sinned since she was saved. But Jason said that he does sin so he was not talking about the same thing Dr. A was talking about. Here is another instance where I need someone to define terms but Jason told a man in the class he didn't have time during class to discuss opposing thoughts. This is what is unfortunate about having only one hour of time. In any event ... this is where I am right now. I believe that we have both an old and a new man within us. The "old man" is to be "put off" and the "new man" is to be "put on" daily as we grow and mature in the Lord. The old man I identify with the "flesh." I think it is the same thing. My flesh is in a continual war with the Spirit and must be "reckoned as crucified" and I must submit to the Spirit. The flesh cannot be reformed. Self improvement hasn't gone too far with me. Self help books, which I was practically addicted to at one time, don't really help. The flesh cannot be subject to the will of God. It must be crucified. "I am crucified with Christ, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me and the life that I now live I live by faith in the Son of God Who loved me and gave His life for me." We sin because we still have this old nature pulling us away from doing God's will. I don't know the definition that Jason calls the "sin nature." Is he referring to the flesh, the old man or what. I do know from Scripture that sin still dwells in me even though I have been a Christian for 41 years. Romans 7:17 "Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." Romans 7:20 "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." I identify this as my flesh, my old nature, still dwelling within me. Gal 5:17 "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." This old nature, this flesh, continually wars with the Spirit. And it cannot change. It has to be reckoned as crucified with Christ. It must die daily. In any event, I would like to have a clearer understanding of why we sin and how to overcome sin. Wish there had been more time in class for this discussion. Jason suggested a book. I actually think I may have read this book at some point in time but can't remember the details. I could probably clarify some of my own thoughts by read it. Christian Classic Ethereal Library at Calvin College has provided this book for us on line so it is easy to obtain for those of us with internet. On the Mortification of Sin in Believers by John Owen For anyone wanting to read the Christian Classics many of them are online at: Christian Classic Ethereal Library Jason discussed the fact that all sin is sin. It doesn't matter if it's a white lie or a murder. A serial killer can be forgiven as well as someone who just hates another person in their heart. God saves to the uttermost. Amen! The consequences of our sins may differ. I am reminded of the Scripture that says we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. [Romans 3"23] Sin is any coming short of the glory of God. People who say they have no sin after being born again are deceiving themselves. If we say we have now sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8) CHURCH DISCIPLINE When I first came to know the Lord my "mother in Christ" had an only child, a daughter, who was disciplined by our church. I remember how sad it was. My friend blamed herself and being a mother I know I also do the same. I hold my own children to a much higher standard than I would the children of someone else saved or unsaved. I probably hold them to a higher standard than I hold myself. I sometimes tease by saying that my own children were born without original sin. Of course I know better than that. Jason pointed out that the church disciplines for unrepentant sin. I imagine that to be the Christian who says, "Yes, I know it is a sin but I'm going to do it anyway. I'm not going to make any effort to stop." The longsuffering Lord eventually chastizes those He loves so we can be assured the Christian doesn't get too far along with that attitude. We need to self-evaluate and approach everyone in a spirit of gentleness lest we fall into the same sin. I can give personal experiences. Someone called me and asked me how I remained non-critical. What I learned is that the more Step 4 Inventories I do the less likely I am to be extremely critical in so far as another person. I guess that is recognizing the log in my own eye first. And the second personal experience has to do with the anger I felt upon learning of a Christian woman who had acted out and committed adultery. As I walked away from my indignation I felt the Lord said "Your gluttony is your ACT of adultery." There have been many times in my Christian life that I have been overly critical and soon found myself having a tremendous struggle with the same sin I was confronting someone else about. Then, there have been times that I was in denial. I didn't even realize I was in sin until I heard the confession of or saw the sin in another person. Only then did my eyes open and I saw that I, too, was guilty. Toward the end of class we were scribbling as fast as we could to keep up. Here are some Scriptures I scribbled down. (These are copied from My Bible Search Page) Romans 8: Col 3 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. John 14 25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 1 John 2 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. Ephesians 4 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; We quickly discussed how it is better not to do counseling with the opposite sex for obvious reasons. We need to avoid the temptation and Jason told how that is possible by having his wife come into counseling session with him. Married couples could counsel together in this instance. I agree wholehearedly with this but I do not want to be come legalistic about it. If you see someone bleeding beside the road you help them no matter what sex they are. My grandfather didn't want my mother to become a nurse because of the situation with nurses and male patients. In years past, a nurse always attended the doctor in treating of female patients. I think that is wisdom. But I think it is also wisdom to accept anyone who comes to us who is hurting. The woman at the well would not have heard the gospel if Jesus had not gone against the tradition of his day and approached her. As a woman in the church of Jesus, I have often felt like I was being treated like I had leprosy simply because of my sex. then there was no discussion. Jason said women are not allowed to teach men. 1 Tim 2 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Thankfully I kept silent during class! And I'm also grateful that I've had children too: 1 Tim 2 15. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. 1 Cor 14 34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. More Scripture on the subject 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. |
I call her my "prayer partner." We have been leaning on one another for years now. Two others that I leaned on have passed away and two have moved away but my prayer partner and I are still praying and counseling and encouraging one another as God would have it. That doesn't mean I don't turn to many other people in the Body of Christ because I take to heart the Word that says, "Where [there is] no counsel, the people fall; But in the 
