A Sin Battle Plan That Actually Works | WRETCHED RADIO

have you asked yourself why you are seeking that sin why it is that that sin sings to you [Music] so what's your plan see this is a wretched radio i do not know what edward g robinson yeah that was that impersonation i don't know what he has to do with your sin temptation plan and your repentance strategy but you should develop one you better have one in place an offensive strategy growing in holiness intentionally exerting some energy and discipline to be engaged in the disciplines but then you also need to have a defensive strategy so that when the temptation comes you're on it so when our kids were very young and we were trying to just help them to deal with our own temptation we came up with this stop get away pray obey you say man that's really simple that's not very profound exactly because you're not trying to be profound in the moment of temptation you're trying to help put a simple outline into the mind of the person that as soon as they're tempted they know what to do that's what we taught our kids you stop right you have that moment you realize hey what i'm doing is not on your god you get away the joseph method right you remove yourself and so far as you can from the place of temptation then you apply hebrews chapter four you turn to christ in prayer what's obey obey is doing the things that we just learned right make no provision for the flesh i'm gonna stop and i'm not gonna make any more plan it's turning to grace and mercy to help it's stopping saying wait a minute what was i wanting in this moment right that's what james said right that's a big question if you've never been able to have a great deal of victories increasing success in resisting temptation have you asked yourself why you are seeking that sin why it is that that sin sings to you what are you missing what are you lacking what are you desiring how is it making you feel below the surface what what what what itch is it scratching figure that out in fact that can actually help you when temptation when it does come sneaking around you start asking yourself the question why am i tempted by oh yeah it's because i'm not happy in my marriage okay then acknowledge that but then get to your offensive strategy and fix that if you are for instance looking at pornography and you haven't examined why it is that you do that you're missing the opportunity to get better somewhere it could be that because your marriage is struggling and you just are frustrated so you use the outlet of pornography maybe it's something different for you let's stick with pornography what is it that you are looking to feel beyond just the physical sensation what is it you you want to be considered like that image in the computer screen is it because you think you deserve it today is it because you are trying to get at somebody is it because you're angry why do you look at porn this is what what i do with somebody struggling with pornography flee to a safe place pray for help call your accountability partner and review counseling notes and that assumes that that what i've done i have prepared them and this is typically what i'll do is when we go over text like james 1 or he or romans 13 i'll have him make a little card and keep it in their bible of those promises oh that's so helpful so simple isn't it you're tempted where's your bible verses that you've memorized that you've written on a card get them into your brain so that you find your satisfaction and fulfillment in jesus christ and not in pixels not in a bottle not in an image not in a pair of shoes what is your strategy now the question that dr keith palmer raises and then goes about the business of answering for us is how do we put all of this together to develop a strategy for sin specifically in this instance mike and molly are drug addicted church visitors i'm going to focus on pornography because i think this is probably one of the things that we are most likely to see in our counseling ministries our discipline ministries to one another and so let's take what we've learned about repentance and this is step by step what i take my counselles through in terms of actually practicing repentance okay um so the first thing we're gonna do we're gonna we're gonna lead them to confess the sin to god and to seek his forgiveness uh we saw that psalm 51 also psalm 32 first john 1 9 if we confess our sins god is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness that's a repentance strategy preparing them to repent even before they've committed the sin and the same thing is true for us and might i just suggest that if you've been doing this you've been repenting but you're not having increasing victory i wonder if it's because you're missing this particular component and finally and this is the one that gets looked over so often is a commitment a commitment repentance is not complete until there is an awareness of what needs to change and there is a commitment by god's grace to enact those changes have you been doing that maybe your repentance when you sin it includes lord i'm sorry thank you for your mercy help me not to do it anymore cool but there's another component and lord could you say this i'm going to commit to you to not sin anymore don't make a rash oath but make a commitment that by his power by his grace you're done you're committed to not doing this sin anymore have you ever prayed that regarding your besetting sin i wonder if that is why it continues to linger more steps in developing a strategy in dealing with sin and nobody said this was easy we also want to take steps of radical amputation to avoid temptation in the future and you see this over and over again i think i think the average christian who struggles with life dominating sin thinks this i'm going to confess it to god and that alone will make it different next time well that's not what scripture says confessing to god is a good part a needed part of that but matthew chapter 5 says what do you do if your right hand causes you to sin no problem it'll work out better next time right that says you cut that off you pluck out your eye that what we call radical amputation in the biblical counseling world meaning you are looking for the things that are tripping you up and you are getting rid of those things question how are you getting your fix if it's porn how do you view it if it's drugs where do you get it if it's the bottle where do you buy it cut it off don't go to the liquor store don't go to the bar i'll just have a diet coke that's foolishness that's the opposite of the joseph strategy run for your life get out of don't even go in there if you find yourself suddenly surrounded by temptation that's one thing but it's another thing to go looking for it don't cut it off here's a test for you i'm going to say something pretty radical and consider how you respond if you're serious about not viewing pornography get rid of your cell phone oh come on that i need this i got to do business with this and what does it profit a man if he gains the world and loses his soul cut it off if your heart is not willing to do it i can predict with a pretty fair degree of certainty you're going to be failing again and again and again because you're not really in the game you don't understand yet the consequences of what you are doing you do not understand the offensive nature of your behavior to the god who died to save you this is a spiritual battle that is what this is what ephesians 6 is about the spiritual battles that are taking place you and i don't get involved in talking to demons rebuking spirits no we resist temptation we submit to god we grow in holiness we have an offensive plan and we have a defensive strategy and we also have a repentance strategy which means when we fall and it can happen we don't forget that we have an advocate jesus the righteous we also want to help them help them to confess the sin and seek forgiveness from those whom you sinned against remember confession is always vertical and sometimes horizontal right it's always vertical because all sin is always against god it's sometimes horizontal if that sin has been also directed towards someone else whom we have hurt or sinned against luke 17 3 if your brother sins rebuke him if he repents forgive him so that may be going to a spouse that may be going to a child an adult child someone whom our sin has been against in our addiction we also want to confess the sin to another brother in christ you saw that in the the temptation plan that we put together james 5 16 says we need to confess our sins to one another um it is so important that we don't try to battle the sins of addiction alone pastor might i encourage you to consider adding that sunday night service and that wednesday night meeting and every night in between we've got a lot of time to watch netflix but what we need is to be in a context an environment where we are constantly breathing bible question do you have an offensive defensive strategy and do you have a repentance plan and does it involve your local church this is wretched radio good evening my fellow totally depraved americans [Music] you

Channel: Wretched

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Keywords: Todd Friel, Wretched TV, Wretched Radio, Evangelism, Gospel, Christian, Jesus, Theology, Bible, Christianmedia, Witnessing, Religion, Preaching, God, Teaching, Media, Openair

Id: 00mIICYLXyE

Length: 11min 30sec (690 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 21 2021