A Way Out: Part 2 - "Fighting Temptation" with Craig Groeschel - LifeChurch.tv

I love that you've joined us for worship today at all of our churches we're in part two of a four-part message series dealing with temptation all of us are tempted in different ways and we're calling this message series a way out next week part three I think is my favorite of all the weeks we're going to talk about the holy spirit's role to give you strength to find a way out and then in the fourth week we're going to look at uh the reality that whatever you feed grows whatever you starve dies how do we feed ourselves spiritually to have the strength to overcome Temptation and what I'd love for you to do today at all of our churches if you would would you just prayerfully listen to this message through the lens of maybe your top one or two greatest Temptations and this is really important I want you to listen to and experience this teaching through the lens of a good struggle for you and so if you're comfortable in writing down uh what your greatest temptation is I'd love for you to do that if it's like really nasty and hairy and you don't want the person next you you know you don't have to do it but if you're comfortable write down what is your greatest Temptation I'll give you a few just to kind of get your minds rolling for example some of you would say honestly you know I I'm really vulnerable to overeating or I have an addiction to sugar or whatever some of you it would be overspending you know you shouldn't buy anything else And yet when it's on sale you like lose all power of resistance and you tell yourself you saved money and you tell your spouse you saved money and you know you lost money but you tell yourself that and you end up overspending and buying things you didn't really need with money you don't really have uh for some of you it might be a substance and this is incredibly common as we all know today that there's something in a bottle or there's something that you smoke or there's there's something that you shoot honestly that just seems to have more power over over you then you have the ability to resist it and you literally can't go much time at all without this substance that carries you some of you you're you're battling with lust and the reality is according to so many studies that would be a big percentage of people that you're looking at things that just kind of fuel this this raw wrong energy in you you're acting out on it some of you you hate it and yet you still do it and you don't you don't want to but you end up doing that some of you you're just tempted to criticize I mean you it's almost like you've taken it criticism to a spiritual gift you are so good at it you can pick anything apart you've already found 14 things about this church you don't like and the service isn't even half over yet and you're just getting going you know some of you you're going to kick back and go you know what I'm glad those so and so is heing this message because they're jacked up and I don't have any Temptation I don't have any weaknesses you write down Pride right now the capital P in your notes because we all are vulnerable somewhere and honestly I really hope you'll listen to this message through the lens of what is perhaps your greatest Temptation and I want to revisit again today our key text we looked at it last week and we'll look at it in every week in this series from 1 Corinthians chapter 10 uh a verse that is very truthful and gives us hope here's what Paul said he said so if you think you're standing firm for those of you who say I don't have a problem this is easy if you think you're standing firm be careful that you don't fall because we all know that pride comes before a fall he says no temptation has overtaken you except what let's all say it aloud except what is common to Mankind in other words to be human is to be vulnerable to Temptation and don't ever think you're above it the moment you think hey I couldn't be tempted here is when you often will be for example I think I actually slipped into some pride about my um more disciplined eating I'll give you the backstory uh years ago I ate anything and everything I wanted all the time anywhere it was nothing for me to down for Crispy Cream Donuts and not even break a sweat and I did that often then one day I woke up like wow I can't do that anymore who knows what I'm talking about You' been there and so I recognized I need to change my eating Hab abits and what I'm going to tell you is this is just the dead truth it was with the help of God because God really gave me the strength to do this that I believe he renewed my mind changed my appetites and so now it's nothing to go I go A Year Without a dessert I you know no hamburger cheeseburgers all you know it's like it's really not a big struggle for me and so I kind of just internally like yeah you I got this thing down until Amy brought home a massive bag of M&M's okay who knows the kind of the size of the bags I'm talking about you could put one in each hand and do a a massive Curel workout they're massive M&M's and one of the reasons why I don't think I'm vulnerable to eating bad stuff is because Amy just doesn't bring unhealthy food into our house I it's nowhere to be found nothing at all that's why my kids love going to your houses they do they're like they're come home like Dad they've got marshmallows in their cereal and they've got drinks that are red okay they love that in our house there's none of that stuff so I open up the cabinet and in there there's these M&M's and I swear to you there's a light shining on it somehow and this this Aura and like no and I slam the door I'm literally going across the house into my bedroom thing and get behind me M&M's I'm not going to eat next thing you know my mind is in fantasy land I mean I'm seeing red and green I'm see I'm seeing all these i l I'm thinking they melt in your mouth not in your hands how freaking cool is that amazing and so in my mind I just literally I I mean this is crazy I this is what I thought I'll just go back in there and see if they're still in the cabinet as if they poof they're gone you know literally that's in my mind and I went in there and then I'm looking at him just looking at him just kind of like there they are and and I just thought well I always want to model servanthood and so this bag's not open so I'll just be a help to Amy and be a role model to the kids that you do things for others so I just kind of open it up well the next thing you know literally this is what I'm thinking I'll just put my fingers in there and let them run through I've got the discipline I'll just watch them fall through my fingers well 20 minutes later Amy discovers me in the closet and I'd eaten about 60% of the bag don't judge me over there I'm being honest work with me and it's like oh I I could have eaten the whole thing had she not stopped me the moment you think you're standing firm is when you are very very vulnerable to sin those who say I don't really need this today you need it the most of all and the reality is so many times people feel incredibly guilty just when they're tempted oh I'm such a failure as a Christian I was tempted again listen to be human is to be tempted coming to Christ does not mean the absence of Temptation it means declaring war on the Temptation that is already there and the good news is you do not have to fight alone this is what Paul said in verse 13 He said and God is what somebody helped me out he said and God is what and God is faithful even when we are faithless our God is faithful he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear this is amazing news but when you are tempted every single time you are tempted what will our God provide somebody said our God will also provide a way out so you can endure it and quite honestly this is why many of you are here today because you've been gried by something that seems to have more power than your ability to resist and God is going to minister to you hope and faith today that every single time you're tempted Our God will always give you way out so I want to talk today about how we resist temptation and in order to understand how to resist I want to start with the process of Temptation I read an article that talked about the five steps that happen every single time before someone does the wrong thing and these steps can take days weeks months or even years or literally you can go through all five of these steps in a matter of moments if you're taking notes and I hope you are uh these are the steps toward Temptation and sin the first is a thought it starts with a thought then it moves into imagination then some form of justification then we make a choice and then we sin thought imagination justification Choice sin thought I'd like an &em imagination I can taste the chocolate as it crunches in my mouth justification I haven't had anything long time I've been working really really hard a few M&Ms aren't going to hurt me anyway Choice I'm going to run my fingers through the bag half the bag is gone how did that happen okay thought maybe for you um buying another outfit would be sin obviously buying an outfit's not a sin but you've got 18 you've never worn you're in debt and you've made a promise not to do anymore thought I feel kind of alone right now and empty on the inside buying an outfit would make me feel so good imagine ation I can see the Instagram post now o girl you look so good smiley face kissy F heart heart heart fire justification I haven't bought one since Wednesday Choice let's go online and see if there any sales oh there's one for 25% off Oh Glory to God he provided savings for me S thought I'm bored I think I'll see what's on my phone imagination I saw something last week that got me excited justification no big deal everybody else looks I mean what nobody know is not going to hurt them and besides my wife's not meeting my knees the way she should so okay Choice I'm just going to look click click click click click sin where does it start it always starts with a thought and we need to recognize that what happens in those first critical moments of Temptation they're far more important than you could ever imagine so what we're going to do is we're going to decide ahead of time knowing that we will be tempted we're going to decide ahead of time how to resist temptation so that we do not fall into something that hurts the heart of God and is destructive to us and to others how do we fight our way out James 4:7 uh basically shows us to do two things and the first thing if you're taking notes is this how are we going to fight we're first going to fight by submitting to God the first thing we're going to do is submit to God and that's exactly what James says he says submit yourselves then to God resist the devil and he will flee from you now what's interesting is I always thought of resisting the devil as the first thing you do got to fight against it fight against it but James says no the first thing you need to do before you fight against temptation is you submit to God why because you don't have the strength on your own your fleshly sinful nature is too weak you are not designed to live the Victorious life alone you need the help of Christ that's why every temptation is an invitation to depend on Christ so we submit to God now what does that mean to you it could mean a lot of different things how do you submit to God some of you what you need to do to submit to God is you need to acknowledge that what you're doing is wrong and sinful and that's where you need to start because we live in a society of masterful justifiers well everybody else does it well it's just kind of the way it is nowadays well I mean this is just the way God made me anyway I mean if if I didn't have this desire if God didn't want me to have this die he wouldn't have given it to me so God understands anyway I mean I deserve it nobody else knows this is just my one little thing listen to me carefully if you're doing anything inconsistent with God's word that is sinful behavior and some of you need to start there by acknowledging it this is wrong some of you know it's wrong and you're too proud to get help some of you need to submit to God and say Yes I need help others of you it'll be a deeper level of submission and I do not know what that means to you but I will tell you what it means to me submission to God very honestly is a daily decision that I must make and I must make it daily why because I am so easily distracted I can be like oh man I'm all into God God I'm here for your glory god I love you so much shiny thing shiny thing shiny shiny shiny you know because that's the way I am I am so easily distracted and so for me it is a daily every single day every single day without exception decision to submit to God and I'll tell you this is this is what I do every day when I wake up first I go to the bathroom because that is the way God made me and he understands then I do my uver reading plan my bible plan before I ever leave the house and and then I have prayer time and I pray for things that are in a list of things that I'm praying for and then I have a personal prayer that I pray every day and it's a prayer of submission and I've prayed this for several years and it's a daily prayer and it's very close to this almost exact words every day I just let it come from the heart and every single day I say God I choose today to submit my whole being to you I submit my mind to you God give me the mind of Christ help me to only think on things that are excellent pure admirable and excellent God give me the power to think on things consistent with your truth God I submit to you my ears today that I would only let into my soul that which is consistent with your truth give me the wisdom not to let lies in but only to believe the truth God I submit my eyes to you that they would only look on things that are pure I submit my mouth to you that my words would be pleasing to you that they would bring you glory in what I say and build others up I give my heart to you God and submit submit it to you acknowledging that is it is deceitful in all ways so God give me a pure heart may my motives be pure to serve you and to bring glory to you in all that I do God I submit my hands to you that they would be used to build people and to build your church and to build your kingdom I submit my feet to you that I would only go to places that are pleasing to you God I submit every part of my body to you today my life is yours use it as you see fit and that is a daily prayer because honestly I need it daily and let me just be real honest with you when I am submitted to God like that it is easier to resist temptation when I am not submitted to God I am as vulnerable as the worst person you know and can give into temptation like that I must daily submit to God here's what happens what is Temptation remember last week temptation is anything that promises satisfaction at the cost of obedience to God right anything that promises oh if you do this if you smoke this if you have if you take this then you're going to be satisfied but it is inconsistent with God's truth anything promises satisfaction at the cost of obedience to God so what what happens you have a choice upon what you will rely upon on you have a choice I can rely on what is in a bottle this medicates me this helps me feel good or I can rely on God I can rely on something that I smoke because this just helps me or I can rely on God I can rely on food oh this tastes so good this is my reward oh this brings me Comfort or I can rely on God I can take a legitimate sexual need meet it in an illegitimate way and rely on it or I can choose to rely on God and his standards I can rely on that which promises satisfaction or I can rely on the only one that gives true satisfaction and joy and you make that choice that's why daily I have to submit myself to God because the lies and temptations of this world can be so appealing therefore God today I give every part of my being to you and when I am submitted to God it's easier to resist temptation and when I'm not submitted to God it is incredibly harder to resist temptation so what do we do before we fight stay away the first thing we do is submit our whole lives to God we submit ourselves to God the second thing we do if you're taking notes is obvious we resist the devil we submit ourselves to God and we resist the devil how how many of you have ever heard someone say well I just couldn't resist I just couldn't resist how many of you ever heard somebody say that listen to me with Christ you can resist okay let me say it again anytime you want to say Amen or act like you care it will make my feelings feel really really good okay with Christ you can resist this is what James says James said submit yourselves then to God resist the devil and he will flee from you resist the devil I illustrate it like this for years I've been telling everybody that I see Bobcats and mountain lions out where I live everybody's like there's not mountain lions where you live there not this there are in fact I got a video of a bobcat out at the back of my garage it's hard to see um if you look kind of carefully straight like in the middle of the screen right there that my friends is a bob cat watch the Bob tat tail watch it go look at me here it goes there it is ah Bobcat tail freaky freaky freaky I actually saw a bobcat in my driveway and scared to live him fire out of me it might have been that one it might have been his evil cousin sister's twin I don't know what it was but he was looking at me about 15t away I'm looking at it I'm thinking to myself if I turn and run I'll get clawed from behind if I climb a tree I would get clawed up a tree and so I just thought I'm going to get my bluff in I was really scared like peeing your pants scared but I just I thought he's this big I'm this big so I just looked at him that and by the grace of God he turned and ran the other way which I thank my God in heaven for because this story would not work if I was in the hospital right now healing from Bobcat claws all over my face and and in a very real sense this is what you do when you are attacked by the evil one you're already submitted to God so your confidence is not in yourself your confidence is in Christ inside of you and whenever Temptation comes in the form of a bobcat or a lion cuz Satan comes at you like a roaring lion see the Tian right there don't you tell me cats are not of the devil okay and so there so whenever you see that enemy come up with every bit of Faith inside of you you essentially okay greater is he that is in me than he that's in the world and I just quoted scripture to you right there and you recognize that with within that Christ in you is stronger than the wrong Desires in you and then you acknowledge recognize that we are actually in a war Christianity is not a playground it is a Battleground Ephesians says that we battle not against flesh and blood Corinthians but but against powers and principalities of this dark world and and so what we do literally is we fight with weapons that are not of this world scripture says but our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds what are strongholds those things that have held you hostage for years you have divine powerful weapons what kind of weapons do we have we have the power of prayer we can we can petition our good God who hears us we have the helmet of salvation the breastplate of righteous The Shield of Faith with which we can quench the fiery darts of the evil one we have the sword of the spirit which is the word of God we have the belt of Truth our shoes are prepared with the gospel of the Readiness of peace and so whenever Temptation comes our way we're say I was expecting you greater is he ah that is in me than he that is in the world and then you fight back you've been prepared you you you already sought God and you know his strength is with you his word is hidden in your heart that you might not sin against him and you stand your ground I've already submitted to God God is with me today I've already made I've pred decided not to give in to God I know that his strength is with me and then you fight back and then here's a a really powerful thought if you're taking notes you could jot this down that one of the best ways ways to resist temptation is to eliminate it whenever you can that's really really good I'm going to say it again okay one of the best ways to resist temptation is to eliminate it whenever you can for example this is what Solomon was saying to his son giving him advice in Proverbs 4: 14- 15 these verses crack me up because this is a father telling his son this he here's what he says to basically stay out of Temptation he sayso not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers okay what's he saying don't even set your foot on the path okay don't even do that stay away from it now watch this okay son in case you're not paying attention I'm going to say it to you in a few different ways avoid it do not travel on it turn from It Go Your Own Way hey you listening to me hey stupid listen to me I'm going to say it again you know that path that leads to evil avoid it don't travel on it turn from it and go your own way I got it Dad got it no I don't think you're listen to me so I'm going to tell you again get your butt out of Dodge run forest run stay out of the path of the eil you get away from it don't get close to it one of the best ways to resist temptation is to avoid and eliminate it whenever you can in fact I'll just be real honest with you I hope I hope this doesn't like you're not disillusioned by this but I'll tell you just the truth and I've got people that can verify this is 100% true long before I was a pastor I actually used to be a man dead true 100% I I was a human before I glow glow in the dark and you know and my Bible hovers above my desk I was actually a human being you guys aren't any fun you're not any fun at all you are so pathetic you are so you are so not fun you you should go go to a boring church and just sit there okay you're not even fun fun fun listen to me I am I you know I am I I I am man I am vulnerable I am capable of sin I you know I don't know if you know this but guys can be vulnerable visually everybody can be but for whatever reason we're like you know I don't know how that happened and so I know that as a man I could be vulnerable to looking at the wrong things so I just decided ahead of time to eliminate whatever Temptations I could in the future for example when the computer came out I don't know 10 or more years ago I got a software on my computer that every click I make goes in detail to two different people who have the authority to fire me from my job wow can you believe I've never been tempted to look at something bad on the computer how'd that happen I don't know okay um these things okay you have one of these things or one of these things right here okay I heard someone called this mobile device smartphone I've call him I heard him call it porn in your pocket what you got there I got some porn in my pocket got some porn in my pocket so so what do you do get one for your 12-year-old say hey kid have fun see you good luck okay teach me how to work it wow you can get that I had no idea okay so because you can see anything here you'd ever want to or never want to I just decided ahead of time knowing that one day I might be vulnerable to eliminate that possible Temptation so my device doesn't do everything your device does I can't download apps I don't have an unfiltered browser I don't even have certain forms of social media because there's certain things on there I don't want to see so I just tell my assistant post this for me and someone else post it for me go oh my gosh Pastor Craig are you really that weak that's one question you could ask someone else might say oo I had no idea our pastor was so wise okay because honestly I I love my wife I love my calling I got a lot to lose and I know that one day I could be vulnerable so what I'm going to do is ask myself this question why in the world would I resist temptation in the future if I have the power to eliminate it today okay why would I resist listen and some of you this is your moment this is this is this is a game Cher for you why would I resist a Temptation in the future if I have the power to eliminate it today so how does that play out in your life you you you you eat chips you can eat like nine bags of chips so when you're in a grocery store you skip the chip aisle you go straight to the toilet paper aisle cuz you can't get in no trouble on the toilet paper aisle that's what you do okay you got a problem with alcohol you don't go to the bar when you go to the gas station you pay outside and you don't walk in where there's alcohol if you're overcoming drugs you don't go around with people who smoke and shoot stuff that's just kind of what you do if every time you go to the gym you're tempted to go oh God y'all got pants y'all got pants okay then then listen to me you don't go to the gym you work out at home to an app right okay you're at work and you're about to give in and to do something wrong and to have an affair with somebody and it's You Know You Know You're vulnerable you switch departments or guess what you switch jobs are you that dead serious I'm that dead serious you get yourself out of the place if you are if you're like a technological freak and you know how to get around the safeguards that I don't know how to get around and you're really vulnerable to looking at the wrong stuff guess what you don't have a smartphone you've got a dumb one that flips open why because why would you resist any Temptation you have the power to eliminate we decide ahead of time I'm GNA I'm going to distance myself from this I'm going to distance myself from one of the best ways to resist temptation is to eliminate it when possible but what do you do when you open up the cabinet and there's M&M's didn't expect that what do you do then well we're going to talk more about what to do in the upcoming weeks but several things you can do is you can throw them away you can run away from them you can start quoting scripture which actually is a really really effective tool we're going to talk about in week four um what I often do is I I always call somebody and tell them I'm vulnerable here because sin grows best in the dark and so I bring it to the light and when it's in the light suddenly it doesn't have as much power and I always take it to Jesus the moment it becomes a thought the moment it becomes a thought I've already prepared my mind is already submitted to Christ today I've already agreed not to look at something say something wrong act in some wrong way the moment it becomes a thought I immediately go to Jesus because I know Hebrews 2:18 that Jesus himself suffered when he was tempted and because of that he is able to help those of us who are being tempted my Jesus is not sitting at the right hand of God the Father going oh he tripped up again by Jesus is sitting there saying I'm here to help him get out because Christ in me is stronger than the wrong Desires in me and instead of feeling shame condemnation or guilt we should feel hope why because our God is faithful and he will never let you be tempted beyond what you can bear and when you are tempted Our God will always provide a way out father I pray today that in your presence your Holy Spirit would equip us to serve serve you faithfully and to take the way out all of our churches as you're praying today let me just tell you the questions I'm going to ask you so you can think about the first one I'm going to ask you and I hope you're going to be honest because you are only as strong as you are honest is there some reoccurring Temptation some vulnerability some weakness that you need God's help to overcome that's the first question I want you to think about it pretty much if you're alive the answer is probably yes to that second question question is there some way that you can do something today to eliminate or at least distance yourself from that temptation is there something you can do to create distance between you and that point at which you're weak and vulnerable first question I'll ask you to uh participate by raising your hands those of you who say you know what there is something I'm human and um I need God's help to overcome this I really need his help would you lift up your hands right now man thank you God for honest people who want to serve you and every way now you recognize there's a potential vulnerability and there's also something that you can do to eliminate a future Temptation or at least put distance between you and that Temptation if you recognize that today would you just lift up your hands right now all of our different churches fantastic do you see what you just realize there is something you can do today to help prepare you for victory tomorrow now father I pray for every person here and God I thank you for those who are honest and desire your power to help them be free God we thank you that he who the son Jesus sets free is free indeed we thank you God that Christ in US is stronger than the wrong Desires in US father I pray that we would be people submitted to you daily submitting our whole lives to you knowing that when we're submitted to you it's even easier to resist temptation and when we're not we are more vulnerable God we submit to you God I thank you that you've shown us many of us something we can do to eliminate or at least distance oursel from Temptation some people might wonder are we so weak that we need to do that we're just going to tell oursel well we might be weak but we're also wise and we're not going to fight something that we can eliminate so God thank you today that we've already shown us something we can do to help find the way out as you keep praying today I believe God's going to do really life transforming work just as his holy spirit ministers and there are those of you you're going to recognize something right now that you have a deep need for God you truly need God what's so interesting is you can take people who don't believe in God I don't believe God exists I don't believe God exists and yet they'll often feel guilty when they do something wrong why is that where does that come from I believe God put within all of us a conscience to recognize there is something that's right there are some things that are wrong we do something wrong why do we do this because God put in us this moral compass why is it that we feel this need God I I I I I want to know do you love me it's because we are created with a vacuum knowing that we need the love of God at all of our churches there are those of you you recognize I truly do need God we tend to think well maybe if I work hard and stop doing bad things and start doing good things then God will love me we need to recognize that God loves you as you are he loves you love is not just what he does love is who he is and because he is love he became one of us in the person of Jesus and here's what's so important Jesus was born without sin Jesus never sinned he was tempted in every way that we're tempted but he never sinned that's why when he died on the cross and Rose from the grave he said scripture says anyone who calls on his name would be saved anyone that's why many of you are here today and you know it you need his grace you know it that's why you're here today you know it I need his grace that's why you're here today call on him Jesus I give you my life save me today I surrender to you that's your prayer lift your hands high right now and say yes Jesus I submit to you both of you back over here right back over here to this section over here as well God bless you here in this section way back over here God bless you guys right back over here as well others right over here to this side saying yes right back here waving hi God bless you Church online you click below me right here hands up high praise God for you others of you today say I need his grace over on this side would you pray aloud with those around you pray Heavenly Father forgive me of my sins I surrender to you surr to you be the Lord of my life and be my savior Jesus fill me with the holy spirit so I can serve you God every day of my life my life is not my own today I give it to you in Jesus name I pray would you all worship big loud welcome those born into God's family today New Creation in Christ Jesus

Channel: Life.Church

Views: 48,633

Keywords: Craig, Groeschel, lifechurch

Id: Y4yL0J9a2kU

Length: 36min 46sec (2206 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 17 2015