Using God's Spirit to Overcome Sin

Thank you, Mr. Sexton. Appreciate that. Really is a blessing to be here up in this gorgeous country of yours. Northwest area is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful on earth. It's gorgeous. I really enjoyed going out to the camp out last night and just enjoying the beauty. I thought we had a beautiful deck that goes out on the back porch. You know, we have a big deck and there's nothing but trees and a stream down below. But when I was looking at Mount Rainier and everything else over there, I said, wow, it's all relative. You know, it's all relative.

God has really blessed us a great deal. My wife and I are enjoying Cincinnati. We both grew up in Ohio, only 90 miles from each other. We didn't know each other until we went to Ambassador College, of course, and met there. But it's nice to return back home. I've got a couple brothers that live in Ohio and my wife has three sisters that live in Ohio. So it's nice to also have that blessing.

But it's been a really wonderful opportunity to be in God's church since I was 18 years old.

God called me out of the world as a young man. I had to make some choices early on. I'm grateful I made the choices that I did because it's been a wonderful life, as they say. The job I have now is a little tougher than probably any other job I've had.

I enjoy working with God and God's people, ministers, and the members. I'm actually the operation manager for Ministerial and Member Services now, is what they call it. It used to be, as Mr. Sexton was saying, church administration. It's Ministerial and Member Services. So I am trying to get around to see as many churches also as part of my job. I'm glad I've had an opportunity to be here in Olympia and looking forward to Tacoma this afternoon.

So anyway, I better get into my sermon, I guess. I'll tell you what I'm here to talk about. But before I do that, I did want to mention Song Leader was talking about he went to the Book of Mark. Now, the Bible does talk about one other perfect person in the Bible besides Jesus Christ. I don't know if you knew that. It's in the King James Version. In Psalm 37, verse 37, it says, Mark the perfect man.

Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. So I'm kind of proud of that scripture. I don't think it had anything to do with me. But anyway, it is a real blessing to be here today. You know, the Feast of Pentecost was just a few weeks ago, and we all were in one accord. Now, that's one big Honda. You know, that's... But we all met in one accord across the country. And I was in Cincinnati. At the time, we had over 350 people there that day. We had quite a few from also Dayton that came up to meet with the Cincinnati congregations. And in that sermon, I talked about how we all went back to eating leaven. You know, we counted 50 days from the... leading to the day of Pentecost. We stopped eating leaven, of course, during the days of an leavened bread. But we went back to eating leaven. I would imagine there isn't anyone here that hasn't eaten some leaven, right? We've all eaten some leaven. The donuts back there are leavened. So we started eating leaven, but what about staying unleavened spiritually? Now, the days of an leavened bread is all about putting sin out of our lives, focusing on how God wants us to become as He is, to become perfect. That's our goal. So it's much more difficult to stay unleavened spiritually, isn't it? You know, we've all sinned, most likely. If not in the letter, we've sinned in the Spirit. You know, we think things we shouldn't think about at times. We do things we shouldn't do. And we're all in this together. We allowed physical leaven back into our homes and lives. But how effective have we been in keeping the spiritual leaven out of our homes and lives? God's Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, as we know. And those of us who are baptized, who repented of our sins, who accepted Christ as our Savior, who had hands laid upon us, we received God's gift, the power of His Holy Spirit. So today I'd like to talk about using God's Holy Spirit to overcome sin. Because we're all called to overcome sin. And today I'd like to give you a how-to sermon. Most people I find like how-to sermons. You know, they don't like it if ministers just talk about esoteric things, but they want to get right down to the nitty-gritty. How can I be a better person? How can I overcome sin? Is there anything that I can be doing that will help me actually put sin out of my life? So today I'd like to talk about that. How can all of us overcome sin? How can we do a better job? And how can we utilize God's Holy Spirit to give us the strength to overcome sin? Now in Revelation chapter 2 and 3, the instruction and frankly the warning regarding overcoming is very clear. We are expected to overcome. We're not supposed to stay the same. It's not come as you are and stay as you are. It's make some changes in your life.

Overcoming sin in our lives is certainly one of the major focuses that we need to have as we see the return of Christ approaching ever closer. Now I know that we are saved by grace. I mean we've all blown it, right? The wages of sin is death. We're all sinners. That's what we deserve.

But thankfully, God is very merciful and Jesus Christ died for our sins and we are saved by grace.

But we're still supposed to overcome, correct?

In Revelation chapter 3 verse 21, Christ says very clearly, "'To he who overcomes will I grant to sit with me on my throne.'" You know, frankly, he's primarily talking about the first fruits, right? He's talking about those of us who have been called out of the world who will rule and reign with him for a thousand years. "'To he who overcomes will I grant to sit with me.'" And then in the book of Revelation in chapter 3, it goes on to talk about how those who overcome will eat from the tree of life. It means they will live forever. They will live for all eternity with God the Father and with Jesus Christ, but you have to overcome. "'To he who overcomes will eat from the tree of life.'" It also goes on to say that those who overcome will not be hurt by the second death. They won't be cast into the lake of fire. They will live for all eternity. It says that "'To he who overcomes will be given hidden manna and will be given a new name.' "'To he who overcomes will have power over the nations.' "'To he who overcomes will be clothed in white garments.' "'Will be righteous.' "'And to he who overcomes will be a pillar in the temple of God.'" So is it important that we learn to overcome? Obviously, it's extremely important. Are you great at overcoming sin in your life? Or could you possibly do better? Now, I know I could do better. I try to do my best, but I don't think I've ever done my best. I try to, but I'm not quite there yet. I'm continuing to work on that. I believe I could do better. Today, I'd like to give you seven steps to overcoming sin with a final, vitally important eighth step to conclude the process of overcoming sin. Now, I'm sure there's other steps, but this was the perfect plan, right? Seven plus one, eight. That's in the Bible. It's a good plan. So let's talk about the first step. That is to pray daily for spiritual strength to overcome. Now, the Bible says, ask and you shall receive. So are you praying every single day that God will give you strength to overcome? We know the Bible says that God's Spirit is not the spirit of fear, but it's the spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind. So it's God's Spirit that will give us strength to overcome. So each and every day we should be praying that God will give us the spiritual strength to overcome. That we'll stir up the Spirit. He'll stir up the Spirit within us and give us the strength to really make some changes in our lives. Paul warned all of us against becoming weary in well-doing. I've been in the church a long time since I was 18. You know, that's quite a while. So it's easy to become weary in well-doing. And sometimes we take praying for granted. Sometimes we're not as diligent, not as zealous as we could be. Maybe we don't get down on our knees as much as we once did. They ache a little bit more. It takes, it's harder to get up. But we do need to be careful that we don't take anything for granted.

We should be praying every single day of our lives. In fact, the scripture gives indication that if we're truly righteous, we'll be trying to pray three times a day. And we are to learn to pray without ceasing.

So it's also a frame of mind that we go throughout our day with a prayerful attitude, with a prayerful approach, bringing God into everything that we do. Let's go to Matthew 6 for a moment, where Christ gives the sample prayer. Matthew 6, he tells us basically how to pray, an outline on what we should be praying for.

He says in verse 9, In this manner therefore pray, Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, or forgive our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And do not lead us into temptation. Now, of course, God is not the tempter. Satan the devil is the tempter. Satan is the one who tempts us. God will allow Satan to tempt us so that we may be tested. Now, God does allow us to be tested, but he certainly is not one who tempts us to sin.

Satan is the one who tempts us to sin. So, basically, we pray that God will deliver us from the evil one. We should realize that Satan is a powerful force, and that we need to pray that God will deliver us from Satan the devil, who will try to tempt us. And you may remember when Jesus Christ was being tempted, he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in preparation for this temptation that Satan was going to put upon him, he wasn't able to get anywhere.

Christ quoted scriptures. Christ was not tempted to do what he was wanting him to do, was trying to tempt him to do. So, it says Satan left him. But in Luke 4, if you'll notice, it says he left him hoping for an opportune time, hoping to come back when he was weak.

That Jesus Christ was never weak. So, Satan never found an opportune time, but what about you and me? You know, if we start to neglect things, then we are spiritually weaker, and that's when Satan will try to tempt us again. He'll come back at an opportune time. So, we have to be careful that we don't give him an opportune time. And I believe if you follow these eight steps today, it's going to be much more difficult for Satan to find an opportune time with you. So, pray every day that God will deliver you from temptation. God's Spirit will lead you to pray faithfully and fervently, but again, we must stir up the Spirit of God, you know, and part of that is getting down on your knees and being fervent and praying for one another, showing that you do love one another.

You know, we have many prayer requests. We have many very difficult situations. Mr. Sexton and Mrs. Sexton have a granddaughter that she needs our prayers. You know, we should remember her and pray for her and pray fervently for her. Pray that God will intervene and not just her, but anyone who's suffering, who has these types of physical trials, health trials. So, let's pray more fervently and more faithfully in the future.

Let's go on to a second step, and that is to read and study God's Word daily for spiritual strength to overcome. God's Word is powerful, right? Isn't that what Hebrews 4, verse 12 says? It says, the Word of God is living and powerful and it's sharper than any two-edged sword. So, there's a comparison being made here that a two-edged sword is a powerful weapon physically if you're fighting someone, if you're in a war, in a battle.

It's sharp on both ends, and it will really cut deep. But God's Word is the same from a spiritual perspective. It's living, it's powerful, and it's sharper than any two-edged sword.

God's Word will show you the way to walk. It'll show you the path that you need to be on. But if you're not taking the time to study God's Word and you're neglecting it, you become weary and well-doing. You've been studying the Bible for 20 or 30 or 40 years, perhaps, and now you're not doing it nearly as much as you once did. Now's the time to stir up God's Spirit, get your nose back in the Bible, study it more fervently. And Mr. Johnson brought out some good points about making some Bible chains, some scriptural chains in your Bible. I did that many, many years ago. It does help you learn doctrine when you do that.

You could go through many, many different doctrines. You could go through all the fundamental beliefs, those doctrines, and have a biblical chain from Scripture to Scripture. So there are many, many things that you can do to study the Bible.

There are many wonderful books that you can read to help you understand the Bible better, but there's nothing like studying the Bible, reading the Bible, studying the Bible every day. Hebrews chapter 4 talks about, we ought to be teachers now. You know, Paul was admonishing those to whom he wrote the book of Hebrews. I believe it was Paul who wrote Hebrews, but he was telling them that you should be teachers, but instead you just need the milk of the Word. You're not very spiritually minded. Of course, a lot of us have been in God's Church a long time, so we should be able to teach, and it's important to learn the Scriptures fully.

2 Timothy 2 verse 15 says, we are expected to be diligent in the study of God's Word, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. So we have to get in there, dig in there, and rightly divide the Word of Truth.

Understand what it's really saying, which means there are Scriptures here and there throughout the Bible. You put them all together, and then you have the Truth.

And that's what's been so wonderful about God's Church over the years, is that we believe that you have to study the whole Word of God, and you have to bring all the Scriptures in on a given topic so that you can truly understand it. And then just live it. Read it and live it.

Follow the guidance that the Bible will give you.

Focus on Scriptures that address your spiritual weaknesses as well. I would guess that you have a pretty good idea what your spiritual weaknesses are, at least to some degree. Sometimes we're blinded about some things. We may not see it very well, but there are certain things that we know we're weak in. So if you've never done a specific study on whatever it might be, let's say you gossip, and you've had a difficult time not gossiping. Well, do an exhaustive study in the Bible about gossip. What does the Bible say about gossip? Why is it harmful? Why should we not engage in it? All of those things. Study it. If you have a problem with lust, then study what the Bible says about lust. If someone has a problem with pornography, then they ought to do a study about what God says about that sort of thing. Bringing every thought into captivity, unto the obedience of Christ. We'll get into that Scripture a little bit later today. But look at the weaknesses that you know you have and get serious about changing. About overcoming. Some people go on for years and years and years, struggling with the same problem, saying that they're just too weak. I'll never overcome it. I remember a fellow back in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This was back, I was probably in my 30s. It's been a few years ago. He was older, probably in his 50s, and he confided in me that he had a problem with porn. He would watch videos and things. He was single. He had never been married.

He struggled with this thing. He was working on it. He was wanting to overcome it.

But it wasn't an easy thing for him. Perhaps he wasn't as diligent as he could have been. I'm sure that's the case. He made excuses. But I was grateful. About 20 years later, he got a hold of me. I'd moved out. He told me that he finally had overcome that problem. That God had strengthened him. He fought the battle. God took the battle away. He just didn't have the same inclinations. God was merciful, but God wanted to see him continue to fight the battle. No, he must never give up. I'll talk about that some as well.

So the second point, again, is to read the Bible. Study the Bible. Believe what the Bible tells you.

Work on overcoming by knowing what the Bible says.

Thirdly, another step is to practice meditation daily. I know these are basic things. Prayer, Bible study, meditation. But there's power in the basics. There's strength in the basics. Learning to get the basics down right. Pray, study the Bible, and meditate. Go throughout your day. Let's go to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians tells us what we ought to be filling our minds with. Mr. Sexton talked about this in the announcements. How important it is to fill your mind with that which is right and good and pure and lovely. That's exactly what Philippians chapter 4 tells us. Philippians chapter 4 verse 8. This has always been one of my favorite scriptures because it really is something that we should be striving to do every minute of our lives. Because our mind is always going. I mean, you're listening to me, but you're also thinking about other things. You can do that. You can listen and still think about other things. So what are you thinking about? I mean, hopefully you're meditating and thinking more about this sermon and how it can help you. But notice verse 8 of Philippians chapter 4. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue and if there's anything that's praiseworthy, meditate on those things. That's what you should be thinking about.

You know, not a lot of negative things, not a lot of sinful things. Not any sinful things. I mean, meditate on the things that are right and good and pure and lovely. That's what we need to be thinking about. That's what Christ thought about all day long. Christ was perfect, right? He never sinned. The reason is, this is what he thought about. This was his whole life. So we need to take to heart this verse. Think on these things. Meditate on these things. What would Jesus do or what would the Father do? What decision would God and Christ make if they were in the same situation that you find yourself in? What would they do? Then strive to do exactly that.

This reminds me of being in college back at Ambassador, and one of the instructors gave a forum on what he called consequential reasoning. He said college students aren't very good. Oftentimes, many of them, when it comes to consequential reasoning, which simply means think about the consequences of what it is you're about to do. If you do this, what will be the consequences? I'd like to tell you a story. I was a young guy about 11 or 12 years old, and my cousin Rick was over there at my house. We lived out on a farm in Ohio. We had a big cottonwood tree in the front yard. So I'm playing ball and just messing around in the front yard. My cousin Rick, first cousin, who fashions himself as a sort of Daniel Boone, a real outdoorsman. Rick sees a squirrel on the back side of that cottonwood tree. Big, big old tree. So the squirrel didn't see him, but he had seen the squirrel go around. So he had the bright idea that being Daniel Boone, he could sneak up on the squirrel, grab it, and he would be sort of a hero.

So he did exactly that. He reached around, grabbed that squirrel right behind the neck. He didn't think the squirrel could get him if he grabbed him behind the neck, but that was not true. In fact, the squirrel sunk its teeth into his thumb. Now, my thumb is not a huge thumb, but his thumb was like four or five times larger within seconds. Well, one thing, I didn't even get to see his thumb until he choked the squirrel to death because the squirrel wouldn't let go of his thumb. All right, so he's screaming bloody murder like I've never heard anyone scream in my life. And he finally has to choke this squirrel. And then I looked at his thumb and it's, you know, it's like massive. Immediately just swollen up. So the parents had to cut the head off and send it to Ohio State University to make sure it didn't have rabies. And he had to start getting shots.

So let's go ahead and show that picture. Someone, David Teague is an artist, and after I gave this sermon in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, he drew a picture depicting what was happening. And I went on to tell them that have some good consequential reasoning. Don't grab squirrels. Don't grab any spiritual squirrels, because it, you know, a squirrel looks fuzzy and fluffy, you know, right there. See that? See that? Oh, it's back on the back, but not on the front. Okay, well, David Teague, who's an artist, heard me give this sermon. And this is what he wrote. I want you to remember that graphic. Don't grab a spiritual squirrel, because it's going to be painful. It's going to hurt, and you're going to pay consequences. It's going to make your life miserable, perhaps, as it did his life. I mean, squirrel looks kind of... well, he looks a little aggressive right there, but you know, most of the time squirrels, they're not going to attack you. Just leave them alone. You know, don't mess with a squirrel, because you're asking for some real trouble. So, I would like you to consider that. The next time you decide to do something that's against God's law, that simply is just not proper, it's not right, it may look good, it may look harmless. Again, a fluffy, gentle little squirrel. Well, it can be very painful. So, think about that. You can go ahead and take that off, so you don't have to look at that the whole time. But do think about the consequences of whatever actions. Squirrels are deceptive, just like sin is deceptive. And sin easily besets human beings. It easily besets us. That's what the Scripture says. So, we have to be on guard. Let's go on to a fourth step. So, we've talked about prayer, we've talked about Bible study, we've talked about meditation, and those are things we can do daily. The next one is fasting. I don't expect you to fast daily. But I would hope that you will learn to fast regularly, because fasting is a very, very powerful spiritual tool. It's like a DeWalt.

If you don't know what a DeWalt is, it's a nice power tool. It's better than the pieces of junk I used to buy when I didn't have any money. Now I buy DeWalt's, because they last a lot longer. They're better. Spiritual power tools. Fasting is like that. In fact, the Bible says some things won't happen except by prayer and by fasting. Remember the incident where the disciples were not able to cast out an evil spirit. There was a child that was being troubled by an evil spirit. They weren't able to cast out the evil spirit. So the parents, the father, took the child to Christ.

And Christ basically said, oh, faithless generation, we need to have more faith. We need to believe and trust in God that God will intervene. Of course, a lot of it has to do with timing. When will God intervene? We still have to have faith and trust that eventually He will intervene for us. But some things simply don't happen except through prayer and fasting.

So the more we pray, the more we fast about difficult situations, I'm confident that it's certainly more likely that God will choose to intervene and to heal, or to deal with a situation that's difficult. That's in Matthew 17, by the way.

Some things don't happen except by prayer and by fasting. God wants to see how serious we can be about some of the difficult situations that we face in life. It doesn't necessarily mean that if you fast once a week for something specific, that He's always going to do it. There's no guarantee in that. But at least you know you've done your part. You've done what you can do to see if God would intervene. So fasting, coupled with the power of the Holy Spirit, it is a very powerful spiritual tool. It really does make a difference in our lives.

So we know that we're supposed to fast more than just a day of atonement. Because when certain ones, Pharisees, came to Christ, they were saying, well, why don't your disciples fast? And He said, well, the bridegroom is with them. When I'm gone, they will fast. And of course, Christ is our high priest.

He's in the third heaven. He's at the right hand of the Father. He wants us to be fasting. He wants us to fast on a regular basis. Now, whatever that is, you have to decide how regular, whether that would be once a month, or once every other month, or once every other week, or once a week. You know, that's what you get to decide. You get to choose. But I guarantee you that there is power in fasting. So if you've been struggling with sins that you can't overcome and haven't been able to overcome for years, then why not fast a bit more and ask for God to give you the strength to overcome those things?

So that's the fourth step. A fifth step is to flee temptation.

That's what the Scripture tells us to do. But how often do we cozy up to temptation?

If it's tempting, then that means we have an inclination. So the Scripture says, flee when that happens. Don't cozy up to it. Don't think about it. Don't dwell upon it. Just flee. In James 4, verse 7 and 8, we'll read that. It talks about resisting Satan, and he will flee from you.

So Satan is the tempter, but if we resist him, he will flee from us.

That's what it says. So I wanted to start with that. James 4, verse 7, it says, therefore submit to God. It's talking about how God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. So yes, it's important that we approach God with humility, with genuine true humility.

He says, therefore submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. So if Satan is trying to tempt you to do something, you have to resist. Part of that is to flee. You know, just flee the temptation in the first place. That's the best way to resist Satan, is don't dwell on the temptation. Don't think about the temptation. Don't allow Satan to get a foothold or a thought hold in your life. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. So that's a good time to get on your knees.

If you can, wherever you are, if it's appropriate, get on your knees and ask God to give you strength. Now, it's much better to pray for strength before you sin, than to pray for forgiveness.

Isn't it? Isn't it better that you don't sin in the first place? So when you're being tempted, that's the time to go to your knees. The Scripture says that if we come boldly before the throne of grace, that God will give us strength. So when Satan is tempting us, that's a good time to go come boldly before the throne, ask God for help, draw near to God, resist Satan, and he will flee from you. Now, we all know that we're not perfect, and sometimes we will slip, we will mess up, we will sin, but that's another time to go boldly before God's throne. You know, if you do sin, then go boldly before the throne and ask for forgiveness. Know that Jesus Christ is the perfect sacrifice, that God the Father and Christ love you, and they know you're not perfect.

That's why Christ is our High Priest who makes intercession for us. He was tempted at every point as we are, yet without sin, but he knows how difficult it is. Being flesh himself, he understands the temptation and the pulls of the flesh. So go boldly before the throne of grace, but first thing, flee. Try to flee. Try to get out of a temptation. The scripture talks about fleeing in a number of cases. Jeremiah 51 is actually a prophecy, verse 6, that says, flee from the midst of Babylon.

Come out of the world. Flee from the midst of Babylon, and everyone save his life.

You know, that's in Jeremiah 51 verse 6. So we're to come out of Babylon and know that if we do that, God will spare us. God will save our lives. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. I didn't want to turn specifically to this verse. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 18. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 18. Flee sexual immorality. Okay, that's what the Bible tells us to do when it comes to sexually immoral thoughts. Temptations. We're supposed to flee those things. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you are bought at a price. Of course, we know what that price is. It's the shed blood of our Savior Jesus Christ, the one who is perfect, who didn't deserve to die. All of us deserve to die. The wages of sin is death. Christ did not deserve to die, but he died for you. He died for me. So we're bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. You know, God has given us this body. He's given us the spirit in man. He's given us his Holy Spirit. And we need to glorify him by making good choices.

Flee sexual immorality. Flee any kind of temptation that Satan could use to cause you to sin or to lead you down that path. 1 Corinthians 10, 14 talks about fleeing idolatry. Anything that gets between you and God is an idol. If you spend a lot of time doing certain things that, frankly, have very little value, for example, playing video games for hours every day, you have to consider, is that really a good use of your time? Are you redeeming the time?

Or are you wasting a lot of valuable time where you could serve others, where you could be more productive and providing for your family, building a life, and studying the Bible, praying more faithfully? Analyze how you spend your time. I like to fish, but if I fished every day, you know, that wouldn't be the best use of my time. I like to play softball. If I played softball every day, that wouldn't be the best use of my time. So we all have to look at how we spend our time. We need to redeem the time and be careful. 1 Timothy 6 verse 11 says, But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness.

Flee the things that are contrary to God's way of life. Flee those things. Don't run alongside them or get up close to them, but go the other direction. In 2 Timothy, it says, flee youthful lusts.

But pursue righteousness. I think it's very true that many of us don't really grow up very well.

You know, they're not just youthful lusts. They're middle-aged lusts. They're old-aged lusts because we didn't flee them when we were in our youth. We're supposed to flee them in our youth so that they don't haunt us when we're middle-aged and when we're older. This was instruction to Timothy, a young minister of Jesus Christ, and Paul was telling him to flee youthful lusts. All of us should learn to flee those lusts so they don't bite us later on in life. And pursue righteousness. Yield to God's Spirit and you will find the strength to flee temptation. Remember, the Spirit is not the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

So God's Spirit will help you overcome.

All right, let's go to a sixth step, and that is admit your sins. Admit your sins. Admit that you have sinned. If you mess up and you don't flee the temptation, you don't do what you're supposed to do, then at least admit it. Admit that you fell short. You know, you're not perfect. God doesn't expect you to be perfect. He knows that we're all going to sin, but it's so important that we admit that we've sinned. Admit that we've done something that was wrong or inappropriate or whatever it is. Admit it. Confess your faults to God first and foremost. Ask God to forgive you.

Ask Him to grant you repentance, because God is the one who grants repentance. Admit that you sinned.

One thing nice about some of these programs, like alcoholism, there's a 12-step program that's based on biblical principles. They start out, I am an alcoholic. They admit that they're alcoholics. They admit that they can't drink. That that is something that is just too powerful, and they can't go down that path. So they admit these things to each other. I think there is some strength. If you have a good friend that will keep a confidence, I don't believe this is... There is a scripture in James 5 or 16 that talks about confessing your faults one to another. I don't believe that means all of your sins. You just indiscriminately confess your sins to one another. I don't think that's what we're talking about here, but it is talking about, I believe, having a close friend that will help you.

Now, in those 12-step programs, they have like... what do they call them?

Sponsors. Someone that will sponsor a person that is an accountability partner that will help us help a person be accountable to what they've said they want to do. So those could be... I believe there are good friends that you can cultivate. They trust you, you trust them, and they can help you. Again, we're all in this together. We're fighting the battle. Hopefully your minister is one that you can confide in. Ask him to pray for you. Ask him to ask him for help, for counsel. Confide in him and help him to help you get over some battles that you're facing. In 1 John chapter 1 verse 9, it says, If we confess our sins, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But if we're justifying our sins, if we're denying our sins, then we're not going to get anywhere when it comes to overcoming. You have to admit it. You have to face it. And you have to confess it to God. It says, he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So that means he'll forgive us, which will cleanse us, but it also means he will give us the strength not to keep going back to that sin. That's what overcoming is. Overcoming is going in the other direction. It's not continuing to do what you've always done. It's to stop doing what you've done and go in a different direction. God's Spirit is the bond that we have with our converted friends. So we should help one another, and we should we certainly ought to keep a confidence when someone comes to us confidentially. And it should be something that we're very trustworthy about. There's nothing that will cause a problem between people than if we don't keep a confidence. So we have to be very careful on that.

Again, don't think that you can grab a stupid squirrel and get away with it. Now, you can't go grabbing squirrels out there. And then when you do grab one, at least admit that you grabbed it.

Now, there's evidence that you did.

And people see it too, don't they? People know it.

All right, let's go on to a seventh step. Make no provision for the flesh. Now, this goes along well with what we've already talked about, but I did want to make it a specific point. Make no provision for the flesh. Again, don't think that you can get away with things that it just doesn't happen. Be sure your sins will find you out. So don't make provision for the flesh. In Romans chapter 13, let's go to Romans 13. Here it says, Romans chapter 13 verse 11, and do this knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. We're closer to Christ's return than we've ever been. Maybe we thought Christ was returning sooner than he has, but we are closer than he's ever been, and we don't know what's going to happen later tonight. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. You know, life is tenuous.

It's perilous, so we shouldn't take it for granted.

He says, it's nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. So, somebody who has a problem with pornography, they have to be very careful.

You know, they have to be careful that they don't make provision for the flesh.

Do you know what the number one selling issue of Sports Illustrated is?

Does anyone know? Sports Illustrated is a sports magazine, right? Do you know what the number one selling month, what the issue is? Yeah, I think a lot of us know. We see it. You know, we're putting our hands over our kids' eyes because it's pretty graphic. It's the swimsuit edition.

You know, there are reasons for that, obviously. It's a huge temptation. We should make no provision for the flesh. You know, make good decisions. That's a squirrel that we're grabbing a hold of, and we're making provision for the flesh when we go down that path. So, it is important that we make good choices, what we watch on TV, what we put into our hearts and minds. Learn to make no provision for the flesh. And then 2 Corinthians 10 is really critical when it comes to overcoming sin.

2 Corinthians 10. And we talked a bit about this already, but 2 Corinthians 10 is really an important scripture because it governs our thoughts. 2 Corinthians 10. Here we go.

Verse 3. 2 Corinthians 10. Verse 3, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. What do you think it's talking about, a stronghold? Who sets up strongholds in our lives? I think Satan does for sure, and I think we help him. We're talking basically about addictions. They're strongholds. They're powerful temptations that we allow Satan to set up in our lives. He's saying the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. In other words, for overcoming these strongholds. Casting down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. In fact, I think I will turn to the book of James. I didn't look it up here. I think it's James chapter 1, but it talks about how sin develops.

James chapter 1, and it starts with our thoughts, with our desires.

Let's see, where is that? James chapter 1 verse 14.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires. Or, you know, if you have a wrong desire and then you continually dwell upon it and think about it, rather than bringing every thought into captivity, unto the obedience of Jesus Christ. No, undoubtedly Christ had these thoughts. Satan also projects in moods and in thoughts and attitudes that if we listen to Satan, then he's going to change the way we think, the way that our desires. So let no one say, when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone, but each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and enticed. You know, Moses talked about the pleasures of sin for a season. There are some sins that are pleasurable physically, but they're very temporary. So each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and enticed, then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. So if we dwell on our desires and we make provision for the flesh and we don't bring our thoughts into captivity and we continue to dwell on those things and we go ahead and grab the squirrel, you know, that's tempting us, then it says it becomes sin in our lives. Then when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.

It brings forth death. So my cousin didn't die from grabbing the squirrel.

God was merciful. He didn't die, but he did suffer. So we would like all of you to suffer less in your lives. Be good to yourselves. Bring every thought into captivity unto the obedience of Christ. So the last couple of verses, and I wanted to read verse 5 and 6, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and being ready to punish this obedience when your obedience is fulfilled. So I think it's basically talking about getting the planks out of your own eyes. Get the planks out of your own eyes so you can help someone else.

Get the sin out of your own life so you can help somebody else. It's difficult to correct someone else when you're doing the same thing they are. You know, when you have an overcome, that's why ministers need to really be faithful and righteous. Because how can we correct someone when we're doing the same things? So we are held accountable to a greater higher standard. So it is important, again, that we can help others and correct others. But we have to do that mercifully, of course, knowing that we're flesh as well. We know it's not easy to put sin out of our lives. We've struggled with it. We know how powerful that is. You know, how that temptation, that sin, we know it's a powerful urge and a pull against the flesh, or with the flesh, I guess. You know, the flesh is weak. That's what the Bible says. The flesh is weak, but we can be given strength. I can do all things through Christ who will strengthen me. So we have to call upon Christ to live in us and give us the power of His Spirit to overcome. All right, so we talked about seven steps already. We talked about praying. We talked about reading the Bible and studying, meditating. We talked about fasting. We talked about fleeing temptation. We talked about confessing our sins, admitting our sins, being humble about ourselves. We talked about making no provision for the flesh. So if you do all these things, if you follow all seven steps, well, you're still probably going to sin because you're not going to follow them perfectly, right? You're going to try. So the eighth point kind of brings it all in together. Think about how you treat others because the Scripture says that you'll be forgiven in the same manner that you forgive others. So if you are not a very forgiving person, if you hold grudges against other people, then God will treat you in the same way. So you could do all these seven things and do them pretty well. But if you're not a forgiving person, then God will forgive you in the same manner that you forgive others. So when you've seriously attempted to apply all of the first seven steps to overcoming sin and you still fall short, know that the goodness of God will lead you to repentance. God will grant you repentance. But remember, if you forgive others, they're sins. Let's go to Matthew 6 because we started in Matthew 6. We read part of it, but we didn't read all of it. In verse 14, it says, For if you forgive men, their trespasses or their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, they're trespasses. Now, if you hold a grudge and you can't forgive someone, then God isn't going to forgive you.

Neither will your Father forgive your sins. So it is important to realize that we're all flesh. We sin in different ways. You know, some things are more difficult for some people than they are for us. And some things are harder for us than they are for others. So, no matter what someone has done to you, remember that we're all flesh. Especially if they are seeking to be forgiven. We're to forgive them anyway. I mean, God's the only one that really forgives sin, right? But we forgive them for how they've hurt us, really. How they've damaged us. How they've hurt us. Oftentimes, you know, the scripture that talks about Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. You know, my father was an alcoholic. And he sinned against his family many times. In some ways, he knew what he was doing. In other ways, he did. And I, you know, one of the best things that happened to me is when I came into the church at age 18, I forgave my dad. I forgave him for how he had treated me, how he treated my mother. And that has helped me so much. I got that off my chest early in life. My dad just died about a year ago. He was 91. And he was a stinker. He was worse than a stinker. He was worse than a stinker. He was, you know, he was a big problem for a long time. But, you know, he did, after my mother finally divorced him when I was at college, he went to AA. He got, he became, he stopped drinking. And he was much, much better when he wasn't drinking. He still was selfish. You know, he still lived in his own little world. He was never called by God. But he was, he wasn't as bad as he could have been. You know, he allowed us to go to church. You know, he didn't hassle my mother. Of course, she didn't, my mother didn't even start going to church until I already went to college. And two other, a brother and a sister had gone. And then my mother became a member of the church. But one of the best things ever was me learning to forgive my dad early on. When I came in the church, you know, I knew I had to forgive him and move on. So that's the eighth step, is forgiving others. The goodness of God will lead you to repentance. You know, God, look at how merciful God is. You know, God forgives us.

He forgives us many sins. He forgives anyone who is repentant. You know, God looks on the heart and he grants repentance based, you know, a serial killer that was truly repentant.

God would forgive him if he was truly repentant. Maybe, you know, someday these serial killers that we hear about, you know, they're going to be resurrected.

Hitler, you know, who knows? I mean, I don't know. You know, God's in charge, thankfully. He's the one in charge of all that. But anyone who sincerely repents will be forgiven. Now, whether or not they can repent because of how they've scarred themselves and their thinking and all that, I don't know. But I know God is the one that grants repentance. That's in 2 Timothy 2, verse 25. God grants us repentance. So show God your heart by your actions. Now, God looks on your heart, but you have to show him your heart through your actions, through the choices and the decisions that you make. And remember what Paul said, I fought the good fight. You know, he was ready to die. I fought the good fight. And we all need to continue to fight the good fight and never give up. That's another part of this. We must never give up. So, brethren, it is by the awesome and almighty power of God through his Spirit that we are given power to overcome sin, to put sin out of our lives, to keep it out of our lives. So let us all put into practice these eight steps to overcoming sin. Having God's Spirit and stirring it up daily is vital to overcoming sin. God has given you his Spirit. It has sealed you for the first resurrection, and it will give you the strength to overcome. And remember, to he who overcomes will I grant to sit with me on my throne. Well, it's been a pleasure being here with all of you.

And I guess we can't stick around too long because we've got to go on to Tacoma, but it's been a pleasure. And come visit us in Cincinnati sometime.