Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
How many of you have been driving around town, but forgot to stop at a gas station. Each time you drove by it, something else became more important. Perhaps you were late to work, or your children became a distraction in the backseat, but each time you drove by it, you continued to keep passing it by. Rather than spending some time to fill it up, the fuel gauge continued to drop, and before you knew it, the engine started to sputter and die.
This reminds me of the Christian Life
Sin will eventually lead to death, and sometimes people commit sin because they are not keeping themselves filled up with the things of Christ. Rather than seeking God with a diligent heart, the things of this world become more important, and before you know it, they are running on empty.
“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:” Isaiah 55:6
The Apostle John didn’t want the church getting involved with any type of sin. We are all sinners, but to obtain eternal life, we must learn to turn from sinful living, to obedience to God. In order to obey the first commandment, we need to humbly submit to His will. But the issue at hand, is that we are sinful creatures in our flesh, creatures of disobedience since our youth. Even the Apostle Peter quickly admitted that fact.
“For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:” 1 Peter 4:3
The Apostle Paul admitted the same thing.
“O wretched man that I am! Romans 7:24
In the Christian Life, it is a battle between the flesh and Spirit. It’s a war that is raging deep inside of us. The carnal mind will try to fight against the will of God, even tempting you to do things that you know you are not supposed to do.
Romans 7 ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
¹⁹ For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
We cannot overcome these sinful desires on our own, it must be done through the power of the Holy Spirit, which is available through faith in Christ Jesus. It is the strength that we need to overcome all things.
Luke 11 ¹¹ If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? ¹² Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³ If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
How many of you have used a screwdriver to repair something around the house, but no matter how hard you tried, it was too difficult to sink the screw into the wood. Maybe you even wrecked the screw in the process. But then somebody gives you a power drill, and when you plug it in and pull the trigger, the task is quickly completed. The point being, is that you needed something more powerful to finish the job. Sin can be wholeheartedly defeated, but only with God’s help. You will find the power that you need in the free gift of God’s Holy Spirit, found through faith in Christ Jesus.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13
Imagine yourself as a glass that you are filling up with water. The more water that you put in, the more air it pushes out. The more that we are filled with the water of the Holy Spirit, the more it pushes out the desires of the sinful nature. This is why it is so important to keep our hearts filled to the rim with the Holy Spirit. We must cry out for it. We must fast for it, and we must diligently seek after it.
Matthew 6 ³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? ³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. ³³ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
To overcome sin permanently, requires keeping focused each day on the things of God. This happens by hearing God’s Word preached and taught, through private prayer, and singing Psalms or hymns unto God. It is to surround yourself with Spiritual things, rather than the things of this world.
“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.” Colossians 3:16
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” Ephesians 5:19
The more that you can do that, the more power you will have to overcome the things that are displeasing to God. But rather than seeking God, sometimes people can get sidetracked by the things of this world.
Mark 4 ¹⁸ And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, ¹⁹ And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
There are so many things that can lead people away from a close relationship with God. It’s just a matter of who you spend your time with. The more we are filled with the power of Christ, the stronger we will become against the temptations of this world.
Colossians 3 ¹ If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. ² Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Like a wife who loves her husband so much that she never departs his side, we must seek after Christ, wanting to be near Him, close to Him, as a faithful servant by His side.
“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matthew 25:21
I’ll be quite frank with you, in the flesh, you don’t have what it takes to get to heaven. None of us do. We can only overcome sin through the power of Christ abiding in our hearts. The more you distance yourself from Him, the weaker you will become. He is the source of the fuel that we need to power our lives towards obedience to His will. God wants to pump our hearts full of Spiritual fuel, and I beseech you, don’t pass Him by, because eventually, you will only find yourself……
……Running on Empty
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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