SPIRITUAL WARFARE

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

1 Corinthians 10:13

A. When a person becomes born again, they become a "new creature" (2 Cor 5:17). But there is a problem. They still have an "old creature" around called "the old _________" (Col 3:9,10). These two do not get along in the Christian’s life, but instead, are at war against each other! They each want to dominate your life!

B. This lesson is intended to equip you to fight a good warfare against sin and temptation in your life. This is an unpleasant study for the Christian that is only looking to serve the Lord comfortably, because some of the things discussed here may be in your life, and you may not see them as wrong. The challenge is to see what the Bible teaches, and submit to it, since only then will a Christian have real freedom and joy!

1. Christians sin because we inherited a sinful nature from ______ (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:45-49).

2. Christians sin because our old nature is attracted to sin (James 1:13,14; Rom 7:14-25). Sin is always attractive to your old nature - we enjoy it - but it is also deadly (Heb 11:24,25; Rom 6:23)!

1. First, your sin has already been judged and paid for back at Calvary (2Cor 5:21)! He views it as being in the past, and forgotten (Heb 10:17)

2. Yet, sin can still hinder your effectiveness as a Christian (Heb 12:1)! It hinders (besets) by pulling you off course.

3. It causes God to chastise you (Heb 12:6) like a parent does his child. To chastise means: _______________________________________.

4. It causes you to reap what you have sown (Gal 6:7,8). God cannot save you from experiencing the pains and scars that sin leaves in your life. He died to save you from eternal punishment in hell.

C. You Must Battle Against the Temptation to Sin, or you will by nature “give-in” to its dominion over your life (Eph 6:12; 1Tim 6:12; James 4:7).

1. Decide that your sin is your fault, not anyone else's. You must accept responsibility for your sin, and start not only taking the blame, but taking steps to keep from giving in anymore. You will never correct anything until you face your responsibility (Prov 28:13).

2. Know your real enemies: The external enemy is this world; the internal enemy is your own flesh; and your infernal enemy is the devil! As a soldier, know who your enemies are, and be equipped to defeat them!

3. Protect your mind! Don't allow sinful thoughts to control your mind (2Cor 10:4,5). The TV can destroy you spiritually (Ps 101:3), as can wrong music (Eccl 7:5)! So, STOP watching ungodly TV programs, and QUIT listening to ungodly music stations!

4. Don't make “provision” for the _________ (Rom 13:14). Don’t provide for ("feed") the desires of the flesh. Stay away from things that you know will get you into trouble! Don't place more opportunities to sin in your path than are already there!

5. Look for a way of __________ out of temptation to sin (1Cor 10:13). God promised to get you through every temptation, if you want to!

6. Judge your sins yourself (1 Cor 11:31,32). When you do wrong, and fail spiritually, think through why it happened, and how to keep from letting it happen again! Don’t justify yourself - instead, accept the blame and do better next time! You can if you will work at it!

7. Confess your sins to God daily, trying to do it immediately after you sin (1 John 1:9). Be specific, and determined not to fail again.

8. Hide God's ____ in your heart so you can use it like a sword against sin and temptation (Ps 119:11). Jesus Christ overcame temptation by quoting specific Scriptures that related to each temptation (Mt 4:1-11).

9. Trust God's promises to cleanse you, and to fight your battles for you when you give Him the authority to do so (2 Cor 7:1; 1Jn 3:1-3; Heb 4:15,16)

III. Dying To Your Self (Romans 6:1-11) - Your biggest enemy is your own self!

A. Jesus Christ truly died for all your sins, as well as the sins of the whole world, providing forgiveness. When a person receives Jesus Christ as Saviour, they receive that same forgiveness of all their sins that was accomplished back at the cross (Rom 6:10; 1 John 2:2).

B. When Jesus died, the ____________ of your sin died also on that cross because He took away sin (Rom 8:1).

C. When you as a Christian sin now, its judgment is transferred back to the cross automatically. Since sin's power was severed, it can no longer affect your eternal destiny!

D. Reckon (understand) yourself to be _____ unto the sin that tempts you (Rom 6:11)! To be “dead” means, “not to respond to it like you used to.” Now that you are born again, you no longer have to give-in to sin. Your flesh will still want to sin, but the Spirit of God in you is greater than your flesh (1John 4:4), and if you so choose, you can put-off (ignore) the desires of your flesh, and give-in to the desires of the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:22-24).

E. Paul wrote in 2 Tim 3:1-5 how that people in the last days would be "lovers of their own __________..." Everyone seems to have ME, MY, & I as priority. The world's psychology is increasingly stressing "self esteem," and it is increasingly creeping into Christian churches.

F. Notice Matthew 10:38-39. Verse 39 says, "He that findeth his life shall ________ it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall _______ it." What did Jesus mean by “losing his life?” __________________________ __________________________ - losing control over it, and surrendering!

G. Read Philippians 2:3-8. Notice that verse 7 says that Jesus made himself of no reputation. Verse 3 says that we should esteem others better than ourselves. It is evident that godliness does not promote self, but rather the death of self. Could it be that self is what hinders us from becoming Christ-like after we are saved from the judgment of our sin?

H. Look at what Paul said about his identity before salvation (Phil 3:4-8). He said I count all of it but “______”. Is that how you feel about your identity?

I. After salvation, Paul said in Gal 2:20 "I am __________ with Christ..." Who was living through Paul? _______! Jesus can live through you too!

A. The principle is: Keep yourself out of situations where you know that your flesh is tempted to sin. This is called Separation, and it is good! It is not negative, but rather positive since you are separating FROM ungodly things, UNTO godly things - so that you can live godly (Tit 2:11,12)!

1. Places where the flesh is in control and not the Spirit: i.e., pubs, liquor stores, Discos, Night Clubs, Secretive Societies, Dance halls, gambling halls, and the like! This includes things we watch on TV!

2. Places where people are uncovered or are less and less covered. Nobody says a Christian is to be a hermit, or ugly looking to be spiritual - but that a Christian is to show off the “_________ man” by a godly life (1Pet 3:2-4), instead of the flesh, and following fashion fads, etc.

3. Things that cause you to lose control of your will - like drugs, drink, and anything else that adversely affects your choice to live right.

1. In ______________ (2 Cor 6:14; Amos 3:3). You can fall in love with anyone. Make sure that it is the Lord who brings you two together, and not your own lusts!

2. Stay clear of all works of darkness (2 Cor 6:14), and demonic worship (2 Cor 6:15), and ____________ (2 Cor 6:16). Don’t toy with Ouija boards, Tarot cards, “crystals,” and horoscopes (Lev 19:26; Dt 18:10) which are all Satanic. They are NOT of God.

3. Stay out of friendships with the unsaved when they become wrong - i.e., they make demands on you that go against God (Acts 5:29) and try to pull you back into sin. Be a witness though, and love them.

4. Stay far away from False teachers (1 Tim 6:3-5), "...from such ____________ thyself" (1 Tim 1:3,4; 4:7; Gal 3:1) and heretics (2 John 9-11) - Those that teach things contrary to clear Bible truth!

b. Seek guidance from God in prayer and Bible study regarding a particular issue that you don’t understand (James 1:5).

c. Make sure that anything you are about to do glorifies God, and honours Jesus Christ (Col 3:17).

d. Use common sense - If you have doubts about something, then don't do it! Most Christians disregard warnings and guilt, and just go ahead thinking they have “liberty” not remembering our adversary, the devil is a lion seeking only to ______ (1Pet 5:8).

e. Do only things that you know Jesus Christ Himself would do if He was in your shoes (1 Pet 2:21).

a. Anything designed to overthrow or cast doubt upon your faith in God (Rom 14:23), like false science (1Tim 6:20), and evolution.

b. Anything that would destroy your testimony, or debase your morals and lead you to sin (Heb 11:24-26).

c. And finally, anything that would harm your body - physically, mentally or emotionally (1Cor 3:16,17; 6:18-20).