Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

2 Corinthians 1:17-22 “…no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” NIV

2 Peter 1:3-11 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” NIV

2. You have to learn God’s promises!

God’s promises are not secret. Every Christian can know them.

Are you learning them? How many do you know?

3. Then you have to use them!

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” NIV

Hebrews 4:2 “For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. ” NASB95

I. The Seriousness of the Battle

Matthew 5:28-29 “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” NIV

First, is the source of beauty and pleasure. He is the one who wired us to be attracted to beauty and to pleasure.

“In your presence is fullness of joy.”

Satan lies to us about the place of joy!

Sweetness of fruit vs candy

Beauty of flowers and landscapes

Second, you must make the choice. Which joy are you going for? The quick fix with a very sour taste or the daily joy that only gets better. No one can do this for you. You must make a personal choice to fight the fight. Focused determination.

“what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his sole.” The stakes are high.

It is a lie to think, “What I do in my mind is harmless and minor.”

Boys will be boys. (Not just boys today!)

Just one time won’t hurt.

I’ve blown it so I might just give up.

God created our bodies. They are beautiful and nothing to be ashamed of. Sleeping around is simply no big deal.

People will live forever someplace.

We will either live in heaven glorifying God or in hell defying God.

Personally catastrophic consequences of lust.

Instant personal guilt.

Either a divided heart.

Idols of the heart.

Luke 12:4-5 ““I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” NIV

Those who give up the fight against lust will be lost. Matt 5:30

Those who do not pursue holiness will not see the Lord. Heb 12:14

I’m simply saying that as Christians we must fight the fight for purity with the seriousness of eye surgery.

Failure to believe God is the root of rebelling against His

commands.

Even though we are saved we are not beyond the warnings of scripture. Salvation is connected to the real life battles we all face. And God calls us to fight the fight.

Saved from the penalty of sin.

Also, saved from the power of sin.

JUNE 28–Meet Debra Lafave. The 23-year-old Florida teacher is facing a host of felony charges for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old male student. According to investigators, Lafave met the boy at Greco Middle School–where she taught reading–and had sex with him in her classroom,

Sandra “Beth” Geisel (search), who was recently hospitalized for alcohol dependency, was also arrested last December for DWI, according to official documents obtained by The New York Post. At the time, her blood-alcohol level was .18 — more than twice the legal limit, the documents show.

The revelations came as Geisel, 42, finished a one-day stint in jail after posting $20,000 bail Tuesday on charges she raped a 16-year-old boy during two alleged sexual trysts in May — one in a school football field’s press box, the other at her home in the Albany suburb of Latham.

The boy was a student at Christian Brothers Academy (search) in Colonie, N.Y., where Geisel was a volunteer teacher, and where her own teenage son is a student.

Colossians 3:5-6 “Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. “Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” NIV

Spiritual warriors for Christ.

Committed fight to the death.

5 nanu seconds to resist and turn.

1 Peter 2:11 “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”

Fleshly desires that are contrary to the will of God.

Disrupts peace in the soul.

Robs us of the joy of our salvation.

Creates agitation in the inner person that splashes out on others

Divides our loyalty and personality

Spiritual schizophrenia

Creates dishonesty in our hearts: lie to others / lie to ourselves

Don’t forget the pain!

QB who lost the Super Bowl – Stayed on the field “I don’t ever want to forget how painful losing is.”

II. Faith in God’s Precious promises help us win our battles!

A. The promise of discipline includes an encouraging promise!

Hebrews 12:4-13 “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not

lose heart when he rebukes you, “because the Lord disciplines

those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? “If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

“Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! “Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

“Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ““Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” NIV

That I am a son is clear for I am being disciplined!

B. The Promise of Forgiveness – God offers new beginnings

Psalm 103:8-14 “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. “He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; “for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” NIV

Isaiah 43:22-25 ““you have not called upon me,.. You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices…But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses. ““I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

Isaiah 44:22 “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”” NIV

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” NIV

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” NIV

Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” NIV

The freedom of being released!

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia (AP) - A British remote-controlled vehicle on Sunday cut away the cables that had snarled a Russian mini-submarine and its seven-man crew deep under the Pacific Ocean, and rescuers were preparing for the sub to surface, a naval spokesman said.

Capt. Igor Dygalo told The Associated Press that the Super Scorpio had freed the mini-sub from the military antenna that had tangled it some 625 feet below the surface and officials were preparing to raise the sub.

C. The Promise of Relief – the struggle does get easier!

James 4:6-7 “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Matthew 4:10 “Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” NIV

D. The Promise of Enablement – I’m not alone

The new covenant is a covenant of grace.

But the covenant of grace is not without commands

Psalm 50:15 “and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”” NIV

Psalm 51:8, 10, 12 “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice…Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me….Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” NIV

Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” NIV

Yes, we must run the race. Yes we must fight the fight.

But God is at work in us to fight this right and to run the race.

God is at work in me!

God is at work in those whom I love!

Therefore, I should never give up on myself or others.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” NIV

Romans 8:12-15 “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, “because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”” NIV

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” NIV

Jude 24 “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—”