The Struggle

The Struggle
Good News:
David:
Boy named David who was overlooked by his father
Jesse had 8 sons and David was the Sheppard boy that the God anointed as King of Israel
Defeated Goliath as a young boy carrying cheese and bread to his 3 older brothers who where fighting in a war against the Philistines.
God said, “David was a man after his own heart,” and he goes on to become king of Israel and led Israel into excellence
But listen to this verse:
Psalm 40:12 - 12For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.
If a man after God’s own heart can say this, then suddenly I do not feel alone in my struggle
Peter:
Aggressive and full of zeal, but not very wise
Filled with fire, he preaches his first sermon and 3,000 (men) get saved. By Acts 4, 5,000 men get saved
17 converts to Christ in the 1st year of his ministry, including women and children. (book deal?)
Then it briefly goes south for Peter:
Judaizers came claiming that in order to become a Christian, you had to become a Jew first:
Galatians 2:11-14: 11When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
Peter falls for oldest trick in book: Don’t overly honor those in power to the exclusion of those in need.
So we see that Peter the Apostle fell into sin, and suddenly I don’t feel like such an outcast
Paul:
Bible tells us about a man named Saul who was breathing murderous threats against the church in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.
After Saul witnessed the murder of Stephen, for preaching and teaching the gospel, the people of the Way fled and Saul followed them.
People of “the Way,” means that at one pint we were marked by how we lived our lives and not necessarily what we just said we believed.
Paul gets orders to go to Damascus; Jesus shows up, kicks his rear and says, “Why do you persecute Me?” Sends him to a man named Ananias and tells him to heal Saul of his blindness
Ananias reluctantly heals him and within a few days Saul preaches his first message.
Saul becomes Paul and became the greatest missionary our faith has ever known.
Wrote 75% of the NT; planted countless churches, and walked in more power than most of us can even imagine.
Ex. We pray for sick people – Paul told them to stop being sick. Can we agree that that is different? Someone in our family gets sick and we’re like, “Lord, please help them not be sick.” That’s not how Paul rolls. Paul goes, “Quit being lame. Get up and walk.” He turns around to a demon filled little girl and goes, “I’ve had it, get out of her!”
He also talked to Jesus face to face on more than 2 occasions, saw converts wherever he went, and walked with an intense amount of power.
We can agree that this is a man of God at a varsity level; which brings me to Romans 7
Romans 7:15-19; 24-25 - 15For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! …
Great text: because a powerful profound man of God wrote it – So all the sudden I am comforted in my struggle now, because I can say, “Why can’t I do the fullness of what I know is right? And why, when I know what is right, do I still fall into what is wrong?” If Paul said it, I can say it.
So, not only do we see that powerful men of God are tempted, but they actually fall into sin
Matthew 7:16-20 - 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Jesus is teaching a simple, yet difficult lesson: He is talking about the state of the soul and saying, “If the soul is regenerate, if the soul is saved, if the soul is transformed, if the soul is redeemed, there will be MOVEMENT, there will be progress, there will be growth.” “THERE WILL BE GOOD FRUIT!”
This ought to bring you comfort, because if you are truly a Christian, fruit is inevitable – granted, some trees grow quicker than others, but fruit is inevitable, because God will be glorified through your life!
Let’s address a “problem text” that creates some tension in our faith that does not believe in works-based righteousness.

James 2:20-26 - 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
“Problem text” b/c rest of Scripture teaches that you’re justified not by works but by faith alone.
1st rule of hermeneutics (studying the Bible) is that the Scriptures must interpret the Scriptures. So if a Scripture seems to counteract the rest of the Scriptures, you’ve got to look at that Scriptures in light of all the others
Here’s the skinny on this text, since we know that works-based righteousness is heresy: It is not saying that works are necessary for salvation, but that where there is genuine salvation, there will be works.
So works or a transformed life is the real evidence of true salvation. Where there is no transformation but an intellectual, “Yeah I believe in God,” you do not have legitimate faith. The Bible speaks very aggressively to this.
What do we do with the struggle?
What do we do with the fact that we will fall into struggle and temptation?
Does anyone want to argue that we don’t get tempted?
So we acknowledge that all of us are tempted and in that temptation, sometimes we fall…
The Wrong Way to handle the struggle of temptation and sin and the Right Way:
· Biblically, there is a right way and a wrong way to do this. One is going to end very bad, and one with a transformed heart – which is what we want…
Wrong Way to Struggle:
· Do the same sin over and over and over again until you just decide that “its just who you are; its just what you struggle with and everyone is just going to have to deal with it because that is what you walk in.”
· The motivation for this is almost always guilt and it brings shame, because we can believe we’ve done it again – and there is no real sense of offending God, no real understanding of mocking King Jesus Himself. You just wish you didn’t do it.
· Your friends, wife, children get angry when you do it. You wish you didn’t do it and you are guilt ridden. So your response is to white knuckle it and try harder next time.
· That’s how it plays out – which is basic entry-level Evangelicalism
· One verse about this idea of effort and willpower: Romans 9:16, “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
· Wrong way: to continually operate in the same sin over and over again, feel massive guilt and with your own willpower try to overcome it.
Cycle of Doom:
· Mode of repentance in this state is always trying harder, trying harder, trying harder – Paul mocks this idea all them time
Galatians 3:1-5
1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
· He’s saying, “You did nothing to come into a saving knowledge of Christ. He opened your heart, mind and spirit and saved you by the Spirit, not by any works of your own. So why now are you trying to fix yourself?
This is how the cycle of doom works:
· Become a Christian and then realize that this thing is a bit more difficult than you originally thought. You sin, feel guilty and go, “I’m never going to do that again.” But eventually you do it again. In that moment, you run from God to fix yourself saying, “Oh, I blew it again. God must hate me. I will fix this myself then He’ll approve.” The cycle repeats over and over again and every time you try to deliver yourself from sin, it works for a while, but then you go back to it again.
Result of this cycle:
· Eventually, because you can’t deliver yourself from your sin you go, “Man forget it,” and you dive headlong into your sin, thinking that by diving in it will somehow make the angst you feel in your heart over that sin go away – but it doesn’t. Worldly sorrow, which breeds shame…
· Or, you’ll get religious repentance, where you’ve whit-knuckled your behavior to the point of becoming self-righteous and worthless; with no grace for anyone else in the struggle; and you’ve become worse off spiritually than the sinners you hate. I want off that ride!!!!!!!!
Right Way to Struggle:
· The right way to struggle with temptation, thought sometimes you fall, is to continue to move in the right direction.
· Temptation is not sin and it will never go away as long as you are alive, because it is a result of this broken world.
· Heb. 4 says, “Jesus was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin”
1 Corinthians 10:13
13No 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.
· That means that others are tempted with the very things I am: pride, arrogance, lust, idolatry, making things other than Jesus ultimate in my life.
· Why is that such a great verse? Because I can look around and see the gospel working in other men and them walking in victory over what I struggle with and gain the confidence that this thing will not own me! That’s good news!
Motivation to repent of sin is not guilt, but a deep understanding that we have offended God and in that offense, God sent Jesus to die on the cross for us and that our justification in front of God alone is by the cross alone and by no act of our own merit
· And this kindness, when we deeply understand our depravity, that we’ve sinned against Him and his response has been the cross, that leads us to gospel repentance.
· Long obedience in the right direction
The Means to Repent: Grace of God, played out in community saturated with biblical truth!
If wrong mode is white-knuckled discipline, what’s the right mode? Not trying harder…
· The Power of Example:
Matthew 4:19 - Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men.
John 13:15 - I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
1 Corinthians 11:1 - Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Philippians 3:17 - Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
1 Timothy 4:12 - Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Peter 2:21 - To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Piano: If you were to ask me to play a piece from Beethoven, I could not play it right now. No matter how hard I try, no matter how aggressive or sincere I am, or how hard I slam my fingers into those keys, or who disappointed my children are that I can’t play the piece, or how let down my wife is – none of that matters, because I can’t play the piece!
Unless some says, “Come here, I’ll show you how to play Beethoven. Follow my hands. Your fingers go here. This is an A, B flat.” And, depending on my aptitude, though I will make tons of mistakes along the way, I will be able to play Beethoven.
What’s the context this discipleship plays out in?
Community: James 5:16 – Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Do you know how this ends? Transformed lives! I’ve been a Christian now going on 13 years. Early on, I had to count the keys to know exactly where the A key was. But now I know exactly where to put my hands. I don’t even have to think about it. I don’t have to wrestle with it. Its just there.
There are always new pieces that I am learning that cause me problems, but I am not where I was 13 years ago.
What happened? Progressive sanctification – discipleship played out in real life
2 Things:
1) It is our deep desire to example the gospel for you – to show you where to put your hands – to train you (disciple you).
2) What do I do when my mind is there but my heart isn’t? Unpopular phrase in 09: “Wait on the Lord”
Isaiah 40:30-31 - 30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;they shall walk and not faint.
Waiting on the Lord is wildly unpleasant at times. In fact, in one of the most gut-wrenching psalms in the Bible, Psalm 42, David is literally in a fight with himself:
Psalm 42:11 - 11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
My mind knows, “Put your hope in God. Put your trust in God. Serve Him. Love Him. Walk with Him – Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why aren’t you buying into this?”
This is a disjoint between the head and the heart and it is driving David crazy!
So, if this is you, how do you wait on the Lord?
Position yourself under the waterfall of grace, in front of biblical teaching, in community where you can be honest about the sin you are fighting..
One step at a time, day by day – praying that God will break your heart over your sin, asking him to become ultimate in your life, and being honest about where you are spiritually – He will renew your strength and make you like Him to His glory!
I’m not asking if you struggle. I’m asking if you are struggling well or not.