Encounter • Week 6
BE free and OVERCOME THE WORLD!
Aim
- To understandfreedom in Christ
- An overcomer through truth and righteousness.
Absorb (include or incorporate as part of oneself; take in; suck up)
A. WHAT IS MAN?
We need to answer this question first before we take a look at the world.
- Man is a spirit.
- He has a soul.
- He lives in a body.
1Thessalonians 5:23 – May the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3John 1:2 – Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even asthysoulprospereth.
B. WHAT IS THE WORLD?
The world is everything that displeases God, opposes His teaching and is under Satan’s dominion. 1 John 5:19
John points out three aspects that mark the love of this world:
- the desires of the flesh,
- the desires of the eyes and
- thepride of life.
•“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”1 John 2:15-17
(Wuest) 1John 2:16 Practically everything that goes on in the world--wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important, has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him.
1. Desires of the flesh
These are those desires that are in us by nature and impel us to do wrong. They incite us, even from childhood, to yield to what the flesh desires.
They can be described as follows…
- Satisfaction.
- Passion or enjoyment that is felt by doing wrong things.
- If it feels good, do it!
Galatians 5:17says: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
- This shows the conflict found in every Christian.
- The flesh wants one thing while the spirit wants another.
- That is why it is important to nourish our spiritual man.
Galatians 5:19-21gives us a long list of the works of the flesh. These include sexual, pagan religions such as witchcraft or idolatry and others relating to temperament and character.
2. Visual Desire
The ‘desires of the eyes’ can be described as
- Perversions
- Bad intentions
- Selfish delights that include not only the sight, but also the mind and imagination.
2 Peter 2:14: “Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin……”
Matthew 5:27-29: “ You have heard that is was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”
- Vanity of life
Believes that the reason for life is found in…
- The worldly appearance.
- Worth of things, and not in how God actually values them.
- The insolent and empty assurancewhich trusts in the thingsthat serve the creature.
The 3 main areas to describe the vanity we run after with no eternal value…
- Money - Gold(belongings)
- Sex - Girls(physical desires)
- Power- Glory (position)
C. HOW DOES THE WORLD AFFECTS ME
It sucks you into an empty way of life, making meineffectiveunproductivenot going anywhere, affecting my thinking my footsteps destroying my purpose and dreams!Pain, sorrow, disappointment and destruction is the only reward for giving in to temptations!
John 17:15“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”
How can I be set free?
- We are freed by the power of the cross. On the cross a “divine exchange” took place, He took our curses on the cross so that we can be set free.( Gal 3:13)
The cross delivers us from:
- Sin (works of the flesh Rom3:23-25, Rom6:6, 11-14)
- Demonicbondage (Acts 10:38)
- Ruin (Psalm 107:20)
- Affliction (Isaiah 63:9)NB
Take His yoke upon you.
Matt 11:28-30
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, andYOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.For My yoke is easy and My burden is light
Isaiah 10:27 In that day the LORD will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders. (Isaiah 61:1)
Identify the price paid. He paid the price for freedom mentally or physically.
Isaiah 53:4 -6
Surely our grief’s [chòlîy: soul torment/heart pain/emotional bondage]. He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. [makob: physical pain/disease.] All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
Take hold of the truth. (John 8:32)Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. The truth makes you free AND daily fellowship with God and renewing your mind andkeeps you free. Deliverance is not a substitute for repentance..Choose freedom. Repentance is making a decision to change, change your mind from the old to the new.
Colossians 3:1-2 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.Setyourmind on the thingsabove, not on the things that are on earth
Put to death works of the flesh.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Col.3:5-10 Put to death…. Works of the flesh. (Rom.8:13).
Faith.
1 John 5:4-5For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith.Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (Heb.11:6)
Works flowing from faith demonstrates faith and our righteousness. Faith releases His working in me and through me. Gal.5:6 – Faith works through love . Eph.2:10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works .Philp 2:13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
2 DogsDr Billy Graham gives us this illustration: “Every Saturday afternoon a fisherman would walk down into the village. He would always take his two dogs with him. One was white and the other black. He had taught them to fight at his command. Every week, people would gather in the town square to place bets and watch the dogs fight. One Saturday the black dog would win, another Saturday the white dog would win, but the fisherman would always win! His friends began to ask him how he did it. He said, “I let one dog go hungry while I feed the other one. The one I feed always wins because he feels stronger.” If we want to conquer the desires of the flesh, we have to pay special attention to our spirit. We must feed it and care for it in such a way that in the face of temptation, the spirit prevails.
Bear the fruit of the Spirit(opposite of works of flesh).
- In relation to God: love, joy, and peace.
- In relation to others: patience, kindness and goodness.
- In relation to ourselves: faith, kindness and self-control.
What keeps us in bondage?
Ignorance and lack of revelation of:
What Jesus did on the cross because of Love.
Power of Grace gave us right standing with God .
Trying to please God through works of law and my own ability.
Believing a lie.
Grace teaches us: (Titus 2:11-12) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared unto all men training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world.
Adjust (arrange or put in the correct order or position; make suitable; harmonise)
- Repent: Renew your mind. Set your mind on the things above. Rest your head on Christ the Rock. (Romans 12:2, Colossians 3:1,2, Genesis 28:11,12)
- Commit to living a holy life worthy of being an instrument in the hand of God by overcoming these temptations & fleshly desires.
Advance (move forward; make progress)
Pray with someone by laying on of hands yielding totally to the Holy Spirit
Arm 2Timothy 2:21 If a man therefore purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel of honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work.