 Saul’s sin began in such an inconspicuous way. He was faced with waiting on God in a difficult situation. He was supposed to wait on Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice as the Philistines gathered. When he was forced to wait longer - he chose not to do so and “forced himself” to offer up the sacrifice. This was something only the priests of the Lord were supposed to do. The real issue though was Saul having to wait on God when things were dicey and difficult. Please understand that I know that such times are what makes a man or woman of God - and that such trials are very hard to endure. But Saul failed miserably and decided he knew best what to do - and that waiting on God didn’t make sense when something needed to be done NOW (at least in his mind this was the case).
Sin grew in Saul when he was sent to destroy the Amalekites. Here was where Saul decided in his own mind that what God had said was forbidden and needed to be eliminated seemed harsh to him. He could save what looked good to him (regardless of what God said about it) and even use it to serve God - at least what was left over when he was done using it too. His real issue here was seeing things from God’s perspective - especially what God called sin and what He forbids. Saul wanted to define sin and what is forbidden himself. That redefinition was the cause of the kingdom being torn from him just as Samuel’s garment was torn when he tried to persuade Samuel to bless him rather than discipline him. It was during this time that Saul began to watch David’s surrendered life begin to experience God’s favor. He sang to God in a way that made evil spirits run from the room. He faced down a giant who wound up face down and dead because of David’s trust in God. As this grew he looked at David first with suspicion, then with dread, then with a growing jealousy, and eventually with murderous rage. He tried every way he could to kill this godly upstart and keep himself king. He wasn’t going to wait on God to advance David - and surely Saul knew better than God who should be king and who shouldn’t be king. Interesting how our early “little sins” come back later much larger than we first estimated them to be? Saul became quite the spear thrower during that time (he threw a lot of them - he just didn’t hit anything except the wall). He threw them at David in a jealous, murderous rage. He even threw them at his own son - when he threw in his lot with this horrible usurper of kingdoms! In fact, when we see him in 1 Samuel 22 - he is standing on a high place with a physical spear in his hand - and with verbal spears that he is about to lob at David and anyone who would dare support him. “David won’t give you what I’ve given you!” he rages. “And after all I’ve done for you - none of you tells me my son made a covenant with this terrorist who lays in wait and conspires against me!” Saul works the crowd dishing out guilt like a Jewish mama working her son for something she wants. “None of you feels sorry for me,” he continues evidently making up for any lost pity by feeling very sorry for himself. That is when it happened. Saul’s decision to play with sin rather than kill it, grew to full stature as Doeg the Edomite (by the way Edom is another type of the flesh and a way that is opposed to God’s way) told him that Ahimelech had helped David with bread and Goliath’s sword. Saul snapped, calling the priests before him with Ahimelech and interrogating them about how they were complicit in David’s plot to overthrow Saul and his kingdom. Ahimelech for his part though was no patsy - he confronted the king’s sinful madness by reminding him David has not been part of some plot. He has been beneficial to the king, killing Goliath, being Saul’s son-in-law, who was elevated to captain of your personal guard (by YOU!) and who is honored in your hose. He even let Saul know he was still his servant (which by the way so was David) and then said, “ . . . your servant knows nothing at all of this whole affair.” What is so very sad is David knew nothing of it either because the only place this plot existed was in Saul’s twisted mind. The next thing Saul did I believe sealed his fate. He pronounced a death sentence upon godly Ahimelech the priest - and extended it to his entire family - women and children included. The blood then flowed like waters rushing down a stream. So virulent was Saul’s jealousy and hatred of David that even oxen, donkeys, and sheep were slaughtered. This is where sin takes us. We think we are in control of what we consider a small thing in our lives. We think it is OK for us to think of a brother or sister in Christ with jealousy and suspicion - even a little resentment - and that it will never grow. But Saul is given to us as an example of where sin takes us. I heard a Baptist preacher one say, “Sin takes you where you don’t want to go - Keeps you longer than you want to stay - And costs you more than you want to pay!” How true that is in Saul’s life as his sin - when he thought he controlled it - began to take over and it controlled him. But that is the true nature of sin. It will only grow and become ever more malignant in your life. That is why we need to be circumspect and alert to any intrusion of sin into our lives, our mindset, or our ways. It is deadly. The wise man or women knows this and avoids it at all costs - and when it is discovered repents of it immediately and completely.
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These next several articles are long. They come from a series of things I wrote to a frustrated brother who sought help in an email relationship with me. He does not attend Calvary Chapel, yet his struggle is mirrored in the lives of so many who know the Lord, and yet who fight with sin in their lives. This fight will last all our days - but for many of us it gets very intense when we have an area of our lives where sin just seems to dominate us. Our struggle parallels that of Paul - but for those who want to move on to victory, we need to make the trek from identifying with Romans 7 to experiencing Romans 8. That is what these articles try to do. It is my hope that they are helpful to all those who wrestle with sin in an honest effort to be conformed to our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:14-25 Now, as to the remedy for what you are facing. You might want to seek that out by reading what comes after Paul's statement about his struggle/battle with sin. He sees here that this has to come, "through Jesus Christ our Lord!" But there is more to this - but it is in chapter 8 of Romans. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, " Abba! Father!" Romans 8:1-15 There is so much here in chapter 8 . . . let me take the next couple of days and break it down into small, daily, bite-size pieces for you. Hope this helps! Lesson #1 - It's the Spirit Who sets you free - Who grants you power to overcome. Note that Paul says that it is the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" that sets us free from the law of sin and death. The "law of sin and death" is the old way (never did work) of making and keeping rules. You have rules about sexual sin - rules about what you look at - rules about the computer - rules about self-gratification - rules, rules, rules. The problem is that the Law never set any man free from sin. In fact, Paul tells us earlier in Romans that the Law was given to show us we could never keep the Law - due to sin in our hearts. Soooo . . . we also won't be set free by just "obeying laws and rules." What we need is a different power than ourselves. Our flesh will not submit to God's Law - EVER! So Paul lets us know that we no longer live by the "law of sin and death." We live by a new law - the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. We live by a different "life" than the one we used to have. Thanks be to God - He gave us life in Jesus Christ. The life He gave us? Christ's own life - which can overcome sin every time! What we need to develop is a willingness to run to God and to His Spirit in our battles. You may be able to stop a thought initially - even make it go away temporarily - but you cannot put it to death. It WILL come back later and bug you, annoy you, and torture your thinking until you give way to it. Ever try to get a song out of your head - or stop thinking about something by TRYING to stop thinking about it. Yeah - doesn't work does it. Neither does fighting sin by trying to stop sinning and thinking about the temptation to sin. What we need is MORE POWER! We need a different kind of life. The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus - is that we turn to Him, to His power, to His life, to think about Him. This is so different - because our thoughts are no longer about the sin - but about Christ Himself. The Scriptures say this about this battle, "But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being changed into that same image, from glory to glory - even as unto the image of the Lord." What you look at is truly what you will become. We are no longer looking at sin - but now, by the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus - we are looking at Him - at Jesus - and we are being changed into His glory, by His glory, for His glory! Let me ask you a kind of dumb question. How many times did Jesus lose a battle with sin - hmmmm - NEVER! So as we turn to Him and His life - we look to that life in us as the power to overcome. Suddenly it is no longer just us trying to stop sinning - it is the power of the Spirit working in us doing this. That is why later Paul says this, "but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." How are we putting to death the deeds of our body? BY THE SPIRIT! Here is a little homework for tonight. Take some time to pray - talking to God - and honestly - apologizing to the Holy Spirit (Who by the way IS God - third person of the Trinity). Apologize and confess as sin your actions (sin) that have been for grieving Him. Apologize for putting out His fire with your sin - and trying to do His work in your strength. Once you've confessed your sin - ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with His power - so that by His power (rather than yours) you can fight sin. By the way, when you think of the filling of the Holy Spirit - don't think of it as something filling you up. The Holy Spirit is a person - not a thing. Consider His filling - He fills you with His influence and a filling up your life with fellowship! We speak of spending time with someone - and say at times, "My whole day was filled with time spent with my friend, wife, kids, etc." We are filled with their presence - with what they say - with great memories - with wisdom as they talk to us - with love as they selflessly give themselves to serve and bless us. It is the same way as we are being "filled with the Holy Spirit." Be filled with His presence - with what He says - with great memories of time spent talking with Him and being taught by Him - with wisdom as He teaches you the Word - with love as He selflessly gives you the things of God and serves you and blesses you. DUDE - SPEND AN HOUR - A WHOLE DAY - A WHOLE WEEKEND TURNING TO HIM AND GETTING FILLED UP WITH ALL HE WANTS TO DO AND SAY TO YOU! This is just step one - we will look at more over the next couple of weeks. For today - get better acquainted with the Spirit - and do some serious damage control in your relationship with Him. Oh, how He wants to grant you power to fight sin - but in order to do that - you've got to stop thinking you can fight it on your own. Here is one other thing to do . . . next time you have a temptation to sin - turn to God the Holy Spirit - and fight it WITH HIM! Ask Him for power to fight - ask Him to teach you what to do - ask Him for the tools to PUT SIN TO DEATH - not just make it go away for a while - or until morning. This will transform your battles with sin - from something you do to something He does within you. This will make the battle more than just "not thinking or doing sin" to "turning to Him, seeing Him, knowing Him, and in the end being transformed to be just like Him by His power and might that powerfully works within you. Have you ever sinned and wondered afterward, "How in the world did I get here?" That is a common thing with a lot of believers - and honestly - too common to me to be too comfortable with it. But that kind of moment is one where we need wisdom. The wisdom we need is an understanding of the very question we've asked. How did we get there? If we don't know at the moment - we need to know. The reason we need to know is because unless we know how we got to a point of sin, we will probably not stop sinning in this way. The best way to deal with this is to know the steps to how we got there. Let me share something with you that is very helpful to me when I struggle and fall into sin occasionally. I call it a "post-mortem" analysis of my sin.
James says this to us, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." James 1:13-15 It is good to take a closer look at the day or days leading up to your sin. What I found was that often I was either being set up or was setting myself up for a fall. The first thing James tells us is that we are NOT being tempted by God. Too often we think, "God, why did You do this to me? Why did you have this temptation come my way?" We think God is responsible for our circumstances - at least these that surround sinning. God is most definitely Sovereign over all things - BUT - He does not tempt us. Not blaming God for our problems is a huge first step towards freedom. James does mention where all this comes from in life. He says that we are "tempted by lust" and then when we don't respond to it properly we are "carried away" by it. First comes temptation - from which I must flee! Lust here is not referring to sexual sin exclusively. It is referring to a strong desire that arises out of our self-centered and self-honoring fallen nature. If I find myself not responding and reacting to these intense fleshly desires immediately. (which I usually did not in this process) my heart would begin hardening to God, to His Word, and to the promptings and warnings of the Holy Spirit. I was not being responsive to Jesus. Left unchecked, these strong desires would grow and I would find myself being "carried away by lust." Soon I would find that not only was I being tempted - but because I was "lingering" - I soon was carried away by my lust into sin. Let me ask you something at this point. Ever have one of those times when you think, "Man it was like I was unable to stop - like I was being carried away! Well - unfortunately - that was exactly what was happening. You did not stop sin at the point of your own desires being perverted from the truth. Therefore they became so strong that you felt like you could not resist. It was like someone else was controlling you. That is the power of sin and lust. It is powerful - and will dominate you if you do not resist early and often. At this point you are having lust conceive in your heart - and that conception is about to give birth to sin. The next step is to give birth to sin. The strong desire, left unchallenged, has now dominated our minds and our actions. This means we are about to sin - to choose to disobey God - to choose to disregard Scripture - even to choose to silence the protest of our conscience as we act out in a way that is in defiance to God's standards and commands. The result of this will be death. Spiritually we will feel dead. There will be a grieving of the Holy Spirit and a deadening of our ability to discern what God desires. Rather than being led by the Spirit - we are allowing ourselves to be led by the flesh. The Spirit's fire will be doused within us - we may even feel things like a lack of desire for the Word - an aversion to prayer - and plenty of condemnation. Yeah - pretty much plenty of death is available to us at this point in our sinful escapade. A "post-mortem" analysis of sin asks the following types of questions.
When we do this, we will most likely find and identify the things that led up to our sin. We will see things like television shows or movies that led to lustful thoughts. We may find that we were wandering from God for days before this thing hit. We will often find that our minds were definitely NOT being renewed with the Word. And one other "usual culprit" will be bitterness and unforgiveness - especially when it is toward a brother or sister in Christ - or a close family member. The last step in this "post-mortem" analysis is to identify the activities or choices made that led to sin. But that will not be enough. We need to deal with these things. There is a very simple truth here we must grasp. We CANNOT do these things and remain pure. We MUST address these things with the Word and with repentance and a purpose to act differently in the future. This will be the way to turn a sinful situation into one that will not only instruct us - but will in large measure - protect us from things that will lead us into sin in the future. It will also help us to greatly lesson the areas where we feel that when we take a small step - we are gone - because sin has such power over us so quickly. Think of it as CSI - Jesus. The Lord takes apart the crime scene (here a sin-scene) and examines it to show us all the evidence that points to us acting in ways that are going to end up embracing sin and ungodliness. That will be more valuable to us than gold! Did you know that God loves you so much . . . that He will break your leg if necessary? Let's explore this for a few moments now - shall we?
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."" It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:1-11 - There are situations that will overwhelm us - and make us lose heart in our battle against sin. - We fight these battles two ways - remembering Jesus' conflict AND - Remembering God's discipline . . . and this is a very strong possibility for us if we are sinning currently in some way. We should ask a simple question if we are involved in a besetting sin. Is God disciplining us though all this - or another way - are we miserable in this sin? - If that is the case - rejoice! He is working with you to train you to hate sin - and love Him. He is absolutely committed that you will not have ANY lasting joy in sinful choices. Sin provides no real, lasting joy - maybe something momentary - but nothing lasting. The things is when God is dealing with us - our enjoyment in sin will be far, far less. God is disciplining us - spanking us if you will - or as the text says, "He scourges every son He accepts!" (Whoa - scourging - isn't that what they did to Jesus before the cross? YEP!) - God does this so that as we are TRAINED by it - there will be NO JOY or ENJOYMENT of sin - and a growing disposition to only embrace righteousness. God graciously ruins us for sin - so that the only place we will find joy - is in HIM! - The passage tells me He does this - He spanks the FOOL out of me - so I will be a sharer in His holiness. Oh, yeah, I remember all "the fool" that needed to be lovingly disciplined out of me - because, unlike all the other really godly people in the world - I have a great deal of "fool" in me (sarcasm alert!). Actually, we all have a tremendous amount of "the fool" in us that often can only be dealt with by having it revealed to us - then exposed in our actions - and eventually crucified by the cross. The "fool" in us will never submit to God - nor can it - the fool in us (also known as flesh) is opposed to God and His Word - it won't and it can't submit to God. Those controlled by the flesh (or the fool in us) cannot please God. Sooooo . . . I cannot please God as long as I subscribe to being a fool and acting the fool by turning to self rather than turning to Him. - So glad for the last part of this - NO DISCIPLINE IS PLEASANT FOR THE TIME, BUT PAINFUL! - When I read this, I thought, Hallelujah! at least God knows this whole process is kinda painful! But keep reading . . . BUT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TRAINED BY IT - uh oh - there is a training process going on? Yep, there is - to simply spank a child without a training process is just beating a rebellious little toot - but God is working toward something! He is seeking to get the "fool" out of us. He wants us to live by His grace and strength - not by our flesh - or "the fool" in us. AFTERWARD IT YIELDS THE PEACEABLE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! This is what God is going after in this process. Just a quick question for anyone in besetting sin (as if I do anything quickly!). You at peace right now? (your answer is NO - I know this because I've been where you are!) Obedience yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness - disobedience yields painful discipline - and a general sense of, "this stinks!" Now here is the kicker. When Christ bought you from the slave market of sin - and made you a son through Jesus Christ . . . God bought you for the purpose of owning you (which He does anyway) - but now as a son. He who began this work in you . . . WILL COMPLETE IT UNTIL THE DAY OF CHRIST JESUS! What does this mean? It means, that God is actively going to ruin you for the world. You belong to God . . . and He is GOING to finish what He has started in you. You can either enjoy this journey - and learn to obey Him - or be miserable for the rest of the process. The fact is He is utterly committed to you - to make you like His Son. He will do this even if He has to make you miserable in the process - even if He has to make your life one that is filled with problems - difficulties - disasters - roadblocks - and even to the point of breaking your bones (remember the lamb that is around the shepherd's neck - yeah - that was the one who would not quit wandering off. The GOOD shepherd would break that lamb's leg - so that it had to be around his neck for weeks. The shepherd did that so that the lamb wouldn't be killed - and so that he learned the shepherd's voice better than any other in the process - which, by the way, was why David prayed in the midst of his sexual sin in Psalm 51, "let the bones which You have broken rejoice.") Yep - God will even break your leg, if that is what it takes to finish the work of His grace begun at salvation. That is where I will finish today - with the verses directly after the ones I've been quoting. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Hebrews 12:12-13 Brothers and sisters in Christ, God will break your leg to have all of you! Don't make Him do it. Believe me, He will! He has done some things - or better said - allowed some things to train me over the past 30 years of knowing Him. Learn to be strong in Him - and let Him get "the fool" or '"flesh" out of you! He is only doing this because of how much He loves you. But please know this . . . His love is strong! He WILL pursue you. Getting involved with Him through salvation is the best thing that has ever happened to you! But it is a love that is so strong - that it will take your breath away - and at times . . . even break your leg. |
Biblical ArticlesMost of these articles are taken from the Calvary Courier, a weekly newsletter that is sent to the folks who attend Calvary Chapel Jonesboro. Due to the response to these articles, we've decided to print some of them which proved to be very helpful to God's people at the fellowship. 
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