In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: Anybody who is not accountable to somebody is in automatic trouble sooner or later. David knew in his heart he was accountable to God, but in a moment of weakness, he forgot or he put aside—which is what I think he did. He put aside the fact that he was accountable to God. In a moment of weakness when your mind gets divided, it’s awfully easy to just brush out everything else to get what you want.

Guest (Male): Everyone has a weakness to temptation, and those who toy with uncontrolled desire don't really understand how vulnerable they are. Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, we resume our study of 2nd Samuel to see how David's mistakes can help us build a strong defense system that can shield us in our moments of weakness. Let's listen in to Dr. Stanley's message.

Dr. Charles Stanley: David now, at this point in his life, has been the king over all of Israel for about 20 years. He's 50 years of age. He's come to the very pinnacle of his strength. The people of Israel are loyal to him. They love him. He is the symbol of freedom, a liberator, a great commanding general, a man not only handsome in character, but eloquent surely in speech. Read the Psalms and you'll know that there were qualities and characteristics of David that would cause anybody and everybody to look up to him.

Here's a man who's at the peak of his prosperity, the peak of his honor and glory and reign. All of a sudden, a shadow of immorality comes into his life. He was guilty of adultery. He was guilty of murder because when he couldn't get rid of Uriah any other way and make him go to bed with his wife, he sent him out and he sent a note to Joab. He said, "Joab, when you attack the city, get close to the walls of the city, but pull back from Uriah and be sure that he is slain in battle."

Imagine what Joab must have felt, who had been the right-hand man of David all of these years while he was running from Saul. He stood by. He risked his life for him time after time. He went into battle with him. He defended him often times, and only God knows how many times Joab may have saved David's life in battle. Here Joab takes this note that says, "Joab, draw back the forces. Move close to the wall. Draw back the forces in order that Uriah, who was a valiant warrior, might be slain in battle." That's exactly what it is.

He was guilty of adultery. He was guilty of deliberate murder of one of his choicest soldiers. He was guilty of lying. He was guilty of deceit. He was guilty of involving other people in his crime and in his sin. He was guilty of bringing a mark and a shadow over the whole nation of Israel. When Nathan said to him, "The sword will not depart out of your family," if you look in verse 10 of chapter 12, "Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house because you've despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife."

Nathan said all the rest of your days, as a result of the consequence of this sin, the sword shall never depart from your life. If you'll read from chapter 11 on to the rest of the end of this book of Second Samuel, you'll find out how God did exactly what Nathan said. The lasting consequence was not worth the act. I want to say this to young people as well as adults. If in a moment of weakness you think in your heart, "I'm going to do it," if you'll just stop and ask yourself this one single question: what are the lasting consequences of this act?

If you in just a brief few seconds of pure reasoning ask yourself the question: what are the consequences? What are the future consequences of this act? Don't let Satan slip the lie in under that to say, "But nobody will ever know," because you don't know that. Ask yourself this question: what are the lasting consequences of this act? My friend, more than likely, you won't do it.

How do we build defenses against these moments of weakness in our life? Whatever that moment of weakness or whatever that type of weakness may be in your own personal life, how do we build defenses against it? Number one: acknowledge the reality of such weak moments in your life. As long as you say, "Well, other folks may have that problem, I don't have that problem," you're headed for trouble. Acknowledge the reality of moments of weakness in your life.

I think husbands and wives ought to talk about weaknesses that they have, whatever the weakness may be. It doesn't have to be this necessarily, in order to help one another, undergird each other, caution one another, and to protect one another. If you cannot say that to your husband or your wife, then you need to build your relationship. Or if you have a friend, someone whose judgment you can trust and someone whose confidence you can trust, you ought to be able to say to that person, "You know, I have a weakness in my life and sometimes Satan gets the best of me, and I want to ask you to do something. I want to tell you what that weakness is."

When you see that in my life, or you see if I describe to you the kind of environment I get in or circumstances and you see me heading in that direction, I want you to rescue me before I make a mistake. I believe one of the wisest things you can do is to acknowledge the reality of it. Share it with somebody else, somebody that you love or somebody who loves you and somebody in whom you have confidence and say, "Look, I need your help." That's the first thing you can do to build a defense against it.

You can't have a friend and say, "Look, I don't want you anywhere around." You can't do that. You've got to let them in. You've got to open your heart. You've got to be absolutely honest with them. The second way to build a defense is this: analyze how you respond, what's going on in your moments of weakness. What must happen to bring about that kind of circumstance? Is it something somebody else does? Is it a feeling that just comes into your life at certain periods of time? What are the circumstances?

Analyze the patterns. There is always a pattern. If you're able to identify the pattern, search it out, and analyze the patterns of those moments, then when you do that, you see, that's helping build a defense because you can be on guard. Number three: anticipate these moments. Having understood the pattern, anticipate these moments so that you will not be caught off guard. If you know there's a particular weakness in your life and you know the pattern, if you get into certain circumstances with a group of people, what are you going to do?

If you get in a position that a lot of money comes your way, what are you prone to do? If you get around a certain person or in a period of isolation, you know what you're going to do. In other words, if you'll be honest, you can figure out what the pattern is and then anticipate these things. If you and I will identify what the pattern is and get that in our mind, we'll be able to spot it 40 miles down the road on its way. You can't say, "Well, I didn't know it was going to happen." Yes, you did.

What do we say? We just throw up all these excuses. "Lord, you know, I didn't have any idea." God says, "Yes, you did, because here's the pattern and every single time." If the same thing happens every time you get in that situation, don't tell God you don't know it's going to happen. You know it's going to happen. All of us, if we'll be honest, and I'm not saying that everybody here knows the pattern—maybe you never even thought about there being a pattern. It's there. A weakness in our life always has a pattern.

That's why the devil is so successful. Because he knows your pattern. Now, if the enemy knows the pattern and you don't know it, you're in real trouble. So if he knows it, which he knows it perfectly—he's not omniscient, but he knows the pattern—how could he miss it? Look how successful he's been. He knows the pattern, and you ought to discover the pattern. Anticipate these moments before they come. Number four: accurately identify the precise weakness and the timing at which it hits you.

You don't say, "I know I have some weaknesses," and you could just name off two or three things that bother you. Identify the precise weakness or, if they are plural, weaknesses, and the timing. Be very specific about them. Acknowledge the reality of them, analyze the pattern, anticipate their coming, and accurately identify the precise weakness. You may say, "I think this is my weakness," or, "I think this is it." Maybe you hadn't thought about the fact that the same old problem you have is a weakness in your life.

What is the thing you continue to have a problem with? What is the thing that if Satan really wants to get you, he can divide your mind with that when he can't hit you with anything else? Precisely identify it and the timing that usually it comes in your life. Number five: be consciously aware of your accountability to God for that weakness. Be consciously aware of your accountability before God. This was a mistake that David made. Here is the king, he's a sovereign unto himself. Whatever he says is the law. If he says, "I want Bathsheba tonight," he can have Bathsheba tonight.

But what he must remember is that he is accountable to God. He may be the law in Israel, but there is a judge and a law higher than his law, and that's the law of God. The law of God says thou shalt not commit adultery. If you and I will live, not under the fear of God's judging hand, but under the umbrella of our accountability to God. Anybody who is not accountable to somebody is in automatic trouble sooner or later. David saw these pagan kings who were accountable to nobody.

David knew in his heart he was accountable to God, but in a moment of weakness, he forgot, or he put aside—which is what I think he did. He put aside the fact that he was accountable to God. In a moment of weakness, when your mind gets divided, it's awfully easy to just brush out everything else to get what you want. You're accountable to God 24 hours of every day, 60 seconds in every minute. Accountability to God means every one of us shall stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and give an account for those things in our life.

We're accountable to God. This unbelieving world that just lives in the muck and mire of sensuality, they don't believe this book. They've decided there is no God and the Bible is just an antiquated book because they cannot live in their vile sensuality and sexual perversion and live with a dirty conscience. So they say there is no God, and the Bible's antiquated. If there is a God, he loves everybody, and everybody's going to get to heaven. What they're saying is: I want to live my life and do as I please, but I don't want to give an account to anybody, including God.

You show me an immoral man and I'll show you a man whose theology is all warped. Because what he does, he chooses his morality and then he constructs a theology about God that fits the way he wants to live. What that's really doing is simply saying, "I want to be accountable only to myself." So an awareness, a consciousness of our accountability to God. Number six: we're building defenses now. Abandon. That means throw it overboard. Abandon habits, practices, thoughts, and those patterns that contribute to your moments of weakness.

The only way you're going to overcome the weakness and to become strong—now listen, let me deviate here for a second. These weaknesses in our lives should become points of interest and priority because if we will allow God to point that out to us, whatever it might be, if there's one major weakness in your life, I believe there is a gem, a tremendous opportunity, humongous potentiality. There's something absolutely super that God wants to do in your life, but somehow it's wrapped up in that weakness.

What does he do? That thing becomes a part of our life and we say, "Now wait a minute, if God's going to use us, how can there be a pearl of great price in a weakness in my life?" God lets it loom up before you in order to deal with it because there is potential, there is strength, there is energy, there is wisdom, there is something in that area of weakness that God wants to work in your life to be positive, not negative. I believe it has to be that way or the devil wouldn't use it against us the way he does. There must be something absolutely super in that.

Now let's take maybe a weakness or so here. Let's say, for example, that your weakness is the way you handle your money. God may see that you have a tremendous potential for finances, but you're totally out of balance. If he could get that straightened out, there's no telling what you could do. Let's say, for example, that you have a problem with sensuality. If God could deal with that, there is absolutely no way of estimating the potential of how God could use your life if you diverted that interest to something else.

You can take any weakness, and we don't have time to go through all that now, but you can take any weakness and ask yourself the question: "Here's something that keeps defeating me, but what is there in this weakness that shows positive potential that if God will conquer this thing in my life, what positive way could that become an asset to God?" I'm here to tell you every single weakness has tremendous dynamite potential in it.

But you and I need to do what? Abandon those habits and those ideas, those thought patterns that contribute to this thing. Once you discover the pattern, friend, you'll absolutely be able to—it won't take you long to be able to pinpoint the things that contribute to the fall. Number seven: allow extra time for prayer and meditation in the word of God. Allow extra time for prayer and meditation in God's word. For example, let's say that whatever your circumstance and your weakness may be, you know that a certain circumstance or situation is coming up. You see it coming up.

It isn't something you can avoid. You've got to get right in the middle of it. You know you're going to be in the middle of it. It isn't something you can avoid, but you can build your defenses by going through these, and then spend extra time in the word of God, saturating your mind with what God says, getting on your knees before God. I believe that on your knees before God in the word, almighty God will energize you and empower you to conquer anything all hell with every demon in hell can throw at you. You can be absolutely victorious on your knees in the word.

Friend, you get in a hurry and close this book and head off, and you move right into that situation. You know that you're in it. You know it was coming, and what happens? If you don't start dealing with it before you get there, you're going to fall flat on your face when you get there. That's exactly what happened to David. He knew better. He allowed himself to get in a situation instead of building some defense against it, and he knew the truth. If anybody ever knew the truth, he knew it.

Now I'm saying all that to say this: we all have our weaknesses and we'll have to learn how to deal with them. If you'll analyze them in these first seven points and then if you and I will begin to build defenses against them, building the defenses does not mean just overcoming them, but ask yourself the question: "What jewel, what priceless jewel is there hidden within that weakness that God wants to turn it over, put it into my life and use it to magnify God himself?"

That will keep us from being discouraged, and aggressively we will tackle the weakness with a positive confidence that we will overcome and that God will be able to help us to reach a greater potential as a result of the weakness. If you say, "This is just one of my weaknesses in life and I'll never overcome it," I'm here to tell you that's straight out of hell and it's the devil's lie. But if you'll say, "In this weakness in my life, God wants to show me something," he'll just turn that thing over and work it and osmosis it into my life in such a way that one of these days, the Lord God almighty will use me to the very maximum. He'll do that if you'll allow him to do it.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for loving us. Thank you for David. Thank you for all the mistakes and all the weaknesses of his life, and for all the tremendous feats. Thank you that he died, as you said, in a ripe old age, loved of God and loved of all of Israel. What a beautiful example of the amazing grace that is bestowed upon every sinner to be saved and every saint to be forgiven. We praise your holy name tonight for saving all of us, for the forgiveness that flows every single day into our life and through our life.

Father, we surely want to be examples and we want to be conveyors of, proclaimers of, declarers of, and sharers of the message of forgiveness—that the last thing in the world we would do is to be critical or condemn, but rather to call out to others that Jesus Christ saves, that Jesus Christ forgives, that Jesus Christ cleanses, and that he gives new beginnings in life. I pray tonight someone here in the name of Jesus Christ would trust him as their personal savior.

And all of us, Father, go through these elements in the next week, examining our hearts, building those defenses whereby you will be able to use us to the very maximum of our potential as we trust you, acknowledging our weakness and knowing in our heart that Christ Jesus our living resurrected all-powerful Lord, living within our heart, is our victory day by day, every day. And this we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest (Male): Maybe you've never considered that there's something beneath your area of weakness that could be transformed and used to the glory of God. Dr. Stanley's message challenged us to surrender our will to the Lord and trust the Holy Spirit to help us overcome. You can review what you heard today by clicking the link to Today on Radio at intouch.org.

Navigate over to our online bookstore if you'd like a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message today. It's called "A Moment of Weakness". It's also included in his "Pursuing God's Heart" teaching set. Our web address again is intouch.org, or you can call or text us at the number 1-800-IN-TOUCH. You can also write to us at In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357, or call 1-800-IN-TOUCH.

Guest (Male 2): Have you thought much about why God gave us the Bible? Today's Moment with Charles Stanley is on the way.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Let your time and your schedule and everything about you revolve around this: that you and I are to develop and continue to develop this ongoing, intimate, wonderful, exciting, satisfying, indescribable, wonderful, incomparable relationship with a personal God.

Guest (Male): Dr. Stanley devoted his entire life to helping us get closer to Jesus as we all want to do. You can learn how at CharlesStanleyInstitute.org.

Guest (Male 2): In Touch Plus is streaming on Local Now, featuring all the best of Dr. Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: It's great to have strong convictions based on the word of God. He's working out things that you and I would never know about in our future.

Guest (Male 2): In Touch Plus, your streaming network for quality Christian programming 24/7. Now watch this. In Touch Plus, streaming free on Local Now.

Guest (Female): "From the Pastor's Heart" is an in-depth teaching letter inspired by the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley. To receive In Touch's "From the Pastor's Heart" letter, call 1-800-IN-TOUCH or visit intouch.org/pastorsheart.

Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch. God's word has the answer for every challenge you face. Here's a moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Where do you turn when trouble strikes? You've got a lot of choices and sometimes people don't know which way to turn. They just feel helpless and hopeless. Let me tell you the first place you ought to turn to, and that is to the word of God, because this book is more than a book. It's the unfolding revelation of almighty God. What you'll find from beginning to end is God meeting the needs of his people.

It's a promise book, but unlike all other promises, the promiser has infinite power and is able to keep every single promise he makes right on time. Where else could you go? What other book is like this? There is none like it. As you look at the scriptures, God is all through the scripture working in the lives of his people. When you think about what this book is, for most people, it's just another book. It's far more than just another book. Listen carefully.

God's word has the answer for every single circumstance of life. This is the divine revelation of almighty God, given to us to live by, to discover who he is, what he's like, and how we can live every single day knowing in our heart that we have a security that is divinely given in almighty God. We might ask the question: what's the purpose of the Bible? Why did God have all of this written for us so that now we have from Adam and Eve all the way to the end of the world?

What did he have in mind? God gave us his word in order that you and I would understand who is the one true God, the omniscient, omnipresent, all-powerful God.

Guest (Male): The only way to know God is to first ask him to forgive you through faith in his son, Jesus Christ. Trust him today. You can learn more about that at intouch.org. How are you going to apply what you heard today? We'd love to hear what you plan to do.

On the next edition of In Touch, what do you do once you've given into temptation? We'll see what the Bible says about how to correctly respond to sin on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley.

Guest (Male 2): This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.