Practical Living

Dale O'Shields: Thank you for joining us for today's Practical Living broadcast. I pray that through this message you will learn how to apply God's Word and truths to any situation in your life. Stay with us as we discover God's truths that will transform us.

Would you join me in welcoming our Frederick campus this morning? Good morning to all the folks in Frederick. We welcome you. It is great to be together in God's house. Of course, if you're joining us online, we welcome you as well, and all of you here in the Gaithersburg campus. Good morning to everybody again.

Today we continue a series of messages entitled Lifequakes. We started this at the very first of the year and we'll continue on through the month of May in this as well. We're talking about the things that can shake your life up, the kind of things that are very difficult sometimes to deal with, the storms of life that come our way.

Jesus made it very, very clear that all people, no matter who you are, you're going to experience storms in life. In fact, Jesus in Matthew chapter 7 talked about two people building houses, symbolizing spiritual houses that we build. Jesus talked about one man building his house on sand and another man building his house on rock. The storms of life came to both men. Of course, the man whose house was built on the rock, he's the one that survived the storm successfully.

If we're going to withstand the lifequakes that come our way, the things that can shake up your life, you need to make sure that your life is built solidly on the rock of Jesus, on His Word, and to know how to respond to these shaky moments when they happen to us. In this series, we've looked at a lot of different things. We've talked about grief and loss, and we've talked about disappointments, all kinds of different things that affect us and come our way.

Last weekend we started talking about another lifequake, and we've defined that as the scripture does, as the lifequake of temptation. We don't normally think of temptation as something that shakes up your life, but in reality it does because it comes upon us like a moral storm. It really affects our life and can really damage your life significantly if you do not respond to it the right way.

Last weekend we talked about a couple of things relative to temptation. We talked about the fact that everybody experiences temptation. Jesus Himself faced temptation after His baptism. He goes into the wilderness where He was tempted by the adversary, by the devil, successfully. He did not commit any sin at all, but nevertheless, He faced temptation, and you and I do as well. No one is immune to it.

Then we talked about the fact that temptation, while it's sourced by Satan, targets weaknesses in our lives. All of us have different weaknesses and we have sort of a temptation profile. The adversary of our soul knows where to attack us, so we must be aware of some of those things and know how to protect ourselves appropriately against those. That's part of what we're going to talk about today.

How do you make sure that you are properly prepared for temptation so that you can respond the right way to it instead of reacting or falling prey to it? There are two things I'm going to talk about today. The first one is the basic principle of understanding that conquering temptation, if you're going to overcome it, is going to require some action, some specific action on your part. You'll never overcome temptation passively.

When temptation comes your way, you've got to do something. I've found that a lot of people sort of think of temptation as something that comes and they have no control over it. They think they are just going to do what they are going to do and be affected by it, and they have no ability to resist it. That's not true at all. In fact, you will never be a victim of temptation. You choose what you do in response to it.

The devil cannot make you do anything. You and I choose what we're going to do, so we have to make these choices in line with God's Word. In fact, the Apostle Paul very clearly talks about action that we need to take when we are tempted. Let me define temptation for you before we talk about some of these actions.

A temptation is an enticement. It's a drawing, an attraction to do something that is contrary to God's Word or contrary to God's will. It comes along certainly by the enemy of our soul, but it plays upon the weaknesses in our own lives and it entices us to resist God and to do life our way or the way of the adversary, the devil. It's an enticement. Temptation is not sin; temptation is an enticement to sin.

When it comes our way, we have to choose certain things. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 12 and 13. Listen to what he says: "If you think you are standing strong, if you think you have it all together, that you're not vulnerable, if you think you're standing strong, be careful not to fall."

Then he says this: "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted," not if you're tempted, but when you're tempted, notice this, "He will show you a way out so that you can endure it."

Notice that statement: He will show you a way out. Another English version of scripture says He will provide the way out. He will provide the way out. He will show you a way out. That little phrase there, "provide for you a way out" or "show you the way out," is a phrase that all of us would be very familiar with.

I would draw your attention just for a moment to look around the building and notice over each of the doors you're going to see a red sign that's lit up with lights there. What does that sign say? Exit. There are about 20-plus exit signs in this room. If something dangerous were to happen here in this room or in your Frederick campus, you have the exit signs there as well.

If something dangerous, a fire were to break out or something terrible were to transpire dangerously in this room, where would you head? You would head toward the exit. We have them very near you so you can find your way out. Of course, that's obviously required and something that we would want to do to give you a way out of something that is dangerous.

This is the idea of the term, the Greek word that's used. He will show you a way out or He will provide you a way out. We might say it this way: He will give you an exit. God will give you an exit anytime that you're tempted. Now, these exits will do you absolutely no good in a time of danger unless you use them.

If a fire were to break out in these rooms, these worship centers, you could sit here and be burned up by the fire if you chose not to go out the exit. The same is true with temptation. If you just sit around, temptation will get you, so you have to use the exit to be freed from it. He provides you an exit, a way out.

I want to take a few moments this morning and talk to you about 12 exits. You might say 12 is a lot. We're going to go through these very, very quickly, but I want you to take really good notes today because it's going to really help you to know how to get out when temptation comes your way. Remember, temptation is not sin, but it entices you to do that, so you have to take some action to get out.

Number one, you need to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That's where it starts. You need power from God to overcome temptation. You can't do it by yourself. You need a relationship with God, and the way you have a relationship with God is through Jesus Christ. He will give you the power in you to actually overcome. He's a redeemer. He's a savior.

The Apostle Paul described this in his own life in Romans chapter 7, verses 24 and 25. He talked about his own temptation to sin. He says, "Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?" Paul's asking, how do I get free of this thing called sin, this temptation that I'm drawn to do the wrong thing that leads to death? Then he answers his own question in verse 25: "Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord." Paul says, "I found the way out, and the way out is through Jesus."

I would ask this morning, have you been born again? Do you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life? You'll never be successful against temptation without having Jesus the Savior living inside of you. Proverbs 16:6 says, "Evil is avoided by reverence for God." Evil is avoided by a right relationship with God, and of course, that comes through Christ.

Second thing, exit strategies we might say, be controlled by the Holy Spirit. I want to take just a moment and help us to understand the role of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives. This would require a very significant amount of teaching to understand all the dimensions of the Holy Spirit. In fact, we could not in fact fathom all the dimensions of the Spirit of God, but let me touch on it just for a moment.

When you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you invite Him into your life, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. As a Christian believer who's named the name of Jesus and turned your life over to Christ, it's vitally, significantly important that you understand that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God lives inside of you as a believer in Christ.

Just because the Spirit lives in you doesn't mean that you're always obeying the Spirit because the Spirit is living in you but you can resist the Spirit. You can quench the Spirit. You can grieve the Spirit. You can ignore the Spirit's work in you, but the Spirit of God lives inside of you.

The challenge for us as Christians is to learn to rely on or be controlled by the Spirit of God living in us. That's why a very important prayer to pray every day, one that I pray practically every day of my life, is: Lord, today would you fill me with the Holy Spirit? Would you allow me today to be controlled by your Spirit?

The Bible says if we being evil know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him? I would ask you, when was the last time you prayed that prayer? Lord, fill me with your Spirit. Guide me by your Spirit.

Why is this important? Because Galatians 5:16 says, "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide or control your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves." We overcome sin by the guidance, the strength, the control of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Then number three, the third strategy for overcoming temptation is to fill yourself with God's Word. Be filled up with the Word of God. If you're taking notes, I would encourage you to at least circle the "fill yourself" part. That's what I want to talk about there because God doesn't fill you with His Word; you fill yourself.

Just like when your car is empty and you go to the gas station, in most of the states in the United States of America, when you pull up in a gas station, no one is coming to fill your car up unless you live in New Jersey. You have to get out of your car and you have to get the gas tank there, the fuel process, the pump there, put it in the right place in your car, and you have to fill your tank. It's not going to fill itself.

The same is true when it comes to the Word of God. The Word of God is not just going to somehow mysteriously going to get inside of you. You have to fill yourself with God's Word. How do you fill yourself with God's Word? Well, you've got to read it, and then you've got to study it. You've got to hear it preached and taught. You've got to meditate on it and you need to oftentimes memorize it so it gets inside of you.

Why is this important? Because it is an exit strategy when temptation comes your way. Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word where? In my heart. Why? That I might not sin against you." It's a protection against temptation. Jesus proved this to us.

Notice Matthew chapter 4, verse 1: "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The tempter came to Him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written.'" What is written? It's the Word of God he's referring to.

Verse 5: "Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. 'If you are the Son of God,' he said, 'throw yourself down.' Jesus answered, 'It is also written.'" He's quoting scripture to the adversary.

Verse 8: "Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 'All this I will give you,' he, the devil, said, 'if you bow down and worship me.' Jesus said to him, 'Away from me, Satan! For it is written.'"

Then the devil left Him. Three times when He was tempted, Jesus' response was: Here's God's Word against what you're saying. It is written. It is written. It is written. Because He was quoting and standing on scripture, the devil departed from Him.

Number four, the fourth strategy: How do you get out of temptation? What's the way out? You need to stay humble. I like the phrase "stay humble lest you stumble." What is humility? Let me define humility for you. Humility is not feeling bad about yourself. Humility is not hating yourself.

Humility is recognizing your sinful nature, yes, and being aware of that, but real humility is recognizing that you can't do life by yourself. You need God and you're dependent upon Him. Prideful people feel like they have the tiger by the tail. They can live life on their own strength and power. They don't need God.

Humility says, "No, I really need God. I'm dependent upon Him and I'm going to submit myself to His rule and His reign because I know His way is the right way." I will also make the decision through that relationship with God to serve other people, to not look to be served, but to actually serve others in humility, to wash the feet of those around me.

Stay humble. Why? Because pride will get you in trouble every time. Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction." Before destruction shows up, something else is there. What's there before destruction shows up? Pride. Pride goes before destruction, a haughty or an arrogant spirit, a prideful kind of spirit, before a fall. So stay humble.

Then the fifth thing. How do you get out of temptation? You've got to learn to pray. I want to talk about this word "pray" for a moment because I'm not talking about just running in and telling God what you want. That's part of prayer. We should go to God with our requests and ask Him for those things we have need of in our life and those things that we desire for Him to do in our lives.

Requesting that from God is very appropriate, but prayer is far more than that. Prayer is about building your relationship with God in such a manner that your life is synchronized with God. You can't do that with quick little prayers here and there. You have to spend time with Him where He strengthens you and gives wisdom to you and works in your heart and works in your life because you're saturated with the presence of God by spending time with Him, extended time with Him.

Not just running in with quick prayers, but learning to spend time in the presence of God. Matthew 6:13 is a part of the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, it's called the Lord's Prayer, and as a part of it, He said pray this: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." It's a part of praying that we would be delivered from temptation, delivered from evil.

Matthew 26:41, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with His disciples there knowing it's going to be a very testing and tempting time. He says, "Keep watch and pray so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Our bodies are very weak, very vulnerable to sin. But when we pray, we find strength that gives us strength in our spirit to resist, to overcome.

Number six, be aware of your vulnerabilities. Satan is not going to attack you at your strengths; he'll attack you at your point of weakness, your points of vulnerability. If you don't know a little bit about yourself, you won't know where to guard yourself. So you have to learn something about your weaknesses and be aware of where you're perhaps going to be attacked when temptations are coming your way. Where is it likely to attack you? Be aware of it.

That's why Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 11: "I don't want Satan to outwit us." Don't let Satan trick you. "For we are not ignorant about Satan's scheming." He's scheming against you. Don't be ignorant about how he's going to come against you. 1 Peter 5:8 and 9: "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking just looking, looking for someone to devour." Stand firm against him. Know your vulnerabilities.

Number seven, the seventh thing is to make wise choices about people, places, and exposures. I'm going to dive into this one just a little bit more deeply today to address these three dimensions to make wise choices about people, about places, and about exposures. Let's talk about them for a moment.

First of all, I've found over the years that people who fall prey to temptation consistently do so because often they have the wrong people in their lives. They surround themselves with people that are going opposite of the way of God and so they wonder why do I keep falling into temptation? It's because of your friends. You're getting pulled by the environment, the peer pressure that you're surrounding yourself with.

Please understand something: peer pressure doesn't just affect kids and teenagers; it affects adults too. You want to be liked by people. So oftentimes because you want to be liked by someone, you go along with the crowd. You go along with a group of people because you're wanting to be accepted by them and you're not willing to suffer rejection for your beliefs and your stand in your relationship with God because you want to be accepted.

It's important to realize there are certain people that should not be in your life. Now, we are to love everybody. We should never have an attitude that resents or has a hateful, prejudicial attitude toward anyone. We love everybody. The Bible even says love your enemies. We're to love everybody.

Just because you love everybody doesn't mean that those individuals need to become your closest friends. If I had someone to stand here on the floor of this platform area and we were to take hands and we have a tug of war, and they're trying to pull me down and I'm trying to pull them up, who's going to win? There's no doubt it's more likely that I'm going to be pulled down to their level than it will ever be for me to pull them up to my level.

The same is true if you're hanging around with people and they're always pulling you down toward sin. Let me tell you what you do. You say, "Hasta la vista." You draw a boundary right there. Do you still love them? Yes. Do you want to witness to them and share Christ with them? Of course. You're not rejecting them as people; you're just saying, "I can't let this influence drag me in the wrong direction for my life."

These are people. Yes, we love them and Jesus loves them, but don't allow them to have that kind of influence in your life. Sometimes you have to draw some boundaries in your life related to that.

Then places. Let's talk about that for a moment. I'm going to be really bold this morning. You may not like me after I say this, and that's okay. I didn't come today for you to like me. I came today to help you understand what your spiritual journey needs to be. Is everybody listening to me? If you're a follower of Jesus, there are certain places you don't need to go. You know those places.

When you get in those environments, you get influenced in those environments to say or do or be a person that you know you shouldn't be. Because in those environments, you have another problem: the same people that you're trying to get away from are in those places. Are you with me?

So you have to make some decisions in your life about what places am I willing to go to and to make some hard decisions. If I'm going to be a disciple of Jesus, just think: Do I really want to carry Jesus into this place? Do I want to expose my spiritual life to this environment? So we have to make hard choices, wise choices about people, about places, and also about exposures.

What we expose ourselves to. What I mean by that is the media we allow into our lives. It's a media-driven world, is it not? We've got social media, we've got television, we've got computers that are screaming at us all the time. We've got screens everywhere. We've got music that are giving us certain messages. We have all this stuff coming at us and we think, "Oh, it doesn't affect me."

Really? It's going in your eyes, it's going in your ears, and it's landing in your soul. That's where it lands: in your soul. It begins to shape the way you think and the way that you view life and it begins to affect your feelings. You listen to a certain kind of music, it's going to affect your mood, correct? It's going to affect how you begin to think about people in relationships.

These are the kind of things that you have to be aware of. I'm not giving a bunch of rules and regulations. I'm just talking about we want to be people who love Jesus, right? Who are staying away from temptation, and so we can be exposed to these kind of things that are detrimental to us. I'll give you an example from my own life.

All of my life as an adult, I've always enjoyed, I've been a little bit of a news junkie. I like to watch the news. I've always enjoyed watching the news and of course, we've got the 24/7 news cycle that's on all the time now. We've got all the news programs that are there.

Just about six or eight months ago, I found myself every time I watched the news, I was angry. You know you have a problem when you start talking back to your television screen. I'm finding myself in my den and I'm talking back to the television screen as though they can hear me. So I've got a problem.

This exposure's not good for me because I get angry every time I watch these programs. Because it seems so much in our world is going wrong and contrary to God's Word and God's will and I'm frustrated by this and it's raising my anger level. I don't need this in my life. So I made a decision: I'm not going to watch news anymore.

I figured this: If something bad happens, somebody will tell me. Somebody's going to tell me because I know somebody else is watching news. They'll get it to me in some way. So for almost six months now, and I'm not saying I haven't seen a news program, but I haven't sat down and watched an entire news program. I'm not saying this will be the case for the rest of my life, but I know for this season I didn't need that exposure in my life right now. It wasn't doing the right things for me at this point. It wasn't making me the person that I wanted to be in my life. It was leading me into temptation to become angry about things and that was not going to benefit anything for good in my life.

Take a look at what scripture says here: Proverbs 12:26: "The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray." Proverbs 4, verses 14 and 15: "Don't take the path of the wicked; don't follow those who do evil. Stay away from that path; don't even go near it. Turn around and go another way."

Psalm 1, verses 1 through 3: "Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do."

Number eight, the eighth thing, the eighth exit sign is to consider consequences. When temptation comes your way, you think for a moment, where is this going to lead me? What are the consequences if I do this? Where will I end up? What are the consequences of this?

Proverbs 14:12, a very powerful verse: "There is a way that appears to be right." It appears to be right. "But in the end," what happens? "It leads to death." How many times in your life you said, "Oh, I think that would feel good if I did that. Oh, that's what my heart wants to do." It appears good. There's a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.

Number nine. Exit strategy, exit sign when you're being tempted, here you go: say no. Pretty simple, is it not? Let's practice that together. Would you say, "No"? "No" is a good word to say. When temptation comes, just say, "No."

Titus 2, verses 11 and 12: "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age."

Number 10, when temptation comes, here's a good strategy: run. Not into it, but away from it. Joseph in the Old Testament taught us that lesson when Potiphar's wife was trying to seduce him. He ran. He ran out of the house. The only thing he forgot to do was take his coat with him, so please remember to take your coat when you run. 2 Timothy 2:22: "Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust." Anything that's stimulating you the wrong way, run from it.

Number 11, surround yourself with godly people and with wholesome activities. Get around the right kind of people. Be purposeful in that. 2 Timothy 2:22: "Pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace." Notice this statement: "Enjoy the companionship, the friendship, the relationship, the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts." Find people like that who are calling upon God with pure hearts who are pursuing righteousness and faith and love and peace and make them the companions of your life.

And number 12, stay connected to Jesus' church. You know what happens each week as we come together for the study of God's Word? There's an adjustment that happens in your life. As you've gone through the week and all the things that have happened during the week and the temptations that have come your way, you come to church and it's just that moment where God just readjusts your life and readjusts you in the sense of what you should be thinking and how you should be living in your life.

That's why being a part of the life of the church is so valuable. Do not forsake that. Make it a consistent part of your journey. You need that. We all need that. We need to be in the house of God with one another. That's why in Hebrews, the writer says in verse 25 of chapter 10, "And let us not, let us not neglect our meeting together." Don't let it slide by you. Don't neglect it, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near. We need the church. Jesus established the church because we need the church.

Conquering temptation involves very specific actions. When temptation comes, look for the exits. Where are my exit doors? There are 12 strategies I just gave you. The second point, and we'll cover this relatively quickly, is to understand that recovering from failure is possible.

I did not want to conclude today's message on temptation without touching on this point because the reality is while we want to avoid temptation, the fact is all of us fall prey to temptation at times. We all miss the mark. When temptation comes and instead of saying no, we end up saying yes. Instead of running, we end up allowing it to capture us in some way.

So what do you do if you fall into temptation, you sin? How do you handle it? I would not be a good pastor to you if I did not help you to understand what you do when you make a mistake, what you do when you sin. How do I get back on the right track?

I will tell you that when you sin, when you fall prey to temptation, what the devil wants to do is he wants to keep you down. He wants to draw you into temptation and then condemn you because you fell prey to it. He wants to tell you how bad you are. You'll never be a good Christian. You'll never be able to love God and serve God. So he wants to beat you up after he's led you down.

But Jesus came so that we could have recovery when we've fallen. He comes to pick us back up again. So when you fall in a place of temptation in your life, don't stay down, but get back up again. Always fall forward. That you've fallen but, "Yes, I'm still going to get up and move in the right direction."

So let me give you some pointers related to this and let's talk about it just for a few moments as we get ready to conclude today. Number one, make sure that you've received, again I'll say it the second time today, that you've received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life. That's how you receive forgiveness. Forgiveness comes through Jesus.

I'm going to make a statement now, I don't mean this to be a disparaging statement to anybody at all, but I need to say it because the Bible is very clear about it. Jesus, listen, Jesus is the only priest who can absolve you of sin. Man cannot absolve you of sin. Jesus is the only priest that can absolve you of sin. Only God can forgive sin.

I can't forgive your sin. I can affirm to you that God has forgiven your sin, but only Jesus came as the Savior to save us from our sins. There is one mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus Christ. He is our high priest. He's the priest of our confession. He's the one that is able to proclaim forgiveness to you. No one else can.

You need to have a relationship with Priest Jesus. He's the one to whom you confess your sins. John 3:17 says, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." So Jesus came as a friend to sinners, to provide forgiveness and redemption and restoration as our priest to God.

The second thing you need to do is repent of your sins. That when you fall and you come to Jesus, you say, "Jesus, you're my priest. I'm coming to you and now I'm repenting for what I've done wrong. I realize that it's wrong, and I'm truly sorry for it."

To repent means this: it means far more than just feeling bad. It means that you desire to change. That you're saying, "I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to be this person anymore." So I come to God with repentance.

Peter, when he failed, when he denied the Lord three times, you remember we talked about that last weekend. He denied the Lord three times and the third time Jesus looked at him. Peter's eyes and Jesus' eyes connected there in that moment. The Bible says this about Peter in verse 62 of Luke 22: "And he went outside and he wept bitterly." Peter knew in repentance that he'd done the wrong thing, that he'd sinned against God.

You can't really find true forgiveness in your life without repentance. Repentance is key. It's a very important thing that we do. Come to God with sorrow for what we've done wrong, recognizing it to be wrong.

The third thing that we do is we come to Jesus. He's our priest. we come with a repentant heart and then we confess our sins to Him. 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."

Notice this statement: "If we confess our sins." Notice it's conditional. If we confess our sins, then He's faithful, Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, what does it mean to confess?

The word that's used here in this particular section of scripture for confess is the Greek word "homologeo." Let me break it apart. "Logeo," you might recognize that from the word "logos" and it's the idea of a word, a statement. Jesus is the Logos of God, and so it's the Word of God. The Word became flesh.

"Homo-logeo." Word. "Homo," same. So the idea of that combined compound word "homologeo" is to say the same thing. And so confessing your sins means that you say the same thing about your sin that God says about it: that it's wrong. You don't justify.

You don't come to God and say, "Oh, God, I know that I did this, but..." Or, "God, I did this, however, I think you'll understand, God, because it's not a big deal." No, you come to God and say, "God, I'm owning up to this because I know you said that it was wrong and I am agreeing with you that what you said is wrong is wrong. I'm homologeo, I'm saying the same thing you say about my sin. I'm owning up to it with no excuses at all."

When you and I do that, then we're opening the door for forgiveness. He'll forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. And then the next thing you do is accept God's forgiveness. This is key.

I find far too many people who've confessed their sins to God, but they still feel guilty about them. They're still living in guilt. They're still living in shame as though they haven't been forgiven when God has already forgiven you of your sins. If you have come to Jesus and you've repented of your sin and you've asked Him to forgive you, He has forgiven you. You need to accept it as a gift.

You say, "Well, I don't deserve it." That's the idea: you don't deserve it. We don't get forgiveness because we deserve it; we get forgiveness because God is gracious and God is kind and God is merciful and Jesus died on the cross to shed His blood so that we could be forgiven.

If He offers you that gift of forgiveness, don't somehow think, "Well, it's not going to work for me." No, it works for anyone who will come and ask for it. "Whoever calls," the Bible says, "on the name of the Lord will be saved, will be delivered." They can experience this in their life. So receive, accept the gift of forgiveness.

Isaiah the prophet speaking on behalf of God, God speaking here, says, "I, God speaking, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more." Isn't that beautiful? That when you confess your sins out of repentance that God says, "Now it's settled."

Then allow God by His Spirit to renew your thinking. "Don't copy the behaviors and customs of this world," Paul says in Romans 12:2, "but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." This is part of repentance. Grow your love for Jesus. Let forgiveness, when God has forgiven you, let it cause you to fall in love with Jesus more.

"He who is forgiven much, loves much," the Bible says. And so forgiveness should produce in us a deeper love for Jesus. In fact, Jesus said it this way: "If you love me, obey my commands." Love is proven by obedience.

The last thing I'll mention, with this we'll conclude, and that's this: make sure that you help other people when they fall. We are a church of people. That's what a church is: people. And people make mistakes at times. People sin. We all fail. And so when someone else, one of our brothers and sisters find themselves in trouble and they find themselves having sinned against God, what is the right role of another Christian?

Is it to wag your finger at them and say, "You should have never done that. How bad you are. I would never do something like that"? No, it's not to be that attitude at all. Think about the story of the prodigal son that when the prodigal son left the home of the father and spent all that he had, Luke chapter 15, and he comes back home, is the father waving his finger at the boy saying, "That's terrible. Look at all the bad things you did"? No, he doesn't do that at all. His arms are open wide. He embraces him and puts a robe on his back and a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet and throws a party because "my son that was dead is alive again."

Notice Galatians 6, verse 1: "Dear brothers and sisters, that's you and me, if another brother or believer," I should say, "if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should scold him severely." Is that what it says? I must be reading the wrong way here. Let's start again.

"Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly," do you want to be godly? This is what you should do: "should gently and humbly," do what? "Help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself."

So we're reminded of the fact that we are not only to receive forgiveness ourselves from God when we fail, but to also help others find it. As I've told you before, the church is not a place where we put perfect people on display. The church is a place where broken people are healed and sinful people are saved and people who are going through the ups and downs of life find a way to make it back to God again because their desire is to know God. The church is a place of healing and forgiveness and restoration because we have a Savior who did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

When temptation comes your way, what are you going to look for? Where's the exit? Right? When temptation knocks on your door, what are you going to do? I need to get out of this dangerous place. Where is the exit? How do I quickly get out of this? So use the exit strategies. And if and when you do fail, because you will, make sure you don't stay down, but make sure you get back up again. Would you bow your heads with me as we pray today?

Lord, thank you for the instruction of your Word that guides us, that helps us to understand how to escape temptation when it comes our way. You taught us even to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from the evil one." So I pray, Lord, that in the heat of the battles of life and when we find ourselves tempted, that you'll remind us, Lord, of these exit strategies that you've given us in your Word and let us put them into practice and apply them to each one of our lives in our different situations. We trust you for it in Jesus' name.

And I pray also, Lord, for those who have fallen recently and messed up in some way, they've sinned against you. I pray that today would be their day to get back up again. To know that you love them, that we love them. That, Lord, you're not here to shame them, you're not here to condemn them, that you're here to help them get back on the right track again. Let them feel and know your love today. We thank you for it in Jesus' wonderful and precious name.

I would like to close today by giving you an opportunity to ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me right now? Right where you are, just simply bow your head with me and I'm going to give you a prayer to pray and you can simply speak this prayer out, whisper this prayer out and from the sincerity of your heart call upon God, and I promise you that He will hear and answer you.

So let's pray together. Start by simply whispering the name Jesus. Let there come from your heart just the declaration of His name. Say, "Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, that I have fallen short with you. I'm sorry for all of my sins."

"Jesus, I believe in you. I believe that you are God's Son. I believe that you are the Savior of the world. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins. And I believe that you rose from the grave, that you are alive today."

Now pray these words: "Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Come into my life. Forgive me of my sins. Give me a new start in you. I commit my life to you in Jesus' name. Amen."

Now, if you prayed that prayer with me, I want to encourage you with a promise from God's Word that says that when we call upon God's name, we call upon the Son of God, there is salvation that comes to our lives. He changes us from the inside out and you become a new creation. Old things pass away, all things become new. And that's exactly what has happened to you today.

Your next step really is to make sure that you get into a good Bible-believing church and you begin to study God's Word, get God's Word in you and to make sure that you get a copy of the Bible if you don't have one and begin to read it. Spend some time every day in prayer.

And I would encourage you also to check out the resources on our website that will help you to get going in your relationship with Jesus. You can find them at church-redeemer.org. Get those into your hands. Get started in your new life with Jesus Christ. Thanks again for joining us today. May God bless you and we look forward to seeing you next time.