April 11, 2010

“THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!”

Week One – “Doubt” Genesis 3:1-6


“Do we sin because we are tempted or are we tempted because we sin?”

DOUBT THAT HELPS – John 20:24-28

A little boy that said to his dad, “dad, why is the sky blue?” I don’t know son. "dad, why is the grass green?" I don’t know son. Dad...etc. Finally the boy said, "Dad, do you mind me asking these questions?" "Why no son, if you don’t ask questions you don’t learn anything.”

Thomas was looking for truth but needed to be convinced. He didn’t doubt Jesus but He doubted the good news about Him. His hope had been shaken by the recent events and he was suffering a crisis of faith. He needed some facts to strengthen his faith. Faith is not the absence of facts. Faith is believing in God based on the facts of His Word. Faith is knowing the heart of God even when you can’t see the hand of God. That was where Thomas was at this point. And when he literally saw the hands of Jesus his doubt was erased and his faith took a quantum leap. It is not really fair that he is labeled as “Doubting Thomas” because he became “completely convinced Thomas”.

Historical accounts indicate that Thomas became an evangelist and missionary in India and was killed as a martyr. Does that sound like something a doubter would do.

For Thomas, his doubt didn’t hurt him – it helped him.

Think about how you came to faith in Christ. You probably didn’t just accept everything at face value. You had to have evidence – through the life of other believers, through knowing the Word and seeing it work changes in your life and others – through seeing Him work in the life of a local church – and through the growing awareness of Him in your personal relationship.

Being a strong Christian is not about believing easily or automatically, but it is about aiming your doubts in the direction of God and His Word and allowing Him to prove Himself to you. Being a strong believer is about anchoring your heart in His heart while you search for His hand. Honest doubt – doubt that helps never doubts the heart of God. God invites honest doubt because He knows it leads to strong faith. When you do have doubts - aim them in the direction of God. He will reveal His hand when He knows you trust His heart!

“Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving”. Frederick Buechner

As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, "Are you trying to break this bridge?" "No," the builder replied, "I’m trying to prove that the bridge won’t break."

THOMAS’ DOUBT HELPED HIM BECAUSE:

He had right motives and attitude – he wanted to believe.
He expressed his doubt to the right people and the right place.
He gave God the last word.

DOUBT THAT HURTS – Genesis 3:1-6

“If God puts you on hold, don’t hang up.” – Jerry Falwell

“Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.” - Karl Barth

They doubted God’s Word - His Character – “Did God really say……?”

James said, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

The Devil is the author of confusion and if he can keep us from the Word or cause us to doubt the Word He will have an easier time getting us to distrust God. Someone has said, “The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

THE DEVIL WILL TRY TO GET YOU INVOLVED IN DEBATING WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DECLARED! God deserves the benefit of the doubt until you are sure!


Learn from Adam and Eve and give God the benefit of the doubt. Believe Him and trust Him until He proves untrustworthy.

They doubted God’s Way - His Caring – “God knows that when you eat it…”

Just as it is foolish to doubt God’s Word, it is foolish to doubt His love. Let me ask you, who has ever loved you like God? God had given Adam and Eve no reason to doubt that He cared for them – look at what He had done! He created them! He placed them in paradise! He made them each other! He met their every need and treated them as the guests of honor in Eden!

A second attack the Devil will use is to DISTRACT you and then stir up DISCONTENT.

The Devil is not only the author of confusion, he is also the source of discontentment. He wants to keep you distracted from the Word and focused on your lack instead of God’s love. When that happens – you are prone to yield to temptation. He may use suffering – he may use materialism – he may use conflict – he may even use success

They doubted God’s Wrath - His Consequences – “You will not surely die…”

The Devil uses DEBATE – he uses DISTRACTION – and he will use DENIAL…..


ADAM AND EVE’S Doubt Hurt Them – And Us Because:

They were in the wrong place.
They listened to the wrong person
They allowed the wrong attitude and desire.

DON’T DOUBT THIS – James 1:13-15


We don’t sin because we are tempted we are tempted because we are sinners. We are sinners because we inherited their sinful nature.

A fly was buzzing along one morning when he saw a lawn mower someone had left out in their front yard. He flew over and sat on the handle, watching the children going down the sidewalk on their way to school.

One little boy tripped on a crack and fell, spilling his lunch on the sidewalk. He picked himself up, put his lunch back in the bag and went on. But he missed a piece of bologna. The fly had not eaten that morning and he sure was hungry. So he flew down and started eating the bologna. In fact he ate so much that he could not fly, so he waddled across the sidewalk, across the lawn, up the wheel of the lawn mower, up the handle, and sat there resting and watching the children.


There was still some bologna lying there on the sidewalk. He was really stuffed, but that baloney sure did look good.


Finally temptation got the best of him and he jumped off the handle of the lawn mower to fly over to the baloney. But alas he was too full to fly and he went splat!! killing him instantly.
The moral: Don’t fly off the handle when you are full of baloney.

There’s a dark side to us, that’s as reckless as the fly. It does not matter what the costs are, you just got to have it. Humanity is like that, so full of baloney, they can’t see it and they fly off the handle, thinking they can handle it all, and be satisfied only to end up splat.

Here's some of the baloney we struggle with.

In a recent survey in Discipleship Journal Magazine, readers reported that their greatest spiritual challenges came from:

1. Materialism 6. Pride
2. Gluttony 7. Self-Centeredness
3. Lying /Sexual Lust (Tie) 8. Laziness
4. Envy 9. Anger/Bitterness(Tie)
5.Gluttony

Survey respondents noted that temptations seemed more potent when they neglected their time with God and when tired physically. We are also vulnerable during these time. We can become self-confident, instead of God confident. We should be aware that we are also vulnerable to overconfidence when we experience a spiritual victory.



Temptation is being confronted with the choice between obeying God’s will or seeking my will.

Back to James 1:13-15

THE SEVEN STEPS OF TEMPTATION: (We Can Trace This With Adam)

Tempted – The thought of evil NOT A SIN YET!!! – The Serpent met them at the tree. They really shouldn’t have been there.
Drawn away – strong imagination – “Did God really say?”
Lust – self-gratification and desire – “You will be like God…”
Entice – weakening of the will - “When the woman saw that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye….”
Lust conceived – yielding to that desire / carrying out the thought. – “She took some and ate it”
Sin – committing the act missing the mark God has for us to make. – “She also gave some to her husband and he ate it”
Death – the result of the sin (Spiritually separated from God). – (Vv. 7-8)

I think that pretty well answers the question – “Do we sin because we are tempted or are we tempted because we sin?”

So, if you know that you actually have a sin problem rather than a temptation problem will that affect how you approach the problem?



HOW?


WHAT WILL I DO WITH MY DOUBTS?


Search the Word
Take to the right place (like Thomas)
Share them with the right people (like Thomas)
Trust God’s heart until you discern His hand

WHAT WILL I DO ABOUT MY SIN?