How to Resist Temptation to Sin

Something occurred to me recently when studying the account of Jesus Christ in the garden of gethsemane. I can find no better display and teaching about resisting sin than this passage.

And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things [are] possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

He Found them Sleeping

And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly [is] ready, but the flesh [is] weak. And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him. And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take [your] rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.

Mark 14:32-42

Jesus was entering into tremendous temptation to deviate from the path of his Father. Imagine if he had never even took his three friends and went into prayer. Imagine if he ignored the gravity of his situation and simply avoided the coming betrayal. How easy it would have been for him to simply disappear that night? Knowing full well what was coming, as is evidenced by his extreme heaviness and stress, in Luke 22:44 it says And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

He could have slipped away and re-considered his plans. Delay the will of his father as long as he wanted. It was in fact within his freedom and power to delay and to avoid.

But, He was in prayer and he was seeking the will of father. He was not in avoid and delay mode at the time of his biggest temptation to sin. He was in prayer and he was actively seeking his father.

The best resistance to sin is the pursuit of God.

This is what we learn directly from Jesus. His victory over sin was not determination and will power. It was in seeking first the kingdom of God, in pursuing the will of the father. This is our only effective way to resist sin (Matt 6:33). Also notice how during the time of his biggest struggle with sin, Jesus taught his disciples how to resist sin and Satan. When he returned to find them sleeping.

“And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly [is] ready, but the flesh [is] weak.

Watching and praying, was the way that Jesus kept to the will of the father, it was THE way he avoided sin. It was the way that he did not succomb to the weakness of the flesh.

While in pursuit of the will of the Father, the will of God is applied to the follower. This is the way to resist sin. This is the way to live a pure life, a life that is cleansed from all unrighteounsess. “How does a young man cleanse his way? by taking head to every word of God.” (Psalm 119:9)

When and if we struggle with sin what do we find ourselves doing? When we are walking into temptation, do we allow God to lead us into watching and praying? Or anything but? Do our feet quickly enter our temptations? Do we avoid the seeking of Jesus Christ? Do we ignore for a time the will of the father? Are we “falling asleep” like the disciples did that night?, when we should be watching and praying? And discerning what the will of the Lord is? I admit I certainly have.

Watch, Pray, Discern to Submit

Watch, pray, discern and take heed to every will of the father so that we can cooperate with it!

Seeking Jesus Christ is an assignment, it is a major occasion of the life, it is protection for our spiritual lives. It is not optional for the serious Jesus follower, it is something to do that should replace a huge number of things in our lives. It is the way to increase in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Seeking Jesus Christ is THE WAY to say “no” to sin and “yes” to the will of God. When tempted dont try to exercise the will power, instead vigoursly seek Jesus Chirst in prayer and in pursuit of his will.

What Jesus Said About Himself

Why Sunday Sermons are Inadequate

The institution, the tradition of the Sunday sermon is incapable of and is not qualified to communicate the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. I know that’s a strong statement and could be offensive to those who earn their livings by their sermons and actually I love sermons. But they just are not a tool that Jesus gave us to accomplish ministry, he gave us much more effective tools to do what he calls us to than the Sunday sermon.

The man or woman of God who feels called to serve Christ. Should not attempt to delegate the sharing of the gospel of the kingdom, to the Sunday sermon. And whosoever is called to preach the gospel of the kingdom, they discard their obligation to preach the gospel IF they try to fulfill that calling using the Sunday sermon or homily.

Neither Jesus Christ, nor John the Baptist, nor the apostles preached sermons. And when I say sermons I mean the sermon as defined by most seminaries and or public speaking courses. An intro, 3-5 main points, a conclusion, a funny story, a call to action and make it no longer than 30-45 minutes.

If we really feel pressured to preach sermons may they be for discipleship and when the time is up for the sermon, let them end and move on to something else. Don’t make it go on in perpetuity for every single meeting just because that is what is always done or that is what the people think they need.

The “sermon” on the mount was not a sermon

Even the “sermon on the mount” would not be considered to be a modern sermon. It was about 12 – 13 minutes of teaching. It did not have a intro, nor three points, nor conclusion and neither a call to action. Nor did it last 30 minutes to an hour. The sermon on the mount was not even called a sermon until the 1800s by bible translators who were categorizing the ministry of Jesus Christ. No doubt their intentions were good but the fact remains, the sermon on the mount is not what any seminary would define as a sermon nor how it would teach its students to prepare and preach a sermon. Therefore calling it a sermon is misleading, especially for people who base and center an entire church on the modern concept of a sermon.

I see pastors trying to make the sermon the centerpiece of their Sunday gathering, and therefore the centerpiece of their ministry and their church. But in so doing they disqualify that part of their ministry, from the very thing most want to be the purpose of their church…evangelism. The sermon forces the pastor to make the gospel the conclusion of every Sunday sermon. the only place it fits is at the weekly conclusion or call to action. And only a small portion of the gospel fits into that conclusion. The part about becoming a Christian, converting, getting into heaven. The real gospel of the kingdom and all its implications and the Christian communities that it establishes when fully preached takes at least 80 hours to communicate. Bare minimum, and ideally it should be taught in about 6 months of daily teaching meetings that establish a community of Christians who are left mesmerized and in intense pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ together and who are sharing his life in a face to face community. It is such a radical community of world changers they probably get persecuted or killed off in most societies, but they advanced into the kingdom of Christ anyhow, loving, healing and giving and defeating Satan at every step.

The gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ sets a community of Christians up to gather without a need for a king-like clergyman. To control their every move when they gather. It sets them up with the ability to be led by the Holy Spirit together in a loving community.

Only teams of men or women of God can adequately communicate the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Teams, not lone superstar clergymen. Please don’t get angry at me for writing that, I don’t say it out of a criticism of pastors, I love pastors, they are wonderful gifts to the body of Christ. But their job descriptions still need much reform back to what we see in scripture.

Paul seemed to be the most like an independent preacher, but if you read closely you can see he was approved by the apostles in Jerusalem. He was also sent out and chosen by other members of the body of Christ. Paul had companions and helpers and partners in his ministry. He was not a lone wolf, off alone preaching. He specifically and intentionally sought out the approval of his gospel by the Jerusalem church before he started preaching. He was able to submit and live with other men and women of God in community.

Don’t Bother With The Sermon

My point, if you are called to ministry don’t major on sermons, instead major on loving the other members of the body of Christ. Major on the ministry of Jesus Christ. Major on being led of the Holy Spirit and not ministry-logic taught in seminary (the supremacy of the sermon). There is a massive place for preaching and teaching in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I don’t see how the modern sermon has much of any place in it.

It takes a good deal of leadership to lead a congregation away from the entrenched tradition of sermons. And toward the Holy Spirit, but someone, somewhere, at sometime will read this and know what the Lord is calling you to do.

Inserting Jesus

If we can insert Jesus Christ himself into our conversations, into our relationships, be they friendships, family or even foes.

Then we are making a great spiritual accompaniment.

Not necessarily discussions of church, or discussions on the greatness of some pastor, not discussions of theology, and not discussions of how our faith affects our opinions on politics. Those are usually not useful and they pale in comparison to him. They do little to no good spiritually to help people.

But making insertions of Jesus Christ himself into our relationships. Expressions of love, devotion, and awe at him personally.

If we are willing and able to do this with the people in our lives then these are tremendous spiritual accomplishments. Far more significant than we can imagine long term.

For he is the tip of the spear of the new creation. The kingdom of God which is displacing all other kingdoms. He is the beginning and end of the invasion of God into Satan’s world system we find ourselves in. And one by one we, his loyal, devoted and passionate followers, get to wield his spear and pick off spiritually dead people. To liven them and begin to return them to life again in Jesus Christ. Reclaiming humanity one person at a time.

What a wonderful Lord that he would include us in this process.

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